FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D. 

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r.ns>''lirA.H.KJicliie. 


ANNALS 


OF  THE 


AMERICAN  PULPIT; 


OR 


COMMEMORATIVE  NOTICES 


OF 


DISTINGUISHED  AMERICAN  CLERGYMEN 


OP 


VARIOUS    DENOMINATIONS, 


F  RO.M  THE  EAKLY  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  YE  \fv 
EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-FIVE 


WITH  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTIONS. 


BY  WILLIAM  B.  SPRAGUE,  D.  D. 


VOLUME  VL 


NEW    YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

530    BROADWAY. 

I860. 


BAPTIST. 


VOLUME    VI. 


PREFACE.^ 


From  the  commencement  of  this  work,  I  have  been  quite 
aware  that  nothing  pertaining  to  it  involves  more  delicacy 
than  the  selection  of  its  subjects,  and  that  no  degree  of 
care  and  impartiality  can  be  a  full  security  against  mis- 
takes. There  is  one  reason  why  there  seems  likely  to  exist 
a  greater  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  selection  for 
this  volume  than  any  preceding  one — it  is  that  it  has  been 
necessarily  determined,  to  a  considerable  extent,  from  mere 
native  vigour  of  mind,  strength  of  purjDOse,  and  untiring 
and  successful  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  without  much 
respect  to  high  intellectual  culture.  It  is  well  known  that, 
during  a  long  period,  comparatively  few  of  the  Baptist 
ministers  in  this  country'  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  collegi- 
ate education — of  nearly  all  who  were  thus  favoured  I  have 
endeavoured  to  form  some  memorial  Avhere  the  material 
could  possibly  be  obtained — but  the  selection  has  been 
mainly  from  the  ranks  of  tliose  who  probably  never  saw  a 
College.  Very  few  of  tlie  individuals  here  commemorated 
have  been  personally  known  to  me  ;  and  though  I  am  nomi- 
nally responsible  for  the  selection,  it  has  reallj'  been  the 
result  of  the  combined  judgment  of  distinguished  living 
Baptist  ministers  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country.  It 
is  due  to  them,  however,  to  state  that  they  have  furnished 
a  goodly  number  of  names  as  worthy,  in  their  judgment,  of 

*  Some  things  will  be  found  in  the  Trcfjiee  to  this  and  some  other  of  the  volumes,  whieh  arc 
substantially  a  repetition  of  what  has  alreail}-  been  said  in  the  (icneral  Preface.  This  is 
rendered  necessary  from  the  fact  that,  as  each  denomination  is  supposed  to  be  interested  chiefly 
in  the  biograjil.ics  of  its  own  ministers,  it  is  presnmed  that  the  General  Preface  will  meet  the 
eye  of  comparatively  few  except  those  who  patroni/.c  exclusively  the  Congregational  volumes. 


yi  PREFACE. 

being  embalmed,  concerning  which  I  have  been  able  to 
gather  little  beyond  mere  vague  and  doubtful  traditions ; 
and  it  has  seemed  more  fitting  to  omit  altogether  even  an 
honoured  name,  than  to  run  the  hazard  of  making  it  the 
subject  of  apocryphal  statements.  In  regard  to  not  a  small 
number  of  deceased  ministers  of  highly  respectable  stand- 
ing in  their  day,  after  pursuing  my  inquiries  to  a  great 
length,  I  have  been  forced  to  the  conclusion  that,  though 
their  record  is  doubtless  in  Heaven,  they  have  left  no  record 
on  earth  out  of  which  it  is  possible  to  frame  such  a  memo- 
rial as  they  were  entitled  to. 

The  sources  from  which  the  materials  for  these  sketches 
are  drawn,  are  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  margin.  It 
will  there  be  seen  that,  in  addition  to  the  various  Baptist 
periodicals  published  since  the  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  large  use  has  been  made  of  Backus'  History 
of  the  Baptists  in  New  England;  Benedict's  History  of 
the  Baptists ;  Morgnn  Edwards'  Materials  towards  a  His- 
tory of  the  Baptists  in  Pennsylvania ;  Semple's  History 
of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Baptists  in  Virginia ;  Tay- 
lor's Lives  of  Virginia  Ba.ptist  Ministers;  Campbell's  Geor- 
gia Baptists ;  Millet's  History  of  the  Baptists  in  Maine ; 
Wright's  History  of  the  Shaftsbury  Baptist  Association  • 
.  Peck  and  Lawton's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York  ;  and  various 
Biographies  of  greater  or  less  extent  which  have  appeared 
in  almost  every  part  of  the  country.  It  is  due  to  candour 
to  state,  in  respect  to  the  third  sketch  in  this  volume, — 
that  of  John  Clarke, — that  while  the  statements  are  in 
accordance  with  the  acknowledged  authorities,  I  am  assured 
by  a  distinguished  Baptist  clergyman,  whose  opinion  is 
entitled  to  the  highest  respect,  that,  as  the  result  of  a  some- 
what extended  research — not  yet  completed — into  the  life 


PREFACE.  yii 

of  this  veteran  minister,  he  is  likely  to  reach  certain  con- 
clusions somewhat  different  from  what  has  hitherto  been 
accepted  as  veritable  history. 

Somewhat  less  of  definiteness  has  been  reached  in  respect 
to  the  period  when  many  of  the  subjects  of  this  volume 
began  their  ministry  than  could  be  desired, — owing  especi- 
ally to  the  fact  that  they  were  often  in  the  "  exercise  of 
their  gifts "  before  a  regular  license  was  conferred.  The 
figures  on  the  left  hand,  beneath  the  name  of  each  subject, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  sketch,  always  denote  the 
year  when  the  individual  was  licensed  to  preach,  where  it 
is  known ;  in  other  cases,  the  year  of  his  ordination ;  in 
other  cases  still,  the  earliest  ascertained  date  of  any  of  his 
public  labours.  Mistakes  are  more  likely  to  have  occurred 
at  this  point  than  perhaps  any  other;  though  the  utmost 
care  and  effort  have  been  used  to  prevent  them. 

It  has  been  found  necessary,  in  this  volume,  to  depart 
slightl}^,  in  two  or  tliree  particulars,  from  the  plan  of  the 
work  as  announced  in  the  General  Preface,  or  as  hitherto 
developed.  It  was  stated  in  the  General  Preface  that  the 
order  of  the  denominations  would  be  determined  by  the 
number  of  subjects  which  they  should  respectively  supply. 
When  the  Episcopal  volume  was  published,  I  had  no  doubt 
that  it  embraced  many  more  names  than  could  be  legiti- 
mately gathered  from  among  the  Baptists ;  but  the  result 
of  a  more  extended  examination  has  been  to  SAvell  the  list 
of  the  Baptist  ministers  a  little  beyond  that  of  the  Episco- 
pal ;  and  it  has  seemed  better  to  dispense  with  a  rule  that 
was  adopted  for  convenience,  than  to  adhere  to  it  at  the 
expense  of  omitting  really  deserving  names.  One  excep- 
tion also  has  been  made  from  the  rule  that  places  each  sub- 
ject in  the  denomination  in  which  he  closed  his  career — 
that  exception  is  Roger  Williams — for  though  his  connection 


viii  PREFACE. 

with  the  Baptist  denomination  continued  but  a  few  months, 
yet,  as  he  was  really  the  father  of  the  denomination  in  this 
country  in  the  sense  of  being  the  founder  of  the  first  Bap- 
tist Church,  and  as  his  subsequent  anomalous  position  would, 
in  a  strict  adherence  to  ni}^  rule,  exclude  him  altogether, 
there  has  seemed  no  alternative  but  that  his  place  should 
be  among  the  Baptists.  The  arrangement  of  the  subjects 
in  each  denomination  is  designed  to  be  strictly  chronologi- 
cal ;  but  from  this  rule  also  there  will  be  found  in  the 
present  volume  a  single  exception.  Owing  to  peculiar 
circumstances,  no  account  of  any  of  the  departed  Baptist 
worthies  in  Tennessee  was  obtained  until  the  printing  was 
too  far  advanced  to  allow  of  its  finding  its  proper  chrono- 
logical place  ;  and  rather  than  seem  to  ignore  that  respect- 
able State,  with  whose  history,  from  a  very  early  period, 
the  Baptists  have  been  identified,  a  sketch  of  one  of  their 
venerable  ministers  (v\4iich,  however,  really  includes  three 
of  them)  is  introduced  at  the  close  of  the  volume.  There 
is  little  reason  to  apprehend  that  any  who  read  the  sketch 
will  regret  its  insertion,  even  though  it  be  a  little  out  of 
place. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  titles  Elder  and  Reverend  are 
used  indiscriminately,  though  the  latter  is  of  much  more 
frequent  occurrence.  The  reason  is,  partly  that  this 
diversity  has  existed  among  my  contributors,  whose  taste 
on  the  subject  I  have  felt  bound  to  consult,  and  partly  that 
it  has  seemed  necessary,  in  order  fixirly  to  represent  the 
different  usages  that  have  prevailed,  and  still  prevail,  in 
the  denomination. 

It  is  quite  impossible  for  me  to  do  justice  to  my  sense 
of  obligation  not  only  for  the  measure  of  public  favour — 
fiir  greater  than  I  had  ventured  to  hope  for — wdth  which 
the  several  preceding  volumes  of  this  work  have  been  met, 


PREFACE.  ix 

but  especially  for  the  prompt  and  cordial  aid  contributed 
by  so  many  worthy  and  honoured  individuals  towards  the 
present  volume.  I  am  forbidden,  as  on  former  occasions, 
by  the  great  number  Avho  have  assisted  me,  to  attempt  to 
give  a  list  of  them ;  and  3^et  I  cannot  forbear  to  mention 
particularly,  even  at  the  hazard  of  seeming  invidious,  the 
Rev.  Henry  Jackson,  D.  D.,  of  Newport,  distinguished 
for  his  successful  researches  into  the  history  of  the 
denomination  in  Rhode  Island  ;  the  Rev.  David  Benedict, 
D.  D.,  the  well  known  veteran  Historian,  the  vigour  of 
whose  faculties  and  the  warmth  of  whose  affections,  four 
score  years  have  in  no  degree  abated;  the  Rev.  Abial 
Fisher,  D.  D.,  of  Massachusetts,  who  has  not  onlj^  closely 
observed  but  largely  shared  in  all  the  important  move- 
ments of  the  Baptists,  especially  in  his  own  State,  during 
an  unusually  protracted  ministry ;  Horatio  Gates  Jones, 
Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  who,  amidst  the  pressure  of  j)rofes- 
sional  engagements,  has  appropriated  to  me  most  freely 
and  largely  from  the  results  of  his  indefatigable  labours  in 
this  department  of  Biography  ;  the  Rev.  Sewall  S.  Cut- 
ting, D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  University  of  Rochester, 
whose  taste  and  studies  have  enabled  him,  as  his  kindly 
interest  in  my  work  has  inclined  him,  to  respond  most 
satisfactorily  to  my  numerous  inquiries ;  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Mallary,  of  Georgia,  who  has  allowed  me  often  to  put  in 
requisition  his  valuable  services  in  regard  to  Baptist  Minis- 
ters of  the  South  ;  the  Rev.  William  Carey  Crane,  Presi- 
dent of  Semple  Broaddus  College,  in  Mississippi,  and  the 
Rev.  S.  H.  Ford,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  both  of  whom  have 
generously  imparted  to  me  from  their  ample  stores  of  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  ministers  of  the  Southwest;  the 
Rev.  R.  H,  Neale,  D.  D.,  of  Boston,  who,  in  addition  to 
other  favours,  has  kindly  furnished  the   original  portrait 


X  PREFACE. 

from  which  the  engraving  at  the  commencement  of  this 
volume  has  been  made ;  and  the  Rev.  Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D., 
whose  excellent  judgment  as  well  as  minute  and  extensive 
knowledge  I  have  been  allowed  to  avail  myself  of  at 
pleasure.  Not  only  for  Dr.  Babcock' s  contributions,  which 
are  so  numerous  as  to  constitute  a  prominent  feature  of 
this  volume,  but  for  the  promptness  with  which  he  has 
met  my  almost  innumerable  requests,  and  the  fraternal 
and  genial  tone  by  which  all  his  communications  have 
been  marked,  I  beg  to  offer  him  my  best  thanks;  at  the 
same  time  assuring  the  public  that  to  his  untiring  efforts 
to  serve  me  are  they  indebted  for  no  small  degree  of  the 
interest  that  j)ertains  to  this  department  of  the  work. 

In  taking  leave  of  my  Baptist  brethren,  I  cannot  forbear 
to  say  that  my  intercourse  with  them  in  connection  with 
the  preparation  of  these  sketches,  has  been  a  source  of 
rich  gratification  to  me,  as  I  am  sure  it  will  always  be  a 
subject  of  grateful  recollections.  I  heartily  congratulate 
them  that,  as  a  denomination,  they  have  so  many  bright 
memorials  in  the  past,  so  much  that  is  auspicious  of  pro- 
gress and  enlargement  in  the  future.  If  this  volume,  to 
the  production  of  which  they  have  themselves  been  so 
largely  auxiliary,  should  in  any  degree  subserve  their 
mission  in  helping  forward  the  great  cause  of  our  common 
Lord  and  Master,  my  highest  wish  in  respect  to  it  will  be 
answered^  W.  B.  S. 

Albany,  August,  1859. 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.^ 


The  history  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  United  States,  like  that 
of  the  other  denominations,  is  so  fully  developed  in  the  lives  of  its  promi- 
nent ministers,  that  it  is  impossible  to  construct  even  the  most  general  out- 
line of  the  former  without  drawing  upon  material  that  must  necessarily  be 
embodied  in  the  latter.  The  present  brief  sketch  is  framed  with  a  view  to 
prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  repetition  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

When  the  first  Baptists  came  to  this  country,  or  who  they  were,  it  is 
impossible  now  to  ascertain  ;  though  Cotton  Mather  says  "  many  of  the  first 
settlers  in  Massachusetts  were  Baptists  ;"  and  he  adds  that  "  they  were  as 
holy,  and  watchful,  and  fruitful,  and  heavenly  a  people  as  perhaps  any  in  the 
world."  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  note  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
denomination,  as  indicated  by  its  introduction  into  the  several  Colonies  and 
States,  or  rather  by  the  date  of  the  origin  of  the  first  Baptist  Church  in 
each  Colony  or  State,  in  chronological  order. 

The  first  Baptist  church  in  Rhode  hlajid — which  was  also  the  first  in 
America — was  constituted  by  Roger  Williams,  at  Providence,  in  1636. 
The  first  in  Massachusetts  was  in  Swansea,  and  was  organized  in  1G63, 
though  it  had  been  commenced  by  Obadiah  Holmes,  and  others,  about  thir- 
teen years  before.  The  first  in  New  York,  which  was  the  predecessor  of 
the  present  Broome  Street  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  vras  a 
General  or  Arminian  Baptist  Church,  and  was  founded  at  least  as  early  as 
1669  ;  but  it  seems  to  have  existed  for  only  a  short  period.  About  the  year 
1702,  the  Baptist  interest  was  revived  here,  and  in  1724  the  present  Broome 
Street  Church  was  formed  under  Valentine  "Wightman,  of  Groton,  and  Daniel 
Wightman,  of  Newport.  The  first  church  in  il/ceVze  was  formed  at  Kittery 
in  16S2,  but  was  soon  broken  up  and  scattered,  and  it  had  no  successor  in 
the  Province  until  1768,  when  another  church  was  constituted  at  Berwick, 
by  the  Bev.  Hezekiah  Smith,  of  Haverhill,  Mass.  The  first  churcli  in 
So7tth  Carolhia  was  the  church  in  Charleston,  founded  in  1683  by  the  Bev. 
William  Screven,  from  two  separate  colonies,  one  of  which  came  from  the 
West  of  England,  the  other  from  the  District  of  Maine ;  but  the  early 
progress  of  the  denomination  in  the  Province  was  slow,  as  was  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  when  the  Charleston  Association  was  formed  in  1751,  there 
were  only  four  rather  small  churches  to  compose  it.  The  first  church  in 
Fennsylcania  was  founded  at  a  place  called  Cold  Spring,  in  Bucks  County, 

•  Bflckiis'  and  Benedicfs  Histories. — Ilovey's  Life  and  Times  of  Isaac  Backus. — Baptist 
Family  Magazine,  1859. — MSS.  from  Rer.  Dr.  Babcock,  Professor  Cutting,  and  H.  G.  Jones, 
Esq. 


Xii  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

bj  Thomas  Dungan,*  who  removed  thither  from  llhoJo  Island  in  1684. 
This  church  became  extinct  in  1702 ;  but  in  1688  another  church — now 
the  oldest  in  Pennsylvania — was  formed  at  Pennepek  or  Lower  Dublin, 
consisting  chiefly  of  emigrants  from  Wales,  but  with  a  slight  intermingling 
of  English  and  Irish, — of  which  the  Rev.  Elias  Keaeh  t  became  Pastor. 
The  first  church  in  New  Jersey  was  that  at  Middletown,  founded  iu  1688, 
and  its  first  settled  Pastor  was  the  Rev.  John  Brown  + — the  second  was  the 
Piscataway  Church,  organized  in  1689,  of  which  the  Rev.  John  Drake  was 
the  first  Pastor;  and  the  third  was  the  Cohansey  Church,  organized  in 
1690,  of  which  the  Picv.  Thomas  Killingsworth  ^  was  the  first  Pastor.  The 
first  church  in  Delawai-e  was  the  Welsh  Tract  Church,  which  was  formed 
in  Wales  in  1701 ;  migrated  as  a  colony  to  America,  and,  after  lingering  a 
while  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Philadelphia,  became  fixed  in  Newcastle 
County,  De.,  in  1703,  being  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
(xrifiiths,!!  also  an  emigrant  from  Wales.  The  first  church  in  Connecticut  was 
organized  at  Groton  in  1705,  by  the  Rev.  Valentine  Wightman,  who  also 
became  its  Pastor — the  second  was  gathered  in  New  London  in  1726,  by 
the  Rev.  Stephen  Gorton,  but  after  a  few  years  he  disgraced  himself  by 
immoral  conduct,  and  the  church  became  extinct.  In  Virginia,  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  has  a  triple  origin.  The  first  church  was  formed  of  emi- 
grants from  England,  in  1714,  at  a  place  called  Burley,  in  the  County  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  the  first  Pastor  was  the  Rev.  Robert  Nordin,1[  who 
was  ordained  in  London  with  special  reference  to  this  mission.  This 
church,  and  another  formed  shortly  after  in  the  County  of  Surrey,  (both  of 

*  Of  Thomas  Ddnqan  nothing  more  can  be  ascertained,  except  that  he  died  at  Cold  Spring 
in  1688,  was  the  father  of  nine  children,  and  is  still  represented  by  a  numerous  posterity  in 
Pennsylvania. 

t  Elias  Keach,  a  son  of  Benjamin  Keach,  came  from  London  to  this  country,  a  v,ild  and 
giddy  youth,  about  the  year  1686.  On  his  arrival  here,  he  assumed  the  clerical  dress,  with  a 
view  to  pass  for  a  minister.  The  project  succeeded  so  far  that  large  numbers  were  attracted  to 
bear  him.  In  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  stopped  abruptly,  and  seemed  greatly  confused, — 
which  led  his  audience  to  suppose  that  he  had  been  suddenly  seized  by  some  alarming  mal- 
ady. Greatly  to  their  surprise,  he  immediately,  and  with  many  tears,  acknowledged  himself  an 
impostor;  but  the  distress  into  which  he  was  now  thrown,  terminated  in  his  hopeful  conversion. 
Having  been,  shortly  after,  baptized  and  ordnined  by  Mr.  Dungan,  he  went  to  Pennepek,  and 
established  the  church  there,  and  then  travelled  through  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  preach- 
ing wherever  he  went  with  great  success.  In  the  spring  of  1692,  he  returned  to  England,  and 
afterwards  became  a  successful  minister  in  London. 

I  Of  John  Buown  nothing  mere  is  known  than  that  he  was  not  ordained,  and  that  he  gave 
the  lot  on  which  the  first  meeting-house  in  the  place  was  built. 

§  Thomas  KiLLiNGSWouTH  took  the  oversight  of  this  church  at  its  organiziition,  and  cou- 
Unued  his  connection  with  it  till  his  death  in  1708.  lie  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of 
,\'or\vich,  in  England,  and  to  have  been  an  ordained  minister  before  ho  arrived  in  this  country; 
for  he  was  exercising  his  ministerial  functions  at  Jliddletown  as  early  as  1688.  He  was  at  ono 
time  a  Judge  of  the  galem  Court. 

II  Thomas  Griffiths  was  born  in  Lauvemach  parish,  in  the  County  of  Pembroke,  Wales,  in 
1645,  came  to  this  country  with  the  persons  who  originally  composed  his  church,  and,  after  a 
faithful  ministry  of  twenty-four  years,  died  at  Pennepek,  July  25,  1725. 

T  Mr.  NORDIN  continued  preaching  at  Burley  and  other  places  in  Virginia  until  hie  death, 
which  occi^rred  in  1725. 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

which  were  of  the  General  Baptist  order,)  seem  not  to  have  prospered,  and 
mo.st  of  the  members  subsequently  removed  to  North  Carolina.  About  the 
year  1743,  a  church  was  formed  on  Opeclcon  Creek,  which  was  shortly  after 
followed  by  two  others  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  consisting  of  emigrants 
from  Maryland,  who  had  been  members  of  the  General  Baptist  Church  at 
Chestnut  Ridge.  In  175-4,  the  llcv.  Daniel  Marshall  and  the  Rev.  Shubael 
Stearns,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Separates  in  New  England,  but 
afterwards  became  Baptists,  went  to  the  South,  and  stopped  long  enough  in 
Virginia  to  leave  a  broad  mark  upon  the  character  of  the  denomination  in 
that  State.  In  North  Carolina  there  were  a  few  Baptists  as  early  as  1695; 
but  the  first  church  was  gathered  about  the  year  1727,  by  Paul  Palmer,*  at 
a  place  called  Perquimans,  towards  the  Northeast  corner  of  the  State,  and 
consisted  chiefly  of  those  who  had  been  members  of  the  Church  at  Burley, 
Va.  In  Maryland  there  were  a  few  Baptists,  who  had  removed  thither 
from  England  as  early  as  1709;  but  the  first  Baptist  church  in  the  Colony 
was  founded  by  Henry  Slator,  a  layman,  and  a  General  Baptist,  in  1742. 
In  Neio  Ha/upshire,  though  Hansard  Knollys,  who  was  probably  the  first 
Baptist  preacher  who  came  to  America,  laboured  there  for  some  time,  it 
does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  church  established  until  1755,  when 
there  was  one  gathered  at  Newtown,  of  which  the  Ilev.  Walter  Powers 
became  Pastor.  The  first  Baptist  organization  of  any  kind  in  Georgia 
was  in  connection  with  Mr.  Whitefield's  Orphan  House,  in  1757, — the 
leader  being  one  Nicholas  Bedgewood,  who  had  come  from  England  as 
an  Agent  for  the  Institution.  Another  colony  began  its  operations  higher 
up  the  country  about  1771,  under  the  Rev.  Edmund  Botsford,  Rev.  Benja- 
min Stirk,  and  others.  And  this  ultimately  coalesced  with  a  third,  consisting 
of  Daniel  3Iarshall  and  other  New  Lights  from  New  England,  of  whom  the 
Kiokee  Church  was  constituted  in  1772.  The  first  Baptist  church  in  Ver- 
mont was  gathered  at  Shaftsbury  in  1768  ;  the  second  at  Pownal  in  1773 ; 
and  these  were  the  only  churches  in  the  State  previous  to  1780.  In  Kentucky 
the  Rev.  William  Hickman,  a  minister  from  Virginia,  commenced  his  labours 
as  early  as  1776;  and  a  large  number  of  Baptists  removed  thither  from 
Virginia  in  1780  ;  but  the  first  organized  church — that  of  Gilbert's  Creek — 

•  Paul.  Palmer  is  said  to  have  been  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  was  baptized  at  Welsh  Tract 
in  Delaware,  by  Owen  Thomas,  the  Pastor  of  the  church  in  that  place;  was  ordained  in  Connec- 
ticut; and,  having  exercised  his  ministry  for  some  time  in  New  Jersey,  and  then  in  Maryland, 
he  removed  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  gathered  the  church  above  mentioned,  and  remained 
there,  not,  however,  without  some  difficulties,  till  his  death.  His  character  was  not  entirely 
without  spot. 

Owen  TnostAS,  above  mentioned,  was  born  at  a  place  called  Gwrgodilys,  in  the  County  of 
Pembroke,  "Wales.  Us  came  to  America  in  1707;  took  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Welsh  Tract 
Church,  at  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Abel  Morgan,  in  which  office  he  continued  until  1748,  when 
he  resigned  it  to  go  to  Yellow  Springs,  where  he  died  November  12,  1760.  lie  left  behind  the 
following  singular  memorandum: — "I  have  been  called  upon  three  times  to  anoint  the  sick 
with  oil  for  recovery — the  effect  was  surprising  in  every  case,  but  in  none  more  so  than  in  the 
case  of  our  brother,  Rynallt  Howel :  he  was  so  sore  with  the  bruises  he  received  by  a  cask  fall- 
ing on  him  from  a  wagon,  that  he  could  not  bear  to  be  turned  in  bed;  the  next  day  he  went  to 
meeting." 


xiv  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

dates  to  1781.  In  Te7i7iessee,  two  churches  are  said  to  have  been  gathered 
some  time  after  the  year  1765,  and  broken  up  by  the  Indian  War  in  1774 ; 
but  the  first  permanent  Baptist  organization  here  was  about  the  year  1780, 
when  several  ministers  and  private  members  of  the  Church  emigrated  from 
Virginia,  and  were  shortly  after  followed  by  an  emigration  from  the  church 
at  Sandy  Creek,  in  North  Carolina,  which,  as  a  branch  of  the  mother  church, 
settled  on  Boone's  Creek.  The  first  church  in  Ohio  was  organized  by  the 
Rev.  Stephen  Gano,  in  1790,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Miami  River,  where  the 
town  of  Columbus  now  stands.  The  first  church  in  Illinois — the  New 
Design  Church — was  constituted  in  May,  1796,  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Badg- 
ley,  from  Virginia ;  and  an  Association  called  the  Illinois  Union  was 
organized  in  1807.  The  first  church  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  con- 
stituted in  Washington  City  in  1802,  and  the  Rev.  Obadiah  B.  Brown 
became  its  first  Pastor.  In  the  territory  now  included  in  the  State  of 
hidiana,  several  small  churches  were  organized  along  the  Whitewater,  bor- 
dering on  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  first  of  which  was  in  1802.  The  Wabash 
Church,  near  Vincennes,  was  formed  in  1806 ;  and  the  Bethel  Church,  in  a 
settlement  farther  down  the  Wabash  River,  was  formed  the  same  year.  In 
Missouri,  (then  Upper  Louisiana,)  there  were  a  number  of  Baptist  families 
living,  who  had  migrated  thither  from  the  Carolinas  and  Kentucky  as  early 
as  1790-97;  and  they  enjoyed,  during  a  part  of  the  time,  the  labours  of  the 
Rev.  John  Clark  ;  but  the  first  Baptist,  or  indeed  Protestant,  church  in  the 
Territory  was  organized  in  180-1,  under  the  name  of  Tywappity,  in  Cape 
Girardeau  County.  The  next  year,  a  church  called  Bethel  was  constituted 
near  where  Jackson  now  stands.  In  Mississippi,  there  were  a  few  Baptist 
families  in  the  region  of  Natches  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century — when  the  first  chui'ch  was  established  I  cannot  ascertain ;  but  the 
Mississippi  Association  was  formed  in  1807.  The  first  church  in  Alabama 
was  organized  by  the  Rev.  J.  Courtney,  in  Clarke  County,  in  1810 ;  but 
there  was  but  little  increase  of  the  denomination  till  1816.  In  Louisiana, 
the  oldest  churches  are  those  of  Calvary,  1812  ;  of  Beulah,  1810;  and  of 
Aimswell,  1817.  In  Michigan,  the  oldest  Baptist  church  is  that  of  Pon- 
tiac,  organized  in  1822,  by  the  Rev.  Elon  Galusha,  who  visited  Michigan 
under  the  patronage  of  the  New  York  Missionary  Society.  The  first  church 
in  loica  was  that  of  Big  Creek, — organized  in  August,  1836.  The  first  in 
Wisconsin  was  organized  in  Rochester,  in  1837.  The  first  Baptist  Associa- 
tion in  Texas  was  organized  in  Travis,  Austin  County,  October  8,  1840, 
and  embraced  the  three  churches  of  Travis,  Independence,  and  Lagrange. 
In  Florida,  the  Florida  Association  was  formed  in  1842,  consisting  partly 
of  churches  from  the  neighbouring  States  of  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

The  "  Great  Awakening  "  which  took  place  in  connection  with  the  labours 
of  Whitefield,  about  the  year  1740,  gave  rise  to  many  new  churches  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  New  England,  under  the  name  of  Separate  Churches. 
These  were  formed  by  a  secession  from  the  regular  Congregational  Body, 
and  their  members  claimed  to  hold  a  purer  faith,  as  well  as  adopt  a  higher 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  XV 

standard  of  Christian  feeling  and  action,  than  those  with  whom  they  had 
previously  been  associated.  Some  of  them  fell  into  great  extravagances  of 
both  doctrine  and  practice,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  notwith- 
standing the  fanatical  tendencies  with  which  they  may  have  been  chargea- 
ble, they  were  generally  sincere  and  devout  Christians.  Many  of  these 
became  Baptists,  among  whom  were  Backus,  of  Middleborough,  Hastings,  of 
Suffield,  ami  Marshall  and  Stearns,  who  settled  in  the  South, — all  of  whom 
may  be  reckoned  among  the  early  lights  of  the  denomination. 

Several  of  the  sketches  in  this  volume  show  what  has  long  since  become 
matter  of  authentic  history, — that  the  early  Baptists  in  this  country  were 
emphatically  a  suffering  people.  In  those  Colonies  or  States  in  which 
Church  Establishments  existed,  whether  the  form  was  Episcopal  or  Con- 
gregational, the  Baptists  were  not  only  denied  rights  which  are  now  uni- 
versally conceded  to  all,  but  were  the  subjects  of  wrongs  which  none  would 
now  attempt  to  justify.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  inferred  from  this  that 
either  Episcopacy  or  Congregationalism  is  essentially  intolerant ;  but  only 
that  each  happened  to  be  the  medium  through  which  the  spirit  of  the  age, — 
partaking,  in  a  greater  or  loss  degree,  of  the  darkness  and  severity  of  a  yet 
earlier  period, — acted  itself  out.  The  great  doctrine  of  "  soul  freedom," 
of  which  Roger  Williams  was  so  illustrious  an  example  and  exponent,  and 
for  which  the  Baptists,  as  a  denomination,  have  alwa^-s  so  earnestly  con- 
tended, not  only  frowns  upon  open  persecution,  but  forbids  the  least  viola- 
tion of  the  rights  of  conscience. 

It  is  not  strange,  considering  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  the 
Baptists  were  placed  before  and  even  since  the  Revolution,  that  their 
numerical  increase  should  have  been  slow  ;  but  since  the  civil  impediments 
have  been  removed,  and  the  principle  of  universal  toleration  has  come  to  be 
everywhere  practically  acknowledged,  they  have  increased  with  a  rapidity 
almost  unparalleled  ;  so  that,  with  a  single  exception,  they  now  form  the 
largest  denomination  in  the  United  States.  They  are  spread  through  every 
State  and  Territory ;  and  differ  in  nothing  but  their  position  in  regard  to 
Slavery.  Owing  to  this  difference,  the  Southern  Baptists,  in  1845,  formed 
separate  organizations  for  conducting  their  benevolent  enterprises  ;  and,  by 
this  means,  altercations  and  collisions  have  been  prevented,  and  thus  the 
general  efficiency  of  the  denomination  increased.  In  1784,  they  had  four 
hundred  and  seventy-one  churches,  four  hundred  and  twenty-four  ministers, 
and  thirty-five  thousand,  one  hundred  and  one  members.  In  1857,  they 
had  eleven  thousand,  six  hundred  churches,  seven  thousand,  one  hundred 
and  forty-one  ministers,  and  nine  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand,  one 
hundred  and  ninety-eight  members. 

The  Baptists,  as  a  denomination,  have  always  attached  little  importance 
to  human  learning  as  a  qualification  for  the  ministry,  in  comparison  with 
those  higher,  though  not  miraculous,  spiritual  gifts,  which  they  believe  it 
is  the  province  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  impart ;  and  some  of  them,  it  must  be 
acknowledged,  have  gone  to  the  extreme  of  looking  upon  high  intellectual 


Xvi  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

culture  in  a  minister  as  rather  a  hindrance  than  a  help  to  the  success  of  his 
labours.  But,  if  I  mistake  not,  many  of  the  sketches  contained  in  this 
volume  will  show  that  the  Baptists  have  had  less  credit  as  the  friends  and 
patrons  of  learning  than  they  have  deserved.  Not  a  few  of  their  preachers 
have  been  eminently  accomplished  as  well  as  useful  men ;  and  some  who 
have  long  since  passed  away,  have  left  enduring  memorials  of  both  their 
scholarship  and  eloquence.  A  little  after  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
they  founded  Rhode  Island  College — this  is  said  to  have  been  the  result  of 
educational  movements  in  the  Philadelphia  Association,  continued  through 
a  number  of  years  ;  and  it  was  established  in  lihode  Island  because  that 
was  supposed  to  be  the  only  Colony  in  which  Baptists  could  obtain  a  char- 
ter. Within  a  comparatively  recent  period,  a  new  impulse  has  been  given 
to  the  spirit  of  literary  and  theological  improvement  among  them.  They 
number  at  present  thirty-three  Colleges  and  Universities,  more  than  one  hun- 
dred Academies  and  Female  Seminaries,  and  eleven  Theological  Schools. 
They  have  Publication  Societies  at  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  and  Nash- 
ville. They  maintain  forty-two  periodical  organs,  two  of  which  are  Quar- 
terly Reviews. 

With  the  progress  of  the  means  of  mental  culture  in  this  denomination 
there  has  been  a  proportional  increase  of  the  spirit  of  Christian  and  bene- 
volent enterprise.  The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  the  Ameri- 
can and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  Southern  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign 
and  Domestic  Missions,  the  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  and  the  Bible 
Union,  which  was  originated  and  has  been  chiefly  sustained  by  Baptists,  are 
so  many  several  witnesses  of  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  zeal  for 
the  diffusion  of  evangelical  truth.  Their  Missions  are  planted  in  Canada, 
Oregon,  California,  New  Mexico,  Hayti ;  in  France,  Germany,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Norway;  in  Western  and  Central  Africa,  in  Southern  India,  Assam, 
Burmah,  Siam,  and  China.  The  whole  income  of  the  above  Societies,  in 
1857,  was  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  Government  of  the  Baptist  Churches  is  strictly  independent.  Each 
separate  church  claims  and  exercises  the  right  of  granting  license  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and  of  ordaining  Elders  or  Presbyters  to  the  full  work  of  the 
ministry  ;  though  this  is  not  actually  done  except  by  the  concurrence  of 
Councils  or  Presbyteries.  A  large  majority  of  the  churches  are  associated 
in  District  Associations  and  State  Conventions,  which  hold  an  annual 
meeting  of  a  fraternal  character  for  purposes  of  general  co-operation  in  aid 
of  evangelical  enterprises,  but  have  no  power,  legislative  or  judicial.  In 
1814,  was  established  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  which  met  trienni- 
ally,  with  exclusive  reference,  after  the  first  few  years,  to  the  promotion  of 
Foreign  Missions  ;  but  that  has  now  given  place  to  two  Conventions  or 
Societies,  one  in  the  North,  the  other  in  the  South. 

The  prevailing  Theology  of  the  Baptists  is  Calvinism — generally  of  the 
type  of  Andrew  Fuller,  but  occasionally  rising  to  that  of  Dr.  Gill.  The 
Philadelphia  Confession, — so  called  from  its  having  been  adopted  by  the 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 


XVll 


Philadelphia  Association, — the  oldest  Association  in  the  country,  and 
which  agrees  substantially  with  the  Westminster,  except  on  questions  of 
Church  constitution  and  Church  order,  has  generally  been  regarded  by  the 
Baptists,  especially  in  former  years,  as  a  faithful  expression  of  their  denomi- 
national belief.  Somewhat  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  the  Baptist  Con- 
vention of  New  Hampshire  adopted  a  Declaration  of  Faith,  which  has  been 
extensively,  though  not  universally,  approved  by  the  denomination.  It 
consists  of  eighteen  articles,  all  of  which  are  in  harmony  with  the  faith  of 
the  other  denominations  commonly  called  Evangelical,*  with  the  exception 
of  the  article  on  Baptism,  which  is  as  follows  : — "  Christian  Baptism  is  the 
immersion  of  a  believer  in  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  to  show  forth  a  solemn  and  beautiful  emblem  of  our  faith 
in  a  crucified,  buried  and  risen  Saviour,  with  its  purifying  power,"  and  "  is 
a  prerequisite  to  the  privileges  of  a  Church  relation."  While  the  Philadel- 
phia Confession  is  objected  to  by  some  as  too  severely  Calvinistic,  the  New 
Hampshire  is  objected  to  by  others  as  at  least  too  indefinite.  Nearly  all 
the  Baptist  churches  in  this  country  adopt  the  principle  of  Strict  Commu- 
nion, so  far  as  regards  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  while,  in  other 
respects,  they  mingle  freely  with  their  brethren  of  other  denominations. 

The  Rev,  Dr.  Baird,  in  his  work  entitled  "Religion  in  America," — a 
work  distinguished  alike  for  the  judiciousness,  thoroughness,  and  authenti- 
city of  its  details,  and  the  high  tone  of  candour  and  impartiality  that  per- 
vades it, — thus  concludes  his  account  of  the  Baptists — "Although  not  a 
third,  perhaps,  of  the  ministers  of  this  denomination  of  Christians  have 
been  educated  at  Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries,  it  comprehends, 
nevertheless,  a  body  of  men,  who,  in  point  of  talent,  learning,  and  eloquence, 
as  well  as  devoted  piety,  have  no  superiors  in  the  country.  And  even  among 
those  who  can  make  no  pretensions  to  profound  learning,  not  a  few  are  men 
of  respectable  general  attainments,  and  much  efficiency  in  their  Master's 
work." 

•Curtis,  in  Ms  "  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,"  presents  his  views  of  the  differenod 
between  Baptists  and  other  denominations,  in  four  chapters:  1.  "The  command  to  baptize  & 
command  to  immerse."  2.  "  The  importance  of  Believer's  Baptism."  3.  "  Infant  Baptiam 
injurious."    4.  "  Miied  communion  unwise  and  injurious." 


CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX. 


[Ou  the  left  hand  of  the  page  are  the  names  of  those  who  form  the  subjects  of  the 
work — the  figures  immediately  preceding  denote  the  period,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascer. 
tained,  when  each  began  his  ministry.  On  the  right  hand  are  the  names  of  those  who 
have  rendered  their  testimony  or  their  opinions  in  regard  to  the  several  characters.  The 
names  in  Italics  denote  that  the  statements  are  drawn  from  works  already  in  existence — 
those  in  Roman  denote  communications  especially  designed  for  this  work — those  with 
a  star  prefixed,  denote  either  mere  extracts  from  letters  or  discourses  not  before 
printed,  or  communications  not  addressd  to  myself.] 

SUBJECTS.  WRITERS.  FAQE. 

1638.  Hansard  KnoUys J.  Newton  Brown,  D.  D 1 

Governor  Winihrop 

Cotton  Mather 

1639.  Roger  Williams William  Bentley,  D.  D 8 

Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams 

Hon.  Daniel  jJppleton  White 

Hon.  George  Bancroft 

/.  G.  Palfrey,  D.  D 

1644.     John  Clarke Rev.  John  Cat  lender 21 

1705. i 

1754.  >  The  "Wightmans Rev.  Frederic  Denison 26 

1800.) 

1711.  \  m,  „  \r^„„„„  ,  5  ^<^^"-  Morgan  Edwards 31 

1-3^  J  The  Morgans ^  ^^,.    j^^^%,^  Morgan 

1718.  )  T,,      ^„      ,  <)  Increase  Mather,  D.  D 34 

,_o,    >  The  Callenders, \  n^.t    ,  at^,      t „h 

1(31.^  '  {  Boston  Neu's  Letter 

1722.  Benjamin  Grifiiths Rev.  Morgan  Edwards 38 

1725.  John  Comer David  Benedict :  I).  D 39 

1740.  Edward  Uphara ♦.loseph  Lathrop,  D.  D 43 

1743.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley Horatio  Gates  Jones,  Esq 45 

1746.  Oliver  Hart Richard  Furman,  D.  D 47 

1748.  Gardiner  Thurston Rev.  Joshua  Bradley 50 

Rev.  B.  H.  Pitman 

1751.  Isaac  Backus Hon.  Zechariah  Eddy 54 

1754.  Daniel  Marshall Georgia  Analytical  Repository   59 

1754.  John   Gano Hon.  Charles  S.  Todd 62 

Richard  Furman,  D.  D 

1755.  Noah  Alden Abial  Fisher.  D.  D 67 

1756.  John  Davis Rev.  George  F.  Adams 69 

1758.  Samuel  Stillman,  D.  D James  Loring,  Esq 71 

AVilliam  Jenks,  D.  D 

1759.  Samuel  Harriss Rev.  John  Leland 79 

Rev.  R.  B.  Semple 

1761.     Morgan  Edwards William  Rogers,  D.  D -82 

1761.  David  Jones Horatio  Gates  Jones,  Esq •'••     85 

Poulsonh  American  Daily  Advertiser. 

1762.  James  Manning,  D.  D Hon.  William  Hunter,  LL.D 89 

John  Howland,  Esq 

1763.  Hezekiah  Smith,  D.  D Samuel  F.  Smith.  D.  D 97 

Laban  Clark,  D.  D 

1763.     Samuel  Jones,  D.D General  William  Duncan 104 


XX  CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX. 

SUBJECTS.  WRITERS.  PAGE. 

Tlie  Burrowses William  II.  Potter,  Esq 106 

John  "Waller James  B.  Taylor,  D.  D 113 

John  Davis Horatio  Gates  Jones,  Esq 117 

David  Benedict,  D.  D 

Rev.  David  Jones 

A.  Hovey,  D.  D 

1769.  Burgess  Allison,  D.  D Howard  Malconi,  D.  D IJl 

Rev.  Morgan  Edwards 

1770.  Lewis  Lunsford James  B.  Tavlor,  D.  D 125 

/.  B.  Jeter,  1).  D 

Rev.  R.  B.  Hemple 

1770.     John  Williams James  B.  Taylor,  D.  D 129 

Rev.  R.  B.  Hemple 

1770.     Charles  Thompson Abial  Fislier,  D.D 133 

1770.  Samuel  Shepard,  M.  D *Mrs.  Kiddle..- 135 

Life  of  Governor  Plumer 

Rev.  Elias  Smith 

1771.  Edmund  Botsford Charles  D.  31allarv.  D.  D 138 

1771.  William  Rogers,  D.  D Daniel  Shaip,  D.  D 145 

1772.  Job  Seamans E.  E.  Cummiugs,  D.  D 149 

1772.  John  Taylor Rev.  James  E."  Welch 152 

1773.  William  Williams Abial   Eisher.  D.  D 159 

1773.  Richard  Furman,  D.  D William  Bullein  Johnson,  D.  D 101 

1774.  Thomas  Ustick General  William  Duncan 1G5 

1774.  Abraham  Marshall Kev.  A.  E.  Marshall  lyy 

Rev.  Juriali  Harriss 

1775.  John  Hastings Rev.  Daniel  Waldo 171 

1775.  John  Leland Hon.  G.  N.  Briggs,  LL.  D 174 

B.  T.  Welch,  D.  D 

1776.  Joseph  Cook 18,; 

1776.     Benjamin  Foster,  D.  D David  Benedict,  D.  D ......[...  191 

1776.  Caleb   Blood Hon.  Heman  Lincoln 19:; 

1777.  John  Pitman •Hon.  John  Pitman 19d 

Rev.  B.  H.  Pitman 

1777.  Lewis  Richards Rev.  George  F.  Adams 201 

1778.  Ambrose  Dudley Rev.  James  E.  Welch 202 

1780      Isaac  Case Adam  Wilson,  D.  D 205 

1782.     Thomas  Baldwin,  D.  D Francis  Wayland,  D.  D 208 

1784.     Henry  Holcombe,  D.  D Hon.  Joseph  R.  Chandler 215 

1784.     Joseph  Grafton Prulessor  William  Gammell 221 

Samuel  F.  Smilh,  D.  D 

1786.     Stephen  Gano,  M.  D Henry  Jackson,  D.  D 229 

Hon.  James  Tallmadge,  LL.D 

Rev.  Daniel  Waldo 

1786.     William  Elliot Rev.  John  Parkhurst 235 

1786.     Aaron  Leland Kcv.  Ira  Pearson 240 

1786.     John  Stanford,  D.  D Ch.arlcs  G.  Sommers.  D.  D 244 

1786.  Andrew  Marshall J.  P.  Tustin,  D.  D. .' 251 

John  M.  Krebs,  D.  D 

1787.  Thomas  B.  Montanyc H.  G .  Jones,  D.  D 265 

1787.     Elisha  Andrews ...  Rev.  Erastus  Andrews 268 

Abial  Fisher,  D.  D 

Rev.  John  M   Graves 

1787.  Jolm  Tripp Adam  Wilson,  D.  D 277 

1788.  Henry  Smalley G.  S.Webb,  D.  D 281 

1788.  Jesse  Mercer,  D.  D Adiel  Sherwood,  D.  D 283 

1789.  Andrew  Broaddus Robert  Rvland,  D.D 200 

1790.  Jonathan  Maxcy,  D.  D Hon.  Triitam  Burges 297 

Gardiner  B.  Perry,  D.  D 

1790.     Robert  Baylor  Semple Robert  Ryland,  D.  D 305 

1790.  Abel  Woods Leonard  Woods,   D.D 311 

1791.  Daniel  Wildman, Rev.  Gurdon  Robins 3lfi 

Rev.  Daniel  Waldo 

1792.  William  Batchelder Miss  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody 31!) 

Irah  Cliase,  ]).  D 

1792.     Asa  Mcsscr,  D.  D.,  LL.D E.  A.  Park,  D.  D 326 

Hon.  William  L.  Marcy 


CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX.  Xxi 

8DBJECTS.  WRITERS  PAGE. 

1793.  William  Staugliton,  D.  D Daniel  Sharp,  D.  D SU 

Tiiomas  ]).  Mitchell,   M.  D 

1794.  Morgan  John  Rhees >'ichola.s  Murray,  D.  D 314 

•Dr.  Beiijaiuiii  Kiisli 

1794.     Zcnas  Lockwood  Leonard Alvan  Bond,  D.  D 347 

1794.     Jolin  llealey Rev.  Geor^'e  F.  Adams 354 

B.  T.  AVelch,  D.  D 

179r>.     John  Triliiams Charles  G.  Sommers,  D.  D 358 

179o.     William  Parkinson B.  T.  Welch,  D.  D 362 

179o.     Stephen  Smith  Nelson Rohert  Turnhull.  D.  D 306 

1797.    Isaac  Sawver S.  S.  Cutting.  D.  D 309 

1797.  Daniel  Dodge Rev.  Ilcnrv  C.  Fish 374 

1798.  William  Collier Barun  Sto'w,  D.  D 376 

1799.  Clark  Kendrick Rev.  Nathaniel  Colver 879 

1799.    Asahcl  Morse Rufus  Bahcock,  D.  D 386 

1799.  Elisha  Scott  Williams Irah  Chase,  D.  D 392 

1799      Benjamin  Titcomb Rev.  Thomas  B.  Ripley 394 

R.  W.  Cnshman,  D.  D 

1799      Joshua  Bradley Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 400 

1800.  John  Sterrv Rev.  Frederic  Denison 407 

1800.     Ezra  Eutler" Rev.  Alvah  Sabin   411 

Rev.  J.  Hobij 

1800.     Jeremiah  Yardcman    John  M.  Peck,  D.  1) 417 

Rev.  J.  E.  Welch 

1800.     Jacob  Walker W.  T.  Brantly,  D.  D 428 

1800.  John  Peck Professor  Andrew  Ten  Brook 431 

1801.  Charles  Odingsell  Screven.  D.  D . .   Adiel  Sherwood,  D.  D 439 

1801.     llosea  Ilolcombe Rev.  William  Carey  Crane 442 

1801.     John  Kerr...    J.  B.  Jeter,  D.  D 444 

William  Hooper,  LL.D 

1801.  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  D.  D Rufus  Bahcock,  D.  D 4.52 

1802.  Salmon  Morton O.N.  Worden.  Esq 400 

1802.  Jeri-miah  Chaplin,  D.  D Thomas  J.  Conant,  D.  D 462 

Hon.  James  Brooks 

William  Lamson,  D.  D 

1803.  Thomas  Brown Rev,  Thomas  AVinter 4G9 

J.  L.  Dagg,  D.  D 

1803.     Lucius  BoUes,  D.  D Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 474 

1803.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,  D.  D A.  C.  Kendrick,  D.  D 482 

1804.  Joseph  Clay 'Joseph  C  Styles,  D.  D 487 

Hon.  John  Macpherson  Berrien 

1804.     John  Clark John  Russell,  Esq 490 

1804.  William  Theophiius  Brantly,  D.  D.  B.  Manlv,  I).  D 497 

Richard  "Fuller,  D.  D 

180,5.     Daniel  Merrill Adam  Wilson.  D.  D 507 

Rev.   James  Gillpatrick 

1805.  William  Palmer Rev.  Frederick  Denison 511 

1806.  Samuel  Lamkin  Straughan Rev.  Addison  Hall 514 

1800.     David  Jones Rev.  Thomas  Winter ...  518 

iSOiJ.     Silas  Stearns Adam  Wilson.  D.  D ,524 

Ray  Palmer,  D.  D 

1806.     Charles  Train Henrv  J.  Riplev,  D.  D 530 

1806.     Alfred  Bennett B.  T.  Welch,  D.  D 535 

1806.  Ob.adiah  B.  Brown G.  W.  Samson,  D.  D 538 

1807.  Isaac  McCuv Joseph  Chambers,  Esq -541 

Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 

1808.  Daniel    ITascall William  H.  Shailer.  D.  D 547 

George  W.  Eaton.  D.  D 

1808.  William  Phillips  Biddle Samuel  Wait,  D.  D 559 

1809.  Elisha  Cushman Robert  Turnhull,  I).  D 562 

1809.  Daniel  Sharp,  D.  D Barnas  Sears.  D.  D 565 

Stephen  P.  Hill.  D.  D 

E.  L.  Magoon,  D.  D 

1810.  Lott  Carv William  Crane,  Esq ,578 

1811.  HervevJenks J.  Newton  Brown,   D.  D ,'i87 

1811.  Jonathan  Going,  D.  D B.  T.  Welch.  D.  D 591 

Hon.  Isaac  Davis 

1812.  James  .Ai»nning  Wiuchell Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 595 


xxii  CHRONOLOGICAL  INDEX. 

SUBJECTS.  'WRITERS.  PAGK 

1812.     George  Angell Abial  Fisher,  D.  D 599 

1812.     Luther  Riec Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D G02 

K.  H.  Noale,  D.  D 

1812.  Adoniram  Judson,  D.  D William  Hague,  D.  D 607 

1813.  Daniel  Henry  Barues Jacob  Van  Vechten,  D.  D G21 

Hon.  G.  C.  Verj)lanck 

1813.  Silas  Mercer  Noel,  D.D Hon.  Charles  S.  Todd 627 

1814.  William  Easterly  Ashton J.  H.  Kennard,  D.  D 631 

G.  B.  Perry.  DD.,  LL.D 

1814.  Gustavus  Fellowes  Davis,  D.D...   Robert  Turnbull,  D  D 635 

1815.  Spencer  Houghton  Cone,  D.D Rutus  Babcock,  D.  D 642 

J.  L.Dagg,  D.D 

S.  IL  Co.x,  D.D 

1816.  Abner  Wentworth  Clopton J.  B.  .Jeter,  D.  D 657 

1816.     Thomas  Meredith Rev.  AVilliara  Carey  Crane 663 

Rev.  James  McDaniel 

1816.     Elisha  Tucker,  D.D V.  R.  Hotchkiss,  D.D 667 

James  L .  Hodge,  D.D 

1818.     Stephen  Chapin,  D.  D Alvah  Woods,  D.  D 673 

1818.     Ebenezer  Nelson Henry  Jackson,  D.  D 677 

1818.     Ebenezer  Rodgers Rev.  Washington  Leverett 681 

John  Russell,   Esq 

1818.  Jesse  Babcock  Worden Rev.  Nathan  Callender 688 

O.  N .  Worden,  Esq 

Rev.  Henry  Curtis 

1819.  Ezekiel  Skinner,  .M  D Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley 694 

Rev.  J.  B.  Finney 

Rev.  Gurdon  Robins 

1820.  Noah  Davis John  L.  Dagg,  D.D 701 

1820.     James  Davis  Knowles "Mrs.  Knowles 707 

Baron  Stow,  D.  D 

1822.     John  Equality  Weston Rufus  Babcock,  D.D 713 

1822.     John  S.  AVillson Christian  Repository 717 

JggH  The  Gillettes A.  D.  Gillette,  D.  D 719 

1822.  Cvrus  Whitman  Hodges Sewell  S.  Cutting,  D.D 724 

1823.  Peter  Ludlow Henry  Jackson.  D.  D 727 

1824.  George  Leonard Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 729 

1824.  George  Dana  Boardman Rufus  Babcock,  D.  D 733 

F.  Mason.  D.  D 

1824.  Billington  McCarter  Sanders CD.  Mallary,  D.D 740 

1825.  Alonzo  King Baron  Stow,  I).  D 747 

1826.  Willard  Judd *Archibald  Maclay,  D.  D 750 

1826.  John  Armstrong Rev.  William  Carey  Crane 753 

1827.  Joseph  Samuel  Christian  Frede- 

rick Frey Archibald  Maclay,  D.  D 757 

1827.     John  Sharp  Maginnis,  D.  D William  R.  Williams,  D.  D 766 

B.  T.  AVelcli,  D.  D 

1829.     John  Taylor  Jones,  D.  D William  Dean,  D.  D 772 

S.  F.  Smith,  D.D 

J.Dowling,  D.D 

1829.    Morgan  John  Rhees,  D.  D M.  B.  Anderson,  D.  D 780 

B.  T.  AVelch,  D.  D 

1829.  Levi  Tucker,  D.D E.  L.  Magoon,  D.D 786 

1830.  Jacob  H .  Schroebel Hon.  Judge  Porter 789 

1830.  Josiah  S])ry  Law Rev.  William  JL  Mcintosh 791 

1831.  James  Harvey  Linsley Robert  Turnbull.  D.  D. 795 

Rev.  David  L.  Ogden 

1832.  Ralph  Miner  Prentice Rev.  WiUiam  Carey  Crane 802 

1832.  Isaac  Taylor  Hinton James  B.  Tavlor,  D.  D 804 

Rev.  H.  M.  Field 

1833.  William  Milton  Tryon Rev.  and  Hon.  R.  E.  B.  Baylor 812 

1833.     George  Felix  Heard 'Samuel  Miller,  D.D " 815 

W.  F.  Brantly  D.  D 

Hon.  Thomas  Stocks 

Rev.  William  Carey  Crane 

1835.     RockwoodGiddings Professor  J.  E.  Farnara 818 

/.  L.  Waller,  LL.D 

# 


CHRONOLOGICAL  INDKX.  Xxiii 

SUBJECTS.  WRITERS.  TAOE. 

1835.     Hiram  Atwell  Graves Uobort  Turtihull,  D.  D 823 

1838.     Robert  Fulton  Ellis R.«v.  AYashington  Lcverctt 827 

"William  Crowell.  I).  D 

1838.  Josiah  Goddard AViUiam  Dean.  D.  D 831 

Kev.  J.  K.  AViRht 

1839.  David  Black  Crawford. .   Rev.  William  Carey  Crane 834 

1840.  John  Lightfoot  Waller,  LL.D. . . .   Professor  J.  E.  Farnam 837 

/.  M.  Peck,  D.  D 

1789.     James  Whitsitt Robert  Boyle  C.  Howell,  D.  D.  . . . ; . .  845 


HANSARD  KNOLL YS. 

1G38*— 1G41. 

FROJI  THE  REV.     J.  NEWTON   BROWN..  D   D. 

raiLADKLi'iiiA.  January  13,  185'J. 

Dear  Sir  :    The  sketch  ■which  I  am  about  to  funiish  you  of  one  of  the 

irlicst  pioneers  of  Baptist  principles,  was  originally  prepared  for  the  New 

lanipshire  Historical  Society,  and  in  its  original  form  appeared  in  one  of 

jhc  volumes  of  their  Collections.     I  have  since  found  new  materials,  of 

which  I  have  availed  myself,  to  make  it  more  perfect,  and  am  not  aware  of 

all}'  remaining  sources  of  information,  which  I  have  not  explored. 

The  name  of  Hansard  Knollys  is  eminent  among  the  English  Baptists 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Of  late  years  it  has  been  widely  spread,  in 
connection  with  the  issues  of  the  Baptist  "Hansard  Knollys  Society,"  a 
Historical  Society  in  London,  which  has  felt  itself  honoured  by  the  selec- 
tion of  his  name,  and  which,  since  1845,  has  been  nobly  engaged  in  pub- 
lishing, by  subscription,  accurate  and  annotated  editions  of  the  first  Tracts 
on  Liberty  of  Conscience,  and  other  rare  Baptist  works  of  that  early 
period, — works  rarer  and  more  precious  than  the  purest  pearls  of  ocean. 

The  life  of  Hansard  Knoll3^s  embraced  nearly  a  whole  century, — frotii 
1598  to  1G91  ;  and  that  century  is  the  most  interesting  and  momentous  in 
Knglish  Annals.  With  most  of  the  religious  movements  of  that  remarkable 
age,  his  biography  is  inwoven.  His  influence,  like  that  of  his  great  con- 
temporary, Boger  Williams,  was  felt  both  in  England  and  America.  In 
many  points  a  striking  resemblance  might  be  traced,  were  this  the  place 
and  time.  One  point  of  difference  auiong  others,  is,  that  while  the  chief 
obscurity  in  the  biography  of  Williams  rests  on  his  residence  in  England, 
the  chief  obscurity  in  that  of  Knollys  rests  on  the  years  of  his  residence 
in  America.  My  object,  in  this  communication,  is  to  throw  light  upon  this 
dark  period  of  his  history. 

Some  preliminary  statements  may  be  necessary  to  do  this  effectually.  It 
is  important  to  know  what  he  was  before  he  came  to  this  country  ;  and. 
happily,  Crosby  has  preserved  all  the  facts  necessary.!  Mr.  Knollys  was 
born  in  Chalkwell,  Lincolnshire,  1598.  His  parents  were  pious.  They 
'•  took  good  care,"  as  Crosby  says,  "  to  have  him  trained  up  in  good  litera- 
ture, and  instructed  betimes  in  the  principles  of  religion."  While  at  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  he  was  converted,  and  his  Christian  character 
became  of  the  highest  order.  "  Happy  would  it  be  for  this  nation,"  says 
Crosby,  "  if  our  Universities  and  private  Academics  were  filled  with  such 
students."  After  his  graduation  he  was  chosen  master  of  the  free  school 
at  Gainsborough.  In  June,  1029,  he  was  ordained  as  a  Deacon,  and  then 
as  a  Presbyter,  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  gave 
him  the  living  at  Humberstone.     His  diligence  was  great.      He  preached 

•The  sketch  will  show  that  this  date  is  assumed  on  probable  grounds  only, 
t  Crosby  I.  3.'?4-344. 

Vol.  VI.  1 


2  BAPTIST. 

three  and  four  times  a  day  on  the  Sabbath  at  Humberstone  and  Holton, 
besides  other  seasons,  as  well  to  the  poor  as  to  the  rich.  About  1632,  he 
began  to  doubt  the  lawfulness  of  conformity  to  the  Church  of  England, 
and  resigned  his  living  ;  but  continued  to  preach  several  years  longer,  with 
the  consent,  or  rather  connivance,  of  the  good  Bishop,  thougii  without  sur- 
plice or  prayer  book.  In  1G3G,  he  was  arrested  at  Boston,  in  his  native 
county  of  Lincoln,  by  a  Avarrant  from  the  odious  High  Commission  Court, 
and  thrown  into  prison  ;  but  his  keeper  being  conscience-stricken,  connived 
at  his  escape,  and  he  went  up  to  London  to  find  a  passage  to  America. 
There  he  was  detained  so  long,  with  his  wife  and  child,  that,  when  he 
cmljarked,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  "  he  had  but  just  six  brass  farthings  left, 
and  no  silver  or  gold."  A  little  money  of  his  wife  paid  their  passage. 
They  arrived  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  early  in  1638.  As  he  returned  to 
London  about  Christmas,  1641,  his  residence  in  America  must  have  been 
somewhat  less  than  four  years.  But  he  was  no  common  man.  lie  was  in 
the  full  vigour  of  life, — from  the  fortieth  to  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  Where  did  he  spend  these  four  years,  and  how  ?  What  influence 
did  he  exert?  What  character  did  he  sustain?  Why  did  he  return? 
Did  he  leave  his  mark  on  the  rising  institutions  of  this  countr}-,  and 
engrave  his  name  on  the  foundations  of  American  History  ?  These  are 
the  (|uestions  I  shall  attempt  briefly  to  answer. 

All  the  early  historians  of  New  England  mention  Hansard  Knollys. 
Winthroj).  Morton,  Hubbard,  Hutchinson,  Mather,  Prince,  Neal,  Backus, 
Belknap,  Eliot,  xVdams,  Winslovv,  though  the  last  four  or  five  are 
comparatively  modern.  Opinion  is  divided  about  him.  We  must  sift  the 
I'ucts  out  of  them  all,  and  make  due  allowance  for  the  diversity  of  opinion. 
Some  hints  may  be  gleaned  from  his  brief  Autobiography,  and  some  from 
the  early  New  Hampshire  Court  Records,  preserved  at  Exeter,  in  that 
State,  to  which,  through  the  courtesy  of  a  friend,  John  Kelly,  Esq.,  I 
have  had  access. 

Mr.  Knollys  arrived  at  Boston,  a  persecuted  fugitive,  in  a  state  of  utter 
destitution.  He  had  sacrificed  every  thing  for  conscience  sake.  His  child 
had  died  on  the  passage.  His  wife's  money  was  all  expended.  Governor 
Winthrop  calls  him  a  "poor  man."  Hubbard,  who  generally  copies 
W.inlhrop,  has  ventured  to  translate  this  "a  mean  fellow."  This  shows 
the  prejudices  of  the  time  in  ajninister  of  the  Pilgrims.  Knollys  himself 
says,  "  Being  very  poor,  I  was  necessitated  to  work  daily  with  my  hoe  for 
the  space  of  almost  three  weeks.  The  magistrates  were  told  by  the  min- 
isters thatr^  was  an  Antinomian,  and  desired  they  would  not  suftor  me  to 
abide  in  the  patent."  At  that  time  all  Boston  was  in  a  ferment  on  the 
question  of  Antinomianism,  and  hence  the  readinet^s  to  attach  suspicion  even 
to  Cotton  and  Vane,  much  more  to  all  new  comers.  This  was  at  the  very 
year  that  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson,  and  her  brother,  the  Rev.  John  Wheel- 
wright, with  their  friends,  were  banished  on  the  same  charge.  Providence 
interposed  to  save  Mr.  Knollys  from  perishing  under  this  chilling  reception 
from  the  Puritans — among  whom,  at  the  very  head  of  the  ministers 
indeed,  was  John  Cotton,  from  that  very  Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  where 
Knollys  was  first  arrested  for  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
God  had  a  work  for  Mr.  Knollys  to  do  in  America.     Two  gentlemen  from 


HANSARD  KNOLLYS.  3 

Dover,  N.  II.,  (then  a  new  settlenirtit  called  Fiscaratcaij,*  of  fifteen  years 
standing,)  being  at  that  time  in  Boston,  invited  Mr.  Knollys  to  go  with 
them,  and  preach  in  Dover.  He,  accordingly,  went,  but,  on  his  arrival 
there,  Capt.  Burdet,  who  had  usurped  the  government,  forbid  him  to 
preach.  He  meekly  submitted  to  this  tyrannical  interdict,  and  resorted  to 
iiiuuual  labour  again  for  his  subsistence.  But,  on  Burdet's  removal  in  Sep- 
tembor,  "the  people,"  says  Winthrop,  "called  Mr.  Knollys,  and,  in  a 
short  time,  he  gathered  some  of  the  best  minded  into  a  church  body,  and 
became  their  Pastor."!  This  was  about  the  time  that  Iloger  Williams 
was  baptized  at  Providence. 

Were  it  certain  that  Hansard  Knollys  was  a  decided  Baptist,  when  he 
gathered  the  First  Church  in  Dover,  it  might  be  maintained  with  some 
reason  that  he  was  the  first  Baptist  Minister  in  America.  But  there  is 
room  now  to  doubt.  True,  he  is  called  an  "Anabaptist"  by  Mather  and 
Belknap,  but  they  were  not  contemporary,  and  Winthrop,  who  was  con- 
temporary, neither  affirms  nor  denies  it  at  the  time.  This  makes  it  most 
probable  that  he  was  not  a  Baptist  when  he  arrived  in  Dover.  Indeed  we 
know  not  where,  when,  or  by  whom  he  was  baptized.  In  the  absence  of 
direct  testimony,  it  may  be  inferred,  from  various  circumstances,  that  ho 
became  a  Baptist  while  in  Dover.  It  is,  however,  possible,  that  he 
embraced  Baptist  sentiments,  and  was  baptized  in  London,  \vhile  waiting 
for  a  passage  to  America. 

We  have  seen,  from  Winthrop's  Journal,  that  the  Church  in  Dover  was 
founded  by  Mr.  Knollys,  soon  after  September,  1638.  This  was  the  first 
Church  in  Dover,  if  not  in  New  Hampshire.  It  was  then  a  Congregational 
Church.  The  First  Congregational  Church  in  Exeter,  founded  by  John 
Wheelwright,  claims  the  priority  by  a  few  months,  and  is  probably  right  in 
doing  so.t  This  would  make  Knollys'  Church  the  second  in  New 
Hampshire. 

Mr.  Knollys  continued  in  the  peaceful  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a 
Christian  Pastor  at  Dover  for  about  two  years,  without  interruption.  The 
settlement,  during  that  period,  in  consequence  of  Capt.  Mason's  death 
and  the  giving  up  of  his  patent  by  his  widow,  was  a  little  independent 
Republic,  of  which  Mr.  Knollys  was,  beyond  doubt,  the  most  enlightened 
and  accomplished  citizen, — aiding,  by  his  fine  powers,  in  moulding  its 
principles  and  institutions  at  the  foundation.  Up  to  this  period  his  charac- 
ter appears  to  be  established  as  that  of  a  pious,  learned,  laborious 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  willingly  suffering  poverty,  imprisonment,  exile, 
and  reproach  for  Christ's  sake,  and  for  conscience  sake.  He  appears, 
also,  to  be  a  man  of  peace.  He  did,  indeed,  write  a  letter  from  Boston, 
soon  after  his  arrival  there,  reflecting  severely  upon  the  manner  in  which 
things  were  then  managed  in  Church  and  State  ;  but,  for  the  severity  of 
this  letter,  he  afterwards  made  an  ingenuous  and  satisfactory  confession. 
Few  living  men  now  would  blame  him  for  writing  sharply  to  his  friends  of 
the  ojiprcssive  system  under  which  he  suffered  on  his  first  arrival  in  Bos- 
tf>n.     There  is  yet  another  charge  of  this  nature,  which  is  not  true.     Both 

•  This  i?  the  original  orthography.  It  was  afterwards  written  Piscataqua,  which  name  the 
river  still  iears. 

t  Winthrop,  I.  326. 
t  Winthrop,  I.  211. 


4  BAPTIST. 

Governor  Hutcliinson  and  Dr.  Belknap  have,  by  mistake,  imputed  to  Mr. 
Knollys  the  insolent  language  of  Capt.  Undorhill,  as  recorded  by  Win- 
tlirop.*  This  blot  does  not  belong  to  the  character  of  Hansard  Knollys, 
and  should  be  wiped  away  from  his  history. 

The  arrival  of  Mr.  Thomas  Larkhani  at  Dover,  in  1G40,  changed  the 
peaceful  current  of  affairs,  and  put  the  peaceable  character  of  Mr.  Knollys 
to  the  strongest  proof.  Mr.  Larkham  had  been  a  minister  in  Northam, 
England.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  popular  talents.  He  soon  formed 
a  party,  who  determined  to  remove  Knollys.  Dr.  Belknap  says  that 
"  Knollys  generously  gave  way  to  popular  prejudice,  and  suffered  Lark- 
ham  to  take  his  place."  He  further  says  that  Larkham.,  when  once  in 
power,  "  soon  discovered  his  licentious  principles,  by  receiving  into  the 
church  persons  of  immoral  characters,  and  assuming,  like  Burdet,  the 
civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  better  sort  of  people  were 
displeased,  and  restored  Knollys  to  his  office,  who  excommunicated  Lark- 
ham." Of  course,  this  language  of  Dr.  Belknap  can  only  mean  that  the 
church  under  Mr.  Knollys  excommunicated  Mr.  Larkham  for  his  disor- 
derly course.  Upon  this,  Larkham  and  his  adherents  raised  a  riot,  in 
April,  1G41,  and,  according  to  the  reliable  testimony  of  Winthrop,  "laid 
violent  hands  upon  Mr.  Knollys."  This  was  just  before  the  union  of 
New  Hampshire  with  Massachusetts,  which  was  already  negotiating,  and 
was  ratified  in  the  course  of  the  following  month.  The  whole  town  was 
thrown  into  confusion.  In  these  exciting  and  critical  circumstances,  cither 
the  solicitation  of  his  fellow-citizens,  or  his  own  sense  of  duty,  impclleil 
Mr.  Knollys  to  appear  in  public  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  citizens,  Avith  a 
flying  banner,  seeking  to  restore  order.  Larkham's  company  sent  down 
the  river  to  Portsmouth  for  help,  and  a  body  of  armed  men  came  up,  under 
Williams,  and,  without  any  legal  authority,  assumed  control,  sat  as  a  Court, 
and  pronounced  sentence  against  Mr.  Knollys,  "  fining  him  £100,  and 
ordering  him  to  depart  the  plantation."! 

It  is  worthy  of  consideration  here,  how  far  Mr.  Knollys'  sentiments  as 
a  Baptist  affected  this  question.  That  he  was,  at  this  time,  (April,  1641,) 
a  Baptist,  is  quite  clear,  not  only  from  the  language  of  Cotton  Mather 
and  Dr.  Belknap,  before  referred  to,  but  from  the  testimony  of  an  unim- 
peachable witness,  who  visited  Dover  within  a  year  of  the  time, — Mr. 
Thomas  Lcchford,  an  Episcopalian,  who  has  left  us  some  valuable  infor- 
mation on  the  state  of  affairs  throughout  New  England  at  that  period. 
The  origin  of  the  controversy  between  Larkham  and  Knoll^'s  is  attributed 
by  Lechford  chiefly  to  their  different  views  on  Baptism  and  Church  nu-ni- 
bership.  His  own  words  are  these :  "  They  two  fell  out  about  baptizing 
children,  receiving  of  members,  &c."  Winthrop  says,  "  there  soon  grew 
sharp  contention  between  him  (Larkham)  and  Mr.  Knollys,  to  u-linm  1  he 
more  religious  still  adhered;  whereupon,  they  were  divided  into  tun 
churches. "1^  This  testimony  is  important  and  decisive.  It  proves  thai 
Mr.  Knollys  had  embraced  Baptist  views,  at  least  so  far  as  Infant  liaplism 
and  the  purity  of  church  membership  are  concerned;  that  the  more  pious 

•  Vol.  I.  292. 

t  Winthrop,  II.  27. 

t  Winthrop,  II.  27.     Xote  by  Judge  Savage. 


IIANSAKI)  KNOLL YS.  5 

church  members  agreed  with  him  ;  in  sliort,  that  the  First  Churcli  in  Dover 
became  a  Baptist  church,  and  that  a  second  church  was  tliereupou  formed 
by  the  disaflfected  members,  who,  under  the  lead  of  Larkham,  stirred  up 
the  prejudices  of  the  people  against  Mr.  Kuollys,  and  even  resorted  to 
violent  measures  to  put  him  down.  And  this  testimony  is  further  con- 
lirmed  by  the  fact  that,  when  commissioners  were  sent  from  Massachusetts, 
(which  then  claimed  jurisdiction  over  Dover,  both  as  included  in  their 
patent  and  now  agreed  to  by  the  Colony,)  tliey  adjusted  the  difficulty  by 
releasing  Mr.  Knollys  from  the  fine  and  the  censure  of  an  illegal  and 
ex  parte  Court,  and  requiring  the  church  to  revoke  their  sentence  of 
excommunication  against  Larkham.* 

The  whole  testimony,  thus  far,  is  in  I\Ir.  Knollys'  favor.  But  at  this 
juncture  arose  the  cloud  that,  in  this  country,  to  a  great  extent,  has  over- 
shadowed his  fair  fame.  Both  "Winthrop  and  Belknap  say  that  "a 
discovery  was  made  of  his  failure  in  point  of  chastity,"  and  that  he  him- 
self confessed  it  before  the  church, — at  least  to  the  extent  of  some  impro- 
per "dalliance"  with  two  young  women  that  lived  in  his  family,  and  that 
on  this  account  he  was  dismissed  by  the  church  and  removed  from  Dover. 
This  charge,  against  such  a  man,  is  a  grave  one.  It  has  been  reported  by 
Hubbard  in  an  exaggerated  form ;  and  more  recently  in  a  History  of  the 
First  Church  in  Dover,  published  in  1800.  I  cannot,  therefore,  do  less 
than  examine  it  in  this  connection. 

How  much  is  meant  by  the  term  "  dalliance,"  in  the  language  of  the 
Puritans  of  that  age,  we  know  not.  But  we  do  know  that  there  are  several 
circumstances  which  render  the  truth  of  tliis  whole  accusation  very  doubt- 
ful. In  the  first  place,  it  rests  altogether  upon  the  testimony  of  prejudiced 
historians,  who  regarded  him,  to  use  the  language  of  Dr.  Belknap,  as  "  an 
Anabaptist  of  the  Antinomian  east."  iiven  AVinthrop,  with  all  his  gene- 
ral candour,  was  not  free  from  this  prejudice,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
case  was  wholly  second-hand, — perhaps  from  the  Massachusetts  Commis- 
sioners, perhaps  onl}'  from  vague  and  prejudiced  reports  of  some  of  his 
enemies,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  put  down  the  then  odious  and  dreaded 
Baptists.  But,  in  the  second  place,  (aided  by  an  antiquarian  friend,  John 
Kelly,  J}sq.,  of  Exeter,)  I  have  had  access  to  the  Judicial  Ptecords  of  New 
Hampshire  for  IGll,  and  there  find  the  name  of  Hansard  Knollys  entered 
as  plui/it/Jf  in  an  action  of  slander,  which,  though  never  prosecuted,  in 
consequence  of  his  return  to  England,  at  least  implies  that  he  regarded 
himself  as  an  injured  man.t  Thirdly,  in  the  "Account  of  his  own  Life," 
{lublished  iti  England,  he  gives  this  as  the  immediate  reason  of  his  return — 
"  Being  sent  for  to  England,  by  my  aged  father,  I  returned  with  my  wife, 
and  one  child  about  three  years  old."  Fourthly,  Cotton  Mather,  who 
wrote  within  about  fifty  years  after  the  time,  when  the  first  reports  had 
been  more  thoroughly  sifted,  and  having  full  access  to  Winthrop's  Journal, 
where  the  accusation  in  question  is  found,  expressly  excepts  Hansard 
Knollys  from  the  number  of  "  scandalous"  ministers,  and  places  him  in  a 
class  "  whose  names,"  he  says,  "  deserve  to  live  in  our  book  for  their  piety, 
although  their  particular  opinions  were  such  as  to  be  disserviceable  unto  the 

•  Winthrop,  I.  27. 

t  Exeter  News  Letter,  May  1,  1832. 


Q  BAPTIST. 

declared  and  supposed  interests  of  our  churches.  Of  these,"  he  says, 
"  were  some  godly  Auabaptiats,  as  namely,  Mr.  Hansard  Kuollys,  of  Dover, 
and  Mr.  Miles,*  of  Swansea."  But  what  seems  particularly  to  touch  the 
point  in  hand,  Mather  adds,  "  Both  of  these  have  a  respectful  character  iu 
the  churches  of  this  wilderness."!  And  to  crown  all,  in  speaking  of  the 
then  recent  decease  of  3Ir.  Ivuoll3's  in  London,  Mather  says  he  died  "  a 
good  man,  in  a  good  old  age."  We  know  that  there  are  spots  on  the  sun, 
and  that  even  great  and  good  men  have  sometimes  fallen  in  an  evil  hour; 
but  I  think  that  he  who  duly  weighs  these  facts  and  testimonies,  and 
compares  them  with  all  the  antecedent  and  subsequent  life  of  Hansard 
Knollys,  will  be  slow  to  credit  any  injurious  imputation  on  his  character 
during  the  ti>'^e  of  his  residence  in  America. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  follow  Mr.  Knollys  back  to  England,  and  trace 
his  eventful  life  fur  the  next  fifty  years,  through  the  most  agitated  period 
of  English  History.  The  theme  is  most  inviting,  and,  at  some  other  time, 
might  be  pursued  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and  profit.  We  should  see  in 
him  one  of  the  brightest  lights  of  his  age,  one  of  the  ablest  preachers  of 
**"«  Gospel,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  teachers  of  youth,  one  of  the 
Doldest  pioneers  of  religious  liberty,  one  of  the  meekest,  yet  most  heroic, 
sulferers  for  the  truth,  one  of  the  purest  and  best  of  men.  We  have  the 
testimony  of  Neal,  in  his  History  of  New  England,  that  "  he  suffered 
deeply  in  the  cause  of  Nonconformity,  being  universally  esteemed  and 
beloved  by  all  his  brethren. "$  We  may  be  permitted  to  cite  from  a  ser- 
mon preached  at  Pinner's  Hall,  Loudon,  on  occasion  of  his  death,  (which 
took  place  September  19,  1G91,)  the  following  testimony  to  the  eminent 
purity  of  his  character, — a  character  which  his  long  and  venerable  life  had 
elevated  above  all  suspicion.  "I  do  not  say,"  says  Mr.  Harrison,  "that 
he  was  wholly  free  from  sin  :  sinless  perfection  is  unattainable  in  a  mortal 
state  ;  but  yet  he  was  one  who  carefully  endeavoured  to  avoid  it.  He,  with 
the  Apostle  Paul,  did  herein  exercise  himself  to  have  always  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  towards  God  and  towards  men.  He  walked  with  that  cau- 
tion, that  his  greatest  enemies  had  nothing  against  him,  save  only  in  the 
matters  of  his  God.  That  holy  life  which  he  lived,  did  command  reverence 
even  from  those  who  were  enemies  to  the  holy  doctrine  which  he  preached. 
He  was  a  preacher  out  of  the  pulpit  as  well  as  in  it :  not  like  those  who 
press  the  form  of  godliness  on  a  Lord's  day,  and  as  openly  deny  the  power 
of  it  the  remainder  of  the  week  ;  who  pluck  down  that  in  their  conversa- 
tions, whicji  they  build  up  in   their  pulpits He  loved   the 

image  of  God  wherever  ho  saw  it.      He  was  not  a  man  of  a  narrow  and 
private,  but  of  a  large  ami  public,  spirit  :   the  dift'erence  of  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians' opinions  from  his,  did  not  alienate  his  afiections  from  them. 
He  embraced  them  in  the  arms  of  his  love  on  earth,  with  whom  he  tliought 
he  should  join  in  singing  the  song  of  the  Lamb  iu  Heaven.       It  wuuld  be 

•John  Miles  was  the  founder  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Swansea,  in  Wales,  1649,  and  was 
ejected  from  his  place,  by  the  "  Act  of  Uniformity,"  in  li)t)2.  lie  came  to  this  country  iu  lG(j;i, 
accompanied  by  severnl  of  the  members  of  his  church,  who  were,  iuimediately  after,  organized 
as  the  First  liaptist  Church  in  Swansea,  Mass.  Of  this  church  he  continued  the  Pastor  until 
his  death,  which  took  i)lace  in  1083.  Tradition  gives  hiia  the  reputation  of  having  been  an 
emincnily  useful  man. 

t  Magualia  I.  Book  III.  p.  221 

i^;eal,  Vol.  I.  p.  216. 


HANSARD  KNOLLYS.  7 

well,"  continues  Mr.  Harrison,  "if  not  only  private  Christians,  but  also 
ministers,  did  imitate  him  therein  :  there  would  not  then  be  that  sourness 
of  spirit  which  is  too  often  (with  grief  be  it  spoken)  found  among  them. 
lie  was  willing  to  bear  with  and  forbear  others,  and  to  pass  by  those  inju- 
ries which  he  received  from  them."* 

Such  was  Hansard  Kuollys.  Is  it  wonderful  that  God  blessed  him  ? 
Short  as  was  his  residence  in  America,  the  fruit  of  his  labours  remains  to 
this  day.  The  church  which  he  planted  in  Dover,  though  divided  on  Bap- 
tism, did  not  perish.  The  Pedobaptist  body  now  flourishes  in  the  large 
Congregational  church  of  Dover,  the  fruitful  mother  of  many  others,  with 
Baptist  sisters  side  by  side.  The  Baptist  body,  composed,  as  Winthrop 
says,  of  "  the  more  religious,"  adhered  to  Mr.  Knollys ;  and,  to  avoid  the 
oppressive  Church  and  State  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  under  which 
they  now  came,  removed  to  Long  Island  in  1641.  After  Long  Island  fell 
under  the  power  of  the  English,  in  1GG4,  and  the  Episcopal  Establishment 
succeeded  that  of  the  Dutch,  under  Stuyvcsant,  they,  as  soon  as  possible, 
sold  out  their  property  there,  and  settled  on  the  East  side  of  the  liaritan, 
N.  J.,  opposite  New  Brunswick,  where,  under  Lord  Carteret,  they  could 
enjoy  religious  liberty.  To  the  town  which  they  here  planted,  they  trans- 
ferred tlie  dear  old  name  of  Dover, — Piscataivay,  (according  to  the  original 
orthography,)  in  memory  of  their  first  home  in  the  wilderness,  wliere  they 
had  enjoyed,  for  three  years  and  more,  the  ministrations  of  their  first  loved 
Pastor,  Hansard  Knollys.  The  church,  when  fully  organized,  and  favoured 
again  with  pastoral  care,  under  Mr.  Drake,!  in  1689,  flourished  anew, 
bearing  much  and  blessed  fruit.  So  deeply  did  it  strike  its  roots  into  the 
new  soil,  that,  to  this  day,  no  better  kind  of  Christians  grow  than  in  Pisca- 
taway  ;  and  not  only  do  they  fill  the  town,  but,  in  the  towns  around  it,  new 
churches  are  continually  springing  as  shoots  from  the  parent  tree,  planted 
by  Hansard  Knollys,  in  America. t 

Affectionately  yours  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 

J.  ISEWTON  BROWN. 

•  Crosby,  I.  340. 

t  John  Ukake  laboured  among  this  people  from  1CS9  till  his  death  in  1739.  He  sustained 
an  excellent  character.  His  dcsceudauts,  who  were  numerous,  claim  kindred  to  tjir  I'rancis 
Drake. 

X  Since  the  date  of  this  communication,  its  author  has  found  reason  to  modify  somewhat  the 
views  here  expressed,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  dated  April  28, 
1859,  wiiich  he  wrote  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  whether  Kuollys  or  Willioms  was  the  first  Baptist 
minister  in  this  country  : 

If  the  oiiinion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Belcher,  (to  which  I  now  incline,)  could  be  proved,  that 
Knollys  was  actually  baptized  iu  London,  wliile  awaiting  his  passage  to  America,  it  would  set- 
tle the  question  of  priority  by  some  months  in  his  favour.  The  chief  probabilities  for  this 
opinion  are  tliat  Baptist  views  were  rapitily  gaining  ground  in  London,  at  the  time,  among  tho 
class  with  which  Knollys  would  be  tlirown  fur  sympathy  and  safety;  that  Dr.  Belknap  calls 
him  an  Anabaptist  at  the  time  of  his  arrival ;  that  he  took  Baptist  ground  in  the  trouble  with 
Larkhani,  and  ever  maintained  it  afterwards ;  and  that  we  have  no  account  of  his  Baptism  after 
his  return  to  this  country,  nor  lehile  he  ivan  here. 

I  have  thought,  hitherto,  that  it  was  a  strong  negative  evidence  against  this  view, — that  neither 
Winthrop  nor  he  himself  should  mention  the  fact,  as  the  ground  of  his  rejection  by  tho  Boston 
ministers  and  magistrates.  But  it  now  seems  less  unaccountable  than  formerly, — first,  because 
the  .\ntinoniian  controversy,  raised  by  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  then  overruled  every  other  considera- 
tion; and  second,  that  the  clergy  of  Boston,  iu  their  reply  to  Mr.  Saltonstalls  remonstrance, 
claim  to  have  "tolerated  peaceable  Anabaptists"  from  the  beginning,  (or  something  to  that 
effect) .  Of  course,  if  they  regarded  Jlr.  Knollys  as  belonging  to  the  "  Antinomian"  side  in  that 
e.vciting  controversy,  they  would  put  their  objection  to  him  on  that  ground  emphatically,  if 
not  solely.  The  laws  against  "  Anabaptists' were  not  enacted  until  1664,  that  is,  six  years 
later. 

It  is,  then,  more  than  possible,— it  is  rather  probable,  on  the  whole, — that  Mr.  Knollys  was 
already  a  Baptist  on  his  arrival  in  America,  in  the  spring  of  1638 ;  and  if  so,  then  he  was  the  first 


g  BAPTIST. 


KOGER  WILLIAMS.=* 

1639—1639. 

llOGER  Williams,  according  to  the  traditions  which  have  been  preserved 
concerning  him,  was  born  in  Wales,  in  the  year  1599;  but  of  the  character 
or  circumstances  of  his  family,  or  the  particular  place  of  his  birth,  nothing 
can  now  be  ascertained.  His  mind  seems  to  have  taken  an  early  religious 
direction;  for  he  says,  near  the  close  of  his  life, — "From  my  childhood, 
now  above  threescore  years,  the  Father  of  lights  and  mercies  touched  my 
soul  with  a  love  to  Himself,  to  his  only  begotten,  the  true  Lord  Jesus,  and 
to  his  Holy  Scriptures."  He  is  said  to  have  been  educated  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  under  the  patronage  of  Sir  Edward  Coke ;  and  that  this 
was  in  consequence  of  Sir  Edward's  having  observed  his  sedate  appear- 
ance at  church,  and  his  taking  notes  of  the  sermon  ;  but  this  is  rendered 
somewhat  improbable  by  the  fact  that  Roger  Williams'  name  does  not 
appear  on  the  rolls  of  Oxford  University,  and,  in  addition  to  this.  Sir 
Edward  himself  received  his  education  at  Cambridge.  It  is,  therefore, 
somewhat  doubtful  which  of  the  two  English  Universities  has  the  honour 
of  claiming  the  great  New  England  republican  adventurer  as  an  alumnus  ; 
though  it  is  rendered  certain,  by  some  of  his  own  writings,  that  he  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  one  or  the  other  of  these  celebrated  institutions. 

On  leaving  the  University,  he  is  said  to  have  entered  on  the  study  of 
the  Law ;  but  it  proved  incougenial  with  his  tastes,  and  he  soon  abandoned 
it  for  the  study  of  Theology.  In  due  time,  he  was  ordained  as  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Established  Church,  and  it  is  said  that  he  also  took  charge  of 
a  parish, — but  of  this  no  evidence  is  to  be  found  in  his  writings.  In  the 
great  contest  which  then  convulsed  the  British  nation,  he  not  only  identi- 
fied himself  fully  with  the  interests  of  the  Puritans,  but  became  the 
staunch  advocate  of  the  largest  religious  liberty;  and,  under  these  circum- 
stances and  influences,  he  resolved  to  join  the  band  of  emigrants  who  were 
seeking  a  peaceful  religious  home  on  the  shores  of  New  England.  Accord- 
ingly, he  embarked  at  Bristol,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1630,  in  the  ship 
Lion,  Captain  Pierce,  and,  after  a  tempestuous  voyage  of  sixty-six  days, 
arrived  at  Boston  on  the  5th  of  February,  1631.  His  arrival  was  hailed 
by  the  churches  of  the  infant  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  great 
satisfaction  ;-^nd  Governor  Winthrop,  in  referring  to  it  in  his  journal, 
speaks  of  him  as  "a  godly  minister."  He  brought  with  him  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Mary  Williams,  to  whom  he  had  been  married  a  short  time  before, 
but  of  whose  previous  history  nothing  is  now  known. 

Baptist  minister  in  this  country.  But  it  is  curious,  if  this  were  so,  that  Roger  ATillianis  did  not 
bear  of  it  from  Clarke  anil  others,  who  joined  him  that  year  from  Boston.  Yet,  if  lie  did  l<now 
it  at  the  time  ho  himself  was  haptizcd  by  llolliman,  he  might  not  be  able  to  reach  him,  or 
might  not  know  where  he  liad  gone.  Besides,  he  evidently  regarded  llolliman  as  sufficiently 
authorized  by  the  vote  of  the  Church  to  administer  the  ordinance  in  a  case  of  necessity,  on  the 
same  principle  as  TertuUian,  or  Thomas  Aquinjis  and  Zanchius,  maintain  the  authority  of  Lay- 
baptisui. 

*  (iammeirs  Life  of  Roger  'Williams. — Knowlos'  do. — Callender's  Historical  Discourse — 
Backus'  History  of  New  England,  I. — Benedict  s  History  of  the  Baptists,  I. — American  Bap- 
tist Magazine,  I. — Winthrop's  History  of  New  England,  I. 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  9 

But  Roger  Williams  soon  discovered  that  his  views  of  religious  liberty 
were  greatly  in  advance  of  those  of  the  people  among  whom  he  came  to 
settle.  He  found  that  they  had  come  hither,  rather  to  enjoy  unmolested 
their  own  religious  principles  and  modes  of  worship,  than  to  practise  a 
general  toleration ;  while  he,  on  the  other  hand,  fully  believed  that  every 
man  has  an  inalienable  right,  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  religion,  to  think 
and  act  for  himself.  His  doctrine  was  that  "  the  civil  magistrate  should 
restrain  crime,  but  never  control  opinion;  should  punish  guilt,  but  never 
violate  the  freedom  of  the  soul."  Hence,  when  he  found  that  the  magis- 
trates insisted  on  the  presence  of  every  man  at  public  worship,  and  that  a 
decree  had  been  passed  that  "no  man  should  be  admitted  to  tlie  freedom 
of  the  body  politic,  but  such  as  were  members  of  some  of  tlic  churches 
within  the  limits  of  the  same," — his  judgment  and  heart  both  revolted  ; 
and  he  began  to  think  that  the  end  he  had  proposed  to  himself  in  coming 
to  the  new  world  was  at  best  but  very  partially  gained. 

A  few  weeks  after  his  arrival,  Mr.  Williams  was  invited  to  become 
Co-pastor  with  the  Rev.  Samuel  Skelton  of  the  Church  in  Salem  ;  but  the 
magistrates  of  the  Colony,  having  heard  of  his  opinions,  interposed  their 
remonstrances  with  the  people  of  Salem  to  prevent  his  settlement.  Their 
opposition,  however,  did  not  avail,  and  he  was,  accordingly,  settled  on  the 
I2th  of  April,  1631.  On  the  18th  of  May  following,  he  was  admitted 
a  freeman  of  the  Colony,  and  took  the  usual  oath  of  allegiance.  Being 
now  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  a  citizen  of  the  Colony,  and  a  minis- 
ter of  its  oldest  church,  and  having  secured,  in  an  unusual  degree,  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  Salem,  every  thing  seemed  to  give  promise  of 
continued  and  increasing  usefulness. 

But  scarcely  had  his  settlement  here  been  effected,  before  it  became 
manifest  that  causes  were  in  operation  that  must  soon  lead  to  his  removal. 
The  Governor  and  General  Court  were  offended  that  the  church  had  dis- 
regarded their  advice  in  calling  him  ;  and  his  peculiar  opinions,  which  he 
did  not  attempt  to  conceal,  had  made  him  obnoxious  to  the  elders  and 
magistrates  of  the  Colony;  and  these  combined  influences  served  to  render 
his  condition  extremely  uncomfortable.  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  months, 
therefore, — probabl}'  in  August,  1031,  he  removed  from  Salem,  and  sought 
a  residence  in  the  Colony  of  Plymouth,  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

At  Plymouth  he  was  received  with  great  respect  and  kindness,  by  the 
Governor  and  leading  citizens,  and,  after  being  admitted  to  the  church, 
was  settled  as  Assistant  to  the  Pastor,  the  Rev.  Ralph  Smith.  Governor 
Bradford  says, — "  His  teaching  was  well  approved,  for  the  benefit  whereof," 
he  adds,  "  I  shall  bless  God,  and  am  thankful  to  him  even  for  his  sharpest 
admonitions  and  reproofs,  so  far  as  they  agreed  with  truth."  But,  though 
a  more  friendly  disposition  seemed  to  be  manifested  towards  him  than  had 
been  in  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  it  was  not  long  before  he  di.'^covercd 
that  he  was  still  the  object  of  suspicion,  and  that  liis  views  of  religious 
liberty  met  with  no  response  from  those  with  whom  he  was  now  associated. 
His  preaching,  however,  was  so  acceptable,  and  his  life  so  exemplary,  that 
he  remained  among  them,  with  a  good  degree  of  comfort,  for  about  two 
years.     In  the  summer  of  1683,  he  received  an  invitation  from  the  people 

Vol.  YI.  2 


10  BAPTIST. 

to  whom  he  had  previously  ministered  at  Salem,  to  come  and  supply  them, — 
their  Pastor,  Mr.  Skelton,  being  sick.  He  accepted  their  invitation,  and 
the  more  rcaiUly  from  the  fact  that  his  former  residence  among  them  had 
greatly  endeared  them  to  him,  and  he  and  they  stiil  regarded  each  other 
with  undiminished  attachment. 

Mr,  Williams  resumed  his  labours  at  Salem,  probably  in  August,  and, 
for  a  year,  exercised  his  ministry,  "  by  way  of  prophecy,"  as  it  was 
termed,  before  he  was  settled  as  Pastor  of  the  church.  This  event  took 
place  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Skelton,  in  the  summer  of  1G34. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Salem,  we  find  him  joining  with  his  colleague, 
Mr.  Skelton,  in  questioning  the  expediency  of  a  certain  meeting  of  min- 
isters, which  had  been  established  in  the  Colony,  for  discussing  theological 
questions,  and  for  other  purposes  of  mutual  improvement.  Governor 
Winthrop  states  that  the  ground  of  their  objection  was  a  fear  "  that  it 
might  grow  in  time  to  a  Presbytery  or  Supcrintendency,  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  Churches'  liberties."  It  is  not  strange  that  the  magistrates,  who 
had  already  shared  in  the  suspicions  of  his  orthodoxy  which  had  been 
awakened  among  the  clergy,  should  have  seen  in  this  movement  a  fresh 
cause  for  alarm  ;  and  no  doubt  it  was  one  of  the  circumstances  that  pre- 
pared the  way  for  his  final  expulsion  from  the  Colony. 

But  there  were  other  and  graver  matters  than  this  to  bring  him  into 
collision  with  the  civil  authorities.  During  his  residence  at  Plymouth,  he 
had  written  a  treatise  on  the  nature  of  the  right  claimed  by  the  monarchs 
of  the  several  nations  of  Christendom  to  dispose  of  the  countries  of  bar- 
barous tribes,  by  virtue  of  discovery ;  and  had  presented  it  to  the  Gover- 
nor and  Council  of  the  Plymouth  Colony.  In  this  treatise,  says  Governor 
Winthrop,  "  among  other  things,  he  disputed  their  right  to  the  land  they 
possessed,  and  concluded  that,  claiming  by  the  King's  grant,  they  could 
have  no  title,  nor  otherwise,  except  they  compounded  with  the  natives." 
This  manuscript,  though  it  had  never  been  published,  and  was  written  in 
another  Colony,  he  was  required  to  deliver  to  the  Governor  for  examina- 
tion;  and  the  result  of  a  conference  with  the  ministers  was  that  he  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  the  next  Court  to  receive  censure.  The  Governor 
says  tliat  the  treatise  contained  "  three  passages,  whereat  they  were  much 
oflfended.  First,  for  that  he  chargeth  King  James  to  have  told  a  solemn 
public  lie,  because,  in  his  patent,  he  blessed  God  that  he  was  the  first 
Christian  prince  that  discovered  this  land.  Secondly,  for  that  ho  chargeth 
him  and  others  with  blasphemy,  for  calling  Europe  Christendom,  or  the 
Christian  world.  Thirdly,  for  that  he  did  personally  apply  to  our  present 
King  Charles,  these  three  places  in  the  Revelations,  viz.  " — The  passages, 
unfortunately,  are  not  quoted.  It  is  not  known  that  the  offensive  treatise 
was  ever  published — certainly  it  has  not  been  preserved.  Mr.  Williams 
complied  with  the  orders  of  the  Court,  and  wrote  letters  to  the  magis- 
trates, stating  that  his  treatise  had  been  written  "  only  for  the  private 
satisfaction  of  the  Governor  of  Plymouth  ;"  and,  with  the  expression  of 

regret,   if  he   had  committed  any  wrong,  and  of  loyalty  to  the  King, 

without,  however,  renouncing  his  opinions, — he  oflfered  his  manuscript  to 
be  burned.     The  spirit  which  he  evinced  on  this  occasion  was  highly  hon- 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  H 

Durable  to  him  ;  and  the   liihtoriau,  in   rocorcliiig  the  oireumstancc,  says, — 
"  thoy  found  the  inattors  uut  to  bo  so  evil  as  at  lirst  they  socined."' 

It  hui-  already  been  intimated  that  iMr.  Williams'  second  settlement  at 
Salem  was  strongly  opposed  by  the  magistrates  of  the  Colony.  The  Court 
sent  in  a  decided  remonstrance,  and  requested  the  Church  not  to  ordain 
him  ;  but  the  Church  felt  that  this  was  an  infringement  of  their  independ- 
ence, and  proceeded  without  any  regard  to  it.  This,  of  course,  was  too 
palpable  an  act  of  disrespect  to  the  civil  authorities  to  be  passed  without 
some  signal  expression  of  displeasure.  Accordingly,  when  the  Court  met 
at  Boston,  a  few  mouths  after,  he  was  arraigned  on  the  charge  of  having 
publicly  called  in  question  the  King's  patent,  and  "  for  usual  terming  the 
churches  of  England  anti-christian."  Again,  in  April,  1G35,  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Assistants  summoned  him  to  appear  at  Boston,  to  answer  to  the 
charge  of  having  "  taught  publicly  that  a  magistrate  ought  not  to  tender 
an  oath  to  an  unregenerate  man,  for  that  we  thereby  have  communion  with 
a  wicked  man  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  cause  him  to  take  the  name  of 
God  in  vain."  On  this  occasion.  Governor  Winthrop  states  that  "  he  was 
heard  before  all  the  ministers,  and  very  clearly  refuted."  The  magistrates 
enacted  a  law,  requiring  every  man  to  attend  public  worship,  and  to  con- 
tribute to  its  support.  This  law  Williams  denounced  as  utterly  at  war 
with  human  rights,  and  as  tending  directly  to  cherish  a  persecuting  spirit — 
"  The  civil  power,"  he  said,  "  extends  only  to  the  bodies,'  and  goods,  and 
outward  estates  of  men  " — with  conscience  and  with  religious  opinions 
"the  civil  magistrate  may  not  intermeddle  even  to  stop  a  church  from 
apostacy  and  heresy." 

At  this  juncture,  the  people  of  Salem  preferred  to  the  Court  a  claim 
for  a  tract  of  land  lying  on  3Iarblehead  >i^cck  ;  but  the  Court,  by  way  of 
retaliation  for  the  contempt  of  authority  which  the  town  had  shown  in 
settling  Mr.  Williams,  refused  the  claim.  3Ir.  W.,  regarding  this  as  an 
act  of  flagrant  injustice,  induced  the  church  to  join  with  him  in  address- 
ing letters  to  all  the  churches  with  which  any  of  the  magistrates  were 
connected,  urging  them  to  admonish  the  magistrates  for  the  wrong  of 
which  they  had  been  guilty.  This  was  regarded  as  little  less  than  an  act 
of  open  rebellion  ;  and,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Court,  the  deputies 
from  Salem  were  denied  their  scats  until  they  had  apologized  for  the 
alleged  indignity.  Williams  now  addressed  a  letter  to  his  own  church, 
urging  them  to  renounce  all  communion  with  the  other  churches  in  the 
Colony  ;  but  the  power  of  the  magistrates  overawed  them,  and  they  refused 
any  longer  to  second  the  views  of  their  teacher. 

But,  notwithstanding  he  was  left  alone  to  maintain  his  views, — even  his 
own  wife,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  joining  the  multitude  in  protesting  against 
his  course, — yet  so  inwrought  were  these  views  with  the  very  texture  of 
his  mind,  that  he  stood  forth  with  the  most  heroic  firmness  for  their  defence. 
The  ministers,  with  Mr.  Cott.m  and  Mr.  Hooker  at  their  head,  sent  a  com- 
nuttee  to  Salem  to  deal  with  him;  but  he  utterly  denied  their  jurisdiction, 
and  declared  himself  "  ready  to  be  bound,  and  banished,  and  even  to  die  in 
New  England,"  rather  than  to  yield  his  deliberate  and  matured  convictions. 
The  Court  now  requested  the  ministers  to  assemble,  and  consider  his 
case,  and  state  their  opinion  as  to  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued.     They 


12  BAPTIST. 

did  so ;  and  their  judgment  was  that  he  deserved  to  be  banished  from  the 
Colony,  for  maintaining  the  doctrine  "  that  the  civil  magistrate  niiglit  not 
intermeddle,  even  to  stop  a  clmrch  from  apostacy  and  heresy,"  and  that 
the  churches  ought  to  request  the  magistrates  to  remove  him. 

In  July,  he  was  summoned  to  Boston,  to  answer  to  the  General  Court 
for  liolding  the  following  dangerous  opinions  : — "  First,  tliat  the  magistrate 
ought  not  to  punish  the  breach  of  the  first  table,  otherwise  than  in  such 
cases  as  did  disturb  tlie  civil  peace.  Secondly,  that  he  ought  not  to 
tender  an  oath  to  an  unregenerate  man.  Thirdly,  that  he  ought  not 
to  pray  with  such,  though  Avife,  child,  &c.  Fourthly,  that  a  man  ought 
not  to  give  thanks  after  Sacrament,  nor  after  meat."  After  a  protracted 
and  earnest  debate,  it  was  agreed  to  allow  Mr.  Williams  and  the  Church 
in  Salem  "  time  to  consider  these  things  till  the  next  General  Court,  and 
then  citlier  to  give  satisfaction,  or  to  expect  the  sentence." 

At  the  next  General  Court, — which  was  held  in  October,  1G35, — Mr. 
Williams  was  present,  in  obedience  to  the  summons,  but  his  opinions 
remained  unchanged.  Though  most  of  those  who  had  at  first  made  common 
cause  with  him,  deserted  his  standard,  he  stood  as  firmly  as  ever, — not  even 
seeming  to  falter  in  his  adherence  to  the  principles  he  had  avowed.  The 
Court  accordingly  decided,  though  not  by  a  large  majority,  that  he  should 
depart  out  of  their  jurisdiction  within  six  weeics.  The  sentence  of  banish- 
ment was  passed  on  the  3d  of  November, — all  the  ministers  but  one 
approving  of  it.  These  proceedings  awakened  no  little  sympathy  for 
Mr.  Williams  in  the  Colony,  and  especially  among  his  old  friends  in 
Salem. 

Complaints  were  made  to  the  Court  tliat  he  still  persisted  in  promul- 
gating  and  defending  his  opinions ;  that  many  people  resorted  to  his  liouse 
to  listen  to  his  teachings  ;  and  that  he  was  prejiaring  to  withdraw  with 
them  from  Massachusetts,  and  form  a  settlement  upon  Narragansett  Bay. 
As  they  were  not  pleased  with  the  prospect  of  having  a  new  Colony  in  tlicir 
neighbourhood,  established  upon  such  principles  as  he  held,  they  determined 
to  send  him  to  England,  by  a  ship  then  just  about  to  sail.  For  this  pur- 
pose, he  received  another  summons  to  attend  tiie  Court  at  Boston.  But 
he  declined  to  obey  it,  alleging  as  a  reason  that  he  was  suffering  from  ill 
health.  The  magistrates,  resolved  on  accomplishing  their  object,  now  sent 
a  small  sloop  to  Boston,  with  a  warrant  to  Captain  Underbill  to  apprehend 
him,  and  carry  him  on  board  the  ship,  which  was  about  to  sail  for  England. 
He  liad,  however,  taken  the  precaution  to  make  his  escape  three  days 
before,  tliough  his  wife  and  children  were  left  behind.  This  was  in  the 
month  of  January,  1G30. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  forlorn  condition,  as  far  as  exter- 
nal circumstances  were  concerned,  than  was  that  of  3Ir.  Williams  in  the 
early  part  of  the  period  of  his  exile.  Though  he  has  left  no  detailed 
account  of  his  wanderings  and  suff"erings,  yet  something  may  be  inferred 
from  occasional  allusions  to  the  subject  in  his  writings,  and  especially  from 
a  letter  to  his  friend,  Major  Mason,  written  thirty-five  years  afterwards, 
in  which  he  speaks  of  still  feeling  the  eff"ects  of  what  he  then  endured. — 
"  I  was  sorely  tossed,"  says  he,  "  for  fourteen  weeks,  in  a  bitter  winter 
season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed  did  mean." 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  13 

When  Mr.  Williams  was  leaving  Salcni,  (.Jovernor  Winthrop,  who,  the 
year  bcfuvf,  had  been  supplanted  in  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  Colon}', 
by  Thomas  DiuUoy,  wrote  to  him  "  to  steer  his  cour.se  to  the  Narragansett 
Bay  and  Indians,"  as  a  region  not  yet  appropriated  by  any  of  the  patents 
of  the  King.  In  accordance  with  this  advice,  he  made  his  way  through 
the  forest  to  the  lodges  of  the  Pokanokets,  who  occupied  the  country  North 
from  3Iount  Hope,  as  far  as  Charles  lliver.  Ma.ssasoit,  the  famous  chief 
of  this  tribe,  who  had  known  Mr.  Williams,  and  received  favours  fronj 
him,  during  his  residence  at  Plymouth,  now  welcomed  him  to  the  hospi- 
talities of  his  cabin  at  Mount  Hope,  and  extended  to  him  the  protection 
and  aid  which  he  needed.  He  granted  him  a  tract  of  land  on  the  See- 
konk  lliver,  upon  which,  at  the  opening  of  spring,  he  commenced  planting 
and  building.  A  number  of  his  friends  at  Salem  now  joined  him,  and  he 
flattered  himself  that  he  should  experience  no  further  annoyance  from  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

But  scarcely  had  he  commenced  his  settlement  here,  before  he  received 
a  letter  from  Governor  Winslow  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  intimating  to 
him  that,  as  he  was  then  within  their  bounds,  and  they  were  unwilling  to 
incur  the  displeasure  of  their  neighbours  of  the  B:.y,  he  had  better 
remove  to  the  other  side  of  the  river ;  and  then  he  would  be  beyond  the 
possibility  of  any  molestation.  He  readily  complied  with  this  advice,  and, 
abandoning  the  fields  he  had  planted,  and  the  dwelling  he  had  begun  to 
build,  embarked  in  a  canoe,  upon  the  Seekonk  lliver,  in  quest  of  another 
j*pot,  where  he  might  make  his  home,  and  plant  a  colony.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  five  others,  who,  having  joined  him  at  Seekonk,  were  more  than 
willing  still  to  share  liis  fortunes.  In  due  time,  he  landed  at  the  mouth  of 
Mooshausic  River  ;  and,  upon  the  beautiful  slope  of  the  hill  that  ascends 
from  the  river,  he  began  the  settlement,  which,  on  account  of  the  gracious 
interposition  of  Heaven,  he  afterwards  called  Providence.  This  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  1G30. 

Mr.  Williams  still  found  that  the  acquaintance  he  had  formed  with  the 
Indians,  while  a  resident  of  Plymouth,  was  of  great  service  to  him, 
especially  in  procuring  from  the  Sachems  a  grant  of  the  land  on  which  he 
settled.  In  all  his  dealings  with  them,  he  proceeded  upon  the  principle 
for  which  he  had  always  contended, — regarding  them  as  the  sole  proprietors 
of  the  soil,  and  purchasing  of  them  a  clear  title  to  the  lands  of  which  he 
took  possession.  In  order  to  raise  the  funds  necessary  to  this  purpose, 
and  for  the  removal  of  his  family  to  their  new  home,  he  was  obliged  to 
mortgage  his  house  and  land  in  Salem.  In  the  organization  of  the  new 
Colony,  he  kept  in  view  the  great  principle  of  religious  liberty,  for  which 
he  had  contended  in  Massachusetts  :  he  desired  to  offer  "  a  shelter  for  per- 
sons distressed  for  conscience;"  and  all  such  who  came  to  him  he  welcomed 
with  open  arms.  Those  who  joined  the  settlement,  bound  themselves  to 
conform  to  the  principles  on  which  it  had  been  founded,  and  also  to  be 
subject  to  the  will  of  the  majority. 

Mr.  Williams  was  soon  placed  in  circumstances  in  which  he  had  an 
opportunity  to  render  most  important  services  to  the  Colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and,  after  the  trials  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  in  that  Colony, 
it  evinced  great  magnanimity  that  he  was  disposed  to  avail  himself  of  it. 


14  BAPTIST. 

The  Pequot  Indians,  who  had  ahvaj-s  manifested  a  bitter  liostility  to  the 
English,  had  conceived  the  design  of  a  universal  insurrection,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  driving  them  from  the  lands  they  had  acquired.  In  the  summer 
of  1636,  they  attacked  a  party  of  traders  in  a  sloop,  near  Block  Island, 
and  murdered  John  Oldham,  one  of  the  number;  and,  having  made  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  all  the  neighbouring  tribes,  they  were  endeavouring 
to  unite  them  in  a  common  effort  for  the  extermination  of  the  Colonies. 
As  soon  as  Iloger  Williams  became  acquainted  with  these  facts,  he  com- 
municated them  to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts ;  and  to  him  did  the 
authorities  of  that  Colony  commit  the  work  of  conciliating  the  Indians, 
with  a  view  to  defeat  the  bloody  purpose  they  had  formed.  Though  the 
enterprise  was  one  of  extreme  difficulty  and  peril,  Mr.  Williams  executed 
it  with  the  utmost  skill,  fidelity,  and  success.  The  Sachems  yielded  to  his 
counsels,  and  he  was  enabled  to  eflFect  a  treaty  of  tlie  English  with  the 
Narragansetts  and  Mohegans,  against  the  Pequots.  This  treaty  was  rati- 
fied by  the  two  contracting  parties,  at  Boston,  in  October,  1636. 

But  Mr.  Williams'  service  to  the  Massachusetts  Colony  did  not  end  here. 
The  Pequots,  though  foiled  in  their  attempt  to  make  a  league  with  the 
other  tribes,  were  still  bent  on  executing  their  purposes  of  vengeance  ;  and 
they  resolved  to  rush  at  once  upon  their  enemies,  and,  if  possible,  cut  them 
off  by  one  onset  of  savage  barbarity.  When  this  was  known,  the  three 
Colonies  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  resolved  immedi- 
ately to  invade  the  territory  of  the  Pequots,  and,  if  possible,  to  effect  their 
final  extermination.  The  war  continued  nearly  a  year;  and,  during  the 
whole  period,  Mr.  Williams  was  the  constant  adviser  of  the  Colonies, 
especially  of  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  the  watchful 
guardian  of  all  their  interests  in  their  relations  with  the  friendly  Indians. 
The  war  was  terminated  by  the  celebrated  battle  fought  near  the  fort  on 
Mystic  River,  in  May,  1637;  and  it  ended  only  in  the  complete  extinction 
of  the  race.  Notwithstanding  the  high  obligations  under  which  Mr.  Wil- 
liams had  placed  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  by  his  most  timely  and 
important  services,  it  seems  strange  enough  that  they  not  only  never  offered 
him  the  least  acknowledgment,  but  did  not  even  revoke  their  sentence  of 
banishment. 

Not  long  after  his  settlement  at  Providence,  Mr.  Williams,  with  several 
of  his  brethren,  embraced  the  views  of  the  Baptists.  Wishing  to  be  bap 
tized  by  immersion,  tliey  were  at  first  not  a  little  embarrassed  for  want  of 
a  person  whom  tlicy  deemed  qualified  to  administer  the  ordinance  ;  and  the 
result  of  consijjerable  consultation  on  the  subject  was  that,  in  March,  1639, 
they  appointed  Mr.  Ezekicl  Ilolliman,  "a  man  of  gifts  and  piety,"  to 
baptize  Mr.  Williams-,  who,  in  return,  baptized  Mr.  Holliman  and  ten 
others.  These  were  soon  joined  by  twelve  other  persons,  who  came  to  the 
settlement  for  the  sake  of  liberty  of  conscience.  And  thus  commenced 
the  first  Baptist  Church  on  this  continent.  With  this  church  Mr.  Williams 
continued  to  exercise  his  pastoral  functions  but  about  four  months,  when 
he  resigned  his  charge  on  account  of  a  change  in  his  religious  opinions. 
From  having  rejected  Infant  Baptism,  he  proceeded  to  discard  all  Baptism 
whatever,  "because,"  as  Governor  Winthrop  states,  "not  derived  from 
the  authority  of  the  Apostles,  otherwise  than  by  the  ministers  of  England, 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  15 

whom  lie  judgeil  to  be  ill  authority."  Holding  these  views,  ho  left  tho 
eluirch  which  he  had  been  iiistruiuoutal  in  fcirniing,  and  became  what,  in 
the  History  of  Now  England,  is  denominated  a  Scekc?-.  He  regarded  all 
tho  churches  in  Christendom  as,  in  sonic  sense,  in  a  state  of  apostacy,  and 
all  the  clergy  as  having  lost  their  true  apostolical  authorit}'.  But  these 
strangely  erratic  opinions  did  not  abate  at  all  his  interest  in  the  general 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  or  his  zeal  in  the  conversion  of  others  to  the  Christian 
faith.  At  a  later  period,  when  he  had  become  more  deeply  involved  in  the 
affairs  of  the  State,  we  find  him  often  preaching  to  the  Indians;  and  he  is 
believed  to  have  continued  this  almost  to  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was 
succeeded  in  the  pastoral  office  at  Providence  by  Mr.  Brown*  and  Mr. 
Wickendon.t 

In  1(343,  Mr.  Williams  went  to  England  to  procure  a  charter  for  his 
Colony  ;  but,  notwithstanding  his  magnanimous  treatment  of  the  authori- 
ties of  jMassaehusetts  Bay,  their  prejudices  against  him  did  not  relax  even 
so  far  as  to  allow  him  to  pass  through  their  territory  to  take  his  passage ; 
and  he  was  consequently  obliged  to  embark  from  New  York.  The  Dutch, 
at  this  time,  were  engaged  in  a  bloody  conflict  with  different  Indian  tribes; 
and,  through  the  mediation  of  Mr.  Williams,  whose  influence  with  the 
Indians  was  then  probaldy  greater  than  that  of  any  other  man,  friendly 
r'^lations  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Indians  were  restored. 

Mr.  Williams  arrived  in  England  in  the  midst  of  the  civil  war  which 
then  distracted  the  nation,  though  the  state  of  things,  on  the  whole,  proved 
favourable  to  the  prosecution  of  his  object.  He  obtained  his  charter, 
after  a  few  months,  and,  on  his  return,  landed  at  Boston  in  September, 
1G44.  Though  he  was  still  under  sentence  of  banishment,  he  brought  with 
him  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  some  of  the  leading  members  of 
Parliament,  which  secured  him  from  any  detention  on  his  way  to  Provi- 
dence. On  his  passage  to  England,  he  prepared  a  "  Key  to  the  Indian 
Languages,"  which  was  published  there  shortly  after  his  arrival ;  and, 
during  his  sojourn  in  England,  he  published  his  celebrated  work,  entitled 
"  The  Bloody  Tenet,  or  a  Dialogue  between  Truth  and  Peace."  This  was 
subsequently  answered  by  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  in  a  work  entitled  "  The 
Bloody  Tenet  washed  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb."  Mr.  Williams  pub- 
lished a  rejoinder,  entitled  "The  Bloody  Tenet  yet  more  Bloody,  by  Mr. 
Cotton's  endeavour  to  wash  it  white." 

The  inhabitants  of  the  several  settlements,  embraced  in  the  charter  of 
Mr.  Williams,  were  not  prepared  at  once  to  enter  on  the  organization  of  a 
common  government ;  and  the  charter  was  not  actually  adopted  by  a  Gene- 
ral Assem>»ly  of  the  people  of  the  Colony,  until  IMay,  1G47. 

i\Ir.  Williams,  now  finding  his  pecuniary  resources  not  a  little  reduced, 
and  having  a  family  of  six  young  children  upon  his  hands,  erected  a  trading 
house  in  the  Narragansett  country,  where  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 

•  The  Rev.  Chad  Brown  came  to  Providence  in  the  latter  part  of  the  yonr  1630,  by  reason 
of  the  persecution  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  ordnined  in  the  )Tar  1G42.  He  was  one  of  the 
town  pniprietnrs,  and  the  fourteenth  in  order.  He  maintained  a  good  character,  and  bad  a 
prosperous  ministry. 

t  Mr.  WirKKSDON,  who  was  colleague  with  Mr.  Brown,  came  from  S.nlem  to  Providence  in 
1039,  and  was  ordained  by  Mr.  Brown.  He  died  on  tlie  23<1  of  February,  100'.),  after  having 
removed  to  a  place  called  Solitary  Hill.  He  preached  for  some  time  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and,  as  a  reward  for  his  labour,  was  imprisoned  four  months. 


16  BAPTIST. 

time.  Here,  for  several  years,  he  carried  on  an  honourable  traffic  with 
the  Indians,  and  acted  as  their  friend  in  various  ways,  especially  in  com- 
municating to  them  a  knowledge  of  the  truths  of  Christianity.  But  he 
was  still  regarded  as  a  citizen  of  Providence,  and  filled  successively  some 
of  the  highest  offices  of  the  town  and  of  the  Colony. 

The  new  charter  did  not  meet  with  universal  acceptance.  Mr.  Codding- 
ton,  the  leading  inhabitant  of  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  arrayed  himself 
in  opposition  to  it  from  the  beginning.  Having  secured  the  co-operation 
of  certain  other  dissatisfied  persons,  he  went  to  England,  and  finally 
succeeded  in  inducing  the  Council  of  State  to  annul  it,  and,  on  his 
return,  in  1651,  brought  with  him  a  commission,  erecting  the  islands  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Canonicut  into  a  separate  government,  and  appointing 
him  Governor  for  life  of  the  new  Colony,  with  a  Council  to  be  nominated 
by  the  people  and  approved  by  himself.  This  proved  a  most  unwelcora  e 
measure  ;  and  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  Newport,  and  a  large  number 
of  those  of  Portsmouth,  united  in  appoiniing  Mr.  John  Clarke  to  proceed 
as  their  agent  to  England,  to  procure,  if  possible,  a  reversal  of  the  offen- 
sive ordinance.  About  the  same  time,  the  two  towns  of  Providence  and 
Warwick,  which  had  still  continued  to  maintain  the  government  under  the 
original  charter,  earnestly  requested  Mr.  Williams  to  join  Mr.  Clarke  in 
his  mission  ;  and  he,  finally,  though  not  without  great  reluctance,  con- 
sented to  the  proposal.  It  was  not  without  much  embarrassment  from  the 
authorities  of  Massachusetts  that  he  was  allowed  to  pass  through  their 
territory  to  sail  for  England  ;  but  he  finally  succeeded,  and  embarked  with 
Mr.  Clarke,  in  November,  1651. 

Soon  after  their  arrival  in  England,  Williams  and  Clarke  presented  a 
petition  to  the  Council  of  State  in  behalf  of  the  Colony  they  had  come  to 
represent.  Though  they  had  to  encounter  a  strong  opposition,  they  found 
a  firm  friend  and  efficient  coadjutor  in  Sir  Henry  Vane,  who  was,  at  that 
time,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Council,  and  at  the  height  of  his  political 
prosperity.  Though  the  main  question  could  not  be  decided  at  once,  an 
order  was  soon  passed  by  the  Council,  vacating  Mr.  Coddington's  commis- 
sion, and  confirming  the  charter  formerly  granted  to  the  Colony,  until  the 
case  could  be  fully  and  finally  adjudicated.  The  order  of  the  Council 
reached  Newport  in  the  early  part  of  1653  ;  but,  though  Coddington's 
administration  seems  to  have  been  brought  to  an  end,  yet,  owing  to  some 
jealousies  which  had  sprung  up  in  the  mean  time,  the  order  was  not  at 
once  fully  obeyed,  as  the  settlements  on  the  island,  and  those  on  the  main 
land,  oontiniicd  to  maintain  their  separate  governments  for  a  year  and  a 
half. 

During  his  sojourn  in  England,  at  this  period,  Mr.  Williams  enjoyed 
opportunities  of  unreserved  intercourse  with  many  of  the  greatest  spirits 
of  the  age  ;  of  whom  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  Cromwell  and  3Iilton. 
It  was  during  this  period  also  that  he  found  leisure  to  write  and  publish 
his  rejoinder  to  Mr.  Cotton,  already  referred  to.  He  published  also,  about 
the  same  time,  his  "  Hireling  IMinistry  none  of  Christ's  ;  or  a  Discourse 
touching  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;"  and  his 
"Experiments  of  Spiritual  Life  and  Health,  and  their  Preservatives," — 
two   controversial  essays,  relating  to  Theology  and  Church  Government. 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  l*J 

He  returned  to  Providence  early  in  the  summer  of  1G54,  leaving  Mr. 
Clarke  beliind,  to  watch  the  progress  of  events,  and  use  his  influence  to 
give  them  a  right  direction.  Previous  to  his  leaving  England,  the  Lord 
Protector's  Council  gave  him  an  order  addressed  to  the  authorities  of 
Massachusetts,  requiring  them  to  allow  him,  in  future,  either  to  laud  or  to 
embark,  within  their  jurisdiction,  without  being  molested. 

The  first  object  which  engaged  his  attention,  after  his  return,  was  the 
restoration  of  union  among  the  several  towns  of  the  Colony,  and  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  government,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  Council  of 
State,  passed  two  years  before.  This  was  not  efteeted  without  considera- 
ble opposition  ;  but,  at  length,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1654,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Commissioners  of  all  the  towns,  the  articles  of  union  were  finally 
agreed  on.  At  the  first  general  election,  after  the  Government  was  thus 
reorganized,  Mr.  Williams  was  chosen  President  of  the  Colony.  Thus  the 
division  of  the  settlements  of  Rhode  Island,  which  had  been  continued 
through  several  years,  and  had  well-nigh  destroyed  the  independent  exist- 
ence of  the  Colony,  was  happily  terminated. 

In  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Williams'  administration,  a  number  of  persons 
in  the  Colony,  by  a  gross  perversion  of  the  idea  of  religious  libert}-,  upon 
which  the  Colony  was  based,  maintained  that  it  was  "  contrary  to  the  rule 
of  the  Gospel  to  execute  judgment  upon  transgressors  against  the  private 
or  public  weal."  The  ruling  spirit  of  this  faction  was  William  Harris, 
an  influential  inhabitant  of  Providence,  between  whom  and  Mr.  Williams 
there  arose  a  bitter  and  protracted  controversy.  Mr.  W.  finally  entered 
a  formal  complaint  against  him,  at  the  General  Court  of  Commissioners, 
for  high  treason  again^^t  the  Commonwealth.  The  case  was  ultimately 
referred  to  the  authorities  in  the  mother  country,  but  no  answer  was 
returned,  and  the  accusation,  therefore,  was  never  prosecuted. 

In  July,  1656,  the  first  Quakers  arrived  in  Boston,  and  scarcely  had 
they  landed  before  the  guardians  of  the  Colony  were  on  the  alert  for  their 
extermination.  The  most  cruel  laws  were  enacted,  the  most  rigorous  mea- 
sures adopted,  to  efi"ect  this  object;  and  Massachusetts  was  heartily  and 
vigorously  joined  by  all  the  other  Colonies  except  Rhode  Island  ;  but  she, 
remaining  true  to  her  principles,  utterly  refused  her  co-operation.  She 
indeed  disapproved  of  their  doctrines,  and  determined  to  require  of  them, 
as  of  all  others  who  should  corae  to  her  settlements,  a  strict  performance 
of  all  civil  duties  ;  but  neither  the  arguments  nor  the  threats  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Colonies  could  drive  her  from  her  cherished  principles, 
which  had  been  distinctly  recognised  in  her  charter,  and  in  all  her  legis- 
lation. Subsequently  to  this, — in  1672,  Mr.  Williams  had  a  public 
controversy  with  several  of  the  leading  Quakers,  which  was  marked  by 
great  asperity,  and  productive  of  little  profit.  He  afterwards  wrote  out 
the  discussion  in  full',  with  an  account  of  its  origin,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  conducted.  This  book  is  entitled  "  George  Fox  digged  out 
«f  his  Rurrowes  ;  or  an  Oifer  of  Disquisition  on  Fourteen  Proposals,  made 
this  last  Summer,  1672,  (so  called,)  unto  G.  Fox,  then  present  in  Rhode 
Island,  in  New  England,  by  R.  W." 

In  the  summer  of  1675,  New  England  became  the  theatre  of  the  most 
furious  and  desolating   Indian  war.     Philip,    the    powerful   and   aspiring 

Vol.  VI.  3 


18  BAPTIST. 

chief  of  the  Pokanokets,  had  undertaken  to  establish  a  league  among  the 
surrounding  tribes,  with  a  view  to  avenge  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
wrongs  of  his  race,  and,  if  possible,  to  exterminate  the  English,  or  drive 
them  from  the  coun'tr3\  Mr.  Williams  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  avert 
the  threatening  tempest,  and  at  first  seemed  likely  to  succeed,  but  the 
vengeful  spirit  could  not  be  repressed,  and  four  thousand  warriors  rushed 
forth,  determined  to  spread  desolation  throughout  New  England.  For  a 
time,  it  seemed  as  if  the  Colonies  would  be  absolutely  annihilated. 
While  many  of  the  people  of  Providence  fled,  Mr.  Williams  remained  at 
home,  and,  though  upwards  of  seventy-six  years  of  age,  he  accepted  a 
commission  as  Captain  in  the  militia  of  the  Colony,  and  kept  the  compa- 
nies in  Providence  in  constant  readiness  for  active  service.  Though  the 
best  possible  preparations  for  defence  were  made,  the  Indians,  on  the  29th 
of  March,  1676,  attacked  the  town,  and  reduced  twenty-nine  houses  to 
ashes.  It  is  said  that,  when  they  appeared  on  the  heights,  North  of  the 
town,  Mr.  Williams  went  forth  to  meet  them,  thinking  his  influence  might 
prevail  with  them  as  it  had  done  in  other  cases ;  but,  though  some  of  the 
older  chiefs  seemed  kindly  disposed  towards  him,  they  assured  him  that 
the  young  men  were  too  much  exasperated  for  him  to  venture  among  them 
with  safety.  He  returned  to  the  garrison,  and  soon  saw  the  town  in 
flames.  This  terrible  war,  which  cost  the  Colonies  an  immense  amount 
of  treasure  and  blood,  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  death  of  King  Philip, 
in  August,  1676. 

The  precise  time  of  Mr.  Williams'  death  cannot  be  ascertained ;  but  it 
is  known  to  have  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1683.  He  died  in 
the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  but  seems  to  have  retained  his  intel- 
lectual faculties  in  their  full  vigour  to  the  last.  He  was  buried  in  Provi- 
dence, on  the  spot  which  he  had  selected  as  the  burial  place  of  his  family, 
with  appropriate  funeral  honours.  It  is  believed  that  his  wife  and  all  his 
children  survived  him. 

There  are  few  characters  in  modern  times  that  have  met  with  such 
diversified  treatment  at  the  hands  of  historians  as  Ptoger  Williams. 
Besides  the  adverse  testimonies  concerning  him,  occasionally  rendered  by 
his  contemporaries,  the  act  of  banishment  by  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  a  condemnatory  verdict  known  and  read  of  all  men.  But,  as 
the  great  principle,  the  advocacy  of  which  chiefly  signalized  his  life,  has 
been  brought  into  a  brighter  light, — the  severe  estimate  of  his  character 
has  not  only  given  place  to  a  more  kindly  spirit  towards  him,  but  has  been 
changed  , to  a  tone  of  high,  and,  in  many  instances,  unqualified,  praise. 
Probal)ly  those  who  now  form  their  judgment  of  his  character  from  the 
most  impartial  view  of  the  history  of  his  life,  will  arrive  at  the  conclu- 
sion that  he  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  intellectual  endowments  ;  of  a 
naturally  generous  and  forgiving  spirit ;  of  uncompromising  integrity  ;  of 
courage  that  nothing  could  appal  and  perseverance  that  nothing  could 
arrest  ;  and  above  all  of  an  intuitive  discernment  of  the  rights  of  thg 
human  mind,  that  constituted  him  in  that  respect  the  great  light  of  his 
age.  At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  difiicult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that 
there  were  acts  in  his  life  tliat  betokened  infirmity  and  eccentricity ;  par- 
ticularly his  leaving  the  Church  in  Providence  so  soon  after  he   had   foun- 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  19 

dcd  it,  and  continuing,  during  the  rest  of  his  life,  in  such  an  anomalous 
ecclesiastical  relation.  Instead  of  attempting  an  analysis  of  his  character, 
I  .shall  content  myself  with  quoting  the  opinions  of  a  few  eminent 
individuals,  who,  though  they  do  not  entirely  harmonize  in  their  estimate 
of  him,  have  evidently  prosecuted  their  inquiries  with  an  honest  desire, 
and  the  best  opportunities,  to  reach  the  truth.  None  of  them  belong  to 
the  Baptist  denomination. 

Dr.  Bentley,  in  his  History  of  Salem,  writes  concerning  Roger  Wil- 
liams as  follows : — 

"  In  Salem  every  person  loved  Mr.  "Williams.  lie  had  no  personal  enemies  under 
any  pretence.  All  valued  his  friendship.  Kind  treatment  could  win  him,  but  oppo- 
sition could  not  conquer  him.  lie  was  not  afraid  to  stand  alone  for  truth  against  the 
world;  and  he  had  always  address  enough,  with  his  lirmness,  never  to  be  forsaken  by 
the  friends  he  had  ever  gained.  He  had  always  a  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  feared 
every  otience  against  moral  truth,  lie  breatlied  the  purest  devotion.  He  was  ready 
in  thoughts  and  words,  and  defied  all  his  vaunting  adversaries  to  public  disputation. 
He  had  a  familiar  imagery  of  style,  which  suited  his  times,  and  he  indulged,  even  in 
the  titles  of  his  controversial  papers,  to  wit  upon  names,  especially  upon  the  Qua- 
kers. He  knew  man  better  than  he  did  civil  government.  He  was  a  friend  of  human 
nature,  forgiving,  upright,  and  pious.  He  understood  the  Indians  better  than  any 
man  of  the  age.  He  made  not  so  many  converts,  but  he  made  more  sincere  friends. 
He  knew  their  passions  and  the  restraints  they  could  endure.  He  was  betrayed  into 
no  wild  or  expensive  projects  respecting  tliem.  He  studied  their  manners,  antl  tlieireus- 
tonis,  and  passions  together.  His  vocabulary  also  proves  that  he  was  familiar  with 
the  words  of  their  language,  if  not  with  its  principles.  It  is  a  happy  relief,  in  con- 
templating so  eccentric  a  character,  that  no  sufferings  induced  any  purposes  of  revenge, 
for  which  he  afterwards  had  great  opportunities;  that  great  social  virtues  corrected 
the  first  errors  of  his  opinions;  and  that  he  lived  to  exhibit  to  the  natives  a  noble 
example  of  generous  goodness,  and  to  be  the  parent  of  th(j  independent  State  of 
Rhode  Island." 

John  Quincy  Adams,  in  his  "  Discourse  on  the  New  England  Confede- 
racy of  lG4o,"  after  eloquenlly  vindicating  the  Boston  magistrates  and 
ministers,  in  regard  to  their  treatment  of  lloger  Williams,  says, — 

"  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher;  stifT  and  self-confident  in  his  opinions,  ingenious, 
powerful  and  commanding  in  impressing  them  upon  others,  inflexible  in  his  adherence 
lotliem,  and,  by  an  inconsistency  peculiar  to  religious  enthusiasts,  combining  the  most 
amiable  and  affectionate  sympathies  of  the  heart  with  the  most  repulsive  and  inexora- 
ble exclusion  of  conciliation,  coiupliance,  or  intercourse  with  his  adversaries  in  opinion.'' 

The  Hon.  Daniel  Appleton  White,  in  an  account  of  the  First  Church  in 

Salem,  and  its  ministers,  appended  to  the   Ilev.  J.  H.  Morrison's    Sermon 

at  the  installation  of  the  Rev.  G-.  W.  Briggs,  after  quoting  the  opinion 

of  Professor  Elton   on   the  difference  between  Mr.  Williams   on  the    one 

hand,  and  the  magistrates  and  clergy  on  the  other,  adds, — 

"  The  truth  appears  to  be  that  there  were  faults  on  both  sides,  and  that  they  were 
faults  of  the  age  rather  than  of  the  heart.  It  is  tlie  peculiar  glory  of  Roger  Williams 
that,  in  his  great  doctrine  that  the  civil  power  has  no  jurisdiction  over  the  conscience, 
he  rose  above  the  age,  and  that  he  was  stout  luiougli  to  sustain  himself  nobly  against 
opposition  and  difliculties,  which  would  have  crushed  any  common  man." 

Bancroft,  in  the  first  volume  of  his   "  History  of  the   United  States," 

pays  the  following  tribute  to  Roger  Williams  : — 

"  Roger  Williams  asserted  the  great  doctrine  of  intellectual  liberty.  It  became  his 
glory  to  founi^a  state  upon  that  principle,  and  to  stamp  himself  upon  its  rising  insti- 
tuiioiKs,  in  characters  so  deep  that  the  impress  has  remained  to  the  ])resent  day,  and 
Clin  never  be  erased  without  the  total  destruction  of  the  work.  The  priiKnples  which 
lie  lirst  sustained  amidst  the  bickerings  of  a  colonial  parish,  next  asserted  in  the  Gene- 
ral Court  ot*  .Massachusetts,  and  then  introduced  into  the  wilds  on  Narragansett  Bay, 
he  soon  found  occasion  to  publish  to  the  world,  and  to  defend  as  the  basis  of  the 
religious  freedom  of  mankind ;  so  that,  borrowing  the  rhetoric  employed  by  his  antago- 
nist in  derision,  we  may  compare  him  to  the  lark,  the  pleasant  bird  of  the  peaceful 


20  BAPTIST. 

summer,  that,  "  affecting  to  soar  aloft,  springs  upward  from  the  ground,  takes  his 
rise  from  pale  to  tree,"  and  at  last,  surmounting  the  highest  hills,  utters  his  clear 
carols  through  the  skies  of  morning.*  lie  was  the  lirst  person  in  modern  Chiisten- 
doni  to  assert,  in  its  plenitude,  the  doctrine  of  tlje  liberty  of  conscience,  the  ecjualit}'  of 
opinions  before  the  law;  and  in  its  defence  he  was  tlie  harbinger  of  Milton,  the  pre- 
cursor and  the  superior  of  Jeremy  Taylor.  For  Taylor  limited  his  toleration  to  a  lew 
Christian  sects;  the  philanthropy  of  Williams  compassed  the  earth.  Taylor  favoured 
partial  reform,  commended  lenity,  argued  for  forbearance,  and  entered  a  special  plea 
in  behalf  of  each  tolerable  sect.  Williams  would  permit  persecution  of  no  opinion,  of 
no  religion,  leaving  heresy  unharmed  by  law,  aud  orthodoxy  unprotected  by  the  ter- 
rors of  penal  statutes.  Taylor  still  clung  to  the  necessity  of  positive  regulations 
enforcing  religion  and  eradicating  error;  he  resembled  the  poets  who,  in  their  folly, 
first  declare  their  hero  to  be  invulnerable,  and  then  clothe  him  in  earthly  armour. 
Williams  was  willing  to  leave  Truth  alone,  in  herown  panoi)ly  of  light, f  believing  that 
if,  in  the  ancient  feud  between  Truth  and  Error,  the  employment  of  force  could  be 
entirely  abrogated,  Tj'uth  would  have  much  the  best  of  the  bargain.  It  is  the  cus- 
tom of  uiaukiud  to  award  high  honours  to  the  successful  imiuirer  into  the  laws  of 
nature,  to  those  who  advance  the  boumis  of  human  knowledge.  We  praise  the  man 
who  first  analyzed  the  air,  or  resolved  water  into  its  elements,  or  drew  the  lightning 
from  the  clouds;  even  though  the  discoveries  may  have  been  as  much  the  fruits  of 
time  as  of  genius.  A  moral  priuciple  has  a  much  wider  and  nearer  infiuence  on  humau 
happiness;  nor  can  any  discovery  of  truth  be  of  more  direct  benefit  to  society,  than 
that  which  establishes  a  perpetual  religious  peace,  and  spreads  tranquillity  through 
every  community  and  every  bosom.  If  Copernicus  is  held  in  perpetual  remembrance, 
because,  on  his  death  bed,  he  published  to  the  world  that  the  sun  is  the  centre  of  our 
system;  if  the  name  of  Kepler  is  preserved  in  the  annals  of  human  excellence  for  his 
sagacity  in  detecting  the  laws  of  the  planetary  motion;  if  the  genius  of  Jsewton  has 
been  almost  adored  tor  dissecting  a  ray  of  light,  and  weighing  heavenly  bodies  as  in 
a  balance, — let  there  be  for  the  name  of  Roger  Williams  at  least  some  humble  place 
among  those  who  have  advanced  moral  science,  and  made  themselves  the  benefactors  of 
mankind."  ««*««•.•«*«** 

'•  The  most  touching  trait  in  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island  Colony,  was  his  conduct 
towards  his  persecutors.  Though  keenly  sensitive  to  the  hardships  which  he  had 
endured,  he  was  far  lYom  harbouring  feelings  of  revenge  towards  those  who  banished 
him,  aud  only  regretted  their  delusion.  '  1  did  ever,  from  my  soul,  honour  and  love 
them,  even  when  their  judgment  led  them  to  afflict  mo. 'J  In  all  his  writings  on  the 
subject,  he  attacked  the  spirit  of  intolerance,  the  doctrine  of  persecution,  aud  never 
his  persecutors  or  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts.  Indeed,  we  shall  jjresently  behold 
him  requite  their  severity,  by  exposing  his  life  at  their  request,  and  for  their  benefit. 
it  is  not  strange,  then,  if  '  many  hearts  were  touched  with  relentings.  That  great  and 
pious  soul,  Mr.  \Vinslow,  melted  and  kindly  visited  me,'  says  the  exile,  '  and  put  a 
piece  of  gold  into  the  hands  of  my  wife,  for  our  supply  ;§  the  founder,  the  legislator, 
the  proprietor,  of  Rhode  Island  owed  a  shelter  to  the  hospitality  of  an  Indian  chief, 
and  his  wife  the  means  of  sustenance  to  the  cliarity  of  a  stranger.  The  half-wise 
Cotton  Mather  concedes  that  many  judicious  peisons  confessed  him  to  have  had  the 
root  of  the  matter  in  him;  and  his  nearer  friends,  the  immediate  witnesses  of  his 
actions,  declared  him,  from  "  the  whole  course  and  tenor  of  his  life  and  conduct,  to 
Lave  been  one  of  the  most  disinterested  men  that  ever  lived,  a  most  pious  and  heavenly 
minded  soul."'|| 

Dr.  Palfrey,  in  his  History  of  New  England,  lately  published,  takes  a 
les.s  favourable  view  of  Roger  Williams'  conduct,  especially  in  the  contro- 
versy which  issued  in  his  banishment,  than  some  other  historians  have 
done  ;  biithe  allows  him,  on  the  whole,  to  have  possessed  great  merit.  The 
following  paragraph  is  from  his  pen  : — 

"  Williams  had  great  virtues,  and  some  of  them  were  of  that  cliaracler  which  pecu- 
liarly wins  and  attaches.  He  was  eminently  courageous,  disinterested,  and  kintl- 
hearted.  If  >(in  his  early  days,  at  least)  he  belonged  to  that  class  of  men  wiio  had 
no  peace  for  themselves  except  in  sharp  strife  with  others, — if  the  certaminis  gaudia. 
the  joy  of  quarrel,  made  an  indispensable  condition  of  his  satisfaction  of  niind,--he 
was  incapable  of  any  feeling  of  malice  or  vindictiveness  towards  opponents.  Thougli, 
ia  his  controversies,  he  uses  strong  language,  as  was  his  wont  on  all  occasions,  a  tone 

•John  Cotton's  Koply,  2. 

f  The  expression  is  partly  from  Gibbon  and  Sir  Uenry  Vane. 

i  Winthrop  and  Savage. 

9  WiUianis  to  Mason. 

ilCallender,  17. 


ROGER  WILLIAMS.  21 

of  friendliness  is  scarcely  over  abaiiiloiiod.  Difllr  and  contend  lie  must.  For  him  a 
stajinant  life  was  not  worth  livin*.  Wlien  he  liad  made  a  few  proselytes  to  his  last 
novelty,  and  so  far  prevailed  to  have  his  own  way,  he  wonld  start  oil' on  some  new 
track,  impelled  by  his  irresistible  besetting  hunger  for  excitement  and  coiu*ict.  But 
with  all  this  he  had  a  sweetness  of  temjjer  and  a  constancy  of  benevolence,  that  no 
hard  treatment  could  ovorcoiuu,  and  no  dilliculties  or  dangers  exhaust  or  discourage." 


JOHN  CLArvKE .*. 

1644— 1G76. 

John  Clarke  was  born  in  England,  (^tradition  says  in  Bedfordshire)  on 
the  8th  of  October,  1609.  Where  he  was  educated  is  not  known  ;  but  the 
following  clause  in  his  will  may  give  some  idea  of  his  learning — "Item, 
unto  my  loving  friend,  llichard  IJayley,  I  give  and  bequeath  my  Con- 
cordance and  Lexicon  thereto  belonging,  written  by  myself,  being  the  fruit 
of  several  yeai's'  study :  my  Hebrew  Bible,  Buxtorflf's  and  Parsons'  Lexi- 
cons, Cotton's  Concordance,  and  all  the  rest  of  my  books."  Previous  to 
his  coming  to  this  country,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John 
Hargcs,  Esq.,  of  Bedfordshire.  lie  entered  the  medical  profession,  and 
was,  for  some  time,  a  practising  physician  in  London.  Under  what  circum- 
stances, or  in  what  year  precisely,  he  came  to  America,  I  am  unable  to 
ascertain;  but  he  seems  to  have  brought  with  him  a  strong  antipathy  to 
the  reigning  spirit  of  the  times,  and  an  intense  love  of  religious  liberty. 
He  settled  in  Boston  as  a  medical  practitioner  ;  but  so  much  was  he 
disgusted  with  the  tone  of  public  feeling  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony, 
especially  as  evinced  by  the  banishment  of  Mr.  Wheelwright  and  Ann 
Hutchinson,  that  he  proposed  to  several  of  his  friends  to  remove  with  him 
out  of  a  jurisdiction  that  was  the  seat  of  so  much  intolerance.  His  friends 
listened  to  his  proposal ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  he  and  some  others  should 
look  out  for  a  place  where  they  might  enjoy  the  blessing  of  religious  free- 
dom. By  reason  of  the  extreme  heat  of  the  preceding  summer,  they  first 
went  North  to  a  place  which  is  nowwilhiii  the  bounds  of  Nevv  Hampshire; 
but  the  severity  of  the  next  winter  there  led  them,  the  following  spring,  to 
take  a  Southern  direction.  They  agreed  that,  while  their  vessel  was  pass- 
ing around  Cape  Cod,  they  would  cross  over,  by  land,  having  either  Long 
Island,  or  Delaware  Bay,  in  view,  as  a  place  for  settlement.  They  st-ojiped 
at  Providence,  where  they  found  Roger  Williams,  who  fully  sympathized  in 
their  principles  and  designs,  and  was  disposed  to  render  them  all  the  aid 
in  his  power.  He  suggested  two  places  to  them  as  worthy  of  their  con- 
sideration,— namely,  Sowams,  now  called  Barrington,  and  Aquetneck,  now 
Bhode  Island.  Mr.  Williams  accompanied  Mr.  Clarke  and  two  others  of 
the  company  to  Plymouth,  to  see  whether  either  of  these  places  was  con- 
sidered as  falling  within  the  Plymouth  jurisdiction.  They  were  met  with 
great  kindness;  and,  while  they  were  told  that  Sowams  was  "the  garden 
of  their  patent,"  they  were  advised   to  settle  at  Aquetneck,  and  were  pro- 

•  Backus'  Hist.  N.  E.  III.— Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.  I.— Callender's  Hist.  Disc— Peterson's 
Hist.  R.  I.  ' 


22  BAPTIST. 

mised  that  they  should  be  regarded  as  "free,"  and  "treated  and  assisted 
as  loving  neighbours." 

On  their  return,  March  7,  1G38,  they  incorporated  themselves  (eighteen 
in  number)  as  a  body  politic,  and  chose  AVilliam  Coddington  their  chief 
magistrate.  They  forthwith  purchased  Aquetneck  of  the  Indian  Sachems, 
and  called  it  the  Isle  of  Rhodes  or  llhode  Island.  The  Indian  deed  is 
dated  March  24,  1638.  The  settlement  commenced  at  Pocasset,  or  Ports- 
mouth, near  what  is  called  Common  Fence  Point,  but  they  soon  removed 
to  Newtown,  some  two  miles  South.  In  May,  1639,  Mr.  Clarke  was  one 
of  nine  who  founded  Newport. 

It  seems  not  to  be  fully  settled  when  Mr.  Clarke  became  either  a 
preacher  or  a  Baptist ;  as  no  record,  or  even  tradition,  remains  in  respect 
to  either  his  Baptism  or  Ordination.  He  conducted  religious  worship  in 
the  Colony  until  1641,  when  they  held  meetings  in  two  or  more  separate 
bodies.  He  was  the  Founder  and  first  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Newport,  which  tradition  dates  back  to  1644,  and  which  was  the  second 
Baptist  Church  established  in  America.  He  was  also  the  Phj'sician  of  the 
Island  for  several  years. 

In  1649,  Mr.  Clarke  was  Assistant  and  Treasurer  of  the  llhode  Island 
Colony.  In  July,  1651,  he,  in  company  with  Mr.  Obadiah  Holmes  and  a 
Mr.  Crandall,  made  a  religious  visit  to  one  William  Witter,  a  resident  of 
Ijjnn,  near  Boston,  which,  in  its  results,  marked  an  important  epoch  in  his 
history.  Mr.  Witter,  by  reason  of  his  advanced  age,  and  partial  or  total 
blindness,  could  not  undertake  so  great  a  journey  as  to  visit  the  church  at 
Newport.  He  lived  about  two  miles  out  of  the  town  ;  and,  the  next  day 
after  their  arrival  being  Lord's  day,  they  concluded  to  hold  a  religious 
service  at  his  house.  Mr.  Clarke  commenced  preaching  from  Rev.  iii.  10 — 
"  Because  thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  will  keep  thee 
from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world  to  try 
them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  ;"  and,  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse,  he 
had  an  opportunity,  according  to  his  own  account,  practically  to  illustrate 
some  of  the  truths  he  was  endeavouring  to  set  forth.  The  following  des- 
cription of  the  scene  which  ensued,  is  from  his  own  pen. 

Having  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  was  then  engaged  in  a  religious 
service,  he  says, — 

"  Two  constables  came  into  the  house,  who,  with  tlieir  clamorous  tongues,  made  an 
intorrn[)ti()n  in  my  discourse,  and  more  uncivilly  disturbed  us  than  the  i)ursuivants 
of  the  old  English  bishops  were  wont  to  do,  telling  us  that  they  were  come  witii  autho- 
rity iVom  the  magistrates  to  apprehend  us.  I  then  desired  to  see  the  authority  by 
whicli  thejr^thus  proceeded;  whereupon,  they  plucked  forth  their  warrant,  and  one  o' 
them,  witii  a  trembling  hand,  (as  conscious  he  might  have  been  better  employed,)  read 
it  to  us;  the  substance  whereof  was  as  foUoweth: — 

'• '  By  virtue  hereof,  you  arc  required  to  go  to  the  house  of  "William  "Witter,  and  to 
search  iVom  house  to  house,  for  certain  erroneous  i)ersons,  being  strangers,  and  them 
to  api)rehend,  and  in  sale  custody  to  keep,  and  to-morrow  morning  at  eiglit  o'clock, 
to  bring  before  me.  "'Robert  Biudges.' 

"  AVhen  he  had  read  the  warrant,  I  told  them,  Friends,  there  shall  not  be,  I  trust, 
the  least  appearance  of  a  resisting  of  that  authority  by  which  you  come  unto  us;  yet 
I  tell  you  that,  by  virtue  hereof,  you  are  not  strictly  tied.  but.  if  you  please,  you  may 
suffer  us  to  make  an  end  of  wluit  we  have  begun,  so  you  may  be  witnesses  either  to  or 
against  the  fa'th  and  (U'dor  which  we  hold.  To  which  they  answered  they  could  not. 
Then  said  we,  uitwithstanding  the  warrant,  or  anything  tlierein  contained,  you  may. 
They  apprehended  us,  and  carried  us  away  to  the  ale  house  or  ordinary,  where,  at 
diuuer,  one  of  them  said  unto  us,  Gentlemen,  if  you  be  free,  I  will  carry  you  to  the 


JOHN   CLARKE. 


23 


uieL'tiiig.  To  whom  it  was  replied,  Friend,  had  we  been  free  tlierounto,  we  had  pre- 
vculed  ill!  Ihis;  ucvertlieless,  we  arc  in  thy  hand,  and  it'  tliou  wilt  curry  us  to  the 
meeting,  tliiilicr  we  will  go.  To  which  he  answered.  Then  will  1  carry  you  to  the 
meeting.  To  lliis  we  replied,  li"  thou  Ibrcest  us  into  your  assembly,  then  kliail  we  bo 
constrained  to  declare  ourselves  that  we  cannot  hold  communion  with  them.  The  con- 
stable answered,  That  is  nothing  to  me;  1  have  not  puwer  to  command  you  to  speak 
wiieu  yuu  cume  there,  or  to  he  silent.  To  this  I  again  replietl,  Since  we  have  heard 
the  word  of  sahalion  by  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  been  taught  as  those  that  '  tirst  trusted 
m  Christ,'  to  be  obedient  unto  liim  both  by  word  and  deed;  wherefore,  it*  we  be  forced 
to  your  Uieeting,  we  snail  declare  our  dissent  Irom  you  both  by  word  and  gesture. 
After  all  this,  wnen  he  had  consulted  with  the  man  of  the  house,  lie  told  us  he  would 
carry  us  to  tiie  meeting;  so  to  their  meeting  wo  were  brought,  while  they  were  at  their 
prayers  and  uncovered;  and,  at  mylirst  stepping  over  the  threshold,!  unveiled  myself, 
civilly  saluted  them,  and  turned  into  the  seat  1  was  appointed  to,  put  on  my  hat  again, 
and  s;it  do'.vii,  opened  my  book  and  tell  to  reading.  Mr.  Bridges,  being  troubled,  com- 
manded the  constable  to  pluck  oil'  our  hats,  which  he  did,  and  where  ho  laid  mine, 
there  1  let  it  lie,  until  their  prayers,  singiflg  and  preaching  was  over.  After  this,  1 
stood  up  and  uttered  myself  in  these  words  following — 1  desire,  as  a  stranger,  to  pro- 
pose a  lew  things  to  this  congregation,  hoping,  in  the  proposal  thereof,  1  shall  commend 
myself  to  your  consciences,  to  be  guided  by  that  wisdom  that  is  from  above,  which, 
being  pure,  is  also  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  entreated;  and  therewith  made  a 
Stop,  expecting  that,  if  the  Prince  of  Peace  had  been  among  them,  I  should  have  had 
a  suitable  answer  of  peace  from  them.  Their  Pastor  answered.  We  will  have  no  objec- 
tions against  what  is  delivered.  To  which  1  answered,  1  am  not  about  at  present  to 
make  objections  against  what  is  delivered,  but,  as  by  my  gesture,  at  my  coming  into 
your  assembly.  1  declared  my  dissent  from  you,  so,  lest  that  should  prove  ofi'ensive  unto 
some  wiiom  i  would  not  olfeiid,  i  would  now,  by  word  of  mouth,  declare  the  grounds, 
which  are  these:  First,  from  consideration  we  are  strangers  each  to  other,  and  so 
strangers  to  each  others'  inward  standing  with  resjiect  to  God,  and  so  cannot  conjoin  and 
act  in  faith,  and  what  is  not  of  faith  is  sin.  And,  in  the  second  place,  1  could  not  judge 
that  you  are  gathered  together,  and  walk  according  to  the  visible  order  of  our  Lord. 
Which,  when  I  had  declared,  Mr.  Bridges  told  me  I  had  done,  and  spoke  that  for 
which  I  must  answer,  and  so  commanded  silence.  When  their  meeting  was  done,  the 
olhcers  carried  us  again  to  the  ordinary,  w^iere  being  watched  over  that  night,  as 
thieves  and  robbers,  we  were  the  next  morning  carried  before  Mr.  Bridges,  who  made 
our  mittimus  and  sent  us  to  the  prison  at  Boston." 

After  they  had  rcmaiued  iu  prisoa  about  a  fortnight,  the  Court  of 
Assistants  sentenced  Mr.  Clarke  to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds,  Mr. 
Holmes  of  thirty,  and  Mr.  Craudall  of  five,  or  to  be  publicly  whipped; 
and  as  they  all  refused  to  pay  their  fines,  they  were  remanded  back  to 
prison.  Some  of  Mr.  Clarke's  friends  paid  his  fine,  without  his  consent. 
Mr.  Crandall,  against  whom  nothing  was  alleged,  except  that  he  was  found 
in  company  with  the  other  two,  was  released  upon  his  promi.se  of  appear- 
ing at  their  next  Court ;  but  the  time  was  passed  before  he  was  informed  of 
it,  and  then  they  exacted  his  fine  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison.  But  Mr. 
Holmes  was  kept  in  prisoa  until  September,  when  the  sentence  of  the  law 
was  executed  upon  him  with  the  utmost  severity.  It  is  stated  in  a  manu- 
script of  Joseph  Jeuks, — Governor  of  llhode  Island  from  1727  to  1732, — 
that  "  Mr.  Holmes  was  whipped  thirty  stripes,  and  in  such  an  unmerciful 
manner,  that  iu  many  days,  if  not  some  weeks,  he  could  take  no  rest,  bat 
as  he  lay  upon  his  knees  and  elbows,  not  being  able  to  suffer  any  part  of 
his  body  to  touch  the  bed  whereon  he  lay."* 

•  Obadiah  Holmes  was  born  at  Preston,  Lancashire,  England,  about  the  year  1606; 
arrived  in  Americu  about  1G39,  and  continued  a  communicant  with  the  Congrcgationulists,  first 
at  iSalem,  and  then  at  Kehoboth,  eleven  years,  when  he  became  a  Baptist,  and  joined  the  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Xewport.  After  he  bad  recovered  from  his  wounds,  inflicted  at  Boston,  be 
removed  bis  family  from  Rehoboth  to  Newport,  and,  in  1662,  the  year  after  Mr.  Clarke  sailed 
for  England,  was  invested  with  the  pastoral  oflice,  which  he  held  till  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  16S-,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  He  was  buried  in  bis  own  field,  where  a.  monument  hai 
been  erected  to  his  memory.  He  had  eight  children,  and  his  posterity  are  widely  spread  through 
several  different  States.    His  son,  Obadiah,  was  long  a  Judge  in  New  Jersey,  and  a  preacher 


24  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Clarke  is  said  to  liave  defended  himself  and  his  brethren,  on  the 
trial,  with  much  ability.  But  the  Governor  seems  to  have  listened  with 
little  patience  to  his  statements;  for  he  stepped  "up  and  told  them  all  that 
they  had  denied  Infant  Baptism,  and  told  Mr.  Clarke  that  he  deserved 
death,  and  declared  that  he  "would  not  have  such  trash  brought  into  his 
jurisdiction  ;"  and  he  added,  as  Mr.  Clarke  states, — "  You  go  up  and 
down,  and  secretly  insinuate  into  those  that  are  weak,  but  you  cannot 
maintain  it  before  our  ministers."  But  before  Mr.  Clarke  had  time  to 
reply,  the  Governor  commanded  the  jailor  to  take  them  away.  The  next 
morning,  Mr.  C.  availed  himself  of  an  opportunity  to  make  the  following 
motion  to  the  Court : 

"  To  the  Honourable  Court  assembled  at  Boston: — 

"  Whereas,  it  pleased  this  honoured  Court,  yesterday,  to  condemn  the  faith  and 
order  which  I  liold  and  practise;  and,  after  you  had  passad  your  sentence  ujjon  me  for 
it,  were  pleased  to  express  I  could  not  maintain  the  same  against  your  ministers,  and 
thereupon  publicly  profiered  me  a  dispute  with  them:  Be  pleased,  by  these  few  lines, 
to  understand  I  readily  accept  it,  and  therefore  desire  you  to  api)oint  the  time  when, 
and  the  person  with  whom,  in  that  public  place  where  I  was  condemned,  I  might, 
with  freedom,  and  without  molestation  of  the  civil  power,  dispute  that  point  publicly, 
where  I  doubt  not,  by  the  strength  of  Christ,  to  make  it  good,  out  of  iiis  last  will  and 
testament,  unto  which  nothing  is  to  be  added,  nor  from  which  nothing  is  to  be  dimin- 
ished. Thus  desiring  the  Father  of  Lights  to  shine  forth,  and  by  his  power  to  expel 
the  darkness,  I  remain  your  well  wisher,  ''  Joun  Clarke. 

"  From  the  prison  this      } 
1st  day,  6th  mo.,  1051.     ^ 

"  This  motion,  if  granted,  I  desire  might  be  subscribed  by  the  Secretary's  hand,  as 
an  act  of  the  same  Court,  b«  which  we  were  condemned." 

The  motion  was  presented,  and  in  due  time  Mr.  Clarke  was  informed 
that  a  disputation  was  granted,  to  be  held  the  next  week.  Mr.  C,  after 
some  further  conference  between  himself  and  the  magistrates,  committed  to 
writing  the  several  positions  he  proposed  to  defend,  which  were  no  other 
than  the  distinctive  principles  of  the  Baptist  system.  But  this  disputa- 
tion, which  had  been  anticipated  with  great  interest,  was  prevented  by  the 
payment  of  Mr.  C.'s  fine,  and  his  consequent  release  from  prison.  Fear- 
ing that  the  failure  might  be  attributed  to  himself,  he  immediately  sent  the 
following  note  to  the  magistrates : — 

■'  AVhcreas,  through  the  Indulgency  of  tender  hearted  friends,  without  my  consent, 
and  contrary  to  my  judgment,  the  sentence  and  condemnation  of  the  Court  at  Boston 
(as  is  reported)  have  been  fully  satisfied  on  my  behalf,  and  thereupon  a  war- 
rant hath  been  procured,  by  which  I  am  secluded  tlie  ])lace  of  my  imprisonment;  by 
reason  whereof  I  see  no  other  call  for  i)resent  but  to  my  habitation,  and  to  those  near 
relations  which  (iod  hath  given  me  there;  yet,  lest  the  cause  should  hereby  suffer, 
which  I  i)rofes.s  is  Christ's,  I  would  hereby  signify  that,  if  yet  it  should  jdease  the 
honoured  magistrates,  or  General  Court  of  this  Colony,  to  grant  my  former  request, 
under  their  Secretary's  hand,  I  shall  cheerfully  embrace  it,  and,  upon  your  mention, 
shall,  throughlhe  help  of  God,  come  from  the  island  to  attend  it,  and  hereunto  I  have 
enbscribed  mv  name.  "'  John  Clarke. 

"  11th  day" 0th  mo.,  1051." 

The  above  called  forth  another  letter  from  the  magistrates,  and  a  rejoin- 
der from  Mr.  Clarke,  but  the  disputation  never  took  place. 

In  1G51,  shortly  after  this  event,  so  characteristic  of  the  times,  Mr. 
Clarke  was  sent  to  England,  with  Roger  Williams,  to  promote  the 
interests  of  Rhode  Island,  and  particularly  to  procure  a  revocation  of  Wil- 
liam  Coddington's    commission    as   Governor.     Soon    after  his   arrival  in 

in  the  Baptist  Church  at  Cohansey.  Another  of  his  sons, — John,  was  a  magistrate  in  Phila- 
delphia at  the  time  of  the  schism  occasioned  by  Keith.  One  of  his  grandsons  was  living  in 
Newport,  in  1770,  in  the  ninety-sixth  year  of  his  age. 


4 


JOHN  CLARKE.  25 

England,  he  pu1)lishcd  a  book,  giving  an  account  of  the  New  England  per- 
secutions, with  the  following  title: — "111  News  from  New  England,  or  a 
Narrative  of  New  England's  Persecution ;  wherein  it  is  declared  that 
while  Old  England  is  becoming  New,  New  England  is  becoming  Old ;  also 
Four  Proposals  to  Parliament  and  Four  Conclusions,  touching  the  Faith 
and  Order  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  out  of  his  Last  Will  and  Testament." 
This  was  a  quarto,  of  seventy-sis  pages,  and  was  answered  by  Thomas 
Cobbett,  of  Lynn. 

The  more  immediate  object  of  the  mission  to  England  was  accomplished 
by  the  annulling  of  Mr.  Coddington's  commission,  in  October,  1652. 
Though  iMr.  Clarke's  colleague  returned  to  this  country  in  1654,  he  him- 
self remained  behind  in  England,  as  agent  for  the  Colony.  The  second 
charter  was  granted  on  the  8th  of  July,  1663,  though,  in  order  to  obtain 
it,  ^Ir.  C.  was  obliged  to  mortgage  his  estate  in  Newport.  He  came  home 
in  1664,  and  immediately  resumed  his  relations  with  his  church,  and  his 
practice  of  medicine,  and  continued  them  till  the  close  of  life.  The  Assem- 
bly did  not  at  once  pay  the  expenses  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  during 
his  absence,  but  they  ultimately  voted  him  a  handsome  consideration.  A 
few  years  after  his  return,  he  seems  to  have  been  brought,  in  some  way,  in 
conflict  with  the  Quakers ;  and,  in  October,  1673,  five  of  the  members  of 
his  church  were  excluded  from  communion  for  asserting  that  "  the  man 
Christ  Jesus  was  not  now  in  Heaven,  nor  on  earth,  nor  anywhere  else  ;  but 
that  his  body  was  entirely  lost." 

Mr.  Clarke  died,  resigning  his  soul  to  his  merciful  Redeemer,  on  the  20th 
of  April,  1676,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Clarke  was  three  times  married.  His  first  wife  died  without  issue. 
His  second  wife,  who  was  Mrs.  Mary  Fletcher,  died  on  the  19th  of  April, 
1672,  leaving  an  only  daughter,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eleven  years.  His 
third  wife  was  Mrs.  Sarah  Davis,  who  survived  him.  He  was  buried,  by 
his  own  request,  between  his  two  wives,  in  a  lot  which  he  gave  for  a  burial 
ground  to  the  church.  He  left  considerable  property  in  the  hands  of  trus- 
tees, empowered  to  choose  their  successors, — for  the  relief  of  the  poor  and 
the  education  of  children,  according  to  instructions  given  in  his  will, — 
namely,  "that,  in  the  disposal  of  that  which  the  Lord  hath  bestowed  upon 
me,  and  with  which  I  have  now  entrusted  you  and  your  successors,  you 
shall  have  special  regard  and  care  to  provide  for  those  that  fear  the  Lord ; 
and,  in  all  things,  and  at  all  times,  so  to  discharge  the  trust  that  I  have 
reposed  in  you,  as  may  be  most  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  and 
benefit  of  those  for  whom  it  is  by  me  especially  intended."  His  whole 
estate  was  appraised  at  £1080,  12s. 

Mr.  Clarke  left  three  brothers,  Thomas,  Joseph  and  Carezo.  From 
Joseph  many  of  the  families  by  the  name  of  Clarke,  in  Rhode  Island,  have 
sprung. 

He  left  behind  him  a  statement,  in  manuscript,  of  his  religious  opinions, 
from  which  it  appears  that,  with  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists  be 
united  those  which  are  commonly  called  Calvinistic. 

The  Rev.  John  Callender,  the  Historian  of  the  First  Century  of  the 
Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  has  left  the  following  testimony  concerning  Mr. 
Clarke  : 

Vol.  VI.  4 


2Q  BAPTIST. 

"  He  was  a  faithful  and  useful  minister,  courteous  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  an 
ornament  to  his  profession,  and  to  the  several  offices  which  he  sustained.  His  memory 
is  di'S(;rving  of  lasting  honour,  for  liis  efforts  towards  establishing  the  first  government 
in  the  world,  which  p;avc  to  all  equal  civil  and  religious  libertJ^  To  no  man  is  Rhode 
Island  more  Indebted  than  to  him.  He  was  one  of  the  original  projectors  of  the  set- 
tlement of  the  isKand,  and  one  of  its  ablest  legislators.  No  character  in  New  England 
is  of  purer  fame  tlian  John  Clarke." 


THE  WIGHTMANS. 

Valentine  Wigiitman.  1705 — 1747. 
Timothy  Wightman.  1754 — 1796. 
John  Gano  Wightman.    1800 — 1841. 

FROM    THE    REV.    FREDERIC    DENISON. 

Norwich.  Conn.,  June  8,  1858. 
Rev.  and  clear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  concerning  the  Wight- 
mans  of  Groton,  Conn.,  I  can  only  say  that,  as  I  know  of  no  person  who 
has  gathered  a  full  history  of  these  three  worthy  fathers,  and,  as  my  atten- 
tion has  been  turned  towards  theiu  during  the  past  year,  while  collecting 
the  Ileligious  Annals  of  Groton,  I  have,  by  advice  of  friends,  consented 
to  forward  to  you  the  following  memorabilia  of  them,  that  have  fallen 
under  my  notice.  In  the  first  two  cases,  my  authorities  are  family  history, 
private  papers,  town  and  church  records,  ecclesiastical  and  Associational 
Minutes,  and  historical  sketches :  in  the  last  instance,  I  am  able  to  add 
some  personal  recollections. 

Valentine  Wightman  was  a  descendant  of  Edward  Wightman,  who 
was  burnt  for  heresy,  at  Litchfield,  in  England,  in  1612.  Of  the  Wight- 
mans,  there  came  to  this  country  five  brothers,  all  Baptists — two  were 
preachers ;  two  were  deacons  ;  one  a  private  member  of  the  church. 
Valentine  was  a  son  of  one  of  these  five. 

Valentine  was  born  in  North  Kingston,  R.  I.,  in  1681.  He  removed 
to  Groton,  Conn.,  in  1705, — the  year  in  which  the  town  was  incorporated. 
Probably  he  was  licensed  to  preach  in  his  native  Colony.  Upon  his 
removal  to  Groton,  he  immediately  gathered  the  few  Baptists  in  the  town 
into  a  church,  and  in  the  same  year  (1705)  was  chosen  their  Pastor.  This 
was  the  first  Baptist  Church  planted  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  and 
which,  as  a  mother  of  churches,  still  rejoices  in  her  age. 

Unfortniiatcly,  no  sketch  of  the  early  life  and  personal  appearance  of 
Mr.  Wightnnxn  has  come  down  to  us:  and  what  is  more  to  be  regretted, 
since  the  times  were  peculiarly  fruitful  of  historic  incident,  all  the  records 
of  the  church  for  the  entire  period  of  his  ministry  have  perished.  How- 
ever, not  a  few  of  the  fruits  of  his  labours  are  yet  to  be  found.  The 
strong  marks  he  made  on  his  generation,  and  the  fragmentai-y  records  of 
his  deeds,  lodged  in  collateral  history,  by  the  circling  waves  of  his  influ- 
ence, enable  us  to  present  the  man,  the  preacher,  and  the  Christian  builder, 
in  a  light  worthy  of  historic  mention. 

On  coming  into  public  life,  Valentine  evinced  the  possession  of  excel- 
lent endowments,  and  creditable  attainments.     He  was  soon  widely  known. 


THE  WIGIITMATMS.  27 

and  as  widely  respected  for  his  cliaracter  and  liis  abilities.  "With  a  sound 
miud  in  a  sound  body,  and,  what  is  yet  more  important,  a  disposition 
withal  to  work,  and  to  work  for  the  good  of  his  generation,  he  necessarily 
rose  to  a  commanding  position,  and  wielded  a  truly  enviable  influence.  In 
fine,  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  preacher,  a  writer,  a  disputant,  a  coun- 
sellor, and  a  builder  in  Zion. 

Mr.  Wightman  maintained  his  individuality  and  his  peculiar  tenets  ;  but 
he  was  no  partisan  preacher,  no  self-sufficient  champion  of  a  sect,  no  bigoted 
adherent  to  a  school.  He  was  humble,  firm,  faithful.  As  a  preacher,  he 
was  plain,  logical,  earnest,  and  sometimes  eloquent.  As  a  builder,  he 
was  wise,  prudent,  and  skilful.  He  was  an  indefatigable  labourer,  and  he 
laboured  to  edify  rather  than  to  please  and  captivate.  With  the  numeri- 
cal increase  of  his  flock,  he,  as  well,  sought  their  culture  in  all  the  ways 
that  consisted  with  the  poverty  and  pressure  of  his  times.  He  preached 
in  all  the  adjoining  towns.  For  many  years  he  was  the  only  settled  Baptist 
minister  in  the  Colony. 

Through  his  instrumentality,  and  in  the  face  of  sharp  opposition  from 
the  Standing  Order,  Baptist  Churches  were  gathered  in  Waterford,  Lyme, 
Stonington,  and  other  places.  His  pi*eaching  cost  him  much  unpleasant 
controversy,  and  not  a  little  persecution,  as,  in  the  matter  of  parish  lines, 
he  preferred  the  commission  given  by  Christ,  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of 
Connecticut.  In  his  own  town,  he  was  increasingly  prospered  in  his 
work  until  the  glorious  period  of  the  Great  Awakening,  in  which  his  zeal 
and  labours  abounded,  and  were  crowned  with  a  precious  harvest. 

Valentine's  few  papers  testify  to  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  his  honourable  acquaintance  with  Church  History,  and  the 
writings  of  the  first  Christian  Fathers.  That  he  wrote  but  little  is 
explained  by  the  culture  of  his  times,  in  connection  with  the  multitude  of 
temporal  engagements  and  hardships  belonging  to  his  generation,  which 
narrowed  the  opportunities  for  liberal  studies,  and  furnished  few  incentives 
for  committing  his  thoughts  to  paper.  He  wrote  a  tract  on  Church  Music, 
which  is  reported  to  have  been  useful.  But  the  most  historic  of  his 
eff"orts  is  his  Debate  with  the  llev.  John  Bulkley,  of  Colchester.  This 
Debate  was  a  famous  one  :  it  was  the  trial  of  theological  strength,  pre- 
viously agreed  upon,  between  the  Standing  Order,  who  gave  the  challenge, 
and  the  Dissenters  in  the  Colony.  The  champions  selected  on  each  side 
were  Mr.  Bulkley  and  Mr.  Wightman.  Tlie  Debate  opened  orally  in  the 
meeting  house,  in  Lyme,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1727,  and  continued  above 
seven  hours.  Multitudes  attended,  among  whom  were  distinguished  clergy- 
men and  public  officers  on  both  sides — two  able  men  presided  as  Modera- 
tors. The  topics  discussed  were,  I.  The  Subjects  of  Baptism.  II.  The 
Mode  of  Baptizing.  III.  The  Maintenance  of  Gospel  Ministers.  The 
Debate  was  continued  in  writing — each  disputant  published  a  book.  In 
this  encounter,  whether  considered  in  a  theological  or  literary  point 
of  view,  I  do  not  think  that  Mr.  Wightman  suffers  by  comparison  with 
his  gifted  and  learned  antagonist,  whom  Dr.  Chauncy  has  styled  "a  first 
rate  genius"  and  distinguished  for  "  solidity  of  mind  and  strength  of  judg- 
ment." 

He  was  married  to  Susanna  Holmes,  February  10,  1703. 


28 


BAPTIST. 


In  1712,  by  invitation  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Eyres,  he  visited  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  continued  his  visits  about  two  years,  preaching  at  Mr.  E.'s 
house.  His  labours  were  blessed.  In  1714,  he  baptized  seven  men  and 
five  women,  who  afterwards  were  formed  into  a  church  under  the  ministry 
of  Mr.  Eyres.  This  was  the  first  Baptist  Church  planted  in  the  State  of 
New  York. 

Valentine  came  to  his  death  peacefully,  and  in  honour,  on  the  9th  of 
June,  1747,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  and  after  a  ministry  of  forty-two 
years.  The  people  whom  he  had  '•'  fed,  according  to  the  integrity  of  his 
heart,  and  guided  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  hands,"  appropriately  niounied 
his  departure.  His  memory  is  even  yet  fresh.  And  his  name  will  endure 
on  the  roll  of  the  fathers  that  opened  the  wilderness,  and,  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  laid  the  goodly  foundations  upon  which  succeeding  generation.- 
have  joyfully  built. 


Timothy  Wigiitman  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Valentine  Wightman,  and 
was  bcirn  in  GrotRn,  Conn.,  November  20,  1719.  Of  his  early  life  very 
little  can  be  ascertained.  From  the  loss  of  the  Church  Records  up  to 
1754,  it  is  impossible  to  state  wheil  he  professed  faith  in  Christ,  or  when 
he  was  licensed  to  preach;  but,  in  the  year  1754,  we  find  him,  as  also  his 
wife,  in  covenant  with  the  church.  His  first  wife  was  Jane  Fish,  to  whom 
he  was  married  June  1,  1743:  she  died  March  4,  1745.  He  was  married 
to  his  second  wife,  Mary  Stoddard,  May  13,  1747  :  she  survived  him  about 
twenty  years — her  death  occurred  February  19,  1817,  in  her  ninety-second 
year. 

In  1754,  Timothy  succeeded  his  father  in  the  pastoral  office,  though  he 
refused  ordination  till  May  20,  1756.  His  modesty,  coupled  witli  the 
trials  and  labours  of  the  office,  induced  this  hesitancy.  After  the  death 
of  his  father,  the  church  became  somewhat  entangled  with  questions  of 
Church  government  and  spiritual  liberty,  brought  into  the  body  by  the 
numerous  seceders  from  the  Standing  Order,  called  Separatists,  who  had 
now  become  Baptists;  and  the  llev.  Daniel  Fisk  who,  for  a  few  years,  had 
been  ministering  to  the  church,  was  unequal  to  the  position  in  this  day  of 
spiritual  revolution  that  followed  the  Great  Awakening,  and  eventually 
brought  in  the  day  of  religious  liberty.  But  when  Timothy  came  to  the 
helm  of  affairs,  with  his  native  Wigiitman  judgment  and  skill,  he  brought 
the  old  ship  into  the  wind,  and  sent  her  again  bounding  on  her  original 
course.  -^ 

Timothy  was  a  man  of  medium  stature,  light  and  erect  frame,  black  hair 
and  eyes,  affable  manners,  serious  deportment,  and  manly  bearing.  He 
was  well-nigh  a  model  man; — easy,  serious,  kind,  ingenuous,  earnest. 
Being  once  called  before  the  County  Court  as  a  witness,  and  a  lawyer 
attempting  to  criticise  him  by  cross-questioning,  the  Judge  remarked, — 
•'  It  is  not  necessary  to  criticise  that  man  ;  his  veracity  and  candour  arc 
evident  in  his  appearance." 

As  a  preacher,  Timothy  was  much  like  his  father, — plain,  fearless,  fiith- 
ful.  The  period  of  his  ministry  reached  through  the  two  great  upheavals 
in   the   history  of   our   country — the   Separations   induced    by   the    Great 


THE  WIGIITMANS.  29 

Awakening,  that  culminated  in  the  establishment  of  evangelical  doctrines 
and  Chuivh  independency, — and  the  Revolution  that  inaugurated  our 
National  Independence :  the  one  was  the  divinely  ordained  harbinger  of 
the  other.  The  Separate  movement  was  specially  powerful  in  Eastern 
Connecticut,  in  and  around  Groton  ;  and,  in  the  whole  Colony,  more  than 
thirty  Separate  churches  were  formed.  Most  of  these  Separatists  finally 
became  Baplii^ts.  In  the  Revolutionary  War,  Groton  bore  a  heroic  and 
mournful  part :  her  Western  Heights,  on  September  6,  1781,  were  purpled 
with  the  blood  of  more  than  eighty  patriots,  and  above  thirty  more  lay 
mortally  wounded.  In  the  midst  of  these  trying  scenes  Timothy  was 
called  to  minister,  and  he  ministered  with  discretion.  He  stood  by  the 
altar  of  God,  and  by  the  rights  of  his  countr}'.  He  withstood  ecclesi- 
astical domination  at  home,  and  political  tyranny  abroad.  His  church 
furnished  its  quota  of  patriotic  blood  in  defence  of  the  principles  of 
liberty,  and  Timothy  animated  his  people  to  honour  the  right. 

Resides  some  annoyances  from  the  State  Church  party  in  the  town  and 
surrounding  country,  Timothy  was  at  one  time  harassed  in  his  ministra- 
tions by  the  little  band  of  ignorant  "  Rogercnes,"  whose  religion  consisted 
in  denouncing  the  Sabbath,  public  prayer,  preaching,  and  all  Christian 
ordinances,  as  "  idolatries,"  and  who  came,  on  the  Sabbath,  driving  their 
teams,  and  bringing  into  the  meeting-house  splints  for  baskets,  cards  and 
spinning  wheels,  to  disturb  the  preacher,  and  to  win  persecution  as  the 
evidence  of  their  saintship.  They  even  boorishly  interrupted  him  and 
charged  him  with  lying.  But  he  calml}'  proceeded  in  his  work,  and 
exhorted  his  people  never  to  return  railing  for  railing,  but  by  true  kind- 
ness to  heap  coals  of  fire  on  their  enemies'  heads. 

Timothy's  ministry  was  favoured  by  several  notable  revivals.  In  1764, 
more  than  thirty  were  added  to  the  church — the  second  Baptist  Church  in 
Groton  was  organized  in  the  year  following.  In  1775,  nearly  forty  souls 
were  added  to  the  flock — in  this  year  a  Baptist  Church  was  gathered  in 
North  Groton.  In  1784,  eighty-four  members  were  brought  in.  Another 
revival,  in  178G-87,  brought  an  increase  from  every  side. 

Near  the  close  of  his  ministry,  Timothy  suffered  from  ill  health,  and 
was  assisted  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  in  preaching  and  baptizing. 
His  last  sermon  was  founded  upon  II.  Tim.  iv.  G-8,  "  I  am  now  ready  to 
be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand,"  &c.  The  words 
were  prophetic  in  his  lips.  After  a  severe  illness  of  about  six  weeks,  he 
departed  in  hope,  November  14,  179G,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  and  after 
a  ministry  of  forty-two  years, — the  exact  period  of  his  father's  pastorate. 
A  church  of  above  two  hundred  members,  nearly  all  baptized  by  his  hands, 
wept  over  his  dead  body.  The  Rev.  Reuben  Palmer  preached  his  funeral 
discourse  from  II.  Kings,  ii.  12, — "  My  father,  my  father,"  &c.  His  people 
laid  him  down  in  the  church-yard,  by  tlie  dust  of  his  father,  and  ))y  the 
side  of  the  altar  he  defended  and  adorned.  Modest,  solid  icorih,  would  be 
a  fitting  epitaph  for  the  second  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  planted 
in  Connecticut. 


30  BAPTIST. 

John  Gano  Wightman  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  Rev.  Timothy 
Wightman,  and  was  born  in  Groton,  Conn.,  August  16,  1766.  His  early 
training  was  of  the  best  character,  and  was  not  lost  upon  his  susceptible 
and  ingenuous  nature.  To  the  ordinary  advantages  of  education  he  added 
much  by  his  own  persevering  private  efforts.  He  became  hopefully  pious, 
it  would  seem,  in  1797,  as,  during  this  year,  he  was  baptized  into  the 
fellowsliip  of  the  church.  Such  were  his  gifts  and  attainments  that  he  was 
soon  licensed  to  preach.  It  soon  became  evident  that  he  was  called  of 
God  to  follow  in  the  foot  steps  of  his  father  and  grandfather  in  the  pastoral 
office  of  the  ancient  church.  Being  chosen  to  the  office,  he  accepted 
ordination,  August  13,  1800.  He  was  married  to  Mercy  Clark,  January 
22,  1789:  she  died  May  29,  1816.  His  second  wife  was  Bridget  Allyn, 
to  whom  he  was  man-ied  July  7,  1817.     She  still  survives. 

John  G.  was  a  man  slightly  above  medium  height,  of  rather  light  frame, 
spare  in  flesh,  straight  in  form,  and  of  goodly  personal  appearance.  There 
was  something  in  his  countenance  and  bearing  to  remind  one  of  the  old 
lithograph  portraits  of  Jefferson.  His  eyes  were  dark  hazel;  his  hair 
rather  light,  worn  long  and  flowing  behind,  but  cut  short  and  combed 
straight  in  front,  thus  concealing  a  part  of  his  well-formed  forehead.  His 
voice  was  not  heavy,  but  full,  clear  and  pleasant.  His  manner  was  easy 
and  engaging.  In  the  matter  of  dress,  all  was  so  neat,  plain  and  becoming 
as  never  to  excite  attention  or  provoke  ci-iticism.  In  both  private  and 
public  life  he  was  unostentatious  and  diligent. 

In  his  preaching,  I  think,  the  logical  element  largely  prevailed ;  though 
he  employed  happy  illustrations,  and  sometimes  rose  to  strains  of  impas- 
sioned eloquence.  Like  Valentine  and  Timothy,  John  G.  was  solid  and 
practical  rather  than  brilliant  and  fascinating — hence  his  ministry  wrought 
abiding  results.  He  moved  not  like  a  meteor,  but  like  a  planet.  His 
ministerial  brethren  always  gave  him  a  high  rank  in  their  Councils  and 
Associations.  As  a  presiding  officer,  he  was  particularly  happy.  In 
executive  talents  he  had  few  superiors,— being  composed,  read}',  impar- 
tial, dignified. 

His  ministry  embraced  a  comparatively  calm  period.  All  outward  oppo- 
sition had  now  nearly  passed  away,  and  the  land  was  rejoicing  in  religious 
liberty.  Only  the  impotent  group  of  "Rogerenes"  sought  to  molest  the 
peace  of  the  old  church.  They  published  a  simple  and  scandalous  little 
volume  entitled  "The  Battle  Axe," — an  undigested  conglomerate  of  base 
metals.  To  this  attack,  John  G.,  with  characteristic  prudence  and  cool- 
ness, simply  replied, — "  The  Axe  will  cut  farther  backwards  than  for- 
wards,"— which  proved  true.  He  was  cautious  and  discreet,  but  never 
timid  or  time-serving. 

Not  less  than  ten  seasons  of  revival  were  experienced  under  Mr.  Wight- 
man's  labours,  some  of  which  were  powerful  and  wide-spread.  Tlie  num- 
bers, brought  into  the  church  by  these  revivals,  varied  from  ten  to  fifty-six. 
Meanwhile,  the  church,  as  a  parent  stock,  was  sending  out  branches  ;  the 
most  prosperous  of  which  was  the  Third  Bapti.^t  Church  in  Groton, 
organized  in  1831. 

After  the  custom  of  our  early  Baptist  fathers,  Jol\n  G.  wrote  but  little 
to  be  carried  into  the  desk  ;  but  he  never  preached   without  preparation. 


»  THE  W^IGHTMANS.  3i 

His  trust  was  in  lu.s  memory  rather  tlian  in  his  pen  ;  and  he  believed  in 
enjoying  Divine  assistance  in  the  pulpit.  By  a  culpable  carelessness  his 
papers  have  been  permitted  to  perisli.  The  only  surviving  productions  of 
his  pen  are  a  Sermon  preached  on  the  death  of  Adams  and  Jefferson,  and 
Circular  Letters  prepared  for  the  Associations.  The  last  sermon  that  I 
heard  him  preach, — and  I  recollect  it  more  distinctly  than  any  discourse 
I  heard  for  years, — was  from  Prov.  vi.  6-8,  "  Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard, 
consider  her  ways,  and  be  wise."  &c. 

For  a  few  years  before  his  deatli,  his  health  was  so  feeble  as  to  interrupt 
his  ministrations — still  he  preached  at  home,  and  in  various  parts  of  the 
town,  while  sufficient  strength  remained.  His  last  sickness  was  protracted 
and  painful,  but  borne  with  fortitude  and  resignation.  He  confidently 
leaned  on  the  word  which,  for  a  lifetime,  he  had  preached  to  others.  As 
it  was  my  privilege  to  watch  M'ith  liim  in  some  of  his  last  painful  nights,  I 
was  enabled  to  discover  how  the  darkness  that  borders  the  grave  is,  to  the 
man  of  God,  lifted  and  dispersed  by  the  rays  of  a  heavenly  morning.  He 
fell  on  sleep,  quietly,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1841,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year 
of  his  age,  and  after  a  ministi-y  of  forty-one  yeai's.  His  funeral  occa- 
sioned a  solemn  da}' — many  came  from  adjoining  towns  to  look  once  more 
on  the  venerated  countenance — ministers  of  different  denominations  wept 
over  his  bier,  and  assisted  in  the  solemnities.  A  Discourse  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  Erastus  Dcnison,  from  IMatthew  xxiv.  45-46 — "  Who  then  is  a 
faithful  and  wise  servant,"  &c.  His  body  was  laid  down  mournfully  by 
the  side  of  his  fathers. 

John  Gano  "Wightman  was  worthy  to  succeed  his  father  Timothy  and 
his  grandfather  Valentine  :   and  these  names  are  still  fresh. 

*'  For  only  the  actions  of  the  just 

"  Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 

I  remain  your  sincere  friend  and  brother, 

FREDERIC  DENISON. 


THE  MORGANS.* 

Abel  Morgan,  (Senior.)     1711 — 1722. 
Abel  Morgan,  (Junior.)     1734 — 1785. 

Abel  Morgan,  Senior,  was  born  in  the  year  1637,  at  a  place  called 
AUtgoch,  in  the  parish  of  Llanwenog,  and  county  of  Cardigan,  South 
Wales.  He  became  a  preacher  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen,  and  was 
ordained  at  Blaenegwent,  in  Monmouthshire,  where  he  exercised  liis  minis- 
try for  some  time.  His  younger  brother,  Enoch  Morgan,  migrated  to 
this  country  in  1701,  and  became  the  third  Pastor  of  the  Welsh  Tract 
Church,  in  Delaware.  Abel,  having  received  a  favourable  account 
of  this  country,  through  his  brother  and  other  friends,  was  induced 
to  follow  them  hither,  and  he  arrived  in  America,  according  to  Edwards, 

•  MS.  from  II.  G.  Jones,  Esq.— Materials  towards  a  History  of  the  Baptists  in  Jersey,  by 
Morgan  Edwards.— Benedicfs  Hist.  Bapt.  I. 


32  BAPTIST.  , 

on  the  14tli  of  Februar}-,  1711,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Philadelphia. 
The  Baptist  Church  at  Philadelphia  was  not  formally  organized  as  a  dis- 
tinct body  until  May  15,  1746;  and  hence  the  Pastor  at  Pennepek 
preached  at  both  places.  Mr.  Morgan  assumed  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
church  at  Penuepck  immediately  after  his  arrival  in  the  country.  It  was 
regarded  a  very  felicitous  circumstance  to  the  Society  at  Philadelphia  that 
so  discreet  a  minister  as  Mr.  Morgan  had  come  to  live  among  them  ;  for 
they  were  in  a  distracted  and  unhappy  state,  and  needed  his  judicious  and 
kindly  influence  to  calm  their  agitations  and  restore  their  harmony.  An 
Irish  preacher,  named  Thomas  Selby,  and  another  preacher  whose  name 
was  John  Burrows,  had  had  a  severe  altercation,  and  the  Irishman  had 
succeeded  in  shutting  Mr.  Burrows  and  his  party  out  of  the  meeting 
house.  Mr.  Moi'gan's  presence  and  influence  soon  healed  the  breach,  and 
Mr.  Selby  left  the  town  in  1713,  and  went  to  Carolina,  where  he  died  the 
same  year,  though  not  till  he  had  occasioned  much  disturbance. 

The  Records  of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  during  the  first  thirty 
years  of  its  existence,  are  so  very  meagre  that  few  particulars  can  be 
gleaned  respecting  Mr.  Morgan's  labours  as  a  minister ;  and  yet  there  is 
no  doubt  that  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  deliberations  of  that  Body, 
and  was  reckoned  among  its  most  prominent  members.  The  Minute  for  1722 
reflects  high  honour  upon  him,  as  being  among  the  earliest  of  the  Baptist 
advocates  for  ministerial  education.     It  is  as  follows : — 

"At  the  Association  in  the  year  1722,  it  was  proposed  by  the  churches 
to  make  inquiry  among  themselves,  if  they  have  any  young  persons  hope- 
ful for  the  ministry,  and  inclinable  for  learning  ;  and  if  they  have,  to  give 
notice  of  it  to  Mr.  Abel  Morgan,  before  the  1st  of  November,  that  he 
might  recommend  such  to  the  x\cadcmy,  on  Mr.  Hollis  his  account."  The 
Mr.  Hollis  referred  to  was  the  celebrated  London  merchant,  who  sent  dona- 
tions of  books  to  the  Philadelphia  Association,  and  founded  the  Hollis  Pro- 
fessorship in  Harvard  College. 

Mr.  Morgan  continued  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties 
till  near  the  close  of  life.  He  died  on  the  16th  of  December,  1722,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  and  was  buried  in  the  grave-yard  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Philadelphia,  where  a  stone  still  marks  the  place  of  his  grave. 

Morgan  Edwards  says  that  "Mr.  Abel  Morgan  was  a  great  and  good 
man,  and  is  held  in  dear  remembrance  by  all  that  knew  him." 

The  following  are  Mr.  Morgan's  published  works  : — A  Translation 
of  the  Century  Confession  (the  Baptist  Confession  of  Faith)  into  AVcLsh. 
A  Concordance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  a  complete  Alphabetical  Index 
to  the  principal  words  in  the  Holy  Bible,  by  which  any  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  desired,  can  be  immediately  found.  Compiled  carefully  and 
with  much  labour.  By  Abel  Morgan,  Minister  of  the  Gospel  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  >yclsh.  This  Concordance  is  a  folio  volume,  and,  as  its  title 
indicates,  is  evidently  elaborated  with  much  care.  The  author,  however, 
did  not  live  to  sec  it  published ;  but  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  bro- 
ther, Enoch  Morgan,  who  wrote  a  preface  to  it,  dated  February,  1724,  and 
dedicated  it  to  "the  Honourable  David  Lloyd,  Esq.,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,"  who  was  also  a  native  Welshman.  The  following 
is  an  extract  from  this  Dedicatory  Letter : 


THE  MORGANS.  33 

"  In  our  tongue, — the  "Welsh, — tlio  di'tieicncy  and  the  great  need  oPsucli  a  work  liave 
been  long  iVlt  and  ardently  desired,  not  only  by  our  countrymen  here,  but  ni>  less  so 
in  the  land  of  our  birth,  and  esiieeially  siuco  they  have  heard  tliat  tin;  Autlior  of  a 
IP't'/s/i  Concordanee  was  engag.'d  in  its  preparation.  Tliis,  out  of  tlie  purest  love  to 
bis  countrymen,  lie  ventured  upon  and  accomplislied  but  a  short  time  before  his 
decease.  This  event,  his  death,  took  place  December  the  IGth,  in  the  year  1722, 
b.Hiueathiiig  this  token  of  his  lal)orious  life  in  the  wilderness,  in  its  destitute  state, 
and  wliich  now  requires  the  aid  of  those  who  are  able  to  carry  it  througli  the  press,  so 
that  it  ma}'  appear  in  suitable  form  lor  distribution  among  his  beloved  countrymen, 
according  to  liis  tlesign,  and  for  their  benelit." 

The  same  l<]iiocli  Morgan  wrote  an  Introduction  to  the  work,  in  which  he 

says  of  Abel  jM organ, — 

"  He  set  his  mind  on  compiling  a  Concordance  of  the  Scriptures,  ami  laboured  with 
unwearied  diligence  till  lie  had  produced  and  completcnl  tlio  following  work,  to  enable 
those  of  im])LTfeet  memory  and  unskilled  in  scrii)ture  knowledge,  in  obtaining  readily 
the  aid  thus  needed,  in  comparing  scripture  with  scripture,  and  thus  acquiring  enlarged 

light  and  knowlcilge The  author  used  every  ellbrt  in  his  day  to  urge  all 

to  a  proptu'  improvement  of  their  time,  setting  the  exanijiie  in  himself  of  a  devoted, 
l)ious  life,  not  in  the  pulpit  alone,  but  in  a  chaste  and  lK)ly  Cv)nversation.  so  tliat  he 
ci'Uld  declare  with  Paul, — "lam  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men.'  Jn  his  youth  he 
gave  himself  to  the  good  work,  and  he  fainted  not." 

This  work  was  revised  antl  corrected  for  the  press  in  Marcli,  1730,  by 
another  Welshman,  named  John  Cadwallader,  who  is  believed  to  liave  been 
a  merchant  of  some  note  in  Philadelphia. 

Besides  tlie  two  printed  works  already  mentioned,  lie  left  several  others 
in  manuscript,  which  were  extant  as  late  as  1770. 

Mr.  Morgan  was  thrice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Priscilla  Powell,  of 
Abergavenny,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  married  John 
Holme,  from  whom  is  descended  the  Rev.  John  Stanford  Holme,  a  Baptist 
clergyman  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  His  second  wife  was  Martha  Burrows. 
His  third  wife  was  Judith  Goading,  (a  widow,)  and  daughter  of  the  llev. 
Thomas  Griflfiths,  of  Welsh  Tract.  By  her  he  had  four  children, — three 
sons  and  a  dauchter. 


Abel  Morgan,  Jr.,  was  a  nephew  of  the  preceding,  and  was  born  in 
Welsh  Tract.  April  18,  1713.  He  was  educated  chiefly  at  an  Academy  under 
the  care  of  the  llev.  Thomas  Evans,  in  Pencader  ;  was  ordained  at  Welsh 
Tract  church  in  the  year  1734 ;  became  Pastor  of  the  church  in  Middle- 
town,  N.  J.,  in  1738  ;  and  died  there  November  24, 1785.  He  was  never 
married  ;  and  the  reason  given  for  it  was  that  such  a  relation  would  inter- 
fere with  due  attention  to  his  mother,  who  lived  with  him,  and  whom  he 
regarded  with  extraordinary  filial  reverence  and  affection.  He  was  reputed 
a  man  of  sound  learning  and  excellent  judgment,  and  was  especially  dis- 
tinguished as  a  skilful  disputant.  At  one  time  he  was  engaged  in  a  public 
illscussion  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  at  Kingwood,  with  the  llev.  Samuel 
Harker,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  considerable  standing  ;  and  again,  in 
1(43,  he  had  a  still  more  memorable  disputation  with  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Samuel  Finley,  at  Cape  May,  in  connection  with  a  powerful  revival  of  reli- 
gion, in  which  the  labours  of  Baptist  and  Presbyterian  ministers  were,  to 
a  great  extent,  intermingled.  It  was  after  this  public  encounter  that  Dr. 
Finley  published  his  well  known  pamphlet,  entitled  "A  Charitalde  Plea 
for  the  Speechless."  Mr.  Morgan  replied  in  a  pamphlet  of  a  hundred  and 
sixty  pages,  entitled  "Anti-Pedo-Rantism,  or  Mr.  Samuel  Finley's  Chari- 

VOT,.  VI.  5 


34  BAPTIST. 

table  Plea  for  the  Speechless  examined  and  refuted,  the  Baptism  of  Believ- 
ers maintained,  and  the  mode  of  it  by  Immersion  vindicated."  Dr.  Fin- 
ley  published  a  rejoinder,  and  Mr.  Morgan  replied  to  that  also,  and  thus 
ended  the  controversy.  Morgan  Edwards  thus  concludes  his  brief  account 
of  Mr.  Morgan  : — 

"  ^Ir.  Morgan's  life  and  ministry  were  such,  that  his  people  speak  of  him  with  vene- 
ration and  regret  to  this  day.  He  was  not  a  custom  divine,  nor  a  leading-string 
divine,  but  a  Bible  divine.  In  his  last  sickness,  lie  sent  for  the  Elders  of  the  churcli 
to  anoint  him  with  oil,  according  to  tlie  precept,  (James  v.  14.  15):  Eldt-r  Crawford 
attended;  but  Elder  Mott  was  hindered  by  sickness;  and  the  healing  lite  was  deferred, 
for  want  of  Elders,  in  the  plural.  Perhaps  it  will  be  imputed  that  Mr.  Morgan  knew 
not  what  he  sought  after.  I  inquired  into  the  matter,  and  was  assured,  by  Elder 
Crawford,  (from  whom  I  had  the  anecdote,)  that  he  was  of  sound  mind  and  disposing 
memory.  IJut  I  needed  not  to  have  said  so  much;  for  Mr.  Morgan  practised  the  rite — 
one  instance  was  Catalina.  wife  of  Rev.  Enoch  David,  who  is  yet  alive:  she  had  been 
in  a  dying  way  for  a  long  while;  but  the  third  day  after  the  salutary  unctii)n,  she  wa.s 
well  and  went  abroad.  I  wish  uU  Baptist  ministers  were  of  Mr.  Morgan's  mind;  and 
not  allow  themselves  (like  the  prodigal  brother)  to  oppose  the  father's  bidding  with 
remonstrances,  and  not  do  as  they  are  bid  at  last.  The  eight  Christian  rites  stand  on 
the  same  footing.  No  argument  can  be  urged  lor  laying  aside  some,  but  will  operate 
towards  laying  aside  all.  Whoever  will  read  Barclay's  Apology  will  own  the  justness 
of  this  remark.  To  pick  and  choose  arc  not  fair;  neither  is  it  honest  to  admit  the 
force  of  an  argument  in  one  case,  and  not  in  another,  of  the  same  nature.  O  custom  .' 
Cruel  custom  !  Tyrant  custom  !  when  wilt  thou  cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the 
Lord?" 


THE  CALLENDERS.=^ 

Elisha  Callender.  1718 — 1738. 
John  Callender.   1731 — 1748. 

Elisha  Callender  was  a  son  of  Ellis  Callender,  who  officiated  as  the 
principal  speaker  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  while  they  were 
destitute  of  a  Pastor,  for  about  thirty  years.  The  Church,  having  applied 
in  vain  for  the  services  of  Mr.  William  Screven,!  then  at  Charleston,  S.  C, 
gave  Mr.  Ellis  Callender  a  call  to  become  their  Pastor ;  and  he  was. 
accordingly,  ordained,  in  1708,  and  continued  in  the  pa.storal  relation, 
highly  respected  and  honoured,  for  more  than  ten  years.  He  is  supposed 
-.0  have  died  aljout  the  year  172G,  not  far  from  the  age  of  eighty. 

•  B.ackus'  Hist.  N.  E.,  III.— Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.,  I.— Boston  Evening  Post,  17.38.— 
AVinchclIs  Hist.  Disc. 

f  William  Screven  was  born  in  England,  about  the  year  1629.  After  coining  to  this 
country,  he  settled  in  the  District  of  Maine,  and  was  one  of  a  small  company  of  Baptists  in 
Kittery,  who  united  at  first  with  the  Church  in  Boston,  but  in  1682,  formed  a  ohurcli  by  them- 
selves, of  which  Jlr.  f^creven  was  recognised  as  the  Elder.  In  consequence  of  the  violent  oppo- 
sition which  they  had  to  encounter  from  other  denominations,  the}'  were  obliged,  after  a  sliort 
time,  to  disViand,  and  KMer  .'^crcven  and  some  of  his  brethren  sought  an  asylum  in  the  more 
tranquil  regions  of  the  South.  He  was  instrumental  of  gathering  tlie  First  liuptist  Church  in 
Charleston,  S.  C,  and  became  its  Pastor.  He  was  subsequently  invited  to  return  to  Boston, 
to  become  Pastor  of  the  church  there,  of  which  he  had  formerly  been  a  member,  but  declined. 
Late  in  life,  he  removed  to  (ieorgetown,  about  sixty  miles  from  Charleston,  where  he  died  in 
peace,  in  1 71. '5,  having  reached  the  age  of  eighty-four.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  orighial 
proprietor  (jf  the  land  on  which  Georgetown  is  built.  During  his  residence  in  Maine,  he  was 
maniiMl  to  Priilgct  Cutts,  b}'  whom  he  had  eleven  children.  He  is  reputed  to  have  been  a  good 
Ihiglish  scliohir,  and  eminent  for  his  piety  and  usefulness.  He  wrote  "An  Ornament  for  Clnirch 
^Members,''  which  was  published  after  his  death.  Some  of  his  descendants  iiave  been  highly 
respectable  and  influential  people  in  the  South. 


THE  CALLENDERS.  35 

Elislia  Callender,  the  son,  was  born  in  Boston,  antl  was  educated  at 
Harvard  College,  where  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  in 
the  year  1710.  He  was  baptized  and  received  into  the  Church,  August 
10,  1713.  On  the  '21st  of  May,  1718,  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  became  Pastor  of  the  Church  with  which  his  father  had  been 
connected  for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  towards  which,  for  forty,  he  had  acted 
the  part  of  a  public  teacher. 

jMr.  Callender's  ordination  was  signalized  as  the  occasion  of  a  most 
friendly  demonstration  of  the  Congregationalists  and  Baptists  towards  each 
other, — the  more  remarkable  on  account  of  the  different  state  of  things 
which  had  existed  a  few  years  before.  Several  of  the  most  prominent  Congre- 
gational ministers  in  Boston  took  part  in  the  Ordination  services.  The 
following  is  the  letter  missive,  addressed  to  the  Church  under  the  care  of 
Dr.  Mather  and  Mr.  Webb,  requesting  their  assistance  in  the  Ordi- 
nation : — 

"  Honoured  and  Beloved  in  the  Lord: — 

"Considering  that  there  ought  to  be  a  holy  fellowship  maintained  among  godly- 
Christians,  and  that  it  is  a  duty  for  us  to  receive  one  another,  as  Christ  also  received 
us  to  the  glory  of  God,  notwithstanding  some  differing  persuasions  in  matters  of  doubt- 
ful disputation;  and,  although  we  have  not  so  great  a  latitude  as  to  the  subject  of 
Baptism  as  the  Churches  of  New  England  generally  have;  nevertheless,  as  to  funda- 
mental principles  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  both  as  to  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Gos- 
pel, we  concur  with  them ;  being  also  satislied  that  particular  churches  have  power 
from  Christ  to  choose  their  own  Pastors,  and  that  Elders  ought  to  be  ordained  in  every 
church,  and,  having  chosen  our  wcU-beloved  brother,  Elisha  Callender,  to  be  our  Pas- 
tor, we  entreat  you  to  send  your  Elders  and  Messengers  to  give  the  Right  Hand  of  Fel- 
lowship in  his  Ordination." 

Dr.  Cotton  Mather  preached  the  Ordination  Sermon,  which  he  entitled 
"Good  men  united."  After  speaking  of  the  severities  which  had  been 
manifested  against  Christians  by  the  Ruling  Power,  he  says, — 

'•Cursed  the  anger,  for  it  is  fierce,  and  the  wrath,  for  it  is  cruel;  good  for  nothing 
hut  only  to  make  divisions  in  Jacob,  and  dispersions  in  Israel.  Good  men.  alas!  good 
men  have  done  such  ill  things  as  these;  yea,  few  churches  of  the  Reformation  have 
been  wholly  clear  of  these  iniquities.  New  England  also  has,  in  some  former  times, 
done  something  of  this  aspect,  which  would  not  now  be  so  well  approved  of,  in  wliich, 
if  the  brethren,  in  whose  house  we  are  now  convened,  met  with  anything  toounbroth- 
erly,  they  now,  with  satisfaction,  bear  us  expressing  our  dislike  of  every  thing  which 
looked  like  persecution,  in  the  days  that  have  ]>assed  over  us." 

Increase  Mather,  who  was  also  one  of  the  ordaining  council,  thus 
alludes  to  the  circumstance  : 

"  H  was  a  grateful  surprise  to  nic,  Mhen  several  of  the  brethren  of  the  anti-jjcdo- 
haptist  persuasion  came  to  me,  desiring  that  I  would  give  them  the  Right  Hand  of 
Fellowship,  in  ordaining  one  whom  they  had  cho.sen  to  be  their  Pastor.  I  did  (as  I 
believe  it  was  my  duty)  readily  consent  to  what  they  proposed ;  considering  the  young 
man  to  be  ordained  is  serious  ami  pious,  and  of  a  candid  spirit,  and  has  been  educated 
at  the  College  at  Cambridge,  and  that  all  the  brethren  with  whom  1  have  any  ac(iuaint- 
ance  (I  hope  the  like  concerning  others  of  them)  are,  in  the  judgment  of  rational 
charity,  godly  persons." 

Dr.  Benedict  states  that  "  the  report  of  this  expression  of  Catholicism 
in  England,  induced  Thomas  Hollis,  Esq.,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  the  ]3ap- 
tist  persuasion,  to  become  one  of  the  most  liberal  benefactors  to  Cambridge 
College,  that  it  ever  enjoyed." 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Callender  had  but  a  feeble  constitution,  he  was 
abundant  in  labours,  not  only  among  his  own  people,  but  in  other  places, 
in  different  parts  of  the  Commonwealth.  At  Springfield,  Sutton,  Leices- 
ter, Marshfield,  Salem,  and  several  other  town.s,   he  preached  frequently, 


36  BAPTIST. 

and  baptized  and  admitted  to  tlie  church  a  considerable  number  of  persons. 
His  own  church  was  particularly  prosperous  under  his  ministry,  and  scarcely 
a  month  passed  but  that  some  were  added  to  it. 

But,  while  his  prospects  of  usefulness  were  the  brightest,  he  was  arrested 
by  a  disease  which,  at  no  distant  period,  terminated  in  death.  He  preached, 
for  the  last  time,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1738,  from  the  text, — "  Blessed 
are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  Him."  Having  been  unable  to  admin- 
ister Baptism  to  several  persons  who  had  stood  as  candidates  for  that  ordi- 
nance, he  thus  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  :- — "  My  indisposition  is  such, 
and  I  am  under  such  methods  of  cure,  as  unfits  me  altogether  to  attend 
the  ordinance  of  Baptism  to  them.  I  am  heartily  concerned  that  it  is  so 
with  me  ;  but  there  is  no  resisting  the  Divine  Providence."  His  illness 
rapidly  increased,  but  he  anticipated  death  without  terror,  made  his  will 
with  the  utmost  composure,  and  addressed  many  pertinent  and  affecting 
counsels  to  his  friends.  Ten  days  before  his  death,  he  said, — •'  Wlicn  I 
look  on  one  hand,  I  see  nothing  but  sin,  guilt,  and  discouragement  ;  but, 
when  I  look  on  the  other,  I  see  my  glorious  Saviour,  and  the  merits  of  his 
precious  blood,  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  I  cannot  say  I  have  such 
transports  of  joy  as  some  have  had,  but,  through  grace,  I  can  say, — I  have 
gotten  the  victory  over  death  and  the  grave."  Being  asked  what  word  of 
advice  he  had  for  his  church,  he  earnestly  replied, — "  Away  with  luke- 
warmness ;  away  with  such  remissness  in  attending  the  house  of  prayer, 
which  has  been  a  discouragement  to  me ;  and  I  have  been  faulty  myself. 
Live  in  love  and  peace,  that  the  Grod  of  love  and  peace  may  be  With  you. 
Improve  your  time ;  for  your  standing  in  the  church  will  be  short  ;  and 
that  is  the  way  to  prepare  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  Ho 
died  on  the  31st  of  March,  1738,  at  the  age  of  about  fifty,  and  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  his  ministry.     His  funeral  took  place  on  the  4th  of  April. 

The  following  testimony  to  his  character  appeared  shortly  after  his  death, 
in  one  of  the  Boston  papers  : — 

"  On  Friday  morning  last,  after  a  lingering  sickness,  deceased  the  Kcv.  Mr.  Elislia 
Callonder,  Minister  of  the  Baptist  Ghnrcli  in  this  town;  a  gentleman  nniversally 
beloved,  l)y  ])eo])le  of  all  persuasions,  for  his  charitable  and  catliolic  way  of  thinking. 
His  lifi'  was  unspotted,  and  his  conversation  always  affable,  religious  and  truly  manly. 
During  his  long  illness,  he  was  remarkably  patient,  and.  in  his  last  hours,  like  tlie  bles.sed 
above,  pacific  and  entirely  serene;  his  senses  good  to  the  last.  '  I  shall,'  said  he,  'sleep 
in  Jesus,'  and  that  moment  expired,  very  niucli  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him." 

Mr.  Callender  was  the  first  native  Baptist  minister  in  this  country,  who 
had  received  a  collegiate  education.  The  only  production  of  his  pen, 
known  to  httve  been  published,  is  a  Century  Sermon,  preached  in  tlie  year 
1720,  commemorative  of  the  landing  of  our  Fathers  at  Plymouth. 


John  Callender  was  a  nephew  of  Elisha  Callendeu,  was  born 
in  Boston,  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  on  the  Hollis  foundation  ; 
was  graduated  in  1723  ;   was  ordained  colleague  with  Elder  Pcckham,*  as 

*Mr.  William  Peckham  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  in 
1711,  and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office  with  cxeinplarv  fidelity,  until  the 
infirmities  of  age  rendered  it  necessary  that  he  should  have  an  assistant.  In  May,  1718,  a  Mr. 
Danibl  Whitk  was  received  to  tlic  fellowshi,p  of  the  Church,  and  was  soon  after  invited  tr) 
share  the  ministerial  services  with  Mr.  Peckhani;  but  he  proved   a  troublesome  man,  and  was 


THE  CALLENDEUS.  37 

Pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Xowport,  October  13,  ITol,  and  died 
January  2G,  1748,  at  the  age  of  forty-one.  He  possessed  a  vigorous 
intellect,  and  was  distinguished  for  liis  candour  and  liberality.  He  col- 
lected many  ])apers  illustrating  the  history  of  the  IJaptists  in  this  country, 
which  were  subsequently  used  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  Backus,  lie  jmblished 
an  Historical  Discourse  on  the  Civil  and  lleligious  Affairs  of  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  from  the  First  Settlement  in 
1638,  to  the  end  of  the  First  Century  ;  also  a  Sermon  at  the  Ordination 
of  the  Rev.  Jeremy  Condy,*  Bust-on,  1739  ;  and  a  Sermon  on  the  Death  of 
the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Clap,  of  Newport,  1745. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  upon  IMr.  Callender's  monument  : — 

"  Coufidcnt  of  awaking,  here  reposeth 

JOHN   CALLKNDER; 

Of  very  excellent  eiulownu'iits  from  nature, 

And  of  an  acconiplislied  tdiication, 

Iniprovnl  l)y  ai>plication  to  the  wide  circle 

Of  the  move  polite  arts  and  useful  sciences. 

From  motives  ol"  conscience  and  grace 

He  dedicated  himself  to  the  immediate  service 

Of  God. 

In  which  he  was  distinguished  as  a  shining 

And  very  burning  liglit,  by  a  true  and  faiihful 

Ministry  of  seventeen  years,  in  the  First  J5;ii)tist 

Church  of  Khode  Island,  where  the  purity 

And  evangelical  simi)licity  of  his  doctrine,  conlirmed 

And  embellished  by  the  virtuous  and  devout  tenor 

Of  his  own  lift!, 

Endeared  him  to  his  tiock,  and  justly  conciliated 

The  esteem,  love,  and  reverence  of  all  the 

Wise,  worthy,  and  good. 

J[uch  humanity,  benevolence,  and  charity 

Breathed  in  his  conversation,  discourses,  and  writings, 

A\'!iieh  were  all  pertinent,  reasonable  and  useful. 

Regretted  by  all.  lainented  by  his  friends,  and 

Deeply  deplored  by  a  wile  and  numerous  issue, 

lie  died, 

In  the  forty-second  year  of  liis  age, 

January  26,  1748; 

Having  struggled  through  the  vale  of  life 

In  adversity,  niueh  sickness,  and  pain, 

With  fortitnd'!.  dignity,  and  elevation  of  soul, 

A\'orthy  of  the  Philosopher,  Christian,  and  Divine." 

the  occasion  of  dividing  the  church.  A  new  mecting-liouse  was  erected  for  him,  in  l'i2\,  in 
which  he  continued  to  otKciate  four  years,  when,  having  but  a  solitary  member  of  his  church 
left,  he  sold  the  meeting- house  and  left  the  place. 

•.Tkukuv  <^o\nv  i#  believed  to  have  been  a  descendant  nf  James  Condy,  who  settled  at 
lirnintrec  in  IfUO.  mid  hail  three  gons.  Tie  was  gradiiate<l  at  Harvard  College  in  172().  After 
preaching  a  few  years  in  this  country,  he  went  to  England,  and  remained  there  till  I7.'!8.  when 
he  Tcturiiid,  in  consequence  of  bavin:;  received  propo.sals  to  settle  over  the  First  liaptist  Church 
in  Boston.  He  arrived  in  Boston  on  the  17th  of  August  of  that  year,  but,  as  the  Chureh  liad 
|ireviou8ly  engaged  the  Ucv.  Edward  Upham  to  sup|ily  them  until  the  last  of  Septenibei-,  no 
measures  were  taken  with  regard  to  Mr.  Cs  settlement  until  the  12tli  of  October  foIh>»ing, 
"■hen  he  was  regularly  called — eighteen  brethren  being  present— to  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Church.  He  signified  his  acceptance  of  the  call  on  the  24th  of  December,  and  was  ordained  by 
H  Council  consisting  ]iartly  of  Baptist,  and  partly  of  Pedobaptist,  ministers,  on  the  1-ftti  of 
Kebruary,  IT^lt.  In  his  doctrinal  views  he  was  reputed  to  be  an  .\rminian;  and,  after  about 
four  years,  a  number  of  his  members  became  so  much  dissatisfied  with  him  on  this  account  that 
they  withdrew  and  formed  the  .'^ccond  Haptist  Church.  He  resigned  his  pastoral  olliee  in  .August, 
1704,  and  lived  in  retirement  the  rest  of  his  davs.  He  died  in  I76H.  aged  fifty-nine  years, 
during  twenty-five  of  which  he  hail  been  Pastor  of  the  lirst  Chureh.  He  was  a  man  of 
Mnbleinishc'I  character,  though  the  church  does  not  appear  to  have  prospered  greatly  under  his 
ministry.  Like  his  predecessor,  he  preached  and  baptized  in  .'^pringtield,  Sutton,  and  other 
towns  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  i>iiblisl)ed  a  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Benjamin 
Landon,  1747,  and  a  Sermon  entitled  "  Mercy  exemplified  in  the  Conduct  of  a  Samaritan." 


38  BAPTIST. 


BENJAMIN  GRIFFITHS  * 

1722—1768. 

Benjamin  Griffiths  was  boru  October  10,  1688,  in  the  parisli  of 
Llanllwyni,  in  the  county  of  Cardigan,  South  Wales,  and  was  a  half 
brother  of  Abel  and  Enoch  Morgan.  He  came  to  America,  with  Jenkin 
Joiiest  and  David  Davis,  in  1710.  He  was  baptized  May  12,  1711,  and 
settled  in  Montgomery  township,  then  in  Philadelphia,  but  now  in  Mont- 
gomery, County,  Pa.,  in  1720.  He  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  1722,  but 
was  not  ordained  until  October  23,  1725,  He  laboured  with  much  success 
as  a  Pastor,  and  was  evidently  one  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  at  that  day.  His  name  appears  in  the  Minutes  of  the 
Association  as  early  as  1783. 

In  1746,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Association  "  to  collect  and  set  in  order 
the  accounts  "  of  the  several  Baptist  churches  in  these  Provinces,  and  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  He  seems  to 
have  attended  faithfully  to  this  duty ;  and  the  work,  begun  at  that  early 
day,  when  the  Minutes  of  the  Association  were  not  printed,  is  preserved 
in  a  large  folio  volume,  the  greater  part  of  which  forms  the  first  hundred 
pages  of  the  Century  Minutes  of  the  Association,  as  printed  under  the 
direction  of  the  Rev.  A.  D.  Gillette,  D.  D.  But  for  this  valuable  com- 
pend,  kept  by  Mr.  Griffiths,  the  entire  early  history  of  that  ancient  Body 
niiglit  have  been  lost.  In  the  year  1749,  he  prepared,  and  read  an  Essay 
on  "  the  Power  and  Duty  of  an  Association,"  which  the  Association 
directed  to  be  recorded  in  their  folio  volunie.  He  was  also  appointed  to 
prepare  a  "  Discipline"  for  the  churches. 

Mr.  Griffiths  continued  to  labour  in  Montgomery,  and  the  adjoining 
townships,  in  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  new  churches  were  organized, 
and  some  of  which  are  still  in  existence.  He  died  at  Montgomery,  on  the 
5th  of  October,  1768,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral 
Sermon  was  preached  by  the  llev.  David  Thomas, 1^  of  Virginia,  and  was 
published. 

*  Ms.  from  II.  G.  .Tones,  Esq. 

f  Ji;nki.\  Jonks  whs  born  about  1690,  in  the  parish  of  Llanfcrnach,  county  of  Pembroke, 
Waks,  ami  arrived  in  this  country  about  1710.  ilc  became  the  minister  of  the  Church  at 
Peniicpek  in  1725,  thougli  he  seems  to  have  had  his  resilience  in  Phihidelfliia  during  tlio  wliole 
period  (if  liis  connection  with  it.  When  the  Church  at  Phihideiphia  was  re-constituted,  (iMay 
15,  1711),)  he  became  its  Pastor,  and  continued  in  that  relation  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
died  at  Philath'lpliia  .luly  11),  17()1,  much  respected  and  lamented,  lie  rendered  important 
services,  in  various  ways,  not  only  to  his  own  particular  church,  but  to  his  denomination,  and 
to  the  Chnrcli  at  large. 

J  David  Thomas  was  born  at  London  Tract,  Pa.,  August  10,  1732.  He  was  educated  at 
Hopewell,  N.  ■!.,  under  the  direction  of  the  Ucv.  Isaac  Katon,  and  in  176'J,  was  honoured  with 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Brown  University.  He  commenced  preaching  when  he  was 
quite  young,  and  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  removed  to  Virginia.  Having  spent  about  eigh- 
teen months  in  the  County  of  llerUcley,  he  visited  I'auquier  County,  in  the  year  1702,  and  was 
instrumental  in  establishing  Inroad  Hun  Church,  of  which  he  afterwards  became  Pastor.  Dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  his  ministry  in  Virginia,  he  encountered  much  opposition,  and  was  fre- 
quently assaulted  by  liotb  individuals  atid  mobs.  He  travelled  extensively,  and  his  preaching 
commanded  great  attention.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  removed  to  Kentucky.  He  lived 
to  an  advanced  age,  and,  fur  some  time  before  his  death,  was  nearly  blind.  "Mr.  Thomas  is 
said  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  distinclicm  in  his  day.  lieside  the  natural  endowments  of  a 
vigorous  mind,  and  the  advantages  of  a  classical  and  refined  education,  he  had  a  melodious  and 
piercing  voice,  a  pathetic  address,  expressive  action,  and,  above  all,  a  heart  filled  with  love  to 
God  and  his  fellow-men." 


BENJAMIN  GUIFFITIIS.  39 

Mr.  Griffiths  was  niarried  to  Sarah  iMiles,  by  whom  lie  had  five  children, — 
two  sons  and  three  daughters,  who  were  married  into  the  Evans,  Coffin, 
and  Ivobcrts  families.  Abel  Griffiths,  the  eldest  son,  was  born  at  Mont- 
gonier}',  December  23,  1723  ;  was  baptized  April  14,  1744  ;  was  ordained 
in  1761  ;  and  was  settled  as  Pastor  of  the  Brandywine  Church,  Chester 
County,  Pa.,  April  12,  of  the  same  year.  Here  he  remained  for  six  j'cars,  and 
then  removed  to  Salem,  N.  J.,  where  he  held  a  pastoral  charge  until  1771. 

The  ftdlowing  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Griffiths'  publications : — Essay  on  the 
Power  and  Duty  of  an  Association,  (printed  in  1832,  in  the  History  of  the 
Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,  by  the  llev.  H.  G.  Jones — also  in  the 
Century  Minutes  in  1851.)  A  Treatise  of  Church  Discipline — two  editions. 
A  Vindication  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Piesurrection  of  the  same  Body. 
Answer  to  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Divine  Right  of  Infant  Baptism. 
Printed  by  B.  Franklin,  1747. 

Morgan  Edwards  says  "  Mr.  Griffiths  was  a  man  of  parts,  though  not 
eloquent,  and  had  by  industry  acquired  tolerable  acquaintance  with  lan- 
guages and  books."  He  states  also  that  he  was  once  offered  a  commission 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  which,  however,  he  declined;  and,  on  being  asked 
the  reason  why  he  refused  such  an  honour,  he  replied, — '  Men  are  not  to 
receive  from  offices,  but  offices  from  men — as  much  as  men  receive,  the 
others  lose,  till  at  last  offices  come  to  have  no  honour  at  all.' 


JOHN  COMER. 

1725—1734. 

FROM  THE  REV.  DAVID  BENEDICT,  D.D. 

Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  May  IG,  18.59. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  estimate  of  the  character  of  John  Comer  is  such  that  I 
am  more  than  willing  to  do  any  thing  in  \\\y  power  to  honour  and  perpetu- 
ate his  memory.  In  compiling  the  following  sketch,  I  have  access  to  his 
well  known  Diary,  which  is  the  principal  original  source  of  information 
concerning  him. 

Jonx  Comer,  the  eldest  son  of  John  and  Mai-y  Comer,  was  born  in 
lioston,  Aug.  1st,  1704.  His  father  died  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  as  he  was  on 
a  voyage  to  England,  to  visit  his  relatives,  when  John  was  less  than  two 
years  of  age.  He  was  then  left  to  the  care  of  his  mother,  and  grand- 
father, of  the  same  name. 

The  mind  of  this  well  disposed  youth,  according  to  his  own  recollections, 

which  go  back  to  his  earliest  years,  was  wholly  bent  on  study,  merely  for 

the  sake  of  it,  and  without  any   particular  vocation    in   view  ;  but,  as   the 

family  was  not  in  circumstances  to  support  him  in  his   chosen   pursuit,  at 

the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  bound  out  to  a  seven  years'  apprenticeship  to 

learn  the  glover's  trade.     For  upwards  of  two  years,  he  submitted  quietly 

to  the  disposition  which  his  grandfather,  who   acted   as  his   guardian,  had 

made  of  him.     His  master  made  no  complaint  of  him,  except  that  he  "  read 

too  much  for  his  business.*" 

•  In  Comer's  Diary,  I  find  the  following  statement :  "  This  year  I  composed  a  set  Discourse 
from  Eccl.  xii.  1 — Remember  now  thy  Creator,"  Ac.  This  was  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  while  ha 
was  an  apprentice;  and  it  evidently  shows  the  bent  of  his  mind  at  that  early  age. 


40  BAPTIST. 

Being  now  in  his  seventeenth  year,  by  the  intercession  of  Dr.  Increase 
Mather,  to  whom  he  applied  for  his  friendly  aid,  and  by  the  consent  of  his 
grandfather,  he  was  released  from  his  apprenticeship,  commenced  his  pre- 
paratory studies,  and  in  due  time  entered  the  College  at  Cambridge.  His 
grandfather,  dying  soon  after,  left  him  a  legacy  of  £500.  "  This,"  he 
says,  "  was  to  bring  me  up,  and  introduce  me  comfortably  in  the  world, 
which  it  did."* 

After  spending  some  years  at  Cambridge, — as  some  of  his  companions 
had  gone  to  New  Haven,  and  as  living  was  cheaper  there, — by  the  consent 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Webb,  who,  by  his  grandfather's  will,  had  become  his 
guardian,  he  repaired  to  that  institution,  where  he  finished  his  college 
course,  though  I  believe  ho  did  not  graduate  on  account  of  ill  health. 
This  college  then  consisted  of  about  fifty  students. 

Relative  to  Mr.  Comer's  experience  in  the  concerns  of  personal  religion, 
and  his  change  of  denominational  position,  the  account  may  be  thus  briefly 
given  :  His  pious  propensities  in  early  life  have  already  been  stated  ;  but. 
not  relying  on  the  goodness  of  his  morals,  or  the  soundness  of  his  ancestral 
creed,, he  sought,  and,  after  a  long  course  of  anxious  enquiry,  obtained,  a 
satisfactory  evidence  of  his  conversion,  according  to  what  he  believed  were 
the  scripture  requirements.  This  was  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  In  due 
time,  while  a  member  of  the  College,  he  united  with  the  Congregational 
church  in  Cambridge,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Appleton.  His  membership  in  this  church  continued  about  four  years, 
during  all  which  time,  he  appears  to  have  had  much  satisfaction  with  his 
spiritual  home ;  and  all  his  accounts  of  his  Pastor  breathe  the  spirit  of 
filial  affection  and  Christian  fellowship  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said,  by  what 
appears  in  his  Diar\',  respecting  the  other  ministers  of  Boston  and  else- 
where, who  took  an  interest  in  his  welfare,  and  of  the  churches  under  their 
care,  with  which  he  associated,  and  occasionally  communed. t 

There  was  one  very  alarming  event  which  happened  to  Boston  and  vici- 
nity in  1721,  just  at  the  time  of  the  serious  awakening  of  young  Comer, 
which  served  to  deepen  his  religious  impressions,  and  increase  his  fearful 
apprehensions  of  being  hurried  to  his  grave,  without  a  due  preparation  for 
an  exchange  of  worlds.  The  small-pox,  then  the  terror  of  mankind,  was 
making  a  rapid  and,  to  a  great  extent,  fatal  progress,  among  the  people, 
most  of  whom  had  no  protection  against  it.  Among  the  victims  of  this 
terrible  disease,  were  some  of  the  most  intimate  friends  of  young  Comer, 
whose  dread  of  it  was  so  great,  that,  according  to  his  own  representations, 
it  might  be  li-terally  said  of  him,  in  the  language  of  Young, — 

"  He  felt  a  thousand  deaths  in  fearing  one." 
After  all  his  precautions,  he  was  soon  seized  with  the  loathsome  malady, 
from  the  eflFects  of  which  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life. I 

*  Diary,  1721. 

t  These  churches,  with  their  Pastors,  in  172.':!,  in  addition  to  Cambridge,  were,  in  Boston,  the 
Old  North,  Cotton  Mather;  the  New  North,  John  IVebb;  the  New  Brick,  Milliaiv   ]\'nldron. 

In  Andover,  John  Barnard.  In  this  place  young  Comer  occasionally  pursued  his  classical 
studies.     Aiidover  then  was  a  frontier  town. 

In  Newport,  R.  I.,  Nathaniel  Clap. 

In  New  Haven,  Joseph  Noyes. 

t  In  the  then  small  population  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  compared  with  the  present,  between 
eight   and   nine   hundred  died   of  this  disease.     "  The   practice  of  inoculation   was  now  set 


JOHN   COMER.  41 

This  assiduous  enquirer,  and  very  conscientious  man,  after  an  investiga- 
tion of  about  two  years'  continuance,  adopted  the  sentinibnts  of  the  Bap- 
tists on  the  subject  and  mode  of  Baptism,  and,  accordiuj^  to  his  Diary, 
was  baptized  by  the  Ilev.  Elisha  Callender,  January  31,  1725,  and  united 
with  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  of  which  Mr.  C.  was  then  Pastor, 
llelative  to  this  transaction,  in  the  old  journal  before  nie,  I  lind  the  fol- 
lowing ontr;y  : — "  Having  before  waited  on  Rev.  Mr.  Applcton,  of  Cam- 
bridge, I  discoursed  with  him  on  the  point  of  Baptism,  together  with  my 
resolution — upon  which  he  signilied  that  I  might,  notwithstanding,  main- 
tain my  communion  with  his  church — by  which  I  discovered  the  candour 
and  catholic  spirit  of  the  man.  He  behaved  himself  the  most  like  a 
Christian  of  any  of  my  friends,  at  that  time,  upon  that  account."* 

Mr.  Comer  commenced  preaching  in  1725,  not  long  after  he  united  with 
Mr.  Callender's  church.  His  first  efforts  were  made  with  the  old  Swansea 
church,  which  was  planted  by  the  famous  John  Miles,  from  Wales,  in 
16G3.  It  was  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elder  Ephraim  Wheaton.t 
Efforts  were  made  to  settle  the  young  and  promising  preacher,  as  a  col- 
league with  the  aged  Pastor,  but,  as  the  plan  failed  of  success,  he  repaired 
to  Newport,  where,  in  1726,  ho  was  ordained  as  Co-pastor  with  elder 
William  Peckham,  in  the  first  church  in  that  town,  which  bears  date,  1G44. 
His  ministry  here  was  short  but  successful;  by  his  influence  singing  in 
public  worship  was  there  first  introduced.  He  also  put  in  order  the  old  Cliurch 
llecords,  which  he  found  in  a  scattered  and  neglected  condition.  The  prac- 
tice of  the  laying  on  of  hands,  (Heb.  vi.  2,)  as  a  mode  of  the  initiation  of 
newly  baptized  members  to  full  fellowship  into  the  church,  had  hitherto  been 
held  in  a  lax  manner,  by  this  ancient  community,  and  Mr.  Comer's 
attempt  to  have  it  uniformly  observed,  was  the  cause  of  his  dismission  from 
his  pastoral  charge  in  1729.  In  former  ages,  this  religious  rite  was  a  sub- 
ject of  no  little  discussion  and  agitation  among  the  Baptists,  both  in  the 
old  country  and  the  new,  and  sometimes  churches  were  divided  on  account 
of  differences  of  opinion  respecting  it.  The  Six  Principle  Baptists,  so 
called,  from  tenaciously  adhering  to  this  number  of  points  laid  down  in  the 
{ assage  above  nanied,  still  hold  on  to  this  ancient  rule  of  Church  Disci- 
pline. As  a  general  thing,  however,  the  practice  has  long  been  disused 
among  the  Baptists,  both  American  and  foreign. 

Mr.  Comer  preached,  as  a  supply,  for  nearly  two  years,  in  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  which  was  founded  in  1G5G.  It  was  then 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elder  Daniel  Wightman,  from  whom  Mr.  Comer 
received  the  imposition  of  hands,  in  Gospel  Order,  according  to  his  judg- 
ment and  belief. 

In  1732,  this  transitory  peacher,  whose  race  was  rapid  and  peculiar,  and 
lamentably  .short,  became  the  Pastor  of  a  church  of  his  own  order  in  the 
Southern  part  of  old  Behoboth,  near  to  Swanzea,  and  about  ten  miles  from 

up.  .  .  .  Dr.  Zabdiol  Boylston  was  the  chief  actor  in  it— I  joined  in  the  lavfulness  of 
the  practice,  though  some  wrote  and  printed  against  it-"  Comer  was  preparing  to  avail  himself 
of  the  bencQt  of  this  new  method  of  prevention,  wher.  he  found  it  was  too  late,  and  the  malady 
bad  its  natural  course.     The  whole  College  was  dispersed. 

•  Elsewhere  Mr.  C.  remarks  that,  at  this  time  he  knew  of  no  one  of  his  relatives,  who  was  in 
the  Baptist  connection. 

t  ErHHAiM  Whkatox  was  an  Associate  Pastor  of  this  Church  as  early  as  1704;  and  ho  con- 
tinued in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties  here  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1734,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five,     lie  lived  within  the  bounds  of  Kehoboth. 

Vol.  VI.  G 


42  BAPTIST. 

Providence,  R.  I.  Here  he  died  of  consumption,  May  23,  1734,  aged 
twenty-nine  years,  nine  months  and  twenty-two  days.  "  He  was,"  says 
Dr.  Jackson,  "a  gentleman  of  education,  piety,  and  of  great  success  in 
his  profession.  During  his  brief  life,  he  collected  a  large  body  of  facts, 
intending,  at  some  future  period,  to  write  the  history  of  the  American 
Baptist  Churches.  His  manuscripts  he  never  printed,  nor  did  he,  as  I 
learn,  ever  prepare  them  for  publication.  He  was  even  unable  to  revise 
them,  and  they  were,  of  course,  left  in  their  original  condition.  Never- 
theless, he  made  an  able  and  most  valuable  contribution  to  Rhode  Island 
History.     His  papers  Avere  probably  written  about  1729 — 1731.* 

For  the  historical  purposes  above  named,  this  industrious  man  visited 
most  of  the  churches  in  New  England.  He  also  went  as  far  as  Philadelphia, 
through  the  Jersies,  in  a  Southern  direction.  He  corresponded,  somewhat 
extensively  for  that  age,  with  intelligent  men  in  all  the  Colonies,  where 
those  of  his  own  order  could  be  found,  as  well  as  in  England,  Ireland,  and 
Wales,  from  which  regions  many  of  the  earliest  emigrants,  of  the  Baptist 
faith,  came  to  this  country.  In  Comer's  time,  and  at  a  still  later  period, 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Jersies  were  more  distinguished  than  any  of  the 
Colonies  for  the  number  of  their  strong  men  of  this  creed.  Here  were 
found  the  Joneses,  the  Morgans,  the  Mannings,  the  Smiths,  the  Harts, 
and  many  others.  Could  this  diligent  enquirer  have  lived  to  make  out  the 
history  he  proposed,  from  personal  interviews,  and  from  historical  docu- 
ments, then  easily  obtaine:!,  and  from  reliable  traditions,  in  all  the  Colo- 
nies, where  the  Society  had  planted  their  standards,  a  great  amount  of 
labour  would  have  been  saved  to  the  historians  who  succeeded  him. 

Comer's  Diarj^  to  which  reference  has  already  often  been  made,  consists 
of  two  thin  folio  manuscript  volumes,  of  about  sixty  pages  each.  Most  of 
them  are  occupied  in  the  relation  of  passing  events,  and  in  them  are  found 
many  historical  facts  concerning  the  affairs  of  his  own  people,  and  also  of 
all  the  religious  denominations  in  the  land,  so  far  as  he  had  any  knowledge 
of  them,  or  intercourse  with  them,  which  appears  to  have  been  quite  exten- 
sive and  familiar. 

"Comer,"  says  Backus,  "was  very  curious  and  exact  in  recording  the 
occurrences  of  his  time."  This  remark  is  fully  verified  by  looking  over 
the  details  of  the  journal  in  question.  Here  we  find  accounts  of  earthquakes 
and  storms,  of  wars  and  rumours  of  wars  among  the  Indians  at  home,  and 
the  nations  abroad  :  the  doings  of  the  Colonial  governments  ;  the  names 
and  characters  of  govei-umcntal  men,  especially  of  those  in  the  Rhode 
Island  Colony,  are  often  met  with  in  this  Diary;  and,  among  other  things, 
is  a  full  account  of  a  petition,  which  was  got  up  by  the  ministers  and  lay- 
members  of  the  Baptist  people,  wilh  whom  Mr.  Comer  was  associated, 
against  the  oppressive  laws,  which  were  bearing  hard  on  the  few  of  their 
brethren,  who  were  scattered  "  up  and  down,"  in  the  adjoining  Colony  of 
Connecticut.  The  chief  matter  of  complaint  in  this  petition  was  the  par- 
ish taxes,  for  the  support  of  the  Standing  Order.  This  document,  which 
is  transcribed  in  full,  was  endorsed  by  Governor  Jenks,  in  a  respectful  note 
to  the  Colonial  Assembly. 

*  Churches  in  Rhode  Island,  pp.  80,  81. 


JOHN  COM  Ell  43 

The  arrival  of  the  celebrated  Dean  George  Berkeley,  at  Newport,  and 
some  items  respecting  the  popularity  of  this  distinguished  visiter,  and  of 
the  personal  interviews  which  he,  in  com[»any  with  others,  had  with  this 
affable  man,  are  pleasantl}'  related. 

Mr.  Comer's  popularity  amongst  the  ministers  and  people  of  different 
orders  is  plainly  indicated  by  the  frequent  entries  in  his  Diary  of  his  cor- 
respondence and  personal  conferences  with  them.  In  this  way  wc  learn 
many  interesting  facts,  some  painful,  some  pleasant,  respecting  men  with 
whom  this  youthful  divine  had  no  ecclesiastical  connection.  At  one  time, 
he  informs  us  that  he  was  invited  to  the  pulpit  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  then 
the  only  Congregational  clergyman  of  Providence,  which  he  would  gladly 
have  complied  with,  had  not  a  previous  engagement  hindered  him. 

This  young  minister,  during  his  short  race  of  about  nine  years  after  he 
entered  into  public  service,  made  his  mark  unusually  high  for  the  time. 
His  name  is  still  had  in  grateful  remembrance  in  a  large  religious  and  lite- 
rary circle.  He  left  one  son  and  two  daughters,  and  his  descendants  still 
survive  in  Warren,  R.  I. 

Yours  respectfully, 

DAVID  BE>' EDICT. 


EDWARD  UPHAM  * 

1740—1797. 

Edward  Upitam  was  born  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  in  the  year  1709,  and 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1734.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
received  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Hollis'  donation. 

In  1727.  five  persons  were  baptized  by  immersion,  in  West  Springfield, 
by  the  Rev.  Elisha  Callender,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Bos- 
ton. In  1740,  they,  with  several  others  who  had  joined  them,  were  formed 
into  a  church,  and  the  Rev.  pjdward  Upham  became  their  Pastor.  Though 
there  were  persons  belonging  to  this  church  from  different  parts  of  the 
town,  yet  most  of  them  were  from  that  part  which  was  afterwards  the 
Second  Parish  ;  and  that  was  the  principal  field  of  Mv.  Upham's  ministerial 
labour.  In  1748,  he  resigned  his  charge,  in  consequence  of  an  inadequate 
support,  and  removed  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  succeeded  the  Rev. 
John  Callender,  as  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  town. 

Sometime  after  Mr.  Upham  left  West  Springfield,  most  of  those  who 
had  constituted  the  church  of  which  he  had  had  the  care,  consented  so  far 
to  waive  their  distinctive  denominational  views  as  to  join  with  a  number 
of  others,  of  a  different  communion,  to  form  the  Congregational  Church, 
of  which   the   Rev.   Sylvanus   Griswold  t   became    Pastor.     There   was  a 

•  Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.,  I. — Dr.  Lathrop's  Autobiography. 

tSvLVANCS  GuiswoLn,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  George  Griswold,  (who  was  graduated  at  Tale 
College  in  1717,  became  the  Pa.«tor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  in  Lvnic,  Conn.,  and 
died  in  17'"'1,)  was  born  at  Lyme  about  the  year  17:12;  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1757; 
and  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  in  West  Springfield,  in  Novem- 


44  BAPTIST. 

mutual  agreement  that  wliilo  Mr.  Griswold  sIioulJ,  when  desirc(.l,  conform 
to  the  views  of  tlie  Baptist  brctliren  in  respect  to  the  mode  of  Baptism, 
tliey,  on  tlie  other  hand,  would  receive  from  him  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper. 

In  1771,  jMr.  Upham,  having  resigned  his  charge  at  Newport,  returned 
to  reside  *  on  a  farm  which  he  owned  in  his  former  parish  in  West  Spring- 
field. xVt  the  instance  of  some  of  the  people,  he  resumed  his  public 
labours,  and  again  collected  his  former  charge.  As  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  them  had  become  members  of  Mr.  Griswold's  church,  which,  at 
best,  was  feeble  in  point  of  numbers,  their  secession  was  sensibly  felt. 
Mr.  Upham  continued  his  labours  among  them  till  he  had  passed  his 
eightieth  year,  from  which  time  he  gradually  sunk  under  the  infirmi- 
ties of  ace.  The  church,  of  which  he  had  been  Pastor,  about  that  time 
became  extinct.  He  died  at  his  residence,  in  Feeding  Hills  Parish,  Octo- 
ber, 1797,  aged  eighty-seven  years.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lathrop,  from  Job;  xlii.,  7 — "  So  Job  died,  being  old 
and  full  of  days." 

Mr.  Upham  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  zealous  friends  of  Rhode 
Island  College.  He  was  a  Trustee  and  Fellow  of  that  institution  from  its 
foundation  in  1764  till  1789. 

Mr.  Upham  was  married  in  March,  1740,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Dr.  John 
Leonard,  of  Feeding  Hills.  They  had  six  children,  five  of  whom  survived 
him.  His  eldest  son  was  shot  dead,  by  mistake,  while  engaged,  with  a 
party,  in  hunting  bears,  in  the  night. 

Dr.  Lathrop  has  described  Mr.  Upham  to  me  as  a  sensible,  well  educated 
and  liberal  minded  man.  He  was  an  Open  Communion  Baptist,  both  in 
sentiment  and  in  practice.  After  his  return  to  West  Springfield  from 
Newport,  he  preached  several  times  at  private  houses  in  Dr.  Lalhrop's  par- 
ish, and  introduced  the  Baptist  controversy  ;  and  it  was  understood  put  in 
circulation  among  Dr.  Lathrop's  people  certain  pamphlets,  designed  to  vin- 
dicate his  own  views.  This  led  Dr.  L.  to  preach  two  sermons  on  the  sub- 
ject, which  were  afterwards  published  ;  but  I  believe  it  never  disturbed 
the  friendly  i)crHonal  relations  that  existed  between  himself  and  Mr.  Upham. 
I  know  Dr.  Lathrop  had  a  high  regard  for  him,  as  being,  in  general,  a 
fair  minded  and  honourable  man.  I  received  the  impression  from  him  that 
Mr.  Upham's  orthodoxy  was  not  of  the  straitest  sect,  and  would  probably 
not  rise  aliove  Arminianism.  He  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  very 
respectable  preacher ;  and  so  I  think  he  must  have  been,  from  having 
read  sonjc  of  his  manuscript  sermons.  His  style  was  remarkable  for 
simplicity  and  perspicuity,  and,  though  very  correct,  was  adapted  to 
the  humblest  capacity.  I  believe  he  used  his  manuscript  in  tlie  pulpit, 
contrary  to  the  common  usage  of  ministers  of  his  denomination  at  that  day. 

ber,  1762, — ono  week  after  its  organizntion.  lie  continued  minister  of  tho  parish  till  1781,  and 
Pastor  of  the  church  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  4th  of  December,  1819,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven. 

•  I)r.  Ezra  Stiles,  wlio  at  that  time  resided  at  Newport,  has  the  following  cntrv  in  his  jour- 
nal, under  date,  April  10,  177i  : — "  Rev.  K.  Upham,  with  his  wife  and  family,  sailed  for  Con- 
necticut river,  removing  to  Springfield.  His  congregation  and  friends  accompanied  them  to  tho 
ship  with  many  tears." 


EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY.  45 


EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY. 

1743—1778. 

FROM  HORATIO  GATES  JONES,  ESQ. 

PiiiLADELpniA.  April  1,  1859. 

My  dcai  Sir :  More  than  a  century  ago,  the  name  of  Ebenezer  Kinners- 
ley,  of  whom  you  ask  me  to  give  you  some  account,  was  as  well  known, 
especially  in  all  scientific  circles  in  this  country,  as  perhaps  any  other  of 
which  the  country  could  boast ;  but,  in  the  lapse  of  years,  it  has  been 
suffered,  even  here  in  the  city  in  which  he  lived,  to  pass — I  had  almos't 
said — into  total  oblivion.  I  have  endeavoured  to  gather  the  few  records 
and  authentic  traditions  of  him  that  remain,  and  such  of  them  as  I  suppose 
are  suited  to  your  purpose  I  will  proceed  to  embody  in  this  communication. 

Ebenezer  Kinnerslet  was  born  in  the  city  of  Gloucester,  England, 
on  the  30th  of  November,  1711.  His  father,  William  Kinnersley,  a 
worthy  Baptist  minister,  migrated  to  America  in  1714,  when  tliis  son  was 
three  years  of  age,  and  settled  in  Lower  Dublin,  near  Philadelphia,  where 
he  united  with,  and  officiated  as  minister  to,  the  Pennepek  Baptist  Church, — 
the  first  permanent  Society  of  that  faith  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  was  in  this  quiet  retired  country,  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  l*enne- 
pek  Creek,  that  young  Kinnersley's  early  life  was  passed — there  he  pursued 
liis  studies  under  the  supervision  of  a  pious  father,  whose  counsels  no 
doubt  were  instrumental  in  directing  the  attention  of  the  young  man  to 
the  higher  concerns  of  religion ;  for,  on  the  Cth  of  September,  1735,  about 
one  year  after  his  father's  death,  he  was  baptized  and  united  with  the 
Pennepek  Church.  In  1739,  he  married  Sarah  Duffield,  and  about  the 
same  time  removed  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  ability  which  he 
displayed,  and  his  excellence  as  a  speaker,  led  the  church  to  call  him  to 
the  ministry,  and,  after  due  trial,  he  was  ordained  in  1743;  but,  owing  to 
delicate  health,  and  other  objects  of  interest  tliat  engaged  his  attention, 
he  never  became  a  Pastor.  He  was  one  of  the  few,  in  Philadelphia,  who 
had  doubts  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  preaching  which  was  intro- 
duced by  Whitefield  ;  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  enter  a  solemn  protest  against 
it,  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Baptist  Church.  This  happened  on  the  Gth  of 
July,  1740,  and  the  excitement  produced  by  the  sermon  was  so  great  that 
he  was  absolutely  forbidden  the  privilege  of  communion.  For  some 
time,  lie  attended  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  ere  long  the  difficulty  was 
settled,  and,  on  the  5th  of  May,  1746,  when  the  Philadelphia  Baptist 
Church  was  organized  as  a  distinct  Society  from  that  at  Pennepek,  IMr. 
Kinnersley  formed  one  of  the  constituent  members.  He  remained  in  coin- 
ituinion  with  this  church  as  long  as  he  lived. 

The  year  1746  marked  an  epoch  in  his  life;  for  his  attention  was  then 
first  directed  to  the  wonderful  and  unknown  properties  of  the  Electric 
Fire, — as  it  was  then  termed  ;  and  he  was  brought  into  close  companion- 
.ship  with  Benjamin  Franklin.  He  gave  himself  up  to  this  department  of 
science  with  so  much  zeal  that  his  liealth  failed,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
make   a   voyage   to   the   Bermudas,   then   a   place  of   frcrjuent   resort   for 


46  BAPTIST. 

invalids,  carrying  with  him  his  electrical  apparatus,  to  continue  his  experi- 
ments. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Kinnersley  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A 
Letter  to  the  Reverend  the  Ministers  of  the  Baptist  Congregations  in 
Pennsylvania  and  the  New  Jerseys,  containing  some  Remarks  on  their 
Answers  to  certain  Queries,  proposed  to  them  at  their  Annual  Association 
in  Philadelphia,  September  24,  174G." 

Upon  Mr.  Kinnersley's  return  to  Philadelphia,  in  1753,  he  was  chosen 
Chief  Master  of  the  English  School  in  connection  with  the  College.  Hav- 
ing served  in  this  capacity  two  years,  he  was,  on  the  11th  of  July,  1755, 
unanimously  chosen  Professor  of  the  English  tongue  and  of  Oratory  in  the 
College.  And  so  successfully  did  he  perform  the  duties  of  his  Professor- 
ship that,  in  1757,  he  was  honoured  by  the  Trustees  with  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts;  and,  in  1768,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  which  was  then  composed  of  the  most  learned  and 
scientific  men  in  the  city.  Failing  health,  however,  interfered  with  the 
prosecution  of  his  duties,  and,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1772,  he  tendered 
his  resignation  as  Professor,  and  his  connection  with  the  College  thereupon 
ceased.  The  following  extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
under  date  of  February  2,  1773,  shows  the  estimate  they  had  of  Professor 
Kinnersley's  usefulness  and  ability: — 

"  The  College  suffers  greatly  since  Mr.  Kinnersley  left  it,  for  want  of  a 
person  to  teach  public  speaking,  so  that  the  present  classes  have  not  those 
opportunities  of  learning  to  declaim  and  speak,  which  have  been  of  so 
much  use  to  their  predecessors,  and  have  contributed  greatly  to  aid  the 
credit  of  the  Institution." 

After  terminating  his  relation  to  the  College,  he  made  a  visit  of  a  few- 
months  to  the  Island  of  Barbadoes ;  and,  on  his  return  to  America,  with 
still  enfeebled  health,  he  retired  to  the  country,  and  there,  amid  the  scenes 
of  his  early  youth,  with  the  companionship  of  his  faithful  wife  and  sympa- 
thizing friends,  he  passed  the  few  remaining  years  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Kinnersley  died  on  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  in  the  sixty-ciglith  year 
of  his  age,  and  was  buried  at  the  Lower  Dublin  (or  Pennepek)  Baptist 
Church.  He  left  a  widow  and  two  children, — a  daughter  and  a  .son.  The 
daughter,  Esther,  was  born,  November  30,  1740,  was  married  to  Joseph 
Shewell,  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  and  became  the  mother  of  three 
children.  The  son,  William,  was  born  October  20,  1743;  was  graduated 
at  tlie  College  of  Philadelphia  in  17G1  ;  studied  Medicine,  and  settled  in 
Northumjjerland  County;  and  died  (unmarried)  in  April,  1785,  aged  forty- 
two.  Mrs.  Sarah  Kinnersley,  the  Professor's  widow,  died  November  0, 
1801,  aged  eighty-one  years. 

Family  tradition  states  that  INIr.  Kinnersley's  personal  appearance  was 
dignified,  and  his  manners  of  the  old  school;  and  Mr.  Alexander  Graydon, 
in  his  Memoirs,  speaking  of  his  attending  the  Academy  at  Philadelphia, 
says, — "  I  was,  accordingly,  introduced  by  my  father  to  Professor  Kinners- 
ley, the  Teacher  of  English,  and  Professor  of  Oratory.  He  was  an 
Anabaptist  Clergyman,  a  large,  venerable  looking  man." 

It  is  impossilde  how  to  ascertain  for  how  long  a  time,  or  to  what  extent, 
Mr.  Kinncri^ley  laboured  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  though  it   is  known 


I 


EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY.  47 

that  he  rctaincil  his  connection  with  the  Baptist  Church  till  the  close  of 
life.  It  is  certain,  however,  tliat  he  acquired  his  chief  renown,  not  in 
the  excrci'^c  of  his  ministry,  but  in  his  scientific  pursuits  and  discoveries; 
and,  though  your  request  does  not  contemplate  any  thin;^  like  a  history  of 
what  ho  accomplished  in  this  department,  I  cannot  witlihold  tlic  opinion 
that,  owing  to  various  circumstances,  posterity  has  done  him  hut  very 
meagre  justice.  That  he  was  intimately  associated  with  Dr.  Franklin  in 
some  of  his  most  splendid  discoveries,  and  that  Franklin  himself  more  than 
once  gratefully  acknowledged  his  aid  ;  that  he  attracted  the  attention  of 
many  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers  of  his  day  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  ;  that  he  delivered  Lectures  in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston, 
and  Newport,  on  the  great  subjects  that  were  then  engrossing  the  attention 
of  the  philosophical  world,  and  that  these  Lectures  excited  great  interest, 
especially  among  the  more  intelligent  classes,  is  proved  by  evidence  the 
most  incontrovertible.  The  resixlts  of  a  somewhat  extended  examination 
on  this  subject  I  have  embodied  in  another  form  ;  but  it  could  not  perhaps 
legitimately  find  a  place  in  the  "  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit."  I 
cannot  doubt  that  it  is  only  justice  to  give  this  man  a  place — little  as  is 
now  known  of  him — among  the  leading  spirits  of  his  time. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

HORATIO  GATES  JONES. 


OLIVER  HAET.^ 

1746—1795. 

Oliver  ITart  was  born  of  reputable  parents,  in  Warminster,  Bucks 
County,  Pa.,  July  5,  1723.  His  mind  seems  to  have  been  early  directed 
to  the  subject  of  religion  ;  for  he  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  at 
Southampton,  Pa.,  and  was  received  a  member  of  the  Church  in  that  place, 
in  1741,  when  he  was  in  his  eighteenth  year,  having  been  previously  bap- 
tized by  the  Picv.  Jenkin  Jones.  He  "was  accustomed,  at  this  time,  ofteji 
to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  Whiteficld,  the  Tennents,  and  others  of  that 
school,  by  means  of  which  he  was  not  a  little  encouraged  and  quickened  in 
his  spiritual  course. 

On  the  20th  of  December,- 1746,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
church  with  which  he  first  united;  and,  on  the  ISth  of  October,  1749,  was 
ordained  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry. 

As  there  was,  at  that  time,  a  loud  call  for  ministers  in  the  Southern 
Colonies,  and  the  Baptist  Church  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  was  vacant,  Mr. 
Hart  was  induced,  immediately  after  his  ordination,  to  make  a  visit  to  that 
part  of  the  country.  He  arrived  in  Charleston  on  the  very  day  of  the 
Funeral  of  Mr.  Chanler,t  Pastor  of  the   church  at  Ashley  Bivcr,  who  had 

•  Morgnn  Edwards'  Materials  towards  a  History  of  the  Baptists  in  New  Jersey.— Benedict'!* 
Hist.  Bapt.,  II. 

t  Isaac  Chanler  was  born  at  Bristol,  England,  in  1701 ;  came  to  Ashley  River  about  1 /.}.}; 
and  continued  the  much  esteemed  Pastor  of  that  church  until  be  died,  November  30,  1(4'J,  lu 


48  BAPTIST. 

supplied  the  cliurch  at  Cbarleston  a  part  of  the  time,  and  who  was  the 
only  ordained  Baptist  minister  in  that  region.  The  Charleston  Church 
had  made  repeated  efforts  to  obtain  a  minister  both  from  Europe  and  the 
Colonies  at  the  North.  Mr.  Hart's  arrival  was,  therefore,  very  gratefully 
welcomed  ;  and  so  well  were  the  people  satisfied  with  him  and  bis  labours, 
that  they  proceeded  forthwith  to  invite  him  to  become  their  Pastor;  and 
he  was,  accordingly,  installed  over  them  on  the  16th  of  February,  1750. 

During  the  thirty  years  following,  he  continued  in  the  faithful  and  vigo- 
rous discharge  of  his  duty,  passing  through  scenes  of  affliction  with  great 
calmness  and  dignity,  uniformly  exemplary  in  his  life,  and  favoured  with  a 
large  measure  of  public  respect  and  usefulness.  He  was  useful,  not  only 
as  a  minister,  but  as  a  citizen,  and  especially  in  connection  with  the  events 
of  the  Revolution.  In  1775,  he  was  appointed,  by  the  Council  of  Safety, 
which  then  exercised  the  Executive  authority  in  South  Carolina,  to  travel, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Hon.  William  11.  Drayton  and  the  Ecv.  William 
Tenncnt,  into  the  interior  of  the  State,  to  enlighten  the  people  in  regard  to 
their  political  interests,  and  reconcile  them  to  certain  Congressional  mea- 
sures of  which  they  were  disposed  to  complain.  But,  on  the  approach  of 
the  British  fleet  and  army,  to  which  Charleston  was  surrendered  in  1780, 
he  thought  proper  to  leave  the  city,  and  seek  a  more  Northern  residence. 
Tlie  Baptist  church  in  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  being  then  vacant,  sent  him  a 
pressing  invitation  to  settle  among  them  as  their  Pastor;  and,  he  having 
accepted  it,  the  pastoral  relation  was  duly  constituted  on  the  16th  uf 
December  of  the  same  year. 

Mr.  Hart  continued  the  minister  of  Hopewell  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  For  a  few  years  immediately  preceding  his  death,  the  infir- 
mities of  age  and  the  attacks  of  disease  had  made  such  inroads  upon  his 
constitution  that  he  was  obliged,  in  a  great  measure,  to  decline  public 
service.  In  the  last  few  montlis  of  his  life,  he  raised  large  quantities  of 
lilood,  and  suffered  intense  bodily  distress ;  but  was  uniformly  sustained 
by  the  consolations  and  hopes  of  the  Gospel.  Just  as  he  vras  on  the  eve 
of  his  departure,  he  called  upon  all  around  him  to  help  him  praise  the 
Lord  for  wliat  He  had  done  for  his  soul.  Being  told  that  he  would  soon 
join  the  company  of  saints  and  angels,  he  replied  "Enough,  Enough." 
He  died  on  the  31st  of  December,  1795,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 
age.  Two  Sermons  were  preached  in  reference  to  his  death,  one  by  Dr. 
Furman,  of  Charleston,  the  other  by  Dr.  llogers,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Hart's  publications  : — Dancing  exploded. 
A  Discoujisc  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  the  llev.  William  Tenncnt,  1777. 
The  Christian  Temple.  A  Circular  Letter  on  Christ's  Mediatorial  Cha- 
racter.     America's  Remembrancer.      A  Gospel  Church  portrayed. 

Mr.  Hart  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Sarah  Brees,  l)y  wliom 
he  had  ciglit  cliildren.      His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1774, 

the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  iigc.  He  was  distinguished  for  both  talents  and  piety.  He  was  the 
autliorofa  troatiso  in  small  quarto,  entitled  ''The  Doctrines  of  Glorious  Grace  unfolded, 
defended,  and  practically  improveil."  lie  also  published  a  treatise  on  Original  Sin,  and  a  Ser- 
mon on  tlic  J)ciith  of  the  Kev.  AViUiaui  Tilly. 

WiLLiAiir  Tilly,  above  mentioned,  was  a  native  of  Salisbury,  England;  came  early  to  this 
country;  and  was  called  to  the  ministry  and  orilained  by  the  cliurch  in  Charleston.  He  lived 
on  Edisto  IxlanJ  tintil  his  death,  wiiich  (HTurnil  on  tiie  14th  of  Ajiril,  1744,  in  the  forty-sixth 
year  of  his  a;^e.  Mr.  Clianler.  in  his  Fum  lal  Scrniun,  represents  him  as  an  able  and  faithful 
minister,  who  had  honoured  religion  in  his  death  as  well  as  in  his  life. 


OLIVER  HART.  49 

was  Ann  Seal}',  danglitor  of  Wiliiani  Scaly,  of  Eutaw,  and  tlic  widow  of 
(.Jliarlcs  (jrliiiball,  of  Charleston.  \]y  this  marriage  he  had  two  children, — 
l>()th  sons.  The  second  Mrs.  Hart  died  on  the  Island  of  Wadnialaw,  in  South 
(Carolina,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1813,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  her  age. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  Dr.  Furman's  Sermon  occasioned  by 
Mr.  Hart's  death  : — 

■'  In  his  licrson.  lie  was  somewhat  tail,  well-i)ro{)()rtio;ied  and  of  a  graceful  appcar- 
iiiice;  of  an  active,  vigorous  caustitutiou,  before  it  had  been  impaired  by  cU)se  appli- 
cation to  his  studies  and  by  his  abundant  labours.  His  counKMiancc  was  open  and 
manly,  his  voiee  clear,  liarmonious  and  cumniandingj  the  jH^weis  of  his  mind  were 
strong  and  capacious,  and  enriched  by  a  fund  of  useful  knowledge  j  his  taste  was  ele- 
gant a!ul  refined.  Tiiough  he  had  not  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  a  collegiate  education, 
nor  indeed  much  assistance  from  any  peisonal  instructions,  sucli  was  his  application 
that,  by  private  study,  he  obtained  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  classical  learning, 
ami  explored  the  fields  of  science,  so  that,  in  the  year  ITtlO,  the  College  of  Rhode 
island,  in  honour  to  his  literary  merit,  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  Master  in  the 
Liberal  Arts. 

■■  But  as  a  Christian  and  Divine  his  character  was  most  conspicuous.  No  person 
who  heard  Ins  pious  experimental  discourses,  or  his  affectionate,  fervent  addresses  to 
(iod  in  {)rayer,  who  beheld  the  zeal  .and  constancy  he  manifested  in  the  public  exer- 
cises of  religion,  or  the  disinterestedness,  humility,  benevolence,  charity,  devotion  and 
oqu.aniiTiity  of  temper  lie  discovered  on  all  occasions,  in  the  private  walks  of  life,  could, 
for  a  moment,  doubt  of  his  being  not  only  truly  but  eminently  religious.  He  possessed, 
in  a  large  measure,  the  moral  and  social  virtues,  and  had  a  mind  formed  for  friendship. 
In  all  his  relative  connections,  as  husband,  father,  brother,  master,  he  acted  with  the 
greatest  propriety,  and  was  endeared  to  those  who  were  connected  with  him  in  the 
tender  ties. 

'•  From  a  part  of  his  diary  now  in  my  jiossossion,  it  appears  that  he  took  more  than 
oi-diiiary  pains  to  w.alk  humbly  and  faithfully  with  God;  to  live  under  impressions  of 
the  love  of  Clirist;  to  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Divine  inesence;  and  to  improve  all  his 
lime  and  opportunities  to  the  noblest  purposes  of  religion  and  virtue. 

'•  In  his  religious  principles  he  was  a  lixed  Calvinist,  and  a  consistent,  liberal  Bap- 
tist. The  doctrines  o^  free  efficacious  grace  were  precious  to  him.  Christ  Jesus,  and 
Him  crucified,  in  the  perfection  of  his  righteousness,  the  merit  of  his  death,  the  pre- 
valence of  his  intercession,  and  ellicacy  of  his  grace,  was  tlie  foundation  of  his  hope, 
the  source  of  his  joy.  and  the  delightful  theme  of  his  preaching. 

"  His  sermons  were  peculiarly  serious,  containing  a  happy  assemblage  of  doctrinal 
and  practical  truths,  set  in  an  engaging  light,  and  enforced  with  convincing  argu- 
ments. For  t!ie  discussion  of  doctrinal  truths  he  was  more  especially  eminent,  to 
which  also  he  was  prepared  by  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
.ind  an  extensive  reading  of  the  most  valuable,  both  of  ancient  and  modern  authors. 
His  eloquence,  at  least  in  th.;  middle  stages  of  life,  was  not  of  tlie  most  popular  kind. 
l>iit  iierspicuous,  manly  and  flowing, — such  .as  afforded  pleasure  to  persons  of  true  taste, 
and  edification  to  the  serious  hearer. 

'  Witli  the.se  various  qualifications  for  usefulness,  he  possessed  an  ardent  desire  to 

hv  as  useful  as  possible I\[any  owned  him  as   their  father  in  the 

•  lospel.  Among  these  are  two  distinguished  and  useful  ministers,  who  survive  him, 
and  shine  as  difTusive  lights  in  the  Church.*  These  were  not  only  awakened  under  his 
preaching,  but  introduced,  also,  by  him,  into  a  course  of  study  for  the  ministry. 

"  The  formation  of  a  Society  in  this  city  to  assist  pious  young  men  in  obtaining  edu- 
eation  for  the  public  services  of  the  Church,  .and  which  has  been  of  use  to  sever.al, 
originated  witli  him;  and  he  was  a  prime  mover  in  that  plan  for  the  association  of 
churclies,  by  which  so  many  of  our  churches  are  very  happily  united  at  the  present 
dav.  To  him,  also,  in  conjunction  with  his  beloved  and  amiable  friends,  now,  I  trust, 
with  God,  Rev.  Francis  Pelot  and  .Mr.  David  Williams,  is  that  valu.able  work  of  pub- 
lic utility,  the  System  of  Church  Discipline,  to  be  ascribed.  His  printed  sermons  have 
•"ontributed  to  the  general  interest  of  religion,  and  his  extensive  regular  em-respond- 
ence  has  been  the  means  of  conveving  rational  pleasure  and  religion.'!  improvement  to 
many. 

"To  all  which  maybe  .added  his  usefulness  as  a  citizen  of  America.  Prompt  in 
bis  judgment,  ardent  in  his  love  of  liberty,  and  r.ation.ally  jealous  for  the  rights  of  hi-t 
country,  he  took  an  early  and  decided  part  in  those  measures  wliich  led  our  patriots 
to  successful  opposition  against  the  encroachments  of  arbitrary  power,  and  bronglit  us 
to  possess  all  the  blessings  of  our  happy  independence.     Yet  he  did  not  mix  politics 

•  One  of  these  w.as  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman  of  Bostoo. 
Vol..  VI.  7 


50  BAPTIST. 

with  the  Cospol,  nor  desert  the  duties  of  liis  station  to  pursue  tlicni;  but,  attending  to 
each  in  its  ju-oper  jjhice,  he  gave  weight  to  his  political  sentiments,  by  the  propriety 
and  uprightness  of  his  conduct}  and  the  influence  of  it  was  felt  by  many." 


GARDINER  THURSTON.* 

1748—1802. 

Gardiner  Thurston,  a  son  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth  Thurston,  was 
born  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  November  14,  1721,  He  very  early  discovered  a 
serious  disposition,  and  being  sent  to  pass  some  time  with  some  relatives  in 
the  country,  they  were  struck  with  the  fact  that  he  was  not  only  attentive 
to  his  own  private  religious  duties,  but  exhorted  his  youthful  associates  to 
remember  their  Creator,  and  to  cultivate  a  sense  of  their  dependance  on 
Him.  His  friends  noticed  these  early  developments  with  much  interest, 
regarding  them  as  a  sort  of  pledge  that  he  was  destined  to  a  pious  and 
useful  life. 

After  he  returned  to  Newport,  and  had  been  for  some  time  under  the 
ministry  of  the  llev.  Daniel  Wightman,!  and  his  colleague,  the  Rev. 
Nicholas  Eyres, t  he  addressed  to  them  a  letter,  which  is  still  preserved, 
expressing  a  deep  sense  of  his  own  sinfulness,  and  unworthiness,  and  ina- 
bility to  effect  his  own  salvation,  and  an  earnest  desire  that  he  might  be 
enabled  to  rest  wholly  on  the  free  grace  of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  Gospel. 
Shortly  after  this  letter  was  written,  he  supposed  that  he  obtained  peace 
and  joy  in  believing  ;  but  did  not  make  a  public  profession  of  his  failh  till 
the  4th  of  April,  1741.  When  the  day  came  in  which  he  was  to  be 
examined  as  a  candidate  for  Baptism,  he  was  in  a  state  of  great  spiritual  dark- 
ness, and  was  much  inclined  to  believe  that  his  previous  experience  had  been 
nothing  better  than  delusion.  When  he  came  to  the  door  of  the  meeting- 
house in  which  the  church  were  assembled  to  attend  to  his  examination, 
he  was  so  much  oppressed  by  a  sense  of  his  unworthiness,  and  the  appre- 
hension that  he  had  deceived  himself,  that  he  turned  away,  and  walked  into 
a  burying  ground,  and  sat  down  upon  a  rock ;  and  while  there,  the  cloud 
that  had  hung  over  him  was  dissipated,  and  he  rejoiced  again  in  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Divine  favour.  About  sixty  years  afterwards,  when  walking 
in  the  same  burying  ground,  he  stopped,  and  putting  his  staff  upon  the  rock, 
said, — '>There  I  sat  down,  overwhelmed  with  distress,  while  tlic  churcli 
were  waiting  for  mo  to  come  in,  to  give  them  an  account  of  tlie-  dealings 
of  God  with  my  soul.     Soon  after  I  sat  down,  I  was  enabled  tlirough  rich 

•  Mass.  Uapl.  Miss.  JIag.  I. — IScnedicfs  Hist.  Bapt.  I.  and  II. 

f  Danikl  \Vir.aT.MAN  was  born  in  Narragausett,  January  2,  1668,  and  was  ordained  in  1701, 
at  which  time  lie  took  the  joint  care  of  llio  Second  Church  in  Newjjort,  with  the  Kev.  Mr. 
Clark,  lie  continued  in  this  relation  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1760.  lie  was  greatly 
respected  and  beloved. 

J  Nicholas  Eyrics  was  horn  at  a  place  called  Chipnianslade,  Wiltshire,  England,  August 
22,  KiOl ;  caiue  to  New  York  about  the  year  1711  ;  was  baptized  there  three  years  after;  and 
in  September,  1724,  wasordainetl  to  the  I'astorship  of  the  First  (or  (lold  street)  Eapfist  Church, 
in  that  city.  Iti  October,  1731,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  became  Co-pastor  with  Mr.  Wight- 
man  of  the  Second  Church  in  Newport,  lie  died  on  the  I."th  of  February,  1759.  The  inscrip- 
tion on  his  monument  represents  him  as  a  man  of  great  intelligence,  benevolence,  and  piety. 


GARDIXEIl  THURSTON.  5X 

grace,  to  give  up  myself  and  all  T  liad  into  the  hands  of  my  blessed 
Jesiig,  who  immediately  dispelled  the  darkness  that  covered  me,  removed 
my  distress,  filled  me  with  peace  and  consolation,  and  gave  me  strength  to 
declare  what  He  had  done  for  my  soul." 

He  was  received  by  the  church,  and  baptized  by  their  Pastor,  the  Rev. 
Nicholas  Eyres.  He  commenced  very  soon  to  take  part  in  social  religious 
exercises,  and  delivered  himself  with  so  much  propriety  and  unction  that 
his  brethren  began  to  think  of  him  as  adapted  to  occupy  a  wider  field  of 
Christian  usefulness.  The  church,  accordingly,  licensed  him  to  preach,  in 
1748,  and  requested  that  he  would  act  as  an  assistant  to  their  Pastor,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Eyres.  With  this  request  he  complied,  preaching  once  on  the 
Lord's  da}',  and  once  on  one  of  the  secular  days  of  the  week ;  at  the  same 
time  prosecuting  with  great  zeal  the  study  of  Theology,  in  which  he 
enjoyed  the  assistance  of  his  venerable  friend  and  ministerial  associate. 

Mr.  Eyres  having  died  suddenly  in  February,  1759,  the  church  imme- 
diately invited  Mr.  Thurston  to  the  sole  pastoral  charge.  He  accepted 
the  invitation,  and  was,  accordingly,  constituted  their  Pastor,  by  the  usual 
form,  on  the  29th  of  April  following.  Previous  to  this  time,  Mr.  Thurs- 
ton had  connected  a  worldly  occupation  with  the  duties  of  the  ministry; 
but  he  now  abandoned  the  former,  with  a  view  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  the  latter. 

Mr.  Thurston  continued  regularly  to  discharge  his  official  duties,  until 
about  three  years  previous  to  his  death.  From  that  time,  his  bodily  infir- 
mities were  so  great  that  he  did  not  attempt  to  preach,  though  he  was  still 
as  zealously  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  flock  as  ever.  After  a  gradual 
decline,  which  was  marked  by  the  most  humble,  quiet  and  trusting  spirit, 
and  a  full  confidence  of  entering  into  rest,  he  died  on  the  23d  of  May, 
1802,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was 
preached  by  the  Rev.  Stephen  Gano,  D.  D.,  of  Providence.  The  only 
member  of  his  family  that  survived  him  was  a  daughter.  His  wife  died 
io  1784. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JOSHUA  BRADLEY. 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  18th  June,  1853. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  was  settled  as  a  colleague  Avitli  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Thurston, 
in  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  in  the  year 
1801.  He  was  then  just  about  eighty  years  of  age,  and  had  been,  for  some  time, 
obliged  to  desist  from  preaching,  on  account  of  bodily  infirmity.  His  mind, 
however,  was  generally  clear,  his  affections  lively,  and  his  interest  in  all  that 
pertained  to  the  great  objects  of  the  ministry  was  increased  rather  than 
diminished  by  the  near  prospect  of  his  departure.  He  was  able,  also,  till 
near  the  close  of  life,  to  attend  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  to  per- 
form some  pastoral  service  in  the  way  of  visiting;  and  it  is  hardly  needful  to 
say  that  he  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  promote  the  comfort  and  useful- 
ness of  my  own  ministry. 

Mr.  Thurston  had  enjoyed  in  his  day  a  much  more  than  common  degree  of 
popularity  as  a  preacher.  Though  he  had  not  received  a  collegiate  education, 
he  bad  a  great  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  never  lost  any  opportunity  for 
acquiring  it.  lie  M'as  also  the  Pastor  of  the  church  in  which  he  had  been 
born  and  educated,  and  was,  moreover,  the  successor  of  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  talents  and  acquirements;  and  these  circumstances,  no  doulit,  were 


52  BAPTIST. 

an  additional  incentive  to  his  making  the  most  of  his  opportunities  for  intel- 
lectual culture.  I  do  not  mean  to  intimate  that  he  was  a  highly  educated 
man;  but  he  had  so  much  general  information,  and  so  happy  a  talent  at  using 
it,  that  he  would  pass  very  respectably  even  in  the  more  cultivated  circles. 

Mr.  Thurston  had  naturally  a  good  constitution,  and,  during  much  the 
greater  part  of  his  life,  vigorous  health.  With  a  discriminating  mind  he 
united  a  lively  imagination  and  warm  sensibilities.  lie  was  a  model  in  his 
domestic  relations,  always  performing  every  dutj^  in  his  house  promptly  and 
gracefull}^  He  was  an  attraction  in  every  social  circle;  for,  though  he  never 
forgot  the  dignity  of  his  office,  he  knew  how  to  unbend  in  the  freedom  of  a 
well  regulated  intercourse.  He  was  a  popular  man  in  the  community — every 
one  regarded  him  as  a  fine  example  of  a  tried  Christian  character, — of  a 
venerable  and  unsullied  old  age. 

His  preaching  was  eminently  scriptural,  and  he  never  wished  to  go  beyond 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  in  establishing  any  doctrine  that  he  advanced.  He 
was  accustomed  to  write  the  heads  of  his  sermons,  noting  down  also  the 
proof  texts,  and  then,  by  meditation,  to  render  the  whole  train  of  thought 
familiar  to  him,  so  that,  in  the  delivery,  he  had  no  occasion  to  refer  to  his 
manuscript;  and  generally,  I  believe,  he  had  no  notes  })efore  him.  He  had 
an  excellent  voice  for  the  pulpit,  and  he  used  it  to  good  purpose.  While  he 
was  accustomed  to  make  mature  preparation  for  his  public  services,  he  evi- 
dently depended  greatly  on  Divine  aid;  it  was  manifest  that,  while  he  spoke 
out  of  a  warm  heart  and  well  furnished  mind,  he  felt  most  deeply  that  his 
sufficiency  was  of  God. 

Mr.  Thurston  always  showed  himself  deeply  concerned  for  the  honour  of 
the  ministry;  and  he  would  never  assist  in  introducing  one  to  the  sacred  office, 
who  he  did  not  believe  possessed  the  requisite  qualifications.  He  was  equally 
far  from  expecting  any  thing  like  a  miraculous  call  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
dispensing  with  what  he  deemed  suitable  intellectual  moral,  and  religious 
qualifications  on  the  other;  and  thus  his  whole  influence  went  to  elevate  and 
purify  the  ministry.  He  had  a  strong  conviction  that  with  the  character  of 
the  Ministry  is  identified,  in  no  small  degree,  the  character  of  the  Church,  at 
any  given  period ;  and  that  he  could  not  labour  more  efficiently  for  the  latter, 
than  by  directing  a  due  share  of  his  attention  to  the  former. 

My  venerable  friend,  though  he  died  when  the  great  modern  movement 
towards  the  conversion  of  the  world  had  only  begun  to  be  made,  yet  was 
most  deeply  interested  in  contemplating  all  those  signs  of  the  times,  that 
were  beginning  then  to  awaken  so  much  attention  in  Evangelical  Christendom. 
Ifis  heart  was  thoroughly  baptized,  even  then,  with  the  missionary  spirit. 
He  saw  the  things  that  we  see,  only  through  the  medium  of  faith  in  the  Divine 
testimony;  but  this  was  among  the  brightest  visions  of  his  old  age.  It  was 
manifest  to  all  who  saw  him  that,  to  his  latest  hour,  the  commanding  desire 
of  his  heart  was  that  the  reign  of  Christianity  might  be  universal. 

Some  eighteen  months  before  his  death,  I  called  at  his  house,  with  several 
ministers  and  other  Christian  friends,  all  of  whom  were  most  deeply  impressed 
with  the  spirituality  of  his  conversation,  and  some  of  them,  after  leaving  liini, 
remarked  that  they  had  never  witnessed  an  instance  in  which  the  promises  of 
Grod  seemed  to  be  so  entirely  and  unconditionally  relied  on.  A  favourite  U)])\c 
of  conversation  with  him  was  the  Christian's  victory  over  death,  through  the 
mediation  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and,  in  connection  with  this,  he  was  accustomed 
to  dwell  with  great  delight  on  the  glorious  realities  of  the  future,  and  espe- 
cially on  the  reunion  with  Christian  friends  who  had  gone  before  him.  I  had 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  him  frequently  in  his  last  days,  and  witnessing  the 
triumphs  of  grace  amidst  the  decays  of  nature.  He  talked  to  me  upon  his 
death-bed  with  a  sw«ct  serenity,   and   sometimes   a   glowing  fervour,    that 


GARDINER  THURSTON.  53 

made  mc  feel  as  if  his  eyes  were  alie:iily  open  upon  Heaven.  I  sat  by  him 
when  his  spirit  gently  passed  away;  and,  though  he  was  unable  to  sjieak  in 
his  last  moments,  there  was  a  serene  smile  upon  his  eountenanee  that  seemed 
like  a  response  to  the  voice  from  Heaven,  saying,   '<  Come  u\)  liitiicr." 

i''aithfuUy  yours, 

JOSHUA  BRADLEY. 

FROM  THE  REV.  BENJAMIN  H.  PITMAN. 

Providence,  Saratoga  County,  N.  Y. 
Augu.st  17,  18-31. 

My  dear  Sir:  1  would  gladly  refer  you,  if  I  could,  to  some  one  whose  recol- 
lections of  Gardiner  Thurston  are  more  extended  than  my  own;  but  the  gene- 
ration to  which  he  belonged  has  so  nearly  passed  away  that  I  scarcely  know 
an  individual,  now  living,  who  can  be  supposed  to  remember  so  much  of  him 
even  as  1  do  myself.  Though  I  grew  up  by  the  side  of  him,  and  his  form  and 
countenance,  in  my  early  years,  Avere  very  familiar  to  me,  yet,  as  I  belonged, 
at  that  time,  to  another  communion,  my  personal  knowledge  of  him  was  not 
very  great;  and  yet  1  think  I  understood  very  well  the  general  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  in  the  community.  In  addition  to  this,  1  have  had  access 
to  some  notices  of  liim  that  were  written  shortly  after  his  deatli,  which  fully 
conlirm  all  my  early  impressions. 

From  the  period  of  my  earliest  recollection  of  Mr.  Thurston,  he  was  far 
advanced  in  years,  venerable  in  appearance,  and  still  more  venerable  in  charac- 
ter, lie  Avas  a  thin,  spare  man,  1  sliould  think  of  about  the  medium  height, 
and  had  an  intelligent  and  expressive  countenance.  He  wore  an  old-fashioned 
white  wig,  after  the  manner  of  most  of  the  old  ministers  of  that  day.  Con- 
sidering his  age,  he  was  unusually  quick  and  graceful  in  his  movements,  and 
left  the  impression  upon  you  that,  in  his  earlier  years,  he  must  have  been  dis- 
tinguished for  agility  and  personal  attraction. 

Ilis  manners  were,  in  a  very  high  degree,  amiable  and  winning.  He  mingled 
with  great  ease  and  familiarity  in  the  social  circle,  and  had  the  faculty  of 
making  all  around  him  feci  perfectly  at  home;  but  he  never  did  any  tiling, 
or  said  any  thing,  or  connived  at  any  thing,  that  was  of  even  questionable  pro- 
priety. He  never  forgot,  in  any  circumstances,  his  high  calling  as  a  minister 
of  Christ;  and,  though  he  thought,  with  the  wise  man,  that  "every  thing  is 
beautiful  in  his  time,"  and  that  "  for  every  thing  there  is  a  season,"  yet  his 
object  always  seemed  to  be  to  leave  some  really  useful  impression  on  the  minds 
of  those  with  whom  he  conversed.  He  was  a  person  of  a  remarkably  benevo- 
lent disposition,  and  was  always  rendered  happy  by  seeing  others  so. 

He  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  much  more  than  ordinary  powers  of  mind. 
I  should  suppose  that  his  predominating  faculty  was  judgment,  though  he  was 
by  no  means  deficient  as  a  reasoner,  and  withal  was  considerably  imaginative. 
But  I  think  few  men  were  his  superiors  in  what  is  usually  called  common  sense. 
He  discerned  intuitively  what  was  fitting,  at  all  times,  and  on  all  occasions. 
There  was  no  tendency  in  his  mind  to  extremes, — nothing  of  what,  at  this  da}^  is 
called  uUraism.  Hence  he  had,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  the  whole  community.  His  ojjinion  was  allowed  to  have  great  weight 
in  every  circle,  and  on  almost  every  subject. 

As  a  Preacher  he  was  at  once  instructive  and  persuasive.  What  impressed 
you  most  in  his  preaching  w^as  the  simple  earnestness  and  deep  solemnity 
which  breathed  in  both  his  matter  and  manner.  No  one  who  heard  him  could 
doubt,  for  a  moment,  that  he  was  truly  a  man  of  God;  that  every  word  that 
he  spake  came  from  his  inmost  soul;  and  that  he  lost  sight  of  every  thing  else 
in  his  preaching,  in  the  one  paramount  desire  to  save  the  souls  of  those  whom 
he  addressed. 


54  BAPTIST. 

He  WHS  a  zealous  friend  to  revivals  of  religion,  and  was  privileged  to  witness 
more  than  one  during  his  ministry.  Among  those  in  whose  conversion  and 
spiritual  growth  he  was  supposed  to  be  instrumental,  were  several  who  became 
useful  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  And  there  were  some  in  whose  minds  the  good 
seed  was  sown,  through  his  instrumentality,  but  the  harvest  was  not  reaped 
till  after  he  had  gone  to  his  rest. 

Mr.  Thurston  was  remarkable  for  the  interest  he  took  in  young  ministers. 
Several  letters  which  he  addressed  to  one  or  more  of  them  are  still  in  existence, 
and  they  breathe  the  most  intense  desire  for  their  spirituality,  fidelity,  and 
success.  They  show  his  high  appreciation  of  ministerial  obligation,  and  his 
unyielding  purpose  to  know  nothing,  as  a  minister,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him 
crucified. 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

BENJAMIN  H.  PITMAN. 


ISAAC  BACKUS  * 

1751—1806. 

Isaac  Backus,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Tracy)  Backus,  was 
born  at  Norwich,  Conn.,  January  9,  1724.  His  parents  were  respectable 
members  of  the  Congregational  Church.  Plis  father  was  a  descendant  from 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  respectable  settlers  of  Norwich,  and  his  mother 
was  of  the  Winslow  family,  that  came  to  Plymouth  in  1G20.  Some  of  his 
relatives  belonged  to  the  denomination  called  Separates  ;  and  his  mother,  when 
a  widow,  with  some  other  of  his  family  connections,  was  actually  imprisoned  for 
holding  and  promulgating  offensive  doctrines.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
groat  excitement  that  prevailed  in  connection  with  the  labours  of  Whitefield, 
in  1741,  that  he  received  his  first  permanent  religious  impressions.  He 
united  with  the  Congregational  Church  in  his  native  town,  though  not  with- 
out many  misgivings,  on  account  of  what  he  deemed  their  unreasonable  lax- 
ity, especially  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  members.  In  the  beginning 
of  1745,  lie,  with  a  number  of  others,  withdrew  from  the  church,  and  set 
up  a  meeting  of  their  own  on  the  Salibath,  which  of  course  drew  upon  tlieni 
the  displeasure  of  the  church,  and  ultimately  led  to  their  being  suspended 
from  the  Communion.  The  separation  proved  a  permanent  one,  and  3Ir. 
Backus  and  his  associates  became  identified  with  the  great  religious  move- 
ment of  the  time,  which  led  to  the  formation  of  a  large  number  of  Separate 
or  New  Light  churches. 

Soon  after  a  Separate  church  was  formed  in  Norwich,  Mr.  Backus  was 
led  to  devote  himself  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  His  first  sermon 
was  preached  to  the  church  of  which  lie  was  a  member,  on  the  28th  of  Sep- 
tember, 174G,  and  was  received  with  great  favour.  For  fourteen  months 
f(jllo\ving,  he  was  engaged  in  preaching  in  various  towns  in  Connecticut, 
llhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts.  In  December,  1747,  he  commenced 
his  labours  in  Middleborougli,  (Titicut  Precinct,)  and  on  the  13th  of  April, 

*  Benedict "s  Hist.  Bapt.  II. — Prof.  Ilovcy's  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Times  of  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Backus. — MS.  from  Zechariah  Eddy,  Esq. 


I 


ISAAC  BACKUS.  55 

1748,  was  ordalnoa   as    Tastor  of  tlie  church   in   that  place.     This  church 
had  its  oris^in  in  a  disaj^rconicnt  in  respect  to  the  settlement  of  a  niiuistcr. 
The  Society  was  formed  in  February,  1748,  being  composed  of  persons  who 
wished  for  a  clergyman  of  different  religious  views  from  the  one  who  had  actu- 
ally been  settled  over  the  parish  to  which  they  belonged  ;  and,  as  they  could 
not  obtain  a  dismission  from  the  church  by  an  ecclesiastical  council,  after 
waiting  live  years,  they  withdrew,  without  this  sanction,  and,  in  February, 
1748,  ^formed  a  church  by  themselves.     This,  however,  was  not  the   end 
of  their  troubles  ;  for  they  were  still  taxed  for  the  support  of  public  wor- 
ship, or  for  the  building  of  a  new  meeting  house,  in  the  old  parish.     Mr. 
Backus  himself  was  not  only  taxed,  but  seized  and  imprisoned,  though  he 
was  soon  released,  without  either  paying  the  tax,  or  coming  to  any  com- 
promise. , 
In  1749,  the  subject  of  Baptism  was  agitated  in  the  church  of  which 
Mr.  Backus  was  Pastor  ;  and  several  of  its  members  became  Baptists,  and 
thus   obtained  an  exemption  from   the  Congregational    tax.     In  August, 
1751,  Mr.   Backus  himself   was    baptized  by  immersion,  by  Elder  Pierce 
of  Warwick,  II.  I.     For  some  time  afterwards,  he  held  communion  with 
those  who  had  not  been  thus  baptized,  but  he  adopted  the  principle   of 
Strict  Communion  after  a  few  years.     On  the  16th  of  January,  175G,  the 
members  of  his  church  who  had  become  Baptists,  formed  themselves  into 
a  distinct  church,  and  he  was  installed  its  Pastor  on  the  23d  of  June  fol- 
lowing, by  ministers  from  Boston  and  Rehoboth.     In  this  relation  he  con- 
tinued till  the  close  of  life. 

In  the  year  1772,  Mr.  Backus  was  chosen  Agent  for  the  Baptist  Churches 
in  Massachusetts,  in  place  of  Mr.  Davis,  who  had  been  Pastor  of  the 
Second  Church  in  Boston,  but  had  left  his  charge  on  account  of  ill  health. 
This  agency,  which  was  designed  for  the  promotion  of  religious  liberty, 
and  especially  to  secure  to  the  Baptists  an  exemption  from  the  burdens 
imposed  upon  them  by  law,  he  executed  with  great  ability,  and  not  alto- 
gether without  success. 

When  the  Continental  Congress  met  at  Philadelphia  in  1774,  Mr.  Backus 
was  sent  as  an  Agent  from  the  Baptist  Churches  of  the  Warren  Associa- 
tion, to  endeavour  to  enlist  some  influence  in  their  favour.  On  his 
return,  he  found  that  a  report  had  preceded  him  that  he  had  been  attempt- 
ing to  break  up  the  union  of  the  Colonies  ;  whereupon,  he  addressed  him- 
self to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  9th  of  December 
following,  and  was  met  in  a  manner  that  relieved  him  from  all  suspicion. 
When  the  Convention,  in  1779,  took  into  consideration  the  Constitution 
of  the  State,  the  subject  of  the  extent  of  the  civil  power  in  connection  with 
religion  naturally  came  up,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  some 
severe  reflections  were  cast  upon  the  Baptist  memorial  presented  at  Phila- 
delphia. Mr.  Backus  immediately  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Chroni- 
cle, in  his  own  defence,  giving  a  full  account  of  his  proceedings  as  Baptist 
Agent,  and  urging  reasons  for  opposing  an  article  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  of 
the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts.  He  strongly  repudiated  the  idea  that 
the  civil  authority  had  a  right  to  interfere  in  matters  purely  religious  ;  and 
maintained  vigorously  and  earnestly  that  all  connection  between  Church 
and  State  should  be  dissolved. 


56  BAPTIST. 

In  1789,  Mr.  Backus  took  a  journey  into  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina, 
which  kept  him  from  his  peojjle  about  six  months.  During  this  time  he 
preached  an  hundred  and  twenty-six  sermons,  and  travelled  by  land  and 
water  more  than  three  thousand  miles.  This  journey  was  undertaken  in 
consequence  of  a  request  from  some  of  the  Southern  brethren,  that  they 
might  have,  teuiporarilj^  the  aid  of  some  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  War- 
ren Association,  in  the  wide  field  of  labour  which  then  opened  before  them. 

He  was  honoured  with  the  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Brown  Uni- 
versity in  1797. 

For  a  few  months  previous  to  his  death,  Mr.  Backus  was  laid  by  from 
his  public  labours,  in  consequence  of  a  paralytic  stroke,  which  deprived 
him  of  his  speech  and  the  use  of  his  limbs.  His  reason,  however,  con- 
tinued till  the  last ;  and,  in  his  expiring  moments,  he  exhibited  the  triumph 
of  Christian  faith.  He  died  on  the  20th  of  November,  1806,  in  the 
eighty-third  year  of  his  age,  and  the  sixtieth  of  his  ministry. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1749,  he  was  married  to  Susannah  Mason, 
of  llehoboth,  with  whom  he  lived  about  fifty-one  years.  His  own  testi- 
mony was,  that  "  she  was  the  greatest  earthly  blessing  which  God  ever  gave 
him."  They  had  nine  children,  all  of  whom  became  respectable  members 
of  society. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Backus'  publications  : — A  Discourse  on 
the  Internal  Call  to  preach  the  Grospel,  1754.  A  Sermon  on  Galatians,  iv., 
31,  1756,  A  Sermon  on  Acts,  xiii.  27,  1763.  A  Letter  to  Mr.  Lord, 
1764.  A  Sermon  on  Prayer,  1766.  A  Discourse  on  Faith,  1767.  An 
Answer  to  Mr.  Fish,  1768.  A  Sermon  on  his  Mother's  Death,  1769.  A 
Second  Euition  of  his  Sermon  on  Gal.  iv,  31,  with  an  Answer  to  Mr. 
Frothingham,  1770.  A  Plea  for  Liberty  of  Conscience,  1770.  Sover- 
eign Grace  Vindicated,  1771.  A  Letter  concerning  Taxes  to  support 
Keligious  Worship,  1771.  A  Sermon  at  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Hunt, 
1772.  A  Reply  to  Mr.  Holly,  1772,  A  Beply  to  Mr.  Fish,  1773.  An 
Appeal  to  the  Public,  in  Defence  of  Religious  Liberty,  1773.  A  Letter 
on  the  Decrees,  1773.  A  History  of  the  Baptists,  Vol.  I.,  1777.  Gov- 
ernment and  Liberty  described,  1778.  A  Discourse  on  Baptism,  1779. 
True  Policy  requires  Equal  Religious  Liberty,  1779,  An  Appeal  to  the 
People  of  Massachusetts  against  Arbitrary  Power,  1780,  Truth  is  great 
and  will  prevail,  1781.  The  Doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation  examined 
and  refuted,  1782,  A  Door  opened  for  Christian  Liberty,  1783,  A  His- 
tory of  the  Baptists,  Vol.  II.,  1784.  Godliness  excludes  Slavery,  in 
Answer  tg,  John  Cleavelaud,  1785,  The  Testimony  of  the  two  Witnesses, 
1786,  An  Address  to  New  England,  1787,  An  Answer  to  Remmele  on 
the  Atonement,  1787,  An  Essay  on  Discipline,  1787.  An  Answer  to 
Wesley  on  Election  and  Perseverance,  1789,  On  the  Support  of  Gospel 
Ministers,  1790,  An  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  God,  1792,  A  History 
of  the  Baptists,  Vol,  III,,  1796,  A  Second  Edition  of  his  Sermon  on  the 
Death  of  his  Mother ;  to  which  was  added  a  short  account  of  his  Wife, 
who  died  in  1800,     Published  in  1803, 


ISAAC  BACKUS.  57 


FROM  THE  HON.  ZECIIARIAII  EDDY. 

MiDDLEBOROuGH,  Muss..  Mav  16,  1852. 

Dear  Sir:  T  Aras  well  acquainted  with  the  llev.  Isaac  Backus,  and  was  con- 
temporary with  him  twenty-six  years.  Though  we  belonged  to  different 
denominations,  being-  myself  a  Congrcgationalist,  I  had  a  high  esteem  for  his 
character,  and  consider  it  a  privilege  to  do  any  thing  I  can  to  perpetuate  his 
memory. 

All  New  England  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Backus  more,  I  think,  than  to  any  other 
man,  for  his  researches  in  relation  to  our  early  ecclesiastical  history.  Mr. 
Bancroft  boars  the  most  honourable  testimony  to  his  fidelity,  and  considers 
his  History,  as  to  its  facts,  more  to  be  depended  on  than  any  other  of  the 
early  Histories  of  New  England.  And  there  is  good  reason  why  it  should  be 
so;  for  he  sought  the  truth,  like  the  old  philosophers,  who  .said  "  it  was  in  a 
well,  and  long  and  persevering  labour  only  could  bring  it  up."  He  went  to 
the  fountain  head.  All  our  early  Records  at  Plymouth,  Taunton,  Boston, 
Essex,  Providence,  Newport,  Hartford,  New  Haven, — the  Records  of  Courts, 
Towns,  Churches,  Ecclesiastical  Councils,  were  thoroughly  searched,  and  he 
has  fully  and  accurately  presented  the  results  of  these  researches,  and  brought 
to  light  and  remembrance  many  important  facts  and  events,  which,  probably, 
would  never  liave  gone  into  our  histor}^  but  for  him.  His  diligence,  patience, 
and  perseverance,  in  this  department  of  labour,  are  above  all  praise. 

And  what  renders  this  the  more  remarkable  is  that  it  was  done  in  the  midst 
of  domestic  cares,  pastoral  duties,  and,  I  might  almost  say,  '<■  the  care  of  all 
the  churches."  He  Avas  often  called  upon  to  preach  at  ordinations,  and  on 
other  special  occasions,  and  he  wrote  numerous  tracts  on  the  Order  of  the 
Churches,  and  in  defence  of  True  Liberty  of  Conscience.  He  was  also  an  effi- 
cient representative  of  those  who  were  seeking  to  enjoy  this  liberty,  before 
Legislative  Bodies  and  Civil  Tribunals,  Councils,  and  Associations.  Let  any 
man  open  his  History,  and  observe  the  numerous  extracts  from  documents 
contained  in  the  depositories  of  towns  and  churches,  in  public  offices,  and 
printed  books  of  authority,  and  bear  in  mind  the  extent  and  variety  of  his 
other  engagements,  and  he  will  not  doubt  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  indus- 
trious and  useful  men  of  his  time.  In  his  own  daj',  his  labours  were  certainly 
appreciated.  It  is  truly  wonderful  that,  amidst  the  povert)^  and  privations 
incident  to  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  there  could  have  been  awakened  interest 
enough  to  defray  the  expense  of  publishing  large  volumes  of  Historj^,  at  the 
high  price  which  was  then  demanded  for  such  works.  The  effect  was  a  rapid 
increase  of  light  and  knowledge,  and  a  rapid  increase  of  churches  and  com- 
municants. 

Mr.  Backus  was  called  "  Father,"  not  only  by  his  own  people,  who  might 
well  thus  honour  him,  but  by  almost  the  entire  community;  and  a  Patriarch 
he  was,  not  only  by  ecclesiastical  powers,  but  as  a  Pastor  and  Divine,  and  in 
moral  power  and  weight  of  well-earned  and  well-established  character. 

In  regard  to  ornament  of  style,  and  even  the  arrangement  of  his  materials, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  was  deficient;  but  this  was  well  compen- 
sated by  the  authenticity  of  his  facts,  the  accuracy  of  his  statements,  and 
his  just,  philosophical  and  forcible  reasonings.  His  aim  evidently  was,  not  so 
much  to  produce  a  classical  history,  as  to  establish  facts,  and  make  proper 
deductions  from  them,  which  might  furnish  the  future  historian  of  our 
country  with  the  means  of  forming  a  right  estimate  of  the  trials  to  which 
his  brethren  were  subjected,  as  Avell  as  the  views  and  conduct  in  which  those 
trials  originated.  He  is  a  true  Congregationali.st  in  doctrine  and  discipline, 
except  in  re.«pect  to  Baptism  and  Communion;  renders  a  cordial  testimony  in 

Vol.  VI.  8 


58  BAPTIST. 

favour  of  John  Robinson;  and  vindicates  the  Plj^mouth  Colony  from  all  blame 
in  the  persecutions  experienced  by  his  denomination.  He  preserves  his  tem- 
per and  candour,  and  vindicates  the  rights  of  conscience  with  great  skill  and 
power.  lie  gives  several  instances  of  veto  power  claimed  by  their  Pastors, 
in  which  such  claims  were  promptlj^  met  and  put  down  by  the  Churches  and 
Courts  of  law. 

Mr.  Backus  was  of  a  large,  robust  and  muscular  frame,  made  firm,  proba- 
bly, by  his  early  agricultural  labours,  and  by  his  travels  on  horseback,  the 
greater  part  of  his  life.  His  large  face  and  head  appeared  more  venerable  by 
reason  of  his  very  large  wig,  an  adornment  of  ministers  in  the  times  in  which 
he  lived. 

I  have  known  him  as  a  Preacher  of  the  Gospel.  His  sermons  were  marked 
by  strong  good  sense,  and  often  striking  thought,  and  were  generally  of  a 
highly  biblical  character.  Few  men  make  so  strong  an  impression  upon  their 
audience  by  personal  appearance  as  he  did.  His  venerable  countenance,  his 
large  fentures,  his  imposing  wig,  in  which  he  always  appeared  in  the  pulpit, 
his  impressive  gravity  and  deep  toned  voice,  added  to  the  weight  of  his  senti- 
ments, gave  hirn  great  power  over  an  audience. 

It  need  not  be  disguised  that  Mr.  Backus  partook  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Mathers  and  others,  in  taking  a  peculiar  interest  in  what  were  called  "  Won- 
der-working Providences,"  and  in  admiration  of  striking  coincidences  and 
extraordinary  appearances,  bordering  hard  on  the  miraculous.  Indeed,  he 
himself  related  an  assault  of  the  adversary,  in  his  experience,  strongly 
resembling  that  which  Luther  relates  as  made  upon  himself,  which  he 
returned  with  his  inkstand  and  all  its  contents.  He  was  exhorting  to  con- 
stancy in  prayer,  and  regular  seasons  of  private  devotion,  notM'ithstanding 
all  the  wiles  and  opposition  of  Satan,  and  in  that  connection  related  the  fol- 
lowing case  of  his  own  experience: — He  retired  to  his  closet  at  the  usual 
season,  and,  as  he  made  the  attempt  to  pray,  Satan  presented  himself  in 
bodily  form,  and  frowned  upon  him  in  grim  opposition.  He  turned  to  another 
side  of  his  closet,  and  the  same  forbidding  form  still  frowned  upon  him.  He 
turned  to  the  third,  and  then  to  the  fourth,  side,  and  still  he  had  to  encounter 
the  same  horrible  appearance;  «<  and  then,"  he  added,  "I  said  to  myself, 
I  will  pray,  if  I  have  to  pray  through  you;  and  I  did  Y>ra,y  through  the  devil." 

I  attended  a  Baptist  ordination  when  I  was  young,  and,  during  the  delivery 
of  the  sermon,  he  sat  in  the  pulpit, — an  object  not  merely  of  awe,  but  I  may 
say  of  absolute  terror.  In  the  midst  of  the  service,  he  groaned  in  such  fear- 
ful tones  as  started  me  from  my  seat;  and  this  groan,  which  was  heard  dis- 
tinctly through  cverj'  part  of  the  house,  was  repeated  three  times  in  the 
course  of  the  sermon.  This,  however,  was  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  when 
such  things  were  regarded  in  a  very  different  light  from  what  the_v  would  be 
now. 

Mr.  Bjickus  was  full  of  "good  works  and  alms  deeds  which  he  did,"  and 
<«  his  works  do  follow  "  him.  I  know  not  that  any  of  the  churches  which  he 
founded  have  become  extinct.  Certainly  his  own  still  lives.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  very  stinted  income,  that  prudence,  industry,  and  economy?  by  which 
he  was  so  much  distinguished,  and  that  have  since  characterized  his  children 
and  grandchildren,  enabled  him  to  leave  the  family  estate  unincumbered. 

"With  great  respect, 

Z.  EDDY. 


DANIEL  MARSHALL.  59 

DANIEL  MARSHALL*. 

1754—1784. 

Daniel  Marshall  was  born  of  respectable  and  pious  parents,  in 
Windsor,  Conn.,  in  the  year  170G.  He  was  hopefully  converted  at  the 
age  of  about  twenty,  and  joined  the  Congregational  church  in  his  native 
place.  Being  naturally  of  an  ardent  temperament,  he  became  a  very  zeal- 
ous Christian,  and,  before  he  had  been  long  a  member  of  tlie  church,  he 
was  chuson  one  of  its  Deacons.  This  office  ho  held,  discharging  its  duties 
with  great  lidelity,  for  about  twenty  years.  During  this  time,  he  was  in 
easy  circumstances,  and  married  and  lost  a  wife,  by  whom  he  had  one  son. 
At  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  he  heard  Whitefield  preach,  caught  his  glowing 
spirit,  and  fully  believed,  with  many  others,  that  the  scenes  which  were 
then  passing  betokened  the  near  approach  of  millenial  glory.  Not  a 
small  number,  under  the  powerful  influence  of  the  moment,  sold,  or  gave 
away,  or  abandoned,  their  earthly  possessions,  and,  without  purse  or  scrip, 
rushed  up  to  the  head  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  settled  in  a  place  called 
Onnaquaggy,  among  the  Mohawk  Indians,  with  a  view  to  their  conversion 
to  Christianity.  Of  this  self-denying  group  was  Mr.  3Iar&hall.  It  is  not 
easy  to  conceive  of  greater  sacrifices  than  he  must  have  made,  in  taking 
his  wife  and  three  children  from  the  bosom  of  civilized  society,  where  they 
were  surrounded  with  all  the  comforts  of  life,  to  live  in  a  wilderness,  in 
the  midst  of  savages,  and  exposed  to  hardships  and  perils  innumerable. 

Mr.  Marshall  addressed  himself  to  his  missionary  labours,  witli  burning 
zeal,  and  not  without  considerable  success.  Several  of  the  Indians  gave 
evidence  of  receiving  the  Gospel  in  its  power,  while  others  were  brought 
into  a  thoughtful  and  inquiring  state  of  mind,  which  promised  a  favourable 
result.  But,  after  residing  there  about  eigliteen  months,  and  just  as  he 
began  to  witness  the  fruits  of  his  labours,  the  breaking  out  of  war  among 
the  savage  tribes  obliged  him  to  withdraw,  and  seek  another  field.  He 
now  removed  to  a  place  in  Pennsylvania,  called  Conegocheague ;  and,  after 
a  short  residence  there,  took  up  his  abode  near  Winchester,  Va.  Here  he 
fell  in  with  a  Baptist  church,  belonging  to  tlie  Philadelphia  Association; 
and,  being  led  to  a  particular  examination  of  their  faith  and  order,  he 
became  convinced  that  they  were  both  scriptural,  and,  accordingly,  both 
himself  and  his  wife  were  shortly  after  baptized  by  immersion,  and  became 
members  of  this  church.     This  occurred  about  the  year  1754. 

Mr.  Marshall,  who  had  hitherto  laboured  only  as  a  private  teacher  and 
exhorter,  was  now  licensed  to  preach  ;  and  his  efforts,  in  tbis  capacity, 
wore,  from  the  beginning,  instrumental  of  bringing  many  to  serious  reflec- 
tion. In  his  zeal  to  prosecute  his  ministry  to  the  greatest  advantage,  he 
passed  on  from  Virginia  to  a  place  called  Hughwarry,  in  North  Carolina, 
where  large  numbers  were  hopefully  converted  through  his  instrumentality. 
Encouraged  by  the  success  which  attended  his  labours,  as  an  itinerant 
preacher,  he  proceeded   to  Abbot's  Creek,    in   the   same   State,  where  he 

•  Memoir  by  ]>ia  son,  Rev.  Ab>aham  MarshalL— Taylor's  Lives  of  Virg.  Bapt.  Min.— 
Campbell  s  Georg.  Bapt. 


60  BAPTIST. 

gathered  a   cliurcli,  of  which   he  was  ordained   Pastor,  in   the  fifty-second 

year  of  his  age,  by  his  brothers-in-huv,  the  llev.  Messrs.  Hetiry  Leadbetter 

and  Shubael  Stearns.*     He  seems,  however,  still  to  have  performed  much 

missionary  labour,  for  it  is  stated  that,  "in  one  of  his  evangelical  journeys 

into  Virginia,  he  had   the  singular  happiness   to   baptize  Colonel  Samuel 

Harriss,  with  whom   he   immediately  afterwards  made  several  tours,  and 

preached  and  planted  the  Gospel  in  several  places  as  far  as  James  Ki'vcr." 

He  resigned   his  charge  at   Abbot's  Creek,  after   a   few  years,  and,  in  the 

hope  of  increasing  his  usefulness,  went  still  farther   South,  and  settled  on 

Beaver  Creek,  in  South  Carolina.     Thence,  after  having  accomplished  an 

important  work  in  gathering  a  large  church,  he   removed   to  Horse  Crock, 

about  fifteen  miles  North  of  Augusta.      Here  also   he   laboured,  for   some 

time,  with   great  success,  and   gave   an  impulse   to  several  minds,  which 

afterwards  made  themselves  powerfully  felt  in  the  extension  of  the  Gospel. 

From  this  place  he  occasionally  made  visits  to  the  State  of  Georgia  ;  and, 

on  one  of  these  occasions,  while  engaged   in   the  devotional   service  at  a 

public  meeting,  he  was  seized  by  a  civil  officer  for  preaching  in  the  parish 

of.  St.  Paul,  and  forced  to  give  security  for  his  appearance  in  Augusta,  on 

the  Monday  following,  to  answer  to  the  charge.     The  result  of  the   trial 

was  that  he  was  ordered  to  come  no  more  as  a  preacher  into  Georgia  ;  but 

he  simply  replied,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Apostle,—"  Whether  it  be  Hght  to 

obey  God  or  man,  judge  ye."     He   pursued   his  course,  regardless  of  this 

judicial   decision,  and,   on   the  1st   of  January,   1771,   removed  with  his 

family  to  Kiokee,  Ga.,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.     The  next 

spring  a  church  was  formed   there,  which   has  been   distinguished  for  its 

efficiency  in  various  respects,  and  especially  for   having  sent  forth  several 

excellent  ministers. 

The  church,  which  was  thus  planted  and  cherislied  through  Mr.  Marshall's 
in.strumeutality,  enjoyed  an  increasing  degree  of  prosperity,  until  the  com- 
mencement of  the  War  of  the  Ptevolution,  which,  everywhere,  proved 
most  adverse  to  the  success  of  evangelical  labours.  But  this  excellent  man 
still  kept  at  his  work,  as  far  as  possible ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
gloomy  and  appalling  scenes,  he  was  always  on  the  alert  to  perform,  up  to 
the  full  measure  of  his  ability,  the  duties  of  a  Christian  minister.  As  he 
was  an  open  and  earnest  friend  to  the  American  cause,  he  was  once  made 
a  prisoner  and  placed   under  a  strong  guard  ;   but,  by  permission  of  the 


year,  was  i.nlainud  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Alter  labouring  for  two  or  three  year*  in  New 
England,  he  wont  to  the  South,  and  i>reuohed  for  Kouie  time,  first,  in  tlie  Counties  (,f  Berkeley 
and  llamp.'hire,  \  a.,  and  then  proceeded  to  (iuiiford  County,  N.  C,  where  he  made  liis  perma- 
nent settlement.  He  coniuienccd  his  labours  here  by  building  a  house  of  worship,  and  consti- 
tuting a  church  of  sixteen  members;  and  here  ho  continued,  preaching  much  in  the  surioundintr 
country,  till  the  close  of  his  life.  He  died  on  the  20th  of  November,  1771.  IMor.'tn  Edw-irds 
writes  thus  concerning  him:—'-  Mr.  Stearns  was  a  man  of  small  stature,  but  of  good  natural 
parts,  and  sound  Judgment.  Of  learning  he  had  but  a  little  share,  yet  was  inelty  well 
acquainted  with  books.  His  voice  was  mnsical  and  strong,  which  he  managed  in  sueli  a  i-ianner 
AS,  one  while,  to  make  soft  impressions  on  the  heart,  and  fetch  tears  from  the  eyes  in  a  mechan- 
ical way.  and  anon  to  shake  the  very  nerves,  and  throw  the  animal  system  into  tumult"  and 
perturbations.  All  the  Separate  Baptists  copied  after  him  in  tones  of  voice  and  actions 
of  body;  and  some  few  exceeded  him.  His  character  was  indisputably  good  as  a  man,  a 
Christian,  and  a  preacher.  In  his  eyes  was  something  very  penetrating— there  seemed  to  be  a 
meaning  m  every  glance."' 


DANIEL  MARSHALL.  01 

officers,  ho  commcncctl  praying  and  oxluirthig  witli  so  nmcli  earnestness 
that  his  enemies  were  soon  more  than  willing  to  set  liiui  at  liberty. 

Mr.  Jlarshall's  zeal  in  bis  ]Mastor's  cause  kept  him  labouring  after  he 
was  bowed  by  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  almost  up  to  the  very  day  of  his 
death.  A  few  months  before  he  died,  rising  in  his  pulpit,  where  he  had  so 
long  instructed  and  exhorted  his  people  with  tearful  solicitude,  he  said, — 
"  I  address  you,  my  dear  hearers,  with  a  diffidence  which  arises  from  a 
failure  of  memory,  and  a  general  weakness  of  body  and  mind,  common  to 
my  years  ;  but  T  recollect  he  that  holds  out  to  the  end  shall  be  saved,  and 
am  resolved  to  finish  my  course  in  the  cause  of  God."  Accordingly,  he 
attended  public  worship  regularly,  through  a  somewhat  lingering  decline, 
until  the  last  Sabbath  but  one  previous  to  his  death  ;  he  attended  family 
worship  until  the  morning  immediately  preceding;  and,  in  the  near  ap- 
proach of  death,  he  expressed  the  utmost  confidence  that  he  was  al)Out  to 
come  in  possession  of  an  eternal  weight  of  glory.  He  died  on  the  2d  of 
November,  1784,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  hi?  age.  A  Discourse  was 
delivered  on  the  occasion  of  his  death  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Bussey. 

The  maiden  name  of  Mr.  Marshall's  first  wife  I  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain.  His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1748,  was  Martha 
Stearns,  sister  of  the  Ilev.  Shubael  Stearns.  The  Georgia  Analytical 
Repository,  in  referring  to  this  lady,  says, — "  In  fact  it  should  not  be  con- 
cealed that  his  extraordinary  success  in  the  ministry  is  ascribable,  in  no 
small  degree,  to  Mrs.  Marshall's  unwearied  and  zealous  co-operation. 
Without  the  shadow  of  a  usurped  authority  over  the  other  sex,  Mrs.  Mar- 
shall, being  a  lady  of  good  sense,  singular  piety,  and  surprising  elocution, 
has,  in  countless  instances,  melted  a  whole  concourse  into  tears,  by  her 
prayers  and  exhortations."  By  his  second  marriage,  Mr.  Marshall  had 
nine  children, — seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  One  of  his  sons.  Abraham, 
was,  for  many  years,  a  highly  respected  and  useful  Baptist  minister. 

The  prominent  feature  of  Mr.  Marshall's  character,  as  developed  in  the 
history  of  his  life,  seems  to  have  been  a  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of 
his  fellow-men.  Without  any  extraordinary  talents,  or  much  intellectual 
culture,  he  made  himself  felt  as  an  element  of  life  and  power  in  every 
community  in  which  he  mingled.  It  was  manifest  to  all  that  love  to 
Christ,  and  love  to  the  souls  of  men,  constituted  his  ruling  passion  ;  and 
tliough  he  might  do  some  things  of  questionalde  prudence  and  propriety, 
his  influence,  on  the  whole,  was  felt  to  be  at  once  salutary  and  power- 
ful. Notwithstanding  all  the  sacrifices  that  he  made  for  the  cause  of 
Christ,  he  always  had  enough  for  the  comfortable  support  of  himself  and  his 
family,  and,  at  his  death,  left  behind  him  an  estate  of  considerable  value. 


g2  BAPTIST. 


JOHN  GANG  * 

1754—1804. 

John  Gang  was  born  at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1727. 
He  was  of  Huguenot  extraction.  His  great  grandfather,  Francis  Gerneaux, 
escaped  from  the  Island  of  Guernsey,  during  the  bloody  persecution  that 
arose  in  consequence  of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantz.  One  of 
his  neighbours  having  been  martyred,  a  faithful  servant  of  his  deceased 
friend  informed  him  that  he  himself  had  been  doomed  to  the  same  fate, 
and  that  he  was  to  suffer  that  very  night,  at  twelve  o'clock.  Being  a  gen- 
tleman of  wealth,  and  having  trustworthy  and  influential  friends  around 
him,  he  at  once  secured  a  vessel,  and,  having  caused  his  family  to  be 
placed  on  board,  he  was  himself  conveyed  in  a  hogshead,  to  the  same 
retreat,  and,  before  morning,  the  vessel  was  not  to  be  seen  from  the  har- 
bour. Mindful  of  the  condition  of  other  pei'sons,  at  other  Protestant 
settlements,  he  so  managed  as  to  send  his  boat  ashore  at  several  of  those 
places,  and  by  this  means  his  company  of  emigrants  was  much  enlarged. 
They  sailed  for  America,  and  arrived  safely  at  New  York;  and,  after 
obtaining  lands  at  New  Rochelle,  they  settled  there,  making  that  place 
their  adopted  home.  Mr.  Gerneaux  died  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  one 
hundred  and  three  years.  Immediately  after  his  abandonment  of  Guern- 
sey, his  property  was  confiscated;  and,  when  the  fact  was  communicated  to 
him.  his  reply  was, — "  I  have  been  expelled  from  my  birth  place,  and  my 
property  has  been  taken  from  my  family  for  only  one  aggression, — a  love 
for  the  Bible  and  its  teachings.  Let  my  name  change  with  changing  cir- 
cumstances :" — and  it  has  ever  since  been  known,  as  pronounced  by  the 
English,  Gang. 

One  of  the  sons  of  this  religious  refugee,  named  Stephen,  was  married 
to  Ann  Walton,  by  whom  he  had  a  large  family  of  children.  His  son, 
Daniel,  was  married  to  Sarah  Britton,  of  Staten  Island;  and  these  were 
the  parents  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  They  were  both  eminently 
pious,  and,  from  his  earliest  years,  he  was  faithfully  instructed  in  the  great 
principles  of  religion.  His  maternal  grandmother,  who  lived  to  the  age 
of  ninety-six,  was,  during  almost  her  whole  life,  a  devout  member  of  a 
Baptist  cliurcdi.  His  mother  also  was  of  the  same  communion  ;  but  his 
father  was  a  Presbyterian.  His  own  predilections  were  originally  for  join- 
ing a  Pj:esbyterian  Church  ;  but,  not  being  fully  satisfied  on  the  subject  of 
Infant,  Baptism,  he  determined  to  give  it  a  thorough  examination,  and  if 
turned  out  that  the  farther  his  inquiries  extended,  the  more  his  doubt- 
increased.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  held  a  long  conversation  with  on  ■ 
of  the  Tennents  on  the  subject,  at  the  close  of  which  the  venerable  Presby- 
terian minister  said  to  him, — "  Dear  young  man,  if  the  devil  cannot  des- 
troy your  soul,  he  will  endeavour  to  destroy  your  comfort  and  usefulness ; 
and,  therefore,  do  not  be  always  doubting  in  this  matter.  If  you  cannot 
think  as  I  do,  think  for   yourself."      Having   become    ultimately   satisfied 

•  Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.  I,  II.— Collins'  Hist,  of  Kentucky.— MS.  from  Henry  Jack- 
son, D.  D. 


JOHN  GANO.  63 

that  the  peculiar  views  of  iho  IJaplists  are  fully  sustained  by  Scripture, 
and  having  obtained  his  father's  cordial  consent  to  his  joining  that  denomi- 
nation, he  was,  in  due  time,  baptized  by  immersion,  and  admitted  to  the 
Church  in  Hopewell,  his  native  place. 

Up  to  this  time,  he  seems  to  have  been  occupied  upon  a  farm ;  )jut  he 
now  began  to  entertain  the  idea  of  becoming  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  It 
was  not  long  before  his  purpose  to  do  so  was  fixed  ;  and  he  had  begun  a 
course  of  study  preparatory  to  it.  With  occasional  interruptions,  he  con- 
tinued thus  engaged  for  two  or  three  years.  Before  he  was  licensed  to 
preach,  he  took  a  journey  into  Virginia,  in  company  with  two  prominent 
Baptist  clergymen,  who  went  thither,  by  request,  to  settle  some  difficulties 
which  had  arisen,  in  two  infant  churches.  Previous  to  his  return  home, 
a  report  reached  Hopewell  that  he  had,  prematurely,  and  without  the  usual 
formality  of  being  approved  by  the  church,  commenced  preaching  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  was,  accordingly,  called  to  an  account  for  what  was  deemed  a 
disorderly  procedure.  He  acknowledged  that  he  had  "  sounded  the  Gospel 
to  perishing  souls  in  Virginia,  whose  importunities  to  hear  it  he  could  not 
resist,"  but  he  justified  the  seeming  irregularity,  in  view  of  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  case,  which  he  did  not  think  were  likely  to  occur 
again.  The  church,  after  hearing  his  explanation,  appointed  a  time  for 
him  to  preach,  and  to  be  examined  in  respect  to  his  qualifications  ;  and, 
the  result  having  been  entirely  satisfactory  to  them,  he  was  regularly  set 
apart  to  the  ministry.  Soon  after  this,  he  became  connected  with  the 
church  at  !Morristown,  and  so  numerous  were  the  demands  made  upon  him 
for  public  labour,  that  his  studies  were  not  only  greatly  interrupted,  but, 
for  the  time,  in  a  great  measure,  relinquished. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  there  were  present 
messengers  from  the  South,  who  had  come  to  procure,  if  possible,  a  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel  to  labour  among  them.  As  there  was  no  ordained 
minister,  who  could  conveniently  undertake  the  mission,  Mr.  Gano  was 
urged  to  engage  in  it.  He  pleaded  his  youth  and  inexperience;  but  the 
importunity  of  the  messengers,  joined  to  that  of  his  own  brethren,  finally 
prevailed  over  his  scruples ;  and,  having  been  ordained  in  May,  1754,  he 
set  out,  shortly  after,  on  his  journey  Southward.  He  travelled  and 
preached  extensively  in  the  Southern  Colonies,  and  went  as  far  as  Charles- 
ton, S.  C.  His  account  of  the  first  sermon  he  preached  in  the  pulpit  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart,  of  Charleston,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  When  I  arose  to  speak,  the  sight  of  so  hrilliant  an  audience,  amonp;  wlioni  were 
twelve  ministers,  and  oiii;  of  whom  was  !^[r.  Wliitefiuld,  for  a  moment  hiought  the  fear 
of  man  vijiou  nie  ;  hut,  hlessfd  be  the  Lord,  I  was  soon  relieved  from  this  emharrass- 
inent;  the  tliought  passed  my  mind,  I  had  none  to  fear  and  objy  but  the  Lord." 

On  his  return  to  the  North,  he  visited  an  island,  where  he  was  informed 
there  had  never  been  but  two  sermons  preached.  The  people  soon  assem- 
bled, and  he  preached  to  them  from  these  words — "  Behold  the  third  time 
I  am  ready  to  come  to  you,  and  I  will  not  be  burdensome  to  you." 
Various  incidents  occurred,  on  this  missionary  tour,  illustrative  of  Mr. 
Gano's  shrewdness,  firmness,  and  devotion  to  the  honour  of  his  Master. 

In  175(5,  Mr.  Gano  was  induced,  by  repeated  solicitations,  to  make 
another  missionary  tour  to  the  South,  which  occupied  him  about  eight 
months.     In   many  places,  he  had   tlic   pleasure   to  find   the  fruits   of  his 


64  BAPTIST. 

lal)Ours  iliiringliisformei'  visits.  Shortly  after  his  return  from  this  tour,  he 
was  iuvited,  by  an  infant  church,  which  he  had  been  instrumental  of  plant- 
ing, in  a  place  called  the  Jersey  Settlement,  in  North  Carolina,  to  remove 
thither,  and  become  its  Pastor.  Messengers  came  to  Morristown,  a  dis- 
tance of  several  hundred  miles,  to  induce  that  church,  if  possible,  to  give 
him  up.  They,  at  first,  utterly  refused,  but,  subsequently,  referred  the 
matter  to  his  own  choice  ;  and  he,  in  consideration  of  the  great  spiritual 
destitution  that  prevailed  in  the  region  to  which  he  was  called,  felt  con- 
strained to  give  an  affirmative  answer.  He,  accordingly,  removed  to  North 
Carolina,  and  took  charge  of  the  church  that  had  called  him. 

His  connection  with  this  church  continued  about  two  years;  during 
which  time  the  number  of  communicants  greatly  increased,  and  he  laboured 
extensively  and  successfully  throughout  that  whole  region.  But,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  incursions  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  in  the  year  17G0,  his 
labours  were  interrupted,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  leave  the  country. 
He,  accordingly,  returned  with  his  family  to  New  Jersey.  About  this  time, 
the  First  Bnptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York  was  organized  by  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Miller,*  of  Scotch  Plains,  and  the  Church  in  Philadelphia  had 
also  just  been  rendered  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Jenkin  Jones. 
Mr.  Gano  preached,  for  some  time,  alternately,  at  both  cities  ;  but  when 
the  Church  in  New  York  was  organized,  (June  19,  1762,)  he  became  its 
Pastor,  and  continued  there  nearly  twenty-six  years,  excepting  the  time  he 
was  obliged  to  be  absent  on  account  of  the  war.  During  his  ministry,  the 
cliurch  was  eminently  prospered,  and  received,  by  Baptism,  about  three 
liundred  members. 

Mr.  Gano  was,  for  some  time,  a  Chaplain  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  ; 
and,  by  his  earnest  prayers  and  patriotic  counsels,  did  much  to  encourage 
his  countrymen  in  their  struggle  for  national  freedom.  On  the  return  of 
Peace,  he  went  back  to  his  accustomed  field  of  labour  ;  but,  out  of  upwards 
of  two  hundred  members,  of  which  his  church  consisted  at  the  time  of  its 
dispersion,  he  was  able  to  collect  at  first  but  thirty-seven  :  his  congrega- 
tion, however,  rapidly  increased,  and  a  revival  soon  followed,  in  conse- 
<[uence  of  which,  nearly  forty  young  persons  were  added  to  the  church,  at 
one  time.  In  this  state  of  things,  when  every  thing  seemed  auspicious  of 
continued  and  increasing  usefulness,  Mr.  Gano  formed  the  purpose  of 
removing  to  Kentucky,  partly  on  account  of  being  somewhat  embarrassed  in 
his  worldly  circumstances,  and  partly  from  a  conviction  that  his  usefulness 
would  thereby  be  increased.  His  congregation  offered  to  incre:i^i>  his 
salary,  and  presented  every  inducement  they  could  to  detain  him  ;  but  his 
])urpose  had  already  been  formed,  and  he  could  not  consent  to  yield  it. 
Accordingly,  having  disposed  of  his  property,  he  left  New  York,  and,  on 
the  17th  of  June,  1787,  reached  Limestone,  Ky.,  and,  shortly  after, 
repaired  to  Washington,  where  he  remained  for  some  time.     In  1788.  he 

•Benjamin  Miller,  a  n.ativc  of  Scotch  Plains,  wasa  wild  and  reckless  youth,  but  was  con- 
verted in  consrf|iu'iiee  of  a  sermon  preached  by  Gilbert  Tenncnt,  who  encouraged  him  to  enter 
the  ministry.  lie  was  ordained  in  1718,  and  continued  Pastor  of  the  cliurch  in  liis  native  place 
until  17S1, "when  he  died  in  his  sixty-sixth  year.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  his 
friend,  j\lr.  (iano,  who  said  concerning  him, — "  Never  did  I  esteem  a  ministering  brother  so 
much  as  I  did  Mr.  Miller,  nor  fool  so  sensibly  a  like  bereavement,  as  that  which  I  sustained  by 
his  death." 


JOHN  GANG.  (J5 

became  Pus-tor  of  the  Town  Fork  Clmrch,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lexing- 
ton, whicli  was  oonnectoJ  with  the  Klkhorn  Association. 

Mr.  Cano,  probably,  never  found  the  advantage  he  anticipated,  in  respect 
to  either  comfort  or  usefulness,  from  his  removal  to  Kentucky.  Still, 
however,  he  laboured  there  with  quite  encouraging  success.  In  1798, 
while  he  was  still  actively  engaged  in  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  fell 
from  a  horse,  and  fractured  his  shoulder-blade,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  was,  for  some  time,  deprived  of  tlio  use  of  one  of  his  arms.  Before  he 
had  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  casualty,  he  was  suddenly  seized  in 
his  bed  with  a  paralytic  shock,  which  rendered  him  almost  speechless  for 
nearly  a  year.  Ho,  however,  sul)scquently  recovered  his  speech,  and  the 
use  of  his  limbs,  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  be  carried  out  to  meetings,  and  he 
preached  frequently,  especially  during  tlie  great  revival  in  the  West, 
with  remarkable  power.  He  died  in  1804,  in  the  seventy-eiglith  year  of 
his  age. 

At  the  close  of  1754,  or  early  in  1755, — shortly  after  his  return  from 
his  second  visit  to  the  South,  Mr.  Gano  was  married  to  Sarah,  daughter  of 
John  Stites,  a  highl}'  respectable  citizen  of  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.  She 
was  the  sister  of  the  wife  of  Dr.  Manning,  the  first  President  of  Ilhode 
Island  College.  They  had  a  number  of  children,  one  of  whom, — Stephen, 
the  second  son,  became  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Providence.  Not 
long  after  his  removal  to  Kentucky,  his  wife  was  rendered  a  cripple  hy  a 
fall  from  a  horse,  and,  shortly  afterwards,  was  removed  by  death.  In 
1793,  he  made  a  visit  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  married,  for  his  second 
wife,  the  widow  of  Capt.  Thomas  Bryant,  and  daughter  of  Colonel  Jona- 
than Hunt,  formerly  of  New  Jersey,  and  one  of  his  old  neighbours  and 
friends.  She  had  been  baptized  by  his  son,  Stephen,  three  years  before, 
when  the  father  and  son  visited  North  Carolina  together.  The  second  Mrs. 
Grano  survived  her  husband. 

FROM  THE   HON.  CHARLES  S.  TODD, 

AMBASSADOR  FROM  THE  UNITED   PTATKS  TO  RUSSIA,  8tC. 

SiiELBYViLLE,  Kj'.,  Junc  9,  1857. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  your  request  for  some  account  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Rev.  John  Gano,  I  am  oblifrod  to  saj^  that  my  impressions  concern- 
injr  him  are  very  general,  and  are  derived,  not  from  personal  intercourse  with 
him,  but  from  having  often  seen  him  in  my  boyhood,  and  lived  in  a  community 
in  which,  for  many  years,  he  exercised  his  ministry.  "Well  do  I  remember  the 
venerable  and  imposing  appearance  which  ho  used  to  make,  as  he  walked  the 
streets,  and  how  every  body  respected  him,  both  as  a  Christian  gentleman,  and 
•A  Minister  of  the  Gospel.  But  I  feel  so  inadequate  to  do  any  thing  like  justice 
to  his  memory  that,  instead  of  attempting  to  embody  any  recollections  and 
impressions  of  my  own,  I  take  the  liberty  to  transcribe  the  following  account 
of  him,  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furman,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  wlio  had 
every  opportunity  of  forming  a  correct  judgment  of  his  character  and  stand- 
ing:— 

"  He  was,  in  person,  below  the  middle  stature,  and,  when  young,  of  a  slen- 
der form;  hut  of  a  firm,  vigorous  constitution,  well  fitted  for  performing  active 
services  with  ease,  and  for  suffering  labours  and  privations  with  constancy. 
In  the  more  advanced  stages  of  life,  his  body  tended  to  corpulency;  but  not  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  burden  or  render   liim  inactive.     His  presence  was  manly, 

Vol.  VI.  0 


6g  BAPTIST. 

open  and  (.'iigaging.  Ilis  voice  strong  and  commanding,  yet  agreeable  and  capa 
I)le  of  all  those  inflections  which  are  suited  to  express  either  the  strong  or 
tender  emotions  of  an  intelligent,  feeling  mind.  In  mental  endowments  and 
acquired  a1)ilities  he  appeared  highly  respectable;  with  clear  conception  and 
penetrating  discernment,  he  formed,  readily,  a  correct  judgment  of  men  and 
things.  His  acquaintance  with  the  learned  languages  and  science  did  not  com- 
mence till  he  arrived  at  manhood,  and  was  obtained  chiefly  by  private  instruc- 
tion; but  under  the  direction  of  a  clerical  gentleman,  well  qualified  for  the 
oflice.  To  the  refinements  of  learning  he  did  not  aspire — his  chief  object  was 
such  a  competent  acquaintance  with  its  principles  as  would  enable  him  to  apply 
them  with  advantage  to  purposes  of  general  usefulness  in  religion,  and  to  the 
most  important  interests  of  society;  and  to  this  he  attained. 

"  His  mind  was  formed  for  social  intercourse  and  for  friendship.  Such  Avas 
his  unaff'ected  humility,  candour,  and  good-will  to  men,  that  few,  if  any,  have 
enjoyed  more  satisfaction  in  the  company  of  their  friends,  or  have,  in  return, 
aftbrded  them,  by  their  conversation,  a  higher  degree  of  pleasure  and  moral 
improvement. 

"His  passions  were  strong,  and  his  sensibility  could  be  easily  excited;  but 
so  chastened  and  regulated  were  they  by  the  meekness  of  wisdom,  that  ho 
preserved  great  composure  of  spirit,  and  command  of  his  words  and  actions, 
even  in  times  of  trial  and  provocation,  when  many,  who  yet  might  justly  rank 
with  the  wise  and  good,  would  be  thrown  into  a  state  of  perturbation,  and 
hurried  into  extravagance. 

"As  a  minister  of  Christ,  he  shone  like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the 
American  Churches,  and  moved  in  a  widely  extended  field  of  action.  For  this 
office  God  had  endowed  him  with  a  large  portion  of  grace,  and  with  excellent 
gifts.  He  believed,  and  therefore  spak3.  Having  discerned  the  excellence  of 
Gospel  truths,  and  the  importance  of  eternal  realities,  he  felt  their  power  on 
his  own  soul,  and,  accordingly,  he  inculcated  and  urged  them  on  the  minds  of 
his  hearers,  with  jiersuasive  eloquence  and  force.  He  was  not  deficient  in  doc- 
trinal discussion,  or  what  rhetoricians  style  the  demonstrative  character  of  a 
discourse;  but  he  excelled  in  the  pathetic, — in  pungent,  forcible  addresses  to 
the  heart  and  conscience.  The  careless  and  irreverent  were  suddenly  arrested, 
and  stood  awed  before  him;  and  the  insensible  were  made  to  feel,  Avhile  he 
asserted  and  maintained  the  honour  of  his  God,  explained  the  meaning  of  the 
Divine  law, — showing  its  purity  and  justice, — exj^osed  the  sinner's  guilt, — 
proved  him  to  be  miserable,  ruined  and  inexcusable,  and  called  him  to 
unfeigned,  immediate  repentance.  But  he  was  not  less  a  son  of  consolation  to 
the  mourning  sinner,  who  lamented  his  off"ences  committed  against  God, — 
who  felt  the  plague  of  a  corrupt  heart,  and  longed  for  salvation;  nor  did  he 
fail  to  speak  a  word  of  direction,  support,  and  comfort,  in  due  season,  to  the 
tried,  tempted  believer.  He  knew  how  to  publish  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
in  the  Redeemer's  name,  for  the  consolation  of  all  who  believed  in  Him,  or 
had  di.scavered  their  need  of  his  mediation  and  grace;  and  to  him  this  was 
a  delightful  employment.  Success  attended  his  ministrations,  and  many  owned 
him  for  their  father  in  the  Gospel. 

<<  The  doctrines  he  embraced  were  those  which  are  contained  in  the  Baptist 
Confession  of  Faith,  and  are  commonl}''  styled  Calvinistic.  But  he  was  of  a 
liberal  mind,  and  esteemed  pious  men  of  every  denomination.  AVhile  ho  main- 
tained, with  consistent  firmness,  the  doctrines  which  he  believed  to  be  the 
truths  of  God,  ho  was  modest  in  the  judgment  which  he  formed  of  his  own 
opinion,  and  careful  to  avoid  giving  olTence,  or  grieving  any  good  man  who  dif- 
fered from  him  in  sentiment.  Hence  he  was  cordially  esteemed  and  honoured 
by  the  wise  and  good  of  all  denominations. 


JOHN  GANG.  57 

<;  His  attachment  to  his  country,  as  a  citizen,  was  unshaken,  in  tlic  times 
which  tried  men's  souls;  and,  as  a  Chaj)hiin  in  the  army  for  a  term  of  years, 
while  excluded  from  his  church  and  home,  he  rendered  it  essential  service. 
Trcserving  his  moral  dignity  with  the  purity  which  becomes  a  Gospel  minis- 
ter, he  commanded  respect  from  the  officers;  and,  1)y  his  condescension  and 
kindness,  won  the  affections  of  the  soldiers,  inspiring  them,  by  his  example, 
with  his  own  courage  and  firmness,  while  toiling  with  them  through  military 
scenes  of  hardship  and  danger. 

"  He  lived  to  a  good  old  age;  served  his  generation  according  to  the  will  of 
God;  saw  his  posterity  multiphung  around  him;  his  country  independent, 
free  and  happy;  the  Church  of  Christ,  for  which  he  felt  and  laboured, 
advancing.  And  thus  he  closed  his  eyes  in  peace;  his  heart  expanding  with 
the  sublime  hope  of  immortalitj^  and  heavenly  bliss." 

That  the  above  is  a  faithful  estimate  of  the  character  of  this  venerable  man, 
I  cannot  doubt.  T  am  glad  to  have  been  even  indirectly  instrumental  in  assist- 
ing to  embalm  his  memory. 

I  am,  very  truly  and  devotedly, 

C.  S.  TODD. 


NOAH  ALDEN. 

1755—1797. 

FROM  THE  REY.  ABIAL  FISHER,  D.  D. 

"West  Boylston,  Mass.,  18  March.  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  The  Rev.  Noah  Alden,  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Belling- 
ham,  died  fifteen  A'ears  before  I  began  my  ministry  in  that  place  ;  but  a  son 
of  his  was,  at  that  time,  a  Deacon  of  the  church,  and  a  daughter, — a  very 
intelligent  hidy,  was  a  member;  and  there  were  living  there  many  other 
persons  who  knew  Mr.  Alden  well,  and  who  verified  all  the  statements  I 
am  about  to  make  to  you. 

NoAii  Alden  was  a  descendant,  in  the  third  generation,  from  the  vene- 
rable John  Alden,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Plymouth.  His  mother  was 
a  lineal  descendant  from  another  of  the  first  settlers,  by  the  name  of 
White.  He  was  himself  born  at  Middleborough,  Mass.,  where  his  father 
was  then  settled,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1725,  and  was  the  youngest  of 
thirteen  children.  His  parents  both  died  while  he  was  yet  in  his  boyhood. 
His  father,  possessing  means,  designed  that  this  son  should  have  a  colle- 
giate education,  and  left  property  for  the  purpose:  but  it  was  very  impro- 
perly diverted  from  its  design,  in  consequence  of  which  Noah  was  subjected, 
during  his  early  years,  to  many  deprivations  and  hardships.  When  he  wa,s 
about  sixteen,  he  experienced  a  radical  change  of  character,  that  gave  a 
new  complexion  to  his  life.  He  early  had  a  desire  to  engage  in  the  min- 
istry, but  his  poverty  and  some  other  circumstances  seemed  to  forbiil  his 
cntertiiining  the  idea.  Before  he  was  twenty,  he  was  married  and  removed 
to  Stafford,  Conn.,  where  he  purchased  a  farm,  and  engaged  in  cultivating 
it.  Both  himself  and  his  wife  became  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  continued  in  that  connection  until  the  year  1753,  when,  from 
an  examination  of  the  subject  of  Baptism,  to  which  he  was  brought  by  his 


gg  BAPTIST. 

reflections  on  having  one  of  his  own  children  baptized,  he  was  led  to 
embrace  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  and  united  with  that  denomination. 
The  question  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel  now  pre- 
sented itself  to  him  with  still  greater  urgency  than  before  ;  and,  though 
the  difficulties  had  by  no  means  diminished,  he  felt  constrained  to  come  to 
an  affirmative  decision.  Accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1755,  he  was 
ordained  at  Stafford,  and  became  the  Pastor  of  the  church  in  that  place. 
But  the  support  afforded  him  was  so  scanty,  and  his  prospect  of  usefulness 
so  small,  that,  after  labouring  with  that  people  about  ten  years,  he  thought 
it  his  duty  to  leave  them,  and  seek  another  settlement.  Accordingly,  on 
the  12th  of  November,  17G6,  he  was  installed  Pastor  of  the  church  in 
Bellingham,  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Elnathan  Wight.*  His  ministry 
here,  at  its  commencement,  met  with  considerable  opposition  ;  but  his 
friends  were  united  in  his  support,  and  the  Lord  was  with  him.  He  dis- 
charged his  duties  with  so  much  wisdom  and  kindness  that  the  opposition 
gradually  died  away,  and  he  gained  not  only  the  respect  but  affection 
of  all.  The  church  increased  under  his  ministry,  and  beside  occasional 
additions,  there  was  a  revival  in  1781  and  '82,  by  which  his  heart  was 
greatly  encouraged. 

When  the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  was 
formed,  Mr.  Aldeu  was  the  delegate  from  Bellingham  to  the  Convention 
called  for  that  purpose  ;  and  he  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  in  it.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  able  and  active  friends  of  religious  liberty  found  in 
that  Body.  Although  he  did  not  gain  all  that  he  desired,  he  nevertheles'^ 
gained  much;  and  the  friends  of  the  cause  for  which  he  exerted  himself 
Ho  vigorously  and  efficiently,  will  always  owe  him  a  large  debt  of  gratitude. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Convention  to  which  was  submitted  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  and  here,  as  on  all  public  occasions, 
acquitted  himself  with  great  credit. 

Mr.  Alden  was  abundant  in  labours,  not  only  among  his  own  people, 
but  in  vacant  congregations,  and  wherever  his  services  were  desired.  He 
visited  various  Associations,  attended  many  Councils,  not  only  for  the 
ordination  of  ministers,  but  for  the  adjustment  of  difficulties,  and  always 
showed  himself  wise,  conscientious  and  efficient.  He  was  one  of  four 
ministers  who  originally  formed  the  Warren  Association,  in  1767. 

For  several  months  before  his  death,  he  had  become  enfeebled  by  a 
partial  shock  of  the  palsy.      He  endured  his  sufferings  with  great  composure 

•Elnathan  Wight  was  born  about  the  year  1715,  at  Medfield,  Mass.;  but,  while  he  was 
very  young,  ms  father  removed  to  Hellingham,  where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life.  About  the 
year  1737,  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Bellingham  was  formed,  and  he  was  one  of  the  constituent 
members.  At  the  age  of  about  thirty,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  his  duty  toprea(di  the 
(jospcl ;  and  he,  accordingly,  spent  about  four  years  in  preparing  for  it,  chiefly  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Kev.  John  Graham,  of  Southbury,  Conn.  Though  he  was  a  Baptist,  he  was. 
through  the  influence  of  Mr.  (iraham,  licensed  to  preach,  early  in  1750,  by  a  Congregatinnal 
Association.  In  May  of  that  year,  he  received  a  call  to  the  Pastorship  of  the  Church  in  Kcl- 
lingham;  and,  having  accepted  it,  he  sought  ordination  from  Congregational  ministers,  but 
they  refused  to  comply  with  his  request.  He  was  ordained  by  a  Council  of  Baptist  miidsters 
nn  the  14th  of  .January,  1755,  and  jireached  his  own  Ordination  .Sermon,  which  was  printed. 
From  this  time  lie  continued  to  discharge  his  duties  to  great  acceptance  till  the  close  of  his 
life.  He  was  suddenly  cut  olf,  by  dysentery,  on  the  0th  of  November,  1701,  in  tlie  forty-sixth 
year  of  his  age.  He  was,  especially  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  an  Open  Communion 
Baptist.  He  was  naturally  irascible,  but  had  great  self-coutrol.  He  was  a  diligent  student,  and 
generally  wrote  his  sermons,  and  delivered  them  with  his  manuscript  before  him.  He  wns  a 
man  of  eminently  devout  feelings,  and  his  preaching  was  of  a  strongly  evangelical  type. 


NOAH  ALDEN.  69 

and  patiLMice,  and  exorcised  liubitually  a  jeyful  confidence  in  tlie  puwi  rand 
grace  of  his  Redeemer.  lie  hailed  the  approacli  of  death  with  a  serene 
triumph,  choosing  rather  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ.  He  died  on  the 
;")th  of  Ma}',  1707,  aged  nearly  seventy-two  ;  and  a  large  concourse  of 
people  attended  his. funeral  in  te.stiniony  of  their  affectionate  respect  for 
his  mcinor}'. 

Mr.  Alden  was  rather  below  the  middle  stature,  and  in  early  life  spare, 
but  in  his  latter  years  he  became  corpulent;  and  with  this  change  of 
])hysical  habit  there  came  a  ])ainful  dilhculty  of  breathing.  His  counte- 
nance was  expressive  of  great  mildness,  benevolence,  and  dignit}',  and  his 
manners  were  in  a  high  degree  winning  and  agreeable.  Children  were  his 
delight,  and  they  were  never  happier  than  when  they  were  the  objects  of 
his  attentions,  and  caresses.  In  his  own  domestic  relations  he  was  a  model. 
In  all  his  intercourse  with  society  he  studied  the  things  that  make  for  peace, 
and  was  always  on  the  alert  to  arrest  or  prevent  discord.  He  was  for 
many  years  one  of  our  most  distinguished  and  honoured  ministers,  and  his 
name  deserves  to  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ABIAL  FISHER. 


JOHN   DAVIS. 

1756—1809. 

FROM  THE  REV.  GEORGE  F.  ADAMS. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  March  24,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  After  the  most  diligent  inquiry  concerning  the  venerable 
man  of  whom  you  ask  me  to  give  you  some  account,  I  am  constrained  to 
say  that  I  find  the  materials  too  few  to  enable  me  to  comply  with  your 
request  in  a  satisfactory  manner.  In  the  following  brief  sketch  you  have 
the  substance  of  all  that  I  have  been  able  to  gather  concerning  him. 

John  Davis  was  born  in  Pennepek,  Pa.,  on  the  10th  of  September, 
17-1.  He  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  ordained  at  Montgomery  in  the 
same  State,  in  1756 ;  and  the  same  year  he  went  to  Maryland,  and  became 
the  Pastor  of  Winter  Run  Church,  in  Harford  County.  He  resided  a 
considerable  distance  from  this  church,  and,  from  the  abundance  of  demand, 
and  smallness  of  supply,  of  ministerial  labour,  the  Pastor  could  only  min- 
ister to  the  people  at  distant  periods — probably  seldom  or  never  oftener 
than  once  a  month.  Nearer  home,  however,  he  preached  more  frequently. 
The  consequence  was  that  converts  became  more  numerous  near  his  resi- 
dence than  at  his  more  distant  appointment.  Harford  finally  became  the 
seat  of  the  church;  and  in  1774  a  reorganization  took  place  under  that 
name.  Though  a  Baptist  Church  had  been  constituted  at  Chestnut  Ridge, 
under  tlie  ministry  of  the   Rev.    Henry   Loveall,*  as   early  as   1742,   yet, 

•ITesry  Lovhall  was  a  native  of  Cambridge,  England;  migrated  to  America  in  cariy  life; 
was  baptized  in  Xew  England  in  172j, — probably  at  Newport,  U.  I., — for  it  appears  by  John 
Comers  Journal  that  he  was  in  that  town  in  1721),  and  had  then  begun  to  preach.     He  travel- 


70  BAPTIST. 

under  the  iniuistrj  of  Mr.  Davis,  Harford  was  emphatically  the  mother 
Church  of  the  Baptists  in  Maryland.  His  labours  in  the  ministry 
extended  not  only  through  many  parts  of  his  own  county,  but  to  Balti- 
more City,  and  into  Baltimore  and  Frederick  Counties.  He  continued  in 
the  uninterrupted  Pastorship  of  Harford  Church  till  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1809,  after  a  ministry  of  fifty-three  years,  and  in  the  eighty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Davis  is  represented  by  those  who  knew  him  as  a  man  of  most 
untiring  energy,  as  well  as  of  great  piety,  enlightened  evangelical  views, 
fervent  zeal,  and  consistent  character.  He  travelled  much,  preaching 
Christ  wherever  he  went.  The  woods,  the  school-room,  the  barn,  the 
cabin,  the  parlour,  equally  with  the  meeting-house,  were  all  to  him  places 
of  worship  and  of  labour  for  Christ's  sake.  Nor  did  he  fail,  as  he  had 
opportunity,  to  preach  Christ,  like  Philip,  to  the  solitai-y  traveller,  whom 
he  might  meet  or  overtake  on  the  way.  Thus  labouring  with  primitive 
zeal,  he  was  sometimes  called  to  endure  almost  primitive  persecution. 
The  law  indeed  guaranteed  protection  to  all  denominations  ;  yet  there  were 
not  wanting  "  certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort  "  to  resort  to  mea- 
sures corresponding  with  their  character  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating 
him,  and,  if  possible,  arresting  the  progress  of  the  truth  which  he  pro- 
claimed. It  is  said  that  even  the  magistrates  lent  their  influence,  on  some 
occasions,  to  further  the  objects  of  those  who  sought  to  drive  him  from  his 
fields  of  labour. 

Several  churches,  still  in  a  flourishing  condition,  besides  some  congrega- 
tions that  have,  with  the  preacher,  passed  away,  owe  their  origin,  under 
the  Divine  blessing,  to  this  indefatigable  servant  of  the  Lord.  Among 
these  we  may  reckon  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Baltimore,  the  "  Gun- 
powder "  and  "  Patapsco  "  Churches,  and  probably  those  at  Taney  Town 
and  Frederick  City.  During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Davis,  Harford  Church 
appears  to  have  been  the  largest  and  most  flourishing  Baptist  church  in 
the  State.  For  a  few  years, — from  1799  to  1803, — he  had  associated  witli 
him  in  the  Pastorship,  the  Rev.  Absalom  Butler ;  and,  under  their  joint 
labours,  there  was  a  continuous  revival.  The  number  of  members  was 
considerably  jnore  than  doubled,  notwithstanding  the  drafts  that  were 
made  upon  them  for  materials  to  constitute  other  churches  around.  Thus 
was  verified  the  proverb, — "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth." 

Though  Mr,  Davis  has  been  among  the  dead  for  about  half  a  century,  it 

is  gratifying  to  know  that  he  still   lives  in   the   memory  and  aff"ections   of 

many,  who",  during  the  latter  portion  of  his  life,  enjoyed  his  acquaintance. 

None  speak  of  him  but  in  terms  of  respect,  reverence,  and  aflfection. 

Very  truly  yours, 

G    F.  ADAMS. 

led  into  the  Jerseys,  carrying  with  him  the  recommendation  of  several  ministers;  but  Le  w:is 
soon  charged  with  shamuFiil  iinnioralily,  and  it  was  discovered  that  his  real  name  was  Desolate 
Baker,  lie  was  oulained  at  I'iscataqiin,  N.  J.,  in  17.'!0;  but  the  discovery  of  his  true  charac- 
ter |irevent(d  hiui  from  officiating  there.  After  occasioning  nnicli  trouble  at  Piscataqua,  he 
went  to  Maryland  in  1742,  and  became,  as  already  stated,  the  minister  of  the  Chestnut  Kidge 
Church.  Jn  1740,  he  went  to  Virginia,  and  formed  the  Mill  Creek  Church,  from  which  he  was 
shortly  after  excommunicated  for  his  conduct.  He  then  returntd  to  Clieslnut  Ridge,  where  ho 
was  living  in  1772,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN.  71 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN,  D.  D  * 

1758—1807. 

Samuei,  Stillmax  was  born  in  the  city  of  Philadclpliia,  February  27, 
(0.  S.)  1737.  His  parents,  who  were  worthy,  respectable  people,  removed 
to  Charleston,  S.  C,  when  he  was  eleven  years  old  ;  and  there,  under  the 
direction  of  a  Mr.  Hind,  a  teacher  of  some  celebrity,  he  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  education.  At  an  early  period,  both  his  intellectual  and  moral 
developments  were  such  as  to  give  promise  of  the  highest  respectability 
and  usefulness. 

He  seems  to  have  been,  occasionally,  the  subject  of  religious  impres- 
sions, in  his  early  childhood ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  they  proved  inopera- 
tive and  evanescent.  After  a  few  years,  however,  he  became  deeply 
impressed  with  Divine  truth,  under  the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart, 
an  excellent  Baptist  clergyman,  on  whose  ministry  he  was  accustomed  to 
attend  ;  and,  at  no  distant  period,  he  found  relief  from  his  convictions  and 
struggles  by  practically  availing  himself,  as  he  believed,  of  the  gracious 
provisions  of  the  Gospel.  Shortly  after  this,  he  was  baptized,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  church  of  which  Mr.  Hart  was  Pastor. 

Having  completed  his  classical  education,  he  gave  a  year  to  the  study  of 
Theology,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Hart;  and  was  then  formally  recog- 
nised, by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  as  a  Christian  minister. 
He  preached  his  first  sermon  on  the  17th  of  February,  1758  ;  was  recom- 
mended as  "  an  orderly  and  worthy  minister  of  the  Gospel,"  by  the- 
Charleston  Association,  on  the  13th  of  November  following ;  and,  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1759,  was  ordained,  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  to  the 
work  of  on  Evangelist. 

His  first  settlement  in  the  ministry,  which  occurred  shortly  after  his 
ordination,  was  at  James  Island,— a  beautiful  place  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Charleston.  On  a  visit  which  he  made,  about  this  time, 
to  his  native  city,  he  formed  a  matrimonial  connection  with  a  Miss  Morgan, 
daughter  of  a  highly  respectable  merchant,  and  sister  of  Dr.  John  Morgan 
who  Avas  afterwards  distinguished  as  a  Surgeon  in  the  Revolution,  and  as 
one  of  the  first  Professors  in  the  Medical  Institution  at  Philadelphia.  She 
was  the  mother  of  fourteen  children,  only  two  of  whom  survived  their 
father. 

During  this  visit  which  he  made  at  Philadelphia,  he  was  honoured  with 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  the  College  in  that  city  ;  and,  in  1761, 
the  same  degree  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Harvard  University. 

From  Philadelphia  he  returned  to  his  charge  on  James  Island  ;  but, 
after  having  remained  with  them  only  about  eighteen  months,  he  became 
the  subject  of  a  violent  pulmonary  attack,  which  rendered  it  necessary  for 
him  to  seek  another  climate.  Accordingly,  he  travelled  with  his  family  to 
the  North,  and  fixed  himself  at  Bordentown,  N.  J.,  where  he  continued  for 
two  years,  supplying  two  difi"erent  congregations. 

•  Memoir  prefixed  to  his  Sermons.— Benedicfs  Hist.  Bapt.  I  &  Il.-Wincheirs  Hist.  Disc- 
MS.  from  tbo  Rev.  Dr.  John  Pierce. 


72  BAPTIST. 

At  the  close  of  this  period,  he  was  iuJuced  to  travel  still  farther  North, 
and  visit  New  England.  His  services  in  the  pulpit  were  everywhere  emi- 
nently acceptable  and  useful ;  and,  by  request  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church 
in  Boston,  he  removed  his  family  thither,  and  for  one  year  officiated  as  an 
Assistant  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bound.*  The  First  Church,  being,  at  that 
time,  vacant,  signified  their  desire  to  put  his  services  in  permanent  requisi- 
tion ;  and,  having  accepted  a  call  to  settle  among  them,  he  was  installed 
in  the  pastoral  office,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1765.  The  liberal  spirit  for 
which  he  was  always  remarkable,  was  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  fact  that 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Eliot,  minister  of  a  Congregational  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, took  part,  by  Mr.  Stilhnan's  request,  in  the  solemnities  of  the  instal- 
lation. 

As  he  knew  by  experience  the  value  of  a  good  education  to  a  Christian 
minister,  he  was  strongly  desirous  of  increasing  the  advantages  for  intel- 
lectual culture  to  candidates  for  the  ministry,  especially  in  his  own  com- 
munion. With  a  view  to  this,  he  lent  the  most  cordial  and  efficient  aid  to 
the  interests  of  Brown  University,  an  institution  then  in  its  infancy ;  and 
his  name  appears,  in  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  1764,  in  its  first  list  of 
Trustees.  The  next  year,  he  was  elected  one  of  its  Fellows,  and  held  the 
office  till  his  death.  In  1788,  the  College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  To  the  prosperity  which  it  enjoyed,  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  its  history,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  Dr.  Htillman  was  one  of 
the  principal  contributors. 

In  almost  every  public  effort  that  was  made,  whether  to  bless  his  neigh- 
bourhood, his  country,  or  his  race.  Dr.  Stillman  was  found  more  than 
v.'illing  to  co-operate  ;  and  in  turn  he  received,  from  the  community  in 
which  he  lived,  various  and  strongly  marked  testimonies  of  respect  and 
good-will.  The  Humane  Society  of  Massachusetts,  the  Massachusetts 
Charitable  Fire  Society,  the  Boston  Dispensary,  and  the  Boston  Female 
Asylum,  received,  severally,  his  active  and  efficient  patronage  ;  and  of  one 
of  them  he  was  honoured  with  the  Presidency  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
His  services  were  often  required  on  public  occasions  ;  and  he  rarely,  if 
over,  failed  to  meet  the  highest  expectations.  In  1788,  he  was  elected  a 
msmbcr  for  Boston  of  the  Federal  Convention, — the  only  instance  in 
which  he  ever  appeared  on  the  arena  of  political  life ;  but  he  quickly 
showed  himself  at  home  in  the  new  field,  and  distinguished  himself  alike 
by  his  wisdom  and  his  eloquence. 

For  a  considerable  time  previous  to  his  death,  he  had  earnestly  desired 
the  settlement  of  a  colleague,  so  that,  at  his  decease,  his  beloved  flock 
should  not  be  left,  even  temporarily,  as  sheep  without  a  sheplicrd.  His 
congregation  at  length  expressed  their  willingness  to  co-operate  with  him 
for  the  accomplislunent  of  this  favourite  object;  and  the  lUv.  Joseph 
Clay,  from  Georgia,  had,  with  Dr.  Stilhnan's  hearty  concurrence,  received 
and  accepted  a  call  from  the  church.     But,  while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  the 

*  James  Bound  was  a  native  of  England,  and,  after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  became  a 
member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Uoston.  Being  dissatisfied,  however,  with  the  doctrinal 
views  of  the  Pastor,  the  llev.  Jlr.  Condy,  he,  with  six  others,  seceded,  and  formed  the  Second 
Church,  of  which  i\Ir.  Bound  became  Pastor.  His  ministry  seems  to  have  been  an  acceptable 
and  useful  one,  as  the  church  increased,  during  his  incumbency,  from  seven  to  a  hundred  and 
twenty  members.     He  died,  from  the  eflfoct  of  a  paralytic  shock,  in  the  j-ear  1765. 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN.  73 

South,  preparing  fur  a  removal  to  his  new  ficKl  of  lahour,  Dr.  .'^'lillman 
was  suddenly  called  to  his  reward.  Notwithstanding  his  constitution  was 
not  at  all  vigorous,  and  he  had  suflfered  more  than  a  common  hharc  of 
bodily  debility  through  life,  yet  the  interruptions  of  his  labours  were  by 
no  means  frecjuont,  and  he  outlived  all  his  contcmiioraries  in  the  ministry, 
in  Boston  and  its  vicinity.  He  had  reached  his  threescore  and  ten  ; 
and  he  felt  that  he  was  ready  to  put  off  his  earthly  house  of  this  taberna- 
cle. It  was  only  for  two  Sabbaths  previous  to  his  death  that  he  was 
detained  from  the  sanctuary  and  the  pulpit.  On  the  Wednesday  succeed- 
ing the  last  Sabbath,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  paralysis,  which  termi- 
nated fatally  within  about  twelve  hours.  He  died  on  the  Tith  of  March, 
1807  ;  and  his  Funeral  was  attended  on  the  17th,  when  the  Kev.  Dr. 
Baldwin,  who  had  long  been  his  neighbour  and  intimate  friend,  preached, 
to  an  immense  and  deeply  affected  assembly,  an  impressive  Discourse  on 
II.  Timothy,  iv.  7,  8.  An  appropriate  hymn,  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Har- 
ris, of  Dorchester,  with  whom  Dr.  Stilhnan  had  been  on  terms  of  cordial 
friendship,  was  sung  on  the  occasion.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Johu  Pierce,  of 
Brookline,  who  attended  the  Funeral,  writes  thus  concerning  it: — "  I  have 
a  distinct  recollection  of  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion.  All  the  members 
of  the  Society  appeared  with  badges  of  mourning :  the  women  with  black 
bonnets  and  handkerchiefs.  If  their  Pastor  had  been  removed  in  the 
bloom  of  youth,  his  people  could  not  have  been  more  deeply  affected.  The 
line  in  the  Elegy — 

'  Though  the  voice  tremble  while  we  sing,' — 

was  not  mere  poetry — it  was  a  sad  reality." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Stillman's  publications : — A  Sermon  on 
the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  1706.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death 
of  the  Author's  Mother,  Mrs.  Mary  Stillman,  who  died  in  Charle-ton,  S. 
C.,  1768.  Four  Sermons;  the  first  entitled  "Mankind  universally  apt  to 
trust  in  their  own  Righteousness."  The  second,  "  The  Sinner's  best  Right- 
eousness proved  to  be  essentially  deficient."  The  third,  "Imputed  Right- 
eousness one  of  the  Glories  of  the  Gospel."  The  fourth,  "  Believei-s 
exhorted  to  continue  in  their  obedience,"  1769.  A  Sermon  on  the  Char- 
acter of  a  Good  Soldier ;  delivered  before  the  Ancient  and  Honourable 
Artillery  Company  in  Boston,  1770.  Young  People  called  upon  to  con- 
sider that  for  their  Conduct  here  they  must  be  accountable  hereafter,  at 
the  Judgment  Seat  of  Christ,  1771.  Substance  of  a  Sermon  delivered  at 
the  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Shepard,  in  Stratham,  N.  H.,  1771. 
God's  Compassion  to  the  Miserable  :  a  Sermon  preached  at  the  desire  of 
Levi  Ame«,  who  was  executed  for  Burglary,  1773.  The  Character  of  a 
Foolish  Son  :  a  Sermon  preached  on  the  Lord's  day  after  the  execution  of 
Levi  Ames,  1773.  A  Sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  AVard, 
Esq.,  Member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from  Rhode  Island,  and  deliv- 
ered before  that  Body  in  Philadelphia,  1776.  A  Sermon  delivered  on  the 
day  of  the  General  Election  in  Massachusetts,  1779.  A  Sermon  on  Char- 
ity, preached  before  the  Most  Ancient  and  Honourable  Society  of  Free 
and  Accepted  Masons,  in  Charlestown,  1785.  A  Speech  delivered  in  the 
Convention  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  New  Constitution  and  the  Necessity 
of  Amendments  thereto,  (published   in  the  American  Museum,  Philadel- 

VoL.  VI.  10 


74  BAPTIST. 

pliia,)  1788.  An  Oration  delivered  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton, on  tlie  Fourth  of  July,  1789.  Three  Sermons  on  Apostolic  Preaching, 
1790.  A  Sermon  preached  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  on  the  death  of  Nicholas 
Brown,  Esq.,  1791.  Thoughts  on  the  French  Revolution  :  a  Sermon  deliv- 
ered on  the  day  of  the  Annual  Thanksgiving,  1794.  A  Good  Minister  of 
Jesus  Christ :  a  Sermon  preached  in  Boston  at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Stephen  Smith  Nelson,  1797.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  Boston,  on  the 
day  recommended  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  a  National 
Fast,  1799.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  death  of  George  Washington, 
late  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
1799.  A  Sermon  on  the  Opening  of  the  New  Baptist  Meetiug-House  in 
Charlestown,  1801.  A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Members  of  the 
Boston  Female  Asylum,  on  the  occasion  of  their  First  Anniversary,  1801. 
A  Sermon  preached  at  Charlestown,  at  the  Instalment  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Waterman  *  to  the  Pastoral  Care  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in 
that  town,  1802.  A  Sermon  preached  in  Boston  before  the  Massachusetts 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  on  the  occasion  of  their  First  Anniversary, 
1803.  A  Sermon  preached  in  the  Tabernacle,  Salem,  at  the  Ordination  of 
the  Rev.  Lucius  Bolles  to  the  Pastoral  Care  of  the  Baptist  Church  and 
Society  in  that  town,  1805.  A  Sermon  preached  at  the  Funeral  of  the 
Rev.  Hezekiah  Smith,  D.  D.,  of  Haverhill,  1805. 

In  1808,  an  octavo  volume  of  his  Sermons  was  published,  consisting  of  a 
selection  from  those  printed  in  his  life  time,  with  the  addition  of  eight 
which  had  not  before  appeared. 

FROM  JAMES  LORING,  ESQ. 

Boston,  October  24,  1847. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  I  promised  you  some  account  of  my  venerated  and 
beloved  Pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman;  and  I  furnish  it  the  more  cheerfully, 
because  the  remembrance  of  him  is  associated  with  some  of  the  most  interest- 
ing scenes  of  my  life.  Though  forty  years  have  now  passed  since  he  finished 
his  earthly  course,  I  have  a  most  distinct  impression  of  what  he  was,  and  am 

*  Thomas  "Waterman  was  born  in  the  city  of  London,  where  he  received  the  rudiments  of 
his  education.  He  was  subsequently,  for  some  time,  at  the  Dissenting  College  at  Houierton. 
Ho  was  first  settled  as  Pastor  of  an  Independent  Congregation  in  London,  but,  not  long  after, 
became  a  Baptist,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Itev.  Lr.  Hippon.  He  continued  his  relation  to  the 
Inde[)cndent  Church  after  this  change  in  his  views;  but,  as  he  could  not  conscientiously  baptize 
infants,  it  was  not  long  before  he  resigned  his  charge.  He  came  to  the  United  States  about 
1802,  bringing  with  hiui  various  introductory  letters,  and,  among  others,  one  from  Dr.  Rippon 
to  Dr.  Stillinan,  which  seems  to  liave  been  of  great  use  to  him.  At  tlio  time  of  his  arrival,  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Ciuirlcstown  were  looking  out  for  a  Pastor;  and  Mr.  Waterman,  having 
preached  to-+lu'ni  with  great  acceptance,  received  from  them  a  unanimous  call,  which,  shortly 
after,  he  acccjited.  Jiut,  though  his  prospects  of  usefulness  in  that  relation  were  highly  flat- 
tering, a  dilheulty  soon  arose,  in  connection  with  his  marriage,  which  proved  the  occasion  of  his 
leaving  the  church  in  loss  than  two  years  after  his  settlement.  He  preached  but  little  for  sev- 
eral months  after  this,  but  was  called,  in  the  mean  time,  to  bury  his  wife.  He  now,  for  two  or 
three  years,  supplied  a  Society,  composed  of  Baptists  and  Pedobaptists,  in  the  town  of  Bow, 
N.  H.  and  during  his  residence  there  formed  a  second  matrimonial  connection.  For  tlie  next 
two  or  three  years,  he  preached  in  Topsham  and  the  vicinity,  in  Maine.  At  length,  by  jiartic- 
ular  request,  he  returned  to  Boston  to  take  charge  of  the  Addison  Academy;  and,  while  thus 
employed,  was  also  engaged,  almost  constantly,  as  a  supply  in  different  churches  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. The  Baptist  church  at  AVoburn,  being  destitute  of  a  Pastor,  invited  him  to  remove 
his  school  to  that  place,  and  supply  their  pulpit  as  far  as  he  should  be  able.  He  accepted  their 
invitation,  and  cnlrred  with  alacrity  upon  his  doulde  duties;  but,  finding  his  labours  too  ardu- 
ous he  determined  to  reduce  the  number  of  his  scholars,  and  devote  more  time  to  the  interests 
of  his  flock.  But  just  at  this  time  his  earthly  career  was  terminated.  He  died  suddenly,  of 
apoplexy,  on  the  2;;d  of  March,  181-i.  He  was  an  amiable  man,  an  accomplished  teacher,  and 
an  eloquent  preacher. 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN.  75 

quite  uilling  to  leave  on  record  some  of  my  recollections  of  him  Tn-  the  hencfit 
of  those  who  may  come  after  me. 

As  a  popular  preacher,  I  greatly  doubt  whetlier  there  was  liis  superior  in 
New  England;  certainly  no  other  clergyman  of  his  day  was  so  much  sought 
after  by  distinguished  strangers  who  visited  Boston.  Among  his  admirers 
were  the  elder  President  Adams,  General  Knox,  and  Governor  Hancock,  the 
latter  of  whom,  in  the  decline  of  life,  was,  for  a  season,  a  member  of  his 
congregntimi.  His  doctrine  was  highly  evangelical;  and  sometimes  his 
rebukes  of  the  general  inattention  to  religion  were  most  pointed  and  scathing. 
1  remember,  on  one  occasion,  a  distinguished  stranger  went  to  hear  him  preach, 
when  he  so  strikingly  exhibited  the  depths  of  depravity  in  the  human  heart, 
that  the  gentleman,  on  retiring,  remarked  to  his  friend  that  the  Doctor  had 
really  made  them  all  out  a  set  of  scoundrels,  but  had  done  it  so  gracefully 
and  eloquently  that  he  did  not  feel  disposed  to  complain. 

It  was  his  custom,  in  his  tirst  prayer,  to  remember,  with  special  earnest- 
ness and  tenderness,  the  sea-faring  portion  of  the  community  ;  and  I  recol- 
lect an  instance  in  which  a  sailor,  happening  to  be  in  his  church,  was  so  much 
impressed  by  this  part  of  tlie  .service,  that  he  resolved  to  hear  no  other 
preacher  while  he  remained  in  the  city.  A  considerable  part  of  the  gallery 
of  his  meeting-house  was  occasionally  occupied  by  this  class;  and  they  were 
often  so  much  impressed  by  the  truths  which  he  delivered,  as  well  as  by  the 
pathos  and  power  of  his  manner,  that  many  of  them  would  involuntarily  rise 
up  in  admiration.  His  discourses  were  frequently  characterized  by  sudden 
l)ursts  of  impassioned  eloquence,  which  seemed  entirely  unpremeditated,  and 
which  q.iite  overwhelmed  his  audience.  His  manner  was  always  most  afi'ec- 
tionate,  and  found  its  way  directly  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

In  the  intercourse  of  private  life,  he  was  eminently  agreeable  and  useful; 
and  his  religious  visits  amoisg  the  serious  of  all  denominations  were  most 
highly  appreciated.  He  was  frequently  requested  to  minister  at  th.e  sick  beds 
of  persons,  not  of  his  own  congregation,  or  even  his  own  communion,  who 
were  anxious  to  be  counselled  in  reference  to  their  eternal  interests;  as  there 
was  no  clergyman  to  whom  they  could  so  freely  impart  both  their  anxieties 
and  their  hopes.  To  the  dying  sinner,  who  had  no  hope,  he  was  accustomed, 
with  great  earnestness,  to  exhibit  the  freeness  and  fulness  of  the  Gospel, 
assuring  him  that  all  that  he  had  to  do  was  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  To  the  dying  Christian  he  presented  the  sweetest  consolations  of 
Christianity,  and  seemed  like  an  angel  of  mercy  sent  to  open  the  portals  of 
hcavenh'  bliss. 

He  was  habitually  cheerful  in  his  temper,  and  always  ready  to  testify  his 
kind  regard  to  those  with  whom  he  associated.  Towards  those  who  regarded 
themselves  as  his  inferiors  he  was,  in  the  best  sense,  condescending,  and 
endeavoured,  as  far  as  possible,  to  relieve  them  from  all  feelings  of  embar- 
rassment. An  instance  of  his  condescension  occurred  in  a  walk  with  one  of 
his  friends,  which  has  sometimes  been  erroneously  attributed  to  another  indi- 
vidual. A  coloured  man,  whom  they  met,  ver}-  politely  took  off  his  hat,  and 
bowed  to  the  Doctor,  who  instantly  reciprocated  the  civility.  Ilis  friend, 
unused  to  such  demonstrations,  could  not  help  asking  why  he  took  off  his 
hat  to  that  black  man.  "  Why,"  replied  Dr.  Stillman,  <<  the  man  made  his 
o])eisance  to  me,  and  I  .should  be  loth  to  have  it  said  that  I  had  less  manners 
than  a  negro."  There  was  in  his  constitution  a  remarkable  blending  of  moral 
greatness  with  all  the  more  gentle  and  retiring  of  the  Christian  virtues. 

It  was  not  uncommon  for  Dr.  Stillman,  in  his  preaching,  to  mtroduce,  by 
•way  of  illustration,  some  impressive  anecdote;  and  it  was  always  done  with 
such  grace  and  appropriateness  as  to  produce  a  great  effect  upon  the  hearers. 
Scarcely  a  year,  in  the  course  of  his  ministry,  elapsed,  in  which  he  did  not 


76  BAPTIST. 

relate  tlic  story  of  Addison's  death;  and,  even  after  his  audience  had  become 
familiar  with  it,  the}'  were  never  weary  of  hearing  it  repeated.  The  story  to 
which  I  refer,  j-ou  doubtless  remember.  Addison,  while  dying,  was  informed 
that  a  beloved  nephew  was  in  the  house,  and  was  desirous  of  seeing  him. 
"  Let  him  come  to  my  bedside,"  was  the  reply.  He  did  so,  and  the  venerable 
man  held  out  his  hand,  as  the  youth  approached  him,  and  said,  "  Sec,  my 
young  friend,  Avith  what  peace  a  Christian  can  die." 

I  have  known  few  men  who  were  more  remarkable  than  Dr.  Stillman  for 
Christian  fortitude  and  submission  in  the  hour  of  trouble.  In  the  compass 
of  two  weeks,  he  was  called  to  bury  two  of  his  children,  who  had  reached 
their  maturity.  It  was  indeed  an  overwhelming  stroke;  but  still  he  Avas 
enabled  to  endure  the  affliction  quietly,  even  cheerfully.  Well  do  I  remember 
how  the  spirit  of  humble  submission,  of  joj^ful  contidcnce  in  God,  came  out 
in  his  ministrations,  the  first  time  he  appeared  before  his  people  after  his  be- 
reavement. Ilis  sermon  was  founded  upon  that  triumphant  declaration  of 
Paul, — '<  For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  iu  us."  His  contrast  of 
the  aliiictious  of  this  world  and  the  blessedness  of  Heaven  Avas  striking  beyond 
measure;  and  not  onlj'  Avhat  he  said,  but  the  manner  in  which  he  said  it, 
sho\\'ed  that  his  faith  in  the  promises  Avas  stronger  even  than  parental  sensi- 
bility, and  that  he  knew  what  it  Avas  to  rejoice  in  tribulation. 

Dr.  Stillman  Avas  indefatigably  devoted  to  the  duties  of  the  ministerial 
office,  and  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  them  fovmd  his  highest  pleasure.  He 
almost  uniformly  declined  invitations  to  public  festiA-als,  Avhere  toasting  and 
the  merriment  of  song  were  the  accompaniments.  He  also  frequentl}''  refused 
invitations  to  large  dinner  parties,  the  object  of  Avhich  was  political  discussion, 
rather  than  intellectual  or  moral  improvement.  But,  whatever  might  be  the 
character  of  the  circle  into  which  he  Avas  thrown,  his  behaviour  Avas  alwaj's 
characterized  bj'  the  utmost  discretion  and  dignity;  and,  though  he  could 
enter,  Avith  even  a  keen  relish,  into  the  cnjoj^ments  of  social  life,  he  never  for 
a  moment  forgot  the  decorum  that  belongs  to  the  character  of  the  Christian, 
and  the  vocation  of  the  Christian  Minister. 

His  ministry  Avas  eminently  a  successful  one.  SeA'eral  reviA'als  of  religion, 
of  great  interest,  attended  his  faithful  labours;  and,  on  these  occasions  espe- 
cially, he  shoAved  himself  a  Avorkman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed. 
The  years  most  signalized  for  the  displays  of  Divine  grace  in  his  congregation 
Avere  1804  and  1805.  Indeed,  so  extensive  was  the  religious  feeling  Avhich 
then  prevailed  here,  that  it  Avas  thought  expedient  to  establish  a  lecture, 
which  Avas  kept  up,  for  a  considerable  time,  on  every  Lord's  daj""  evening. 
The  meetings,  on  these  occasions,  Avere  intensely  solemn,  and  so  crowded  that 
even  the  aisles  of  the  house  Avere  entirely  filled:  they  Avere  held  alternately 
at  the  meeting-houses  of  the  First  and  Second  Churches, — the  two  ministers 
officiating  alternately.  So  deeply  Avere  the  multitude  impressed  Avith  the 
great  realities  of  religion,  that  one  sermon  at  a  time  seemed  quite  insufficient 
to  meet  their  demands;  and,  as  there  Avere  generally  tAi'O  or  three  ministers  in 
the  pulpit,  it  Avas  not  uncommon  for  the  people  to  remain  sitting  ai'ler  the 
sermon,  till  they  had  heard,  from  one  of  the  other  preachers,  at  least  a  brief 
address.  A  happy  union  of  effort  per\'aded  the  tAvo  Societies,  during  the 
continuance  of  the  revival;  and  the  two  Pastors  especially, — Dr.  Stillman  and 
Dr.  BaklAvin,  AVere  united  in  the  most  cordial  and  efficient  co-operation.  Dr. 
Eckley,  of  the  Old  South  Church,  also,  occasionall}-  favoured  us  with  a  sermon 
at  this  season,  and  rendered  his  cheerful  testimonj'  to  the  genuineness  of  the 
work.  It  Avas  the  custom,  during  this  extensive  revival,  to  receiAe  inquirers 
on  the  subject  of  religion  at  the  house  of  the  minister,  for  the  purpose  of 
private  conversation.     Each   individual  could   thus  freely  make  known  his 


^-►T 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN.  77 

feelings,  and  solicit  and  receive  the  apjiropriate  advice.  I  have  often  heen  a 
witness  to  the  kindness  and  freedom  with  which  my  venerated  Pastor  would, 
on  these  occasions,  conmuinicatc  the  most  pertinent  and  excellent  instruction, 
symi)athizing  with  the  burdened  and  distressed  conscience  on  the  one  hand, 
and  rejoicing  with  those  who  gave  evidence  of  faith  in  the  Kedeemer  on  the 
other.  1  remember  once  to  liave  been  in  his  study  when  several,  who  were 
candidates  for  admission  to  the  church,  had  expressed  their  faith  and  hope  in 
Christ  with  unwonted  freedom  and  cheerfulness;  and  so  deeply  was  the  good 
man  affected,  by  their  expressions,  that  lie  looked  round  most  allectionately 
upon  the  little  group,  and,  with  a  smile  of  delight,  exclaimed, — "  AVhat  a 
wonderfully  strange  thing  religion  is!  How  happy  it  makes  us!"  To  one 
who  said, — "  Sir,  I  -was  walking  in  the  street,  in  happy  meditation,  and  my 
mind  was  so  delightfully  elevated  that  Heaven  appeared  to  be  but  a  little  way 
ott',"  he  replied,   '^  Ah,  Heaven  is  not  far  off,  when  we  feel  right." 

Dr.  .Slillman  lived  but  about  one  year  after  this  revival;  and  he  seems, 
from  this  time,  to  have  been  impressed  with  the  idea  that  his  ministry  was 
nearly  at  a  close.  The  last  sermon  he  preached,  was  from  Luke,  xxiv.  50, 
51,  on  the  Saviour's  Ascension.  A  few  hours  previous  to  his  death.  Dr.  Bald- 
win, who,  for  sixteen  years,  had  been  privileged  to  enjoy  his  society  and 
counsel,  called  upon  him,  and  expressed  his  deep  regret  at  the  prospect  of 
l):irting.  Dv.  Stillman,  who  had  not  entirely  lost  the  power  of  speech, 
articulated,  in  reply,  these  impressive  words: — "God's  government  is  infi- 
nitely perfect."  In  death,  as  well  as  in  life,  he  evinced  the  living  power,  the 
sublimity,  and  greatness,  of  Christian  faith. 

1  am,  my  dear  Sir,  faithfully  yours, 

JAMES  LORING. 

FROM  THE  KEY.  WILLIAM  JENKS,  D.  D. 

Boston,  February  19,  1859. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  I  have  recently  read  again  the  «  Biographical  Sketch'  of 
the  late  Reverend  Dr.  Stillman,  prefixed  to  the  volume  of  his  Sermons,  pub- 
lished soon  after  his  decease,  and  that  with  greart  satisfaction  and  approba- 
tion. 1  think  that  I  could  not,  desire  the  alteration  of  a  single  sentence.  It 
expresses  mj'  own  views  of  his  character,  in  all  respects,  and  of  the  impress- 
ion it  made  on  the  public  mind,  as  well  as  on  the  members  of  the  church 
under  his  care,  and  the  religious  denomination  with  which  he  was  immediately 
i-onnected. 

This  being  the  case,  I  almost  despair  of  adding  to  the  documents  you 
already  possess  any  thing  of  essential  consequence.  But  such  is  the  reve- 
rence with  which  my  recollections  of  him  arc  associated,  and  such  my  feel- 
ings of  gratitude  for  the  benefits  which,  as  I  trust,  I  derived  from  his  ministry 
and  friendly  kindness,  that  it  seems  a  privilege  of  which  I  ought  to  avail 
myself,  to  recall  and  record  his  .sainted  memory. 

There  was,  indeed,  in  Dr.  Stillman,  a  happy  union  of  the  gentleman,  the 
.scholar,  and  the  devoted  Christian  Minister,  calculated  to  obtain  and  secure, 
in  any  well-principled  community'-,  both  esteem  and  love.  I  never  heard  an 
individual  speak  ill  of  him.  And,  although  a  wo  be  denounced  against  sucli, 
be  appears  to  have  escaped.  Nevertheless,  he  ■was  no  time-server,  but  as 
fearless  as  he  was  affectionate,  and  as  discreet  as  he  was  faithful.  All 
believed  him  to  be  sincere,  and  he  v.'as  seen  to  be  earnest,  eloquent  and 
jirayerful. 

The  type  of  Dr.  Stillman's  piety  appeared  to  me  very  mucli  like  that  of 
Hervey,  Watts,  Doddridge,  and  our  lamented  Payson.  It  was  warm,  deep, 
heartfelt,   all-pervading,   but   scriptural,    manly,  reasonable.     In  one   of  his 


78  BAPTIST. 

manuscript  volumes  he  recorded  the  religious  exercises  of  several  of  his  child- 
ren, in  whose  deaths  he  was  greatly  afflicted,  yet  admirably  sustained.  I  have 
just  been  reading  these  narratives,  and  find  them  as  scrupulous  as  becomes  a 
faithful  Christian  Pastor,  while  they  exhibit  all  the  tenderness  of  a  loving 
parent.  In  fact,  he  came  near  the  standard  of  his  Divine  Master,  who  Avept 
over  Jerusalem,  and  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  while  yet  he  could  say,  '  The 
cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I  Kot  drink  it  ?' 

My  dear  and  honoured  father  was  a  member,  when  he  removed  to  Boston, 
of  the  Congregational  church  under  the  care  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Greenough,  of 
Newton.  As  such  he  was  recommended  to  Brattle  Street  Church,  then  under 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Thacher.  But,  living  near  Dr.  Stillman,  and  becoming  attached 
to  him,  and  also  having  married  for  his  second  wife  a  member  of  Mr.  Graf- 
ton's (Baptist)  church,  he  arranged  with  Dr.  Thacher  to  be  a  communicant 
at  Brattle  Street,  but  otherwise  an  attendant  on  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Still- 
man.     This  brought  me  under  his  instructions. 

During  this  time,  when  about  eight  years  old,  perhaps,  I  was  seized,  abroad, 
with  a  fit,  and  carried  home  senseless.  My  father,  greatly  alarmed,  called 
in  successively  two  of  our  most  eminent  physicians,  but  in  vain.  He  then 
sent  for  his  friend  Dr.  Stillman,  who  came  at  once,  and  pouring  out  his 
affectionate  heart  in  prayer  for  the  child,  he  awoke  and  recovered.  Turning 
to  my  father,  the  Doctor  remarked,  with  moistened  ej-es, — 'I  never  saw  so 
immediate  an  answer  in  my  life.'  You  will  judge,  my  dear  Sir,  if  this  cir- 
cumstance, of  which  I  did  not  hear  the  particulars  until  thirty  years  after, 
from  a  brother  who  Avas  present,  would  not  endear  to  me  Dr.  Stillman's 
memory. 

I  was  called  in  the  family  '  the  little  minister,'  and  my  brother  told  me 
the  Doctor  prayed  for  my  future  usefulness.  And  who  but  God  can  tell  the 
connection  of  his  prayer  with  my  own  subsequent  life  .' 

Dr.  Stillman  was  by  no  means  an  indifferent  and  silent  spectator  of  public 
affairs.  Ilis  religious  denomination  had,  from  the  beginning,  been  too  much 
concerned  in  them  for  this.  Hence  he  preached,  in  1766,  on  the  Repeal  of 
the  Stamp  Act;  in  1770,  before  the  Honourable  Artillery  Company;  at  the 
General  Election,  in  1779;  delivered  an  Oration  on  the  4th  of  July,  1789; 
preached,  in  1794,  on  the  then  recent  Revolution  in  France,  from  which,  as 
an  ardent  philanthropist,  he  had  hoped  much  for  the  cause  of  human  free- 
dom, civil  and  religious;  and,  on  other  public  occasions,  besides  officiating, 
occasionally,  as  a  Chaplain  of  the  General  Court.  Yet  was  he  not  what 
would  be  called  a  political  partisan,  but  claimed,  nevertheless,  and  never 
surrendered,  the  rights  of  an  American  citizen, — observing,  as  I  have  myself 
heard  him,  that  '  the  complaint  against  ministers  was,  not  that  they  preached 
at  times  on  politics,  but  that  they  did  not  preach  the  right  politics,'— namelv, 
the  complainant's  own. 

With  respect  to  liberal  feelings  towards  good  men  of  other  denominations, 
the  Biographical  Sketch  already  referred  to  has  done  but  justice  to  Dr.  Still- 
man in  saying  that 'though,  lYom  education  and  from  principle,  a  Baptist 
himself,  he  never  believed  that  the  peculiarities  of  any  sect  ought  to  form  a 
separating  line,  or  hinder  the  union  of  good  men  for  the  advancement  of  the 
common  cause  of  the  Redeemer.  With  many  such  he  long  lived  in  habits  of 
undissembled  friendship.' — These  representations  are  corroborated  by  a 
charge  Avhich  the  Doctor  himself  gave  to  the  church  in  Salem,  over  which 
he  aided  in  placing  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Bolles.  To  them  he  said,  « Entertain  a 
liberal  mind  towards  your  fellow  Christians,  who  differ  from  you  in  some 
things.  Wise  and  good  men  do  not  yet  see  eye  to  eye.  While  you  enjoy 
your  own  privileges,  leave  others  to  the  enjoyment  of  theirs,  and  fiill  not  out  by 


SAMUEL  STILLMAN.  79 

tlie  way.     Tliis  mutual  candour  becomes  disciples  of  the  same  Divine  Master, 
and  is  not  incompatible  with  fidclit}'  to  your  own  principles  and  practices.' 

In  his  por.son,  Dr.  Stillman  Avas  slender,  and  very  small  of  size,  agile  in 
movement  and  erect  in  bearing,  in  address  polite,  combining  dignity  Avith 
condescending  kindness,  so  as  to  maintain  rank  with  the  most  eminent, 
lliough  allable  with  tlie  meanest,  and  scrupulously  neat  in  his  dress;  wear- 
ing, as  in  his  painted  and  engraved  portrait,  a  Avig,  as  was  in  his  day  com- 
mon, and  a  gown,  with  bands. 

And  now,  dear  Sir,  commending  3'^ou  anew  to  the  guidance  and   support  of 
our  Heavenly  Father,  and  your  labours  to  his  blessing,  I  remain, 
Yours  aflectionatcly,  and  iu  the  best  bonds, 

WILLIAM  JENKS. 


SAMUEL  HARRISS.=^ 

1759—1795. 

Samuel  Harriss  avus  born  January  12,  1724,  in  the  County  of  Hano- 
ver, Va.,  but  settled  in  early  life  in  the  County  of  Pittsyh^ania.  Before 
Ills  conversion,  he  had  a  highly  respectable  position  in  society,  and  held  the 
offices  of  Church- Warden,  Sheriff,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Burgess  for  the 
County,  Colonel  of  the  Militia,  Captain  of  the  Mayo  Fort,  and  Commissary 
for  the  Fort  and  Army. 

It  Avas  not  till  he  had  reached  his  thirty-fourth  year  that  liis  thoughts 
Avere  directed  permanently  in  a  serious  channel.  The  Baptists  were,  at 
this  time,  holding  frequent  meetings  in  the  neighbourhood  in  Avhich  he 
lived,  and  Avere  exciting  much  attention  by  the  simplicity  and  earnestness 
Avith  Avhich  they  presented  Divine  truth  ;  and,  in  his  perplexity  and  distress 
of  mind,  he  resolved  to  be  present  at  some  of  their  meetings.  It  is  related 
of  him  that,  on  one  occasion,  when  Joseph  and  William  Murphy,  two  well 
known  Baptist  preachers  of  that  day,  were  to  preach  in  a  particular  place, 
and  the  people  were  collecting  for  the  service,  Colonel  Ilarriss  rode  up  in 
full  military  dress,  and  said — "  What  is  to  bo  done  here,  Gentlemen?" 
"Preaching,  Colonel."  "Who  is  to  preach?"  "The  ]\Iurphy  boys, 
Sir."t  "  I  believe  I  will  stop  and  hear  them."  lie  accordingly  did  stop, 
and  seated  himself  behind  a  loom  in  a  corner  of  the  room.  The  truth  to 
Avhich  he  listened  on  that  occasion  deepl}'  affected  his  mind,  and,  not  long 

*  Seraplcs'  Va.  Bapt. — BcneJicfs  Hist.  Bapt.,  IT. 

t  William  Mcuphv  w.ns  awakened,  and  liopcfiilly  converted,  under  the  ministry  of  the 
Ucv.  Shubael  .Stearns,  and  was  also  baptized  by  hiin.  Ho  began  to  jireach  not  long  after  bis 
conversion,  and  Dcsupied  a  somewhat  conspicuous  place  in  the  ministry.  The  field  of  bis  labours 
was  chiefly  in  the  South  AVestern  parts  of  Virginia,  though  it  extmded  also  into  tlie  ."^tate  of 
North  Carolina.  About  1775,  he  took  part  in  a  controversy  on  tlie  Extent  of  the  Atonement, 
though  he  was  more  distinguished  as  an  earnest  and  effective  preacher  than  an  able  polemic. 
He  died  in  one  of  the  AVeslern  States. 

.Joseph  Mur.PHV  was  a  brother  of  William,  and,  like  him,  was  baptized  by  Elder  Stearns. 
After  labouring  successfully  many  years  in  Virginia,  he  removed  to  Xortti  Carolina,  and 
became  Pastor  of  a  Church  on  Deep  Cretk,  in  tlie  County  of  Surry.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
the  most  ilistinguished  minister  of  the  Yadkin  Association.  His  influence  extended  also  very 
considerably  to  South  Carolina.  In  UiiS,  he  assisted  in  forming  the  Coiigi-.ree  Church,  which 
has  since  been  distinguished  for  its  piety  and  efficiency.  In  IHVlJ,  he  was  living,  at  the  age  of 
more  than  eighty  years. 


80  BAPTIST. 

after  tliis,  he  found  joy  auJ  peace  iu  Ijelieving,  and,  in  1758,  juined  the 
Baptist  dououiinatiou,  being  baptized  by  Elder  Daniel  Marshall. 

From  the  time  of  his  conversion,  it  was  evident  that,  if  his  life  were 
spared,  he  was  destined  to  do  much  in  aid  of  the  cause  of  evangelical  reli- 
gion in  Virginia.  The  year  after  he  became  connected  with  the  church, 
he  commenced  his  ministerial  course.  For  seven  or  eight  years,  he 
laboured  chiefly  in  Spottsylvania  and  the  neighbouring  counties ;  and  it  is 
somewhat  remarkable  that,  during  this  time,  he  had  not  been  authorized 
by  the  cliurch  of  which  he  was  a  member  to  administer  the  ordinances  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

In  17C9,  he  was  ordained  and  began  to  administer  the  ordinances.  The 
first  person  he  baptized  was  Mr.  James  Ireland,*  who  himself  afterwards 
became  distinguished  in  the  Baptist  ministry  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Ireland 
thus  refers  to  this  circumstance : — "  He  was  a  great  favourite  of  the  min- 
isters in  Virginia,  and  they  had  planned  it  among  them  that  I  should  be 
the  first  person  he  baptized.  He  was  considered  a  great  man  in  the  things 
of  time  and  sense,  but  he  shone  more  conspicuously  as  a  luminary  of  the 
Church.  He  was  like  another  Paul  among  the  Churches.  No  man  was 
like-minded  with  him.  As  the  sun  in  his  strength,  he  passed  through  the 
.State,  displaying  the  glory  of  his  adorable  Master,  and  spreading  his  light 
and  heat  to  the  consolation  of  thousands." 

The  Rev.  John  Leland  who  then  lived  in  Virginia,  writes  thus  : — 

"  I  attended  a  meeting  of  the  General  Committee  at  Buckingham  j  after  whicli,  I 
travelled  Soutliward  to  Pittsylvania,  to  visit  that  great  man  of  God,  Rev.  Samuel  Ilai- 
riss.  I  hail  met  Mr.  llairiss  before  on  the  banks  of  James  River,  and  accompanied 
him  at  his  meetings  through  Goochland,  Fluvanna,  and  Louisa,  to  Orange.  At  a 
meeting  in  Goochland,  after  ])reachiiig  was  over,  Mr.  liarriss  went  into  tiie  yard,  and 
sat  down  in  the  sliade,  while  the  i)."oi)le  were  weeping  in  the  meeting-house,  and  telling 
what  God  had  done  for  tiiem,  in  order  to  be  baptized.  A  gentlewoman  addressed  Mr. 
liarriss  as  Ibllows: — 'Mr  Jlarri.ss,  what  do  you  think  all  this  weei>ing  is  for?  Are 
not  all  those  tears  like  the  tears  of  a  croeodile?  I  believe  I  could  cry  as  w-ell  as  any 
of  them,  if  1  chose  to  act  the  hypocrite.'  On  this  address,  Mr.  Harriss  drew  a  dollar 
out  oi'  his  pocket,  and  replied. — '  Gi>od  woman,  1  will  give  you  this  dollar  I'or  a  tear. 

•  J  A  Mrs  lui'LANn  was  born  in  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  in  tbo  year  1748.  His  father  designed 
Iu  give  liirn  a  liberal  education,  and  he  made  some  proliciency  in  the  Latin  language;  but  he 
bad  little  relish  for  .staJy,  and  withal  e\in(;cd  a  somewhat  romantic  temper,  which  led  his 
father  to  try  the  e.xperiment  of  sending  him  to  sea.  After  making  several  voyages  to  the 
Northern  seas,  he  was  guilty  of  some  iuiliscretiou.  in  consequence  of  which  he  left  his  father  s 
house,  and  came  to  America.  On  his  arrival  in  this  country,  he  took  charge  of  a  school  in  the 
Northern  part  of  Virginia.  lie  was,  at  this  period,  utterly  regardless  of  religion,  and  devoted 
to  every  species  of  frivolity,  and  did  not  scruple,  in  certain  circles,  to  profane  the  name  of  (Jod. 
His  conversion  was  brought  about  by  a  remarkable  instrumentality.  Ey  request  of  a  young 
man  who  had  sought  to  make  himself  useful  to  him,  he  undertook  to  write  a  composition  on 
"  the  natural  man  s  depeiHliinee  for  Heaven;"'  and  this  was  the  means  of  bis  own  eonviciion. 
■Shortly  after,  he  indulged  a  hope  in  the  mercy  of  God  througli  Christ,  and  almost  immediately 
proceeded  to  take  part  in  public  religious  exercises.  He  bad  been  educated  a  Presbyterian, 
and  was  strongly  J'reposscssed  in  favour  of  the  Presbyterian  views  of  rjaiili.''m;  but  he  ulti- 
mately adopted  the  Baptist  views,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Harris?,  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Separate  Baptist  Association,  held  at  Sandy  Creek,  N.  C,  iu  ITO'J.  He  was  now- 
licensed  lo  preach  the  Gospel,  and  went  forth  preaching  it  with  great  zeal.  But  he  quickly 
drew  towards  him  the  attention  of  the  civil  authorities,  was  arrested,  and,  as  he  would  not  give 
security  that  he  would  cease  preaching,  was  cast  into  Culpepper  Jail,  where  he  suffered  the 
most  cruel  and  shameful  indignities.  He  was  instrumental  of  forming  nniny  churches  of  the 
Ketockton  Association,  and,  fu-  many  years,  sustained  the  relation  of  Pastor  to  the  Congrega- 
tions at  Bucknnusb,  Hajipy  Creek,  and  Water  Lick,  in  the  Counties  of  f  rederick  and  Shenan- 
doah. In  181)2,  he  baptized,  in  one  of  his  churches,  ninety-three  persons, — fifty-two  of  wlioni 
were  received  in  one  day.  In  consequence  of  injiuies  sustained  by  a  fall  from  bis  horse,  and 
afterwards  by  the  upsetting  of  his  carriage,  he  was,  in  the  early  part  of  ISUli,  confined  to  his 
bed.  Consequent  n;ion  this  was  the  dropsy,  under  which  he  gradually  declined  till  death  put 
an  end  to  his  suflerings,  on  the  6th  of  J\iay,  180G.  His  decline  and  death  were  marked  by  per- 
fect comj'osure  and  a  joyful  anticipation  of  Heaven. 


SAMUEL  IIAIIRISS.  gX 

and  repeat  it  ton  times;'  but  the  woman  shed  no  tears.  In  1787,  Colonel  Ilaniss  made 
me  a  visit,  whoso  cominp;  called  out  a  vast  crowd  of  ministers  and  i)Ci)i)le.  His  eyes, — 
his  every  motion,  was  preachiMji;  hut,  ul"(er  he  liad  read  his  te.\t,  iiis  mind  was  .so  dark 
that  he  could  not  preacii;  and  of  course  the  lot  I'l'll  on  me.  From  my  liou.se  he  went 
liowu  to  Spottsylvania,  where  tlie  woi  k  of  the  Lord,  like  a  mighty  torrent,  broke  out 
under  his  ministry." 

Mr.  Ilarriss  liail  now  become  extensively  known,  as  one  of  the  most 
laborious  niinistcr.s  and  effective  prcachcr.s  throughout  Virginia.  Of  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  brethren,  long  before  this,  some- 
thing may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  when  the  General  Association 
8tranj:ely  decided  that  the  apostolic  office  was  designed  to  be  perpetual,  he 
was  unanimously  designated  to  the  office.  This  deci.sion  and  this  appoint- 
ment were  made  in  the  year  177  l  ;  but  ho  held  the  office  for  only  a  few 
months. 

3Ir.  Ilarriss  continued  his  labours  with  unabated  zeal,  until  infirmity 
dis'abled  him  for  farther  effort.  Some  time  before  his  death,  he  Avas  struck 
with  paralysis,  from  the  effect  of  which  he  never  recovered  ;  though  hv. 
was  able,  even  after  this,  occasionally  to  do  good  service  for  his  Master. 
At  length,  however,  his  earthly  tabernacle  yielded  to  the  combined  influence 
of  age  and  dii^ease,  and  he  went  calml}'  to  his  rest,  after  having  seen  moro 
than  threescore  and  ten  years.     He  died  in  the  year  1795. 

Elder  Scmple,  an  eminent  Baptist  minister  of  Virginia,  who  knew  Mr. 
Ilarriss  well,  writes  thus  concerning  him  : — 

'•'  His  manners  were  of  the  most  winning  sort,  lie  scarcely  ever  went  into  a  house 
without  exhorting  and  praying  for  those  he  met  there.  As  a  doctrinal  j)reacher, 
his  talents  were  rather  below  mediocrity ;  unless  at  those  times  when  he  was  highly 
favoured  from  above, — then  he  would  sometimes  display  considerable  ingenuity.  His 
excellency  consisted  chiefly  in  addressing  the  heart;  and,  ])erhaps,eve!i  WMiitelield  did 
not  surpass  him  in  that  respect.  \A"hen  animated  himself,  he  seldom  failed  to  animate 
his  auditory. 

"Being  in  easy  eirennistances  when  he  became  religious,  he  devoted 

not  only  himself,  but  almost  ail  his  property,  to  religious  objects,  lie  had  begun  a 
large  new  dwelling  house,  suitable  tu  his  former  dignity,  which,  as  soon  as  it  was 
fniished,  lie  apjiropriated  to  the  use  of  i)ublic  worship,  eoni inning  to  live  in  the  old  one. 
After  maintaining  his  family  in  a  very  frugal  manner,  he  distributed  his  surplus  income 

to  charitable  puiposes He  was  once  arrested  and  carried  into  Court,  as  a 

disturber  of  the  peace.  In  Court,  a  (Japtain  Williams  vehemently  accused  him  as  a 
vagabond,  a  heretic,  and  a  mover  of  sedition  everywhere.  Mr.  Ilarriss  made  his 
defence.  But  the  Court  ordered  that  he  should  not  preach  in  the  county  again  for  the 
.space  of  twelve  months,  or  be  committed  to  j)ri.son.  The  Colonel  told  tiicm  that  he 
lived  two  hundred  miles  thenc-;  and  that  it  was  not  likely  he  should  disturb  them 
again,  in  the  course  of  one  year.  Upon  this  he  was  dismissed.  From  Cul])eppcr  he 
went  into  Fauquier,  and  preached  at  Carter's  Kun.  Thence  he  crossed  the  Blue  llidge 
and  preached  in  Shenandoah.  On  his  return,  he  called  at  Capt.  Thomas  Clanahan's, 
ill  the  county  of  Cnlp^-pper,  where  there  was  a  meeting.  While  certain  young  minis- 
ters were  preaching,  the  word  of  God  began  to  burn  in  Colonel  Ilarriss'  heart  When 
ihey  finisiied,  he  arose  and  addressed  the  congregation, — '  I  jiartly  promiseil  the  devil, 
a  few  days  past,  at  the  Court  House,  that  I  would  not  preach  in  this  county  again  iti 
the  term  of  a  year.  But  tlie  devil  is  a  perfidious  wretch;  and  covenants  with  him  are 
not  to  be  kept,  and  therefore  I  will  preach.'  lie  preached  a  lively,  animating  sermon. 
The  Court  disturbed  him  no  more. 

•'  On  one  occasion,  in  Orange  county,  he  was  pulled  down  as  he  was  preaching,  and 
dragged  about  by  the  hair  of  his  head,  and  sometimes  by  the  leg.  His  friend  rescued 
him.  On  another  time,  he  was  knocked  down  by  a  rude  fellow,  while  he  was  preach- 
ing. But  he  was  not  dismayed  by  these  or  any  other  difficulties.  To  obtain  his  own 
consent  to  undertake  a  laudable  "enterprise,  it  was  sufficient  for  him  to  know  that  it 
was  possible.  His  faith  was  sufficient  to  throw  mountains  into  the  sea,  if  they  stood 
in  the  way.  lie  seems  also  never  to  have  been  appalled  by  the  fear  or  the  shame  ol 
man.     He  could  confront  the  stoutest  son  of  pride. 

"  When  he  first  began  to  preach,  liis  soul  was  so  absorbed  in  the  work,  that  it  was 
difficult  for  him  to-attcnd  to  the  duties  of  this  life.     A  man  owed  him  a  sum  of  money 

Vol.  VT.  11 


32  BAPTIST. 

which  he  actually  stood  in  need  of  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  family.  Ife  went  to 
the  man,  and  told  him  he  would  be  very  glad  if  he  would  discharge  the  debt  he  owed 
him.  To  which  the  man  replied  that  he  could  not  pay  him  the  money,  llarriss  said, 
'  I  want  the  money  to  buy  wheat  for  my  family.  You  have  a  good  crop  by  you.  I  had 
rather  have  wheat  tlian  money.'  The  man  answered, — '  I  have  other  uses  for  my 
wheat.'  'How  then,'  said  Mr.  llarriss,  '  do  you  intend  to  pay  me?'  '  I  never  intend 
to  pay  you  until  you  sue  me,'  replied  the  debtor.  Mr.  llarriss  left  him  meditating: 
'  Good  God,'  said  he  to  himself,  '  what  shall  I  do?  Must  I  leave  preaching  to  attend  a 
law  suit?  Perhaps  a  thousand  souls  will  perish  in  the  mean  time,  for  the  want  of 
hearing  of  Jesus.  Ts'o,  I  will  not.  Well,  what  will  you  do  for  yourself?  What?  I 
will  sue  him  at  the  Court  of  Heaven.' 

"  Having  resolved  what  to  do,  he  turned  aside  into  a  wood,  and  fell  upon  his  knees, 
and  thus  began  his  suit: — '  Oh  blessed  Jesus,  thou  eternal  God,  thou  knowest  that  1 
need  the  money  wliicli  the  man  owes  me,  to  supply  the  wants  of  my  family,  but  he 
will  not  pay  me  without  a  law-suit.  Dear  Jesus,  shall  I  quit  thy  cause,  and  leave  the 
souls  of  men  to  perish  ?  Or  wilt  thou,  in  mercy,  open  some  other  way  of  relief?'  In 
this  prayer  Mr.  H.  found  such  tokens  of  Divine  goodness,  that,  to  use  his  own  words. 
Jesus  said  unto  him, — '  llarriss,  keep  on  preaching,  and  I  will  become  security  for  the 
payment.' 

"'  Mr.  11.,  having  his  debt  thus  secured,  thought  it  most  proper  to  give  the  debtor  a 
discharge.  Accordingly,  he,  shortly  after,  passing  by  to  a  meeting,  carried  a  receipt 
in  full  to  the  man's  house,  and  gave  it  to  his  servant,  desiring  him  to  give  it  to  his 
master.  On  his  return  by  the  house,  after  meeting,  the  man  hailed  him  at  his  gate, 
and  said, — '  Mr.  H.,  what  did  you  mean  by  the  receipt  you  sent  this  morning  ? '  Mr. 
H.  replied, — '  I  meant  just  as  I  wrote.'  '  Well,  but  I  have  not  paid  you,' answered 
the  debtor.  Harriss  said, — 'True;  and  I  know  also  that  j'ou  said  you  never  would, 
unless  the  money  came  at  the  end  of  an  execution ;  but,  Sir,  I  sued  you  in  the  Court 
of  Heaven,  and  Jesus  has  agreed  to  pay  me.  I  have,  therefore,  given  you  a  dis- 
charge.' This  operated  so  effectually  upon  the  man's  conscience  that,  in  a  few  days, 
he  prepared  and  sent  to  Mr.  II.  wheat  enough  to  discharge  the  del)t. 

''  A  criminal,  who  had  just  been  pardoned  at  the  gallows,  met  Mr.  llarriss  on  the 
road,  and  showed  liim  tlie  document  certifying  that  he  was  pardoned.  '  Well,'  said 
he,  and  have  you  shown  it  to  Jesus  V  '  is^o,  Mr.  Harriss,  I  want  you  to  do  that  for 
me.'  The  old'man  immediately  descended  from  his  horse,  in  the  road,  and  making 
the  man  also  alight,  they  both  kneeled  down.  Mr.  H.  put  one  hand  on  the  man's  head, 
and  with  the  other  held  open  the  pardon.  And  thus,  in  behalf  of  the  criminal, 
returned  thanks  that  he  had  been  pardoned,  and  prayed  for  liim  that  he  might  obtain 
God's  pardon  also." 


MORGAN  EDWARDS.* 

1761—1795. 

Morgan  Edwards  was  born  in  Trevethin  Parish,  Monmouthshire,  in 
the  Principality  of  Wales,  on  the  9th  of  May,  (0.  S.)  1722.  He  was 
early  placed  at  school,  in  a  village  called  Trosnat,  in  his  native  parish  ; 
and,  subsequently,  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Seminary  at  Bristol. 
England,  then  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr,  Foskctt.  He  commenced 
preaching  when  he  was  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Having  completed  his  aca- 
demical course, _he  went  to  Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  where  he  preached  to  a 
sniall  congregation,  seven  years.  Prom  Boston  he  removed  to  Cork,  Ire- 
land, where  he  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  a  church,  June  1,  1757,  and 
remained  nine  years.  Prom  Cork  he  returned  to  England,  and  preached 
about  twelve  months  at  Eye,  in  Sussex.  During  his  residence  in  this  lat- 
ter place,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gill,  and  other  Baptist  ministers  in  London,  having 
received  a  request  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia  to  assist  them 

•  Dr.  Kippon"s  Annual  Register,  No.  12. — Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.,  II. 


MORGAN  EDWARDS.  §3 

in  oolaining  a  Pastor,  applied  to  Mr.  Edwards  as  the  person  more  likely 
than  any  other  within  their  knowledge,  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  a  satisfactory 
manner.  He  was  disposed  to  think  favourably  of  the  proposal,  and,  accord- 
ingly, soon  after,  took  passage  for  America,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on 
the  23d  of  May,  17(31.  He  immediately  took  charge  of  the  church  to 
which  he  had  been  sent,  and  continued  to  serve  them  acceptably  a  number 
of  years. 

In  1770,  he  preached  a  New  Year's  Sermon  from  the  text, — "  This  year 
thou  shalt  die."  He  had,  from  some  unaccountable  impulse,  taken  up  the 
idea  that  he  should  die  on  a  particular  day,  and  this,  it  is  said,  was  intended 
as  his  own  Funeral  Sermon.*  But  the  day  passed,  and  the  man  still  lived, 
and  continued  to  live  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  This  circumstance  could 
not  but  affect  his  reputation  injuriously.  In  addition  to  this,  however,  he 
is  said  to  have  indulged,  occasionally,  about  this  time,  in  the  excessive  use 
of  intoxicating  drinks.  Finding  himself  somewhat  under  a  cloud,  he  vol- 
untarily resigned  his  pastoral  charge  ;  though  he  continued  preaching  to 
the  people  till  the  settlement  of  his  successor, — an  event  which  he  was,  to 
some  extent,  instrumental  in  bringing  about. 

In  the  year  1772,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Newark,  De.,  and  was 
occupied  in  preaching  in  a  number  of  vacant  churches  till  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  then  remained  silent  until  the  War 
was  over,  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  fact  that  he  adhered  to  the  cause  of 
Great  Britain,  and  was  justly  ranked  with  the  Tories;  though  it  is  under- 
stood that  his  Toryism  was  rather  a  matter  of  principle  than  of  action. 
After  the  Revolution,  he  occasionally  read  Lectures  on  Divinity,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  other  parts  of  Pennsylvania;  also  in  New  Jersey,  Delaware, 
and  New  England  ;  but,  owing  to  the  unhappy  fall  already  alluded  to,  he 
declined  ever  after  to  resume  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry. 

In  1762,  Mr.  Edwards  was  honoured,  by  the  College  and  Academy  of 
Philadelphia,  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  ;  and,  in  1769,  received 
the  same  testimony  of  respect  from  the  College  of  Rhode  Island,  in  which 
institution  he  held  the  office  of  Fellow,  from  1764  to  1789. 

Mr.  Edwards  died  at  a  place  then  called  Pencader,  De.,  on  the  28th  of 
January,  179.5,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral  Sermon 
was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Rogers,  of  Philadelphia,  on 
II.  Cor.  vi.  8 — "By  honour  and  dishonour;  by  evil  report  and  good 
report;  as  deceivers  and  yet  true."  The  text  was  selected  by  himself, 
designed,  as  was  supposed,  to  have  a  bearing  upon  his  own  peculiar  history. 
The  Discourse  was  not  published  at  the  time,  but  it  subsequently  appeared 
in  the  12th  No.  of  Dr.  Rippon's  Annual  Register,  printed  in  London. 

Mr.  Edwards  was  twice  married — first  to  Mary  Nunn,  originally  of  Cork, 
Ireland,  by  whom  he  had  several  children  ;  and  afterwards,  to  a  Mrs.  Sin- 
gleton, of  Delaware,  whose  decease  occurred  previous  to  his  own.  One  of 
his  sons  was  a  military  officer  in  the  British  service. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Edwards'  publications :— A  Farewell  Dis- 
course delivered  at  the  Baptist  Meeting-House  in  Rye,  1761.     A  Sermon 

*  It  is  due  to  candour  to  state  that  some  of  Mr.  Edwards'  friends  have  denied  that  this  was 
designed  as  his  Funeral  Sermon,  and  a  perusal  of  the  Sermon  itself  would  seem  to  leave  the 
case  somewhat  doubtful. 


g4  BAPTIST. 

preached  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Jones,  with  a  Narrative  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Ordination 
was  conducted,  1763.  Tlie  Customs  of  the  Primitive  Churches,  or  a  set 
of  Propositions  relative  to  the  Name,  Materials,  Constitution,  Powers, 
Officers,  Ordinances,  &c.,  of  a  Church  ;  to  which  are  added  their  Proofs 
from  Scripture,  and  Historical  Narratives  of  the  manner  in  which  most  of 
them  have  been  reduced  to  practice.  A  New  Year's  Gift:  a  Sermon, 
1770.  Materials  towards  a  History  of  the  Baptists  in  Pennsylvania,  both 
British  and  German,  distinguished  into  First-day,  Keithian,  Seventh-day, 
Tunker,  and  Rogerene  Baptists,  1772.  A  Treatise  on  the  New  Heaven 
and  New  Earth.  Two  Academical  Exercises  ;  on  the  Millenium  and  Last 
Novelties,  1788.  Res  Sacra>.,  a  Translation  from  the  Latin,  1788.  (This 
contains  an  enumeration  of  all  the  acts  of  Public  Worship,  which  the  New 
Testament  styles  Offerings  and  Sacrifices;  of  which  giving  money  for 
religious  uses  is  one;  and,  therefore,  according  to  Mr.  E.,  is  to  be  done  in 
the  places  of  public  worship,  and  with  as  much  devotion  as  any  other  part 
of  the  service.)  Materials  towards  a  History  of  the  Baptists  in  Jersey  ; 
distinguished  into  First-day  Baptists,  Seventh-day  Baptists,  Tuncker  Bap- 
tists, and  Rogerene  Baptists,  1792. 

Beside  various  manuscripts,  which  he  gave  to  his  friends,  as  tokens  of 
personal  regard,  he  left  behind  him  forty-two  volumes  of  Sermons, — 
twelve  Sermons  to  a  volume, — all  written  in  a  large  and  legible  character; 
also,  about  a  dozen  quarto  volumes,  on  special  subjects. 

The  following  estimate  of  Mr.  Edwards'  character  and  attainments  is 
from  the  Discourse  of  Dr.  Rogei's  above  referred  to  : — 

"  He  used  to  recommend  writing  sermons  at  large,  but  not  to  take  tlicni  to  tlio 
pulpit,  if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided.  If  not  possible,  he  advised  the  preacher  to 
write  a  largo,  fair  hand,  and  make  himself  so  much  master  of  his  subject  that  a  glance, 
as  it  were,  might  tak(!  in  a  whole  page.  Being  a  good  classic,  and  a  man  of  jiecu- 
liar  rctinement,  he  was  vexed  to  hear  from  tiie  i)ulpit  what  deserved  no  attention,  and 
much  more  to  hear  barbarisms;  because,  as  he  used  to  say,  '  they  were  arguments 
either  of  vanity,  or  insolence,  or  both;  for  an  American,  with  an  English  (jrammar  in 
his  hand,  a  learned  friend  at  his  elbow,  and  close  application  for  six  months,  might 
make  himself  master  of  his  motlier  tongue.' 

"The  Baptist  Churches  are  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Edwards.  Tiiey  will  long  remem- 
ber the  time  and  talents  he  devoted  to  their  best  interests,  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
Very  far  was  he  from  a  selfish  person.  When  the  arrears  of  his  salary,  as  Pastor  of 
tills  chureli,  amounted  to  upwards  of  £372,  and  he  was  put  in  ])ossession  of  a  house,  by 
the  church,  till  the  principal  and  interest  should  be  paid,  he  resigned  the  hou.se,  and 
reliiKiuished  a  great  part  of  the  debt,  lest  the  church  should  be  distressed. 
_  "  The  College  of  Khode  Island  is  also  greatly  beholden  to  him  for  his  vigorous  exer- 
tions, at  homo  and  abioad,  in  raising  money  for  that  institution,  and  for  his  particular 
activity  in  procuring  its  charter.  Tiiis  he  deemed  the  greatest  service  he  ever  did  for 
the  honour  of  the  Baptist  name.  As  one  of  its  first  sons,  I  cheerfully  make  this  pnblie 
testimony  of  his  lauilable  an<l  well-timed  zeal. 

"  In  the  first  volume  of  his  materials,  lie  proposed  a  plan  for  uniting  all  the  Baptists 
on  the  Continent  in  one  Body  i)olitic.  by  having  tiie  Association  of  I'iiiiadelphia  (the 
centre)  incorporated  by  charter,  and  by  taking  oik;  delegate  out  of  each  Association 
into  the  Corporation  ;but,  finding  this  impracticable,  at  that  time,  he  visitwl  thecliurclies 
from  Kew  llami)shire  to  (leorgia,  gathering  materials  towards  the  history  of  the  whole. 
Permit  mo  to  add  that  tliis  phin  of  union,  as  yet,  has  not  succeeded. 

"  ,"\[r.  Edwards  was  the  moving  cause  of  liaving  the  Minutes  of  the  Philadelphia 
Association  printed,  which  he  could  not  bring  to  bear  for  some  years,  and,  therefore, 
at  his  own  expense,  he  printed  tables,  exhibiting  tiic  original  and  annual  state  of  the 
associating  churches. 

"There  was  nothing  uncommon  in  Mr.  Edwards'  person;  but  he  possessed  an 
original  genius.  By  his  travels  in  England,  Ireland,  and  America,  commixing  with  all 
sorts  of  people,  and  by  close  application  to  reading,  he  liad  attained  a  remarkable  case 


MORflAN  EDU'AUDS.  85 

of  bi'liaviour  in  company,  and  was  fiirnislicd  witli  sometliing  pleasant  or  inforriiiii!;  to 
say  on  all  occasions.  His  lircck  Testament  was  his  Cavoai-itc  comjjanion,  of  wliicli  lie 
was  a  complete  masliT;  liis  Hebrew  Jiihie  next,  but  lie  was  not  so  well  versed  in  ibc 
Hebrew  as  in  the  (Jreek  lanj^nage;  however,  he  knew  so  mncli  of  botli  as  anlhori/.ed 
him  to  say,  as  ho  often  did,  that  the  (Jreek  and  Hebrew  are  the  two  eyes  of  a  minister, 
and  the  translations  arc  but  commentaries;  because  they  vary  in  sense  as  commenta- 
tors do.  He  preferred  the  ancient  British  version  above  any  otlnjr  version  that  lie  had 
read,  observing  that  the  idioms  of  tiie  Welsh  fitted  those  of  the  Hebrew  and  (jreek 
like  hand  and  glove. 

"  Our  ag'd  and  respectable  friend  is  gone  the  way  of  all  tlic  earth;  but  he  lived  to  a 
good  <dd  age,  and  with  the  utmost  compowire  closed  Iiis  eyes  on  all  the  things  oltime. 
Though  he  is  gone,  this  is  not  gone  with  him;  it  remains  with  us  that  the  Baptist 
interest  was  ever  ui)permost  witli  him,  and  that  he  laboured  more  to  promote  it  than 
to  promote  his  own;  and  this  he  did.  In  cause  he  bi'lieved  it  to  be  the  interest  of  Christ, 
above  any  in  Christendom,  liis  becoming  a  Uaptist  was  the  effect  of  previous  exam- 
ination and  conviction,  Laving  been  brought  u])  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  for  which 
Church  he  retained  a  particular  regard  during  his  whole  life." 


DAVID  JONES. 

17G1— 182f^. 

FKOM  HORATIO  GATES  JONES,  ESQ. 

Pnii.ADKLPniA,  March  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  The  life  of  my  veneralile  grainlfatlier,  particularly  as 
connected  with  some  of  the  most  stirring  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  was 
one  of  no  ordinary  interest.  It  might  very  well  form  the  subject  of  a 
narrative  that  would  occupy  much  more  space  than  you  can  afford  to  it ; 
but  I  shall  be  able,  I  think,  to  give  you  the  more  prominent  facts  and 
characteristics  without  exceeding  the  limit  3'ou  have  prescribed  to  me. 

David  Jones,  a  son  of  Morgan  and  Eleanor  (Evans)  Jones,  was  born 
in  White  Clay  Creek  Hundred,  New  Castle  County,  De.,  on  the  I'ith  of 
May,  1736,  and  resided  there  until  1750,  when  his  parents  removed  to  a 
place  called  Ironhill.  During  his  residence  at  this  place,  in  the  year  1758, 
he  was  brought  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth,  at  the  age  of  about 
twenty-two,  and  was  baptized  on  the  6th  of  May,  1758,  by  the  Rev,  David 
Davis.  Soon  after  his  Baptism,  he  went  to  Hopewell  School,  under  the 
care  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton,  A.  M.,  where  he  remained  three  years,  and, 
as  he  himself  states,  "learned  Latin  and  Greek."  His  attention  was  no 
doubt  early  drawn  to  the  ministry,  but  it  was  not  till  the  year  1761  that 
he  became  a  licentiate,  at  the  Welsh  Tract  Church  ;  and  the  same  year  he 
went  to  Middletown,  N.  J.,  to  improve  himself  in  Divinity,  under  the 
instruction  of  his  relative,  the  learned  Abel  Morgan.  He  preached  at 
various  places,  but  more  especially  at  Freehold,  Monmouth  County,  N.  J., 
until  December  12,  1766,  when  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  that  Church. 
He  continued  in  this  relation,  labouring  with  great  fidelity,  until  the  year 
1775.  It  was  during  his  Pastorate  at  Freehold  that  he  became  strongly 
impressed  with  a  desire  to  visit  the  Indians  Northwest  of  Ohio  River; 
and,  having  laid  the  case  before  the  Association  of  Philadelphia,  which  met 
that  year  (1772)  at  New  York,  he  received  from  that  Body  a  certificate  of 
his  good  standing,  with  a  view  to   the  prosecution  of  his  intended  mission. 


86  BAPTIST. 

He  had  already  made  one  journey  to  the  Ohio,  which  occupied  him  about 
three  months.  I>e.-?ides  visiting  the  Indians,  he  had  "  views  of  settling  on 
the  East  side  of  the  lliver  Ohio ;  in  a  province  under  the  care  of  Messrs. 
Franklin,  Wharton,  Baynton,  Morgan,  and  others."  His  first  journey 
was  begun  on  the  4th  of  May,  1772,  and  terminated  in  August.  His 
second  journey  commenced  October  2G,  1772,  and  ended  in  April  1773,  so 
that  he  spent  nearly  one  year  in  his  travels  among  the  Indians.  One  of 
his  companions,  while  navigating  the  Ohio  in  a  canoe  from  Fort  Pitt,  was 
the  celebrated  George  Ilogers  Clarke.  His  missionary  efforts  were  directed 
especially  to  the  Shawnee  and  Delaware  Indians  ;  but  they  were  attended 
with  so  little  success  that  he  finally  abandoned  the  benevolent  enterprise, 
and  returned  to  his  charge  at  Freehold.  He  subsequently  published  au 
account  of  his  mission, — including  both  visits, — to  the  then  Western 
wilderness,  and  it  is  full  of  interesting  observations  both  of  the  country 
and  its  native  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Jones  continued  his  labours  in  New  Jersey  without  interruption 
till  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Avhen  his  great  zeal 
in  the  cause  of  independence  rendered  him  so  obnoxious  to  the  Tories, 
who  abounded  in  that  part  of  the  State,  that  even  his  life  was  placed  in 
imminent  jeopardy.  Accordingly,  in  April,  1775,  he  removed  from  Jer- 
sey, and  settled  as  Pastor  of  the  Great  Valley  Baptist  Church,  Chester 
County,  Pa. 

In  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  recommended  to  the  Colonies  the 
observance  of  a  day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer,  in  view  of  the  alarming  state 
of  affairs ;  and  the  recommendation  was  very  extensively  heeded.  Mr. 
Jones  preached  a  Sermon  on  that  occasion,  before  Colonel  Dewee's  Regi- 
ment, entitled  "  Defensive  War  in  a  Just  Cause  Sinless,"  which  breathed 
a  highly  patriotic  spirit.  It  was  published  and  extensively  circulated 
through  the  Colonies. 

In  1776,  Mr.  Jones  received  the  appointment  of  Chaplain  to  a  Penn- 
sylvania Regiment  under  Colonel  St.  Clair,  which  was  ordered  to  the 
Northern  Department.  He  was  on  duty  with  St.  Clair  at  Ticonderoga, 
where,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1776,  while  they  were  in  hourly  expecta- 
tion of  the  enemy  from  Crown  Point,  he  delivered  a  characteristic 
Address  to  the  Regiment,  that  served  to  inspire  them  with  fresh  military 
ardour.  He  served  through  two  campaigns,  under  General  Gates,  and  was 
also  Chaplain  to  a  Brigade  under  General  Waj'ne,  in  1777.  He  was  in  the 
battle  of  Brandywine,  on  the  11th  of  September  of  that  year  ;  on  the  21st 
of  the  same  month  was  at  the  massacre  of  Paoli,  and  narrowly  escaped 
death ;  and  on  the  4th  of  October  following,  was  in  the  battle  of  German- 
town.  He  accompanied  the  army  to  Whitemarsh  and  Valley  Forge,  and 
was  with  W^ayneTn  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  and  in  all  his  subsequent 
campaigns  until  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  at  Yorktown,  in  the  autumn 
of  1781,  By  his  open  and  untiring  efforts  in  his  country's  cause,  he 
rendered  himself  emphatically  a  mai'ked  man,  insomuch  that  General 
Howe  offered  a  reward  for  him,  and  a  plan  was  actually  set  on  foot  for  his  . 
arrest.  At  the  close  of  the  War,  he  returned  to  "the  Valley,"  where  he 
bought  a  farm  situated  in  Easttown  township,  Chester  County,  a  short 
distance    from    the    residence   of    his   old    Commander,    General   Wayne. 


DAVID  JOxNES.  87 

Here   he   resumcil   las  labours   as   a   minister   of    Peace,    and   they    were 
accompanied  with  many  tokens  of  the  Divine  favour. 

In  178G,  Mr.  Jones  was  called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Church  in 
Southampton,  Bucks  County,  Pa.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  remained 
there  till  171)2,  when  he  returned  to  "the  Valley  "  for  the  residue  of  his 
life. 

In  1704,  he  yielded  to  the  request  of  General  Wayne,  to  accompany 
him  as  Chaplain,  on  his  expedition  against  the  Indians  in  the  North  West- 
ern Territory.  At  the  commencement  of  the  War  of  1812,  he  again 
entered  the  army,  though  he  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy-six, — and 
served  under  Generals  Brown  and  Wilkinson,  until  Peace  was  restored. 
From  1812  to  1817,  besides  performing  a  considerable  amount  of  pro- 
fessional duty,  he  made  many  important  contributions  to  the  newspapers 
of  the  day,  touching  the  affairs  of  the  State  and  the  nation.  A  junior 
Pastor  (^the  Rev.  Thomas  lloberts)  was  in  the  mean  time  called  to  "  the 
Valley,"  who,  for  many  years,  during  the  absence  or  the  illness  of  the 
Senior  Pastor,  performed,  either  wholly  or  in  part,  the  duties  of  the  Pas- 
torate. In  1817,  he  delivered  an  Address  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Monu- 
ment erected  at  Paoli,  commemorative  of  the  Americans  who  were 
massacred  there  on  the  night  of  the  21st  of  September,  1777  ;  and  this  is 
believed  to  have  been  the  last  public  occasion  on  whicJi  he  officiated. 

But  his  life  was  now  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close,  under  the  influence,  not 
only  of  old  age,  but  of  a  complication  of  maladies  that  had  long  been 
preying  upon  his  constitution.  Surrounded  with  friends  whose  highest 
pleasure  it  was  to  minister  to  his  comfort,  and  filled  with  gratitude  in  view 
of  the  past,  and  inspired  with  joyful  hope  in  respect  to  the  future,  his 
strength  gradually  declined  until  the  5th  of  February,  1820,  when  he 
entered  into  his  rest,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  A  Sermon  on 
occasion  of  his  death  was  preached  by  the  Piev.  Dr.  William  Ilogers,  of 
Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Jones  was  married  on  the  22d  of  February,  17G2,  to  Anne,  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Stilwell,  of  Middletown,  N.  J.  They  had  eight 
children, — five  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  youngest  child  was  my 
father,  the  Rev,  Horatio  Gates  Jones,  who.  I  understand,  is  to  form  a 
distinct  subject  of  your  work. 

Poulson's  American  Daily  Advertiser,  of  February  10,  1820,  after 
announcing  the  death  of  the  Rev.  David  Jones,  proceeds  thus : — 

"  In  sketching  the  character  of  this  venerable  servant  of  the  Cross, 
truth  requires  us  to  say  that  he  was  an  eminent  man.  Throughout  the 
whole  of  his  protracted  and  eventful  life,  Mr.  Jones  was  peculiarly  dis- 
tinguished for  the  warmth  of  his  friendship,  the  firmness  of  his  patriotism, 
the  sincerity  and  ardour  of  his  piety,  and  the  faithfulness  of  his  ministry. 
The  vain  honours  of  the  world,  it  is  true,  are  not  his,  but  in  another  he 
has  ere  this  received  a  crown  of  glory,  and  heard  the  joyful  welcome, — 
"  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant."  In  the  army  of  the  Revolution, 
he  was  a  distinguished  Chaplain,  and  was  engaged  in  the  same  arduous 
duties  during  the  last  war.  As  a  scholar,  he  was  accurate.  Possessing  a 
mind  of  superior  texture,  he  embellished  it  with  the  beauties  of  classical 
literature,  and  the  riches  of  general  science.     The   Fellowship  of  Brown 


88  BAPTIST. 

University,  K.  I.,  in  tlie  year  1774,  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  his 
learning  and  talents,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts." 

As  an  illustration  of  some  of  my  grandfather's  peculiar  characteristics, 
I  will  venture  to  relate  an  anecdote  or  two,  communicated  by  the  Rev. 
Greorgc  W.  Anderson,  D.  Ph. 

On  his  way  to  join  the  Army  of  the  North,  he  rode  from  New  Bruns- 
wick to  New  York  in  the  stage^  in  company  with  a  number  of  gentlemen, 
all  of  whom  seemed  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  political  affairs  of  the 
day.  Among  them  was  a  young  lawyer,  who  was  criticising,  in  no 
measured  terms,  the  policy  and  spirit  of  President  Madison.  "  A  weak 
administration — a  miserably  weak  administration,"  was  the  epithet  which 
he  applied  to  the  powers  that  then  were.  Mr.  Jones  had  sat  quietly, 
taking  but  little  part  in  the  animated  discussion.  But  now  he  woke  up — 
"  Yes  Sir,"  said  he,  "  it  is  a  weak  administration, — a  miserably  weak  admin- 
istration." Some  surprise  was  manifested  at  this  concession  from  a  man  of 
Mr.  Jones'  well  known  political  principles.  "  Yes,  indeed,  a  miserably 
weak  administration — if  President  Madison  were  half  the  man  he  ought  to 
be," — looking  full  in  the  eye  of  the  young  lawyer, — "he  would  have  hung, 
long  ago,  scores  of  such  confounded  Tories  as  you!"  "  Sir,"  said  the 
lawyer,  with  a  great  deal  of  warmth, — "  if  you  were  not  an  old  man,  you 
would  not  sky  that  to  me."  "Yes,  yes.  Sir," — replied  Mr.  Jones,  shak- 
ing his  head  energetically  toward  the  angry  youth, — "  and  if  I  were  not 
an  old  man,  you  would  not  dare  to  say  that  to  ??ie." 

On  one  occasion,  when  returning  from  the  Array  at  the  North,  during 
the  late  War,  he  stopped  in  New  York  City,  and  was  invited  to  preach  in 
the  First  Baptist  Church.  When  he  rose  to  commence  his  sermon,  he 
looked  up  at  the  ceiling,  and  round  the  house,  making  a  general  and  care- 
ful survey  of  the  building.  He  then  cast  a  keen,  scrutinizing  glance  over 
the  congregation.  The  wliole  of  this  careful  survey  occupied  a  very  short 
time,  which,  to  the  expectant  assembly,  appeared  twice  the  length  it  really 
was.  Of  course  every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  tall,  venerable  form  in  the 
pulpit,  and  all  were  wondering  what  would  come  next. 

"  It  seems  to  me," — at  length  he  said,  as  if  satisfied  with  liis  survey, 
"  that  you  have  a  very  nice  house  here — very  neat,  and  very  comfortable, 
and  quite  a  large  and  respectable  congregation."  At  this  unexpected 
exordium  the  attention  became  more  profound.  "  Things  appear  very 
different  from  what  they  did  when  I  first  came  to  New  York  City.  I 
landed  here  in  the  morning,  and  thought  I  would  try  if  I  could  find  any 
Baptists.  I  wandered  up  and  down,  looking  at  the  place  and  at  the 
people,  and  wondering  who  of  all  the  people  I  met  might  be  Baptists, 
At  length  I  saw  an  old  man,  with  a  red  cap  on  his  head,  sitting  on  the 
porch  of  a  rcspcctalile  looking  house.  Ah  !  thought  I,  now  this  is  one 
of  the  old  residents,  who  knows  all  about  the  city,  and  about  every  body 
in  it — this  is  the  man  to  enquire  of.  I  approached  him  and  said — '  Good 
afternoon,  Sir — can  you  tell  me  where  any  Baptists  live  in  this  city  ?' 
'  Hey  ?'  "  Hei-e  the  preacher,  in  imitation  of  the  action  of  the  deaf  old 
Gotharaite,  put  his  hand  to  his  ear,  and  bent  his  head  in  the  attitude  of  a 
listener.  Then  raising  his  voice,  as  if  shouting  into  the  ear  of  the  deaf  man, 
he  said, — '  Can   you   tell   me,    Sir,    where  I  can  find  any  Baptists  in  this 


DAVID  JONES.  g9 

place?'  'Baptists,  Baptists,'  said  the  old  man,  musing,  as  if  ransacking 
all  the  corners  of  his  memory,—'  Baptists  !  I  really  don't  know  as  I  ever 
hoard  of  any  body  of  that  occupation  in  these  parts  !!'  " 

The  attention  of  the  congregation  was  now  wide  awake.  Tliere  were 
of  course  many  t^miling  faces,  as  he  thus  sketched  his  first  attempt  to  find 
Baptists  in  the  City  of  New  York.  But  soon  he  turned  to  his  subject, 
and,  in  a  few  minutes,  tears  were  seen  in  the  eyes  of  half  the  congregation, 
and  no  doubt  many  good  impressions  were  made  by  his  discourse. 

Trusting  that  the  above  epitome  of  the  life  of  my  venerable  ancestor 
may  be  sufticicnt  for  your  purpose, 

I  remain,  very  truly  yours, 

HORATIO  GATES  JONES. 


JAMES  MANNING,  D.  D.^ 
1762—1791. 

James  Manning  was  of  Scottish  extraction,  and  was  born  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  N.  J.,  October  22,  1738.  His  parents,  James  and  Christian  Man- 
ning, were  persons  of  worth  and  respectability,  and  it  is  inferred,  from  the 
interest  which  he  himself  exhibited  in  agricultural  pursuits,  that  his  father 
was  a  farmer.  For  his  early  intellectual  and  moral  training  he  was  indebted 
chiefly  to  his  parents,  in  connection  with  the  school  in  his  native  village. 
The  precise  period  at  which  his  mind  became  permanently  interested  in 
religious  things  is  not  known  ;  though  it  is  known  that  he  made  a  public 
profession  of  his  faith  in  1758,  wlien  he  was  about  twenty  years  of  age. 

His  immediate  preparation  for  College  was  made  in  a  school  established 
at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  in  1756,  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton, f  "  for  the  education 
of  youth  for  the  ministry  ;" — the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in  this  coun- 
try in  connection  with  the  Baptist  denomination.  At  the  age  of  about 
twenty,  he  became  a  member  of  Princeton  College,  and  graduated  with  the 
highest  honours  of  his  class,  in  1762. 

Mr.  Manning  entered  the  ministry  shortly  after  leaving  College,  and, 
probably,  without  any  other  preparation  than  was  involved  in  his  college 
course,  together  with  that  amount  of  theological  reading  that  he  was 
able  to  connect  with  it.  But,  however  defective  may  have  been  his 
training, — and  it  was  an  evil  which  he  shared  in  common  with  most  of  ins 
brethren  at  that  day, — he  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  qualities  requi- 

•  Benediefs  Hist.  Bapt.  II. — Memoir  by  Prof.  Goddard. 

t  Isaac  Eaton  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Eaton,  of  Montgomery;  joined  Southampton  Church, 
and  oommencfd  preaching  at  an  early  age.  He  came  to  Hopewell  in  April,  174S,  and,  on  the 
29th  of  November  following,  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  that  place.  lie  continued  in  this 
relation  till  July  4,  1772,  when  he  died  in  the  forty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral 
Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Saniuel  Jones  of  PennepeU,  who  thus  briefly  portrayed 
his  character : — "The  natural  endowments  of  his  mind,  the  improvement  of  theso  by  tlie  accom- 
plishments of  literature,  his  early  and  genuine  piety,  his  abilities  as  a  Divine  and  a  Preacher, 
Lis  extensive  knowledge  of  men  and  books,  his  Catholicism  &c.,  would  afibrd  ample  scope  to 
flourish  in  a  Funeral  Oration;  but  it  is  needless.''  He  received  the  degree  of  .Alastcr  of  Arts 
from  three  Colleges — the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1756;  the  College  of  Philadelphia  iu  1761; 
and  Pihode  Island  College  in  1770. 

Vor..  VI.  12 


90  BAPTIST. 

site  to  constitute  a  popular  preaclicr  ;  and  hence  we  find  that,  from  his 
very  earliest  appearance  in  the  pulpit,  it  was  confidently  predicted  that  he 
Was  destined  to  be  a  burning  and  shining  light.  He  was  first  settled  as 
Pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Morristown,  N.  J.  Afterwards,  he  received 
an  urgent  solicitation  to  take  charge  of  a  congregation,  belonging  to  the 
same  denomination,  in  his  native  town,  which,  however,  he  felt  himself 
obliged  to  decline.  Shortly  after  this,  he  travelled  extensively  in  difi"erent 
parts  of  the  country,  with  a  view  to  enlarge  his  general  knowledge,  and 
particularly  to  make  himself  better  acquainted  with  the  moral  condition  of 
the  people. 

In  17G3,  he  was  married  to  Margaret  Stites,  daughter  of  John  and  Mar- 
garet Stites,  of  Elizabethtown, — a  lady  of  great  excellence  of  character, 
who  adorned  every  relation  she  sustained.  They  had  no  children.  Mrs. 
Manning  survived  her  husband  many  years,  and  died  in  Providence, 
11.  I.,  November  9,  1815,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

After  having  remained  at  Morristown  somewhat  less  than  a  year,  he 
accepted  an  invitation,  near  the  close  of  1763,  to  become  the  Pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Warren,  R.  I.  Shortly  after  entering  on  the  duties 
of  his  pastoral  charge,  he  instituted  a  Latin  school,  which  seems  to  have 
been,  if  not  the  germ,  at  least   the  harbinger,  of  Rhode   Island  College. 

Notwithstanding  it  was  only  a  scanty  support  that  he  gathered  from  his 
labours  here,  both  as  a  minister  of  the  Grospel  and  a  teacher  of  youth,  he 
prosecuted  his  double  vocation  with  great  contentment  and  alacrity,  and  was 
most  effectually  preparing  himself  for  that  wider  sphere  of  usefulness  which 
he  was  destined  to  occupy  in  coming  years. 

It  has  been  asserted  by  jMorgan  Edwards  that  the  College  was  originally 
projected  by  the  Philadelphia  Association ;  but,  admitting  that  the  con- 
ception originated  with  them,  there  is  little  or  no  doubt  that  the  part  which 
Manning  took  in  relation  to  it  fairly  entitles  him  to  the  honour  of  being 
considered  the  founder  of  the  institution  ;  and  the  motive  which  chiefly 
influenced  him,  probably,  was,  to  elevate  the  intellectual  character  and 
standing  of  the  Baptist  clergy.  In  1763,  he  proposed  to  several  influen- 
tial gentlemen  of  the  denomination,  assembled  at  Newport,  the  establish- 
ment of  "  a  Seminary  of  polite  literature,  subject  to  the  government 
of  the  Baptists."  The  project  having  been  favourably  received  by  them, 
he,  at  their  suggestion,  presented  a  plan  of  the  proposed  institution,  which 
also  met  their  approval.  A  charter  was  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
Colony  in  1764  ;  and  the  original  Corporation,  consisting  of  both  clergy- 
men and  laymen,  numbered  some  of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  the 
Colony,  and  among  them  Stephen  Hopkins  and  William  Ellery,  which 
afterwards  took  their  place  in  the  brightest  constellation  of  our  political 
horizon.  Notwithstanding  the  charter  secures  to  the  Baptists  a  controlling 
influence  in  the  College,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  an  influence  inconsistent 
with  the  grand  principles  of  universal  toleration. 

Mr.  Manning,  who,  from  the  beginning,  had  been  one  of  the  most  active 
and  influential  members  of  the  Corporation,  was  appointed,  in  September, 
1765,  "President  and  Professor  of  languages,  and  other  branches  of  learn- 
ing, with  full  power  to  act  in  those  capacities,  at  Warren  or  elsewhere." 
In  1766,  the  College  went  into  operation  at  Warren,  where  the  first  Com- 


JAMES  MAXNIXG.  91 

mcucement  was  held,  ami  a  class  of  seven  graduated,  in  September,  1769. 
To  this  class  belonged  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Rogers,  who,  in  his  later 
years,  was  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Hon.  James 
Mitchell  Varnum,  who  figured  as  an  eminent  lawyer  and  patriot,  and  was 
a  General  in  the  army  of  the  American  Revolution. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  College  commenced  its  operations  at  Warren, 
in  consequence  no  doubt  of  that  being  the  residence  of  Mr.  Manning,  yet, 
when  the  question  of  the  erection  of  a  college  edifice  came  to  be  considered, 
involving,  as  was  supposed,  the  ultimate  location  of  the  institution,  each 
of  the  several  counties  of  Newport,  Providence,  and  Kent,  put  in  its 
claims  with  ]3ri.stol  ;  and  it  was  not  without  a  patient  and  protracted  hear- 
ing, on  the  part  of  the  Corporation,  that  they  finally,  in  1770,  decided  "that 
the  said  edifice  be  built  in  the  town  of  Providence,  and  there  be  continued 
forever."  They  now  signified,  by  a  committee,  to  President  Manning, 
their  entire  approval  of  his  administration,  and  their  earnest  wish  that  he 
should  remove  with  the  institution  to  Providence  ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
and  by  the  same  committee,  approached  his  congregation  with  the  utmost 
delicacy,  with  a  view  to  obtain  their  consent  to  the  proposed  arrangement. 
His  separation  from  his  charge  having  been  amicably  effected,  he  removed  to 
Providence,  with  the  other  officers  of  the  College,  and  the  undergraduates, 
in  ^lay,  1770  ;  and,  in  the  course  of  that  year  was  erected,  chiefly  or 
entirely  at  the  expense  of  citizens  belonging  to  the  town  or  county  of  Provi- 
dence, the  first  college  edifice,  now  known  as  University  Hall.  The  first 
Commencement  at  Providence  was  held  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  Septem- 
ber, 1770,  when  a  class  of  only  four  graduated,  among  whom  was  the  Hon. 
Theodore  Foster,  who  was  afterwards,  for  many  years,  a  member  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States. 

President  Manning  now  addressed  himself  to  his  appropriate  duties  in 
connection  with  the  College,  with  an  earnestness  and  energy  not  a  little 
quickened  by  its  enlarged  accommodations,  and  by  the  constantly  increas- 
ing favour  which  it  found  in  the  eyes  of  a  liberal  community.  Morgan 
Edwards,  Hezekiah  Smith,  and  some  other  prominent  Baptist  clergymen, 
co-operated  with  him  with  great  vigour  and  efficiency ;  while  many  of  the 
more  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  town,  who  had  never  themselves 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  high  intellectual  culture,  were  found  more  than 
willing  to  help  forward  an  enterprise  which  contemplated  the  better  train- 
ing of  their  posterity. 

For  several  years,  the  College,  under  its  accomplished  and  devoted 
President,  was  constantly  growing  in  respectability  and  usefulness ;  but, 
in  common  with  some  other  similar  institutions,  its  prosperity  was  checked, 
and  its  operations  altogether  suspended,  by  the  Revolutionary  War.  In 
1776,  the  college  edifice  was  turned  into  a  barrack  for  the  militia,  and, 
afterwards,  into  a  hospital  for  the  French  army  under  command  of 
Rochambeau.  From  this  time  till  the  close  of  the  War,  in  17<S3,  the  Col- 
lege remained  dispersed,  and  no  degrees  were  conferred  until  1786.  During 
this  period.  President  Manning  was  constantly  occupied  with  the  duties  of 
the  ministry,  and  such  other  social  and  philanthropic  services  as  the  pecu- 
liar state  of  the  country  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  perform.  On  one 
occasion,   he    was  instrumental   of   obtaining   a    reprieve   for   three   men 


92  BAPTIST. 

belonging  to  tlic  regular  army,  wlio  had  been  condemned,  by  a  Court  Mar- 
tial, to  suifer  death.  By  his  earnest  entreaties  with  General  Sullivan,  the 
commanding  officer  in  that  department,  he  succeeded  In  obtaining  the  order 
just  in  time  to  arrest  the  execution  of  the  fearful  sentence.  lie  rode 
from  the  General's  house  with  the  utmost  speed,  and  reached  the  spot  with 
his  message  of  mercy,  after  the  appalling  ceremonies,  which  were  to  ter- 
minate in  the  discharge  of  the  fatal  volley,  had  begun.  The  proceedings 
were  instantly  stayed,  and  the  crowd  who  were  assembled  gave  utterance 
to  their  joy  in  no  equivocal  demonstrations,  while  the  individuals  who  were 
to  have  suffered,  were  well-nigh  paralyzed  by  the  tidings  of  deliverance. 

President  Manning  had  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  concerns  of  the 
country  from  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle  ;  but  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  idea  of  engaging  actively  in  political  life 
had  ever  occurred  to  him.  In  the  progress  of  the  conflict,  however,  his 
labours  were  put  in  requisition,  as  a  politician,  and  a  statesman.  The 
first  important  civil  function  that  was  confided  to  him,  and  the  exemplary 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  it,  are  thus  represented  by  the  venerable 
John  Ilowland,  President  of  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society : — 

"  The  rcpeatc'il  calls  of  tlie  militia,  while  the  enemy  remained  in  this  State,  (Rhode 
Island,)  operated  with  peculiar  severity;  in  some  districts  the  ground  could  not  he 
l)lanted,  and  in  others,  the  harvest  was  not  rea])ed  in  season;  the  usual  abuiidance  oC 
the  earth  fell  short,  anil  he  who  had  the  best  means  of  supply,  frequently  had  to  divide 
his  store  with  a  suffering  neighbour.  In  addition  to  this,  laws  existed  in  several 
States,  proliibiling  tlie  transport  of  jjrovisions  beyond  the  State  boundary.  The  plea 
for  these  restrictions  was  that  there  was  danger  of  the  enemy  being  sui)p!ied ;  but  the 
real  cause  was  to  retain  the  provisions  for  the  purjiosc  of  furnisliing  their  State's  quota 
of  troops,  as  the  "War  was  generally  carried  on  by  the  energy  of  the  Governments  of 
the  individual  States.  These  restrictions  came  with  double  weight  on  the  citizens  of 
Rhode  Island,  as  a  great  part  of  the  State  was  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  ami  the 
remainder  was  filled  with  those  who  had  fled  from  the  islands  and  the  coasts  for  safety. 
These  restrictioiis  and  jjrohibitions  were  variously  modified,  but.  und.-r  all  their  varia- 
tions, which  referred  chiefly  to  the  mode  of  executing  the  law,  the  grievance  was  th" 
same.  The  Governor  and  Council  of  War  of  Rhode  Island,  wishing  to  give  their 
language  of  remonstrance  a  power  of  impression  which  paj^er  could  not  be  made  to 
convey,  commissioned  Dr.  Jfanning  to  repair  to  Connecticut,  and  re[)resent  personally 
to  the  Government  of  that  State  the  peculiar  situation  of  Rhode  Island,  and  to  confer 
with  and  ])ropose  to  them  a  different  mode  of  procedure.  The  Doctor,  in  this  embassj*, 
obtained  all  that  he  desired;  the  restrictions  were  removed;  and.  in  addition  to  this. 
on  his  representation  of  the  circumstances  of  the  refugees  from  the  islands,  contribn- 
tions  in  money  or  ])rovisions  were  made  in  nearly  all  the  parishes  in  the  interior  of 
Connecticut,  and  forwarded  for  their  relief." 

But  President  Manning  was  destined  to  occupy  a  still  more  important 
and  responsible  post  in  civil  life.  In  178G,  at  a  crisis  of  great  depression 
and  alarm,  occasioned  hy  the  utter  failure  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
adopted  in  1781,  to  accomplish  the  ends  of  Government,  he  was  cho.^en  to 
represent  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
The  circumstances  of  his  election  to  that  office  were  somewhat  remarka- 
ble. Happening  to-step  into  the  State  House  one  afternoon,  from  motives 
of  mere  curiosity,  while  the  General  Assembly  was  holding  its  session 
there,  his  peculiarly  graceful  and  dignified  air  could  not  escape  the  obser- 
vation of  the  members.  There  was  a  vacancy  in  the  delegation  to  Con- 
gress, then  to  be  filled  ;  and  no  one  in  particular  had  been  proposed  as  a 
candidate.  Shortly  after  President  Manning  entered  the  room,  and  took 
his  seat.  Commodore  Hopkins,  then  a  member  of  the  assembly,  rose  and 
nominated  the  President  as  a  delegate  to  Congress ;  and  the  vote  being 


JAMES  MANNING.  93 

taken,  it  was  decisive,  it  is  believed  unanimous,  in  liis  favour.  Tlic  lion. 
Asliur  llobbins,  upon  whose  authority  this  statement  is  made,  remembered  to 
have  lieard  Commodore  Hopkins  say  tliat  the  thought  of  such  a  nomination 
had  never  occurred  to  him,  until  he  saw  President  Manning  enter  and 
take  his  seat  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly. 

As  Congress,  under  the  old  Confederation,  always  sat  with  closed  doors, 
and  allowed  no  report  of  their  proceedings  to  be  published,  it  is  not  known 
to  what  extent  INIr.  IManning  participated  in  their  debates;  it  is  inferred, 
however,  from  his  natural  readiness  as  a  speaker,  from  the  deep  interest 
which  he  felt  in  the  state  of  the  country,  as  well  as  from  the  perfect  fami- 
liarity which  he  subsequently  evinced  with  the  various  subjects  that 
came  before  them,  that  he  must  have  been  not  only  a  deeply  interested, 
but  a  very  active,  member  of  the  Body.  On  one  occasion,  he  was  brought 
into  unpleasant  collision  with  one  of  the  delegation, — an  impetuous  young 
man,  from  Georgia.  The  member  referred  to  had  made  some  offensive 
allusion  to  the  New  England  States  ;  and  Mr.  Manning  repelled  the  attack, 
and  turned  the  tables  upon  him  by  referring  to  some  of  the  less  attractive 
features  of  his  own  State.  The  young  man  assumed  a  threatening  tone, 
and  appeared  in  Congress  the  next  day  with  his  sword  by  his  side,  and 
with  an  avowed  intention  of  violence  upon  his  antagonist.  Such,  however, 
were  the  demonstrations  of  the  Body  that  he  was  glad  to  lay  aside  his 
sword,  and  before  night  he  apologized  to  Mr.  Manning  for  his  offensive 
conduct. 

Oti  receiving  the  appointment  of  Delegate  to  Congress,  Mr.  Manning 
obtained  leave  from  the  Corporation  to  be  absent  from  College  from  March 
till  September ;  and,  during  this  period,  his  place  was  supplied  by  the 
llev.  Perez  Fobes,  at  that  time  a  Congregational  minister  of  Raynham, 
Mass.,  and  shortly  after  a  Professor  in  the  College.  At  the  expiration  of 
the  time  for  which  he  had  obtained  leave  of  absence,  he  returned,  and 
entered  again  with  alacrity  and  zeal  upon  his  accustomed  duties. 

Dr.  Manning  was  an  earnest  advocate  for  the  adoption  of  our  present 
National  Constitution,  fully  believing  that  on  that  measure  the  future  well- 
being  of  the  country  was  suspended.  Being  aware  that  several  clergymen 
nf  his  own  denomination  were  members  of  the  Convention,  and  that  they 
generally  looked  upon  the  proposed  Constitution  with  a  jealous  eye,  ho. 
went  to  Boston  with  a  view  to  exert  whatever  influence  he  could  to  disarm 
his  brethren  of  their  prejudices,  and  bring  them  to  act  as  he  fully  believed 
the  interests  of  the  nation  required.  In  this  effort  he  was  seconded  by  his 
intimate  friend.  Dr.  Stillman,  who  was  himself  a  member  of  the  Body, 
;ind  two  or  three  other  very  influential  clergymen  ;  but  their  arguments 
seem  to  have  availed  little  with  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed.  The 
question  of  ratification,  however,  was  finally  carried  by  a  majority  of  nine- 
teen. Ju^t  before  the  final  vote.  Governor  Hancock,  the  President  of  tlie 
Convention,  called  upon  Dr.  Manning  to  pray  ;  and,  though  the  rccjuesl. 
took  him  by  surprise,  he  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  offered  a  prayer  in  wldch 
patriotism  and  piety  were  most  delightfully  blended,  and  wdiich  left  an 
extraordinary  impression  upon  the  whole  Assembly.  On  his  return  to 
Providence,  after  the  Convention  had  closed  its  sessions,  he  met  his  friends 
with    the  warmest   gratulations,  and   could    scarcely  find   language   strong 


94  BAPTIST. 

enough  to  express  his  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  result  which  had  Leen 
reached. 

It  will  naturally  be  inquired  whether  Dr.  Manning,  during  the  period  in 
which  he  presided  over  the  College,  and  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  affairs 
of  State,  wholly  intermitted  his  duties  as  a  Christian  minister.  So  far 
from  this,  he  seems  always  to  have  regarded  the  ministry  as  his  appropriate 
calling,  and  to  have  been  never  more  in  his  element  than  when  he  was  dis- 
pensing the  consolatory  and  sanctifying  truths  of  the  Gospel  to  his  fellow- 
creatures.  Soon  after  he  removed  to  Providence,  he  was  invited  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Windsor,*  then  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  to  occupy 
his  pulpit  a  certain  Sabbath,  on  winch  was  dispensed  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Mr.  Windsor  invited  Dr.  Manning  to  join  with  them  in 
the  celebration  of  the  ordinance  :  to  which,  however,  a  portion  of  the 
church  strongly  objected,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  recognise  the 
principle  of  "  transient  communion."  From  this  there  grew  up  a  trouble- 
some controversy  in  the  church,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  secession  of 
a  portion  of  the  communicants,  with  their  Pastor,  who  subsequently  identi- 
fied himself  with  the  dissentients,  on  other  grounds  than  those  upon  which 
the  controversy  commenced.  After  Mr.  Windsor  had  retired,  the  church 
formally  appointed  Dr.  M.  to  be  their  pastor,  pro  teni'pore,  or  to  use  his 
own  language,  "  until  there  may  be  a  more  full  disquisition  of  this  matter, 
or  time  to  seek  other  help  ;  at  least  until  time  may  prove  whether  it  will 
be  consistent  with  my  other  engagements,  and  for  the  general  interest  of 
religion." 

From  the  commencement  of  his  pastoral  labours  at  Providence,  the 
church  of  which  he  had  the  charge  experienced  a  manifest  revival,  in 
respect  to  both  its  numbers  and  graces.  It  was  soon  found  that  a  larger 
house  of  worship  was  needed,  and  then  it  was  that  the  spacious  and  beauti- 
ful edifice  was  erected,  which  to  this  day  remains,  a  noble  testimony  to  the 
taste  and  public  spirit  of  the  generation  that  produced  it.  It  was  dedica- 
ted in  May,  1775,  and  a  Sermon  preached  on  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Manning, 
from  the  text, — *'  This  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the 
gate  of  Heaven."  During  a  period  of  about  twenty  years,  he  continued  the 
stated  minister  of  that  chvirch,  preaching  not  only  to  the  satisfaction,  but 
to  the  delight,  of  his  hearers ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  discharged  his 
varied  and  arduous  duties  in  connection  with  the  College,  with  the  most 
exemplary  fidelity.  It  is  wonderful  that  he  could  have  performed  such  an 
amount  of  labour  ;  and  it  is  only  to  be  accounted  for  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  gifted  with  a  versatility  and  readiness  of  mind,  which  enabled  him  to 
preach  admira])ly  with  but  little  preparation,  and  to  accommodate  himself 
with  great  facility  to  every  variety  of  circumstances. 

•  Samuel  Wintisor  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Windsor,  who  was  born  in  Proviilence,  R. 
I.J  in  1677;  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  his  native  place,  in  17.''.o,  and 
continued  in  this  relation  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  17th  of  November,  1758.  lie 
(the  son)  was  born  in  Providence,  November  1,  1722,  and  was  ordained  as  his  fatlier's  successor 
June  21,  1759.  He  continued  for  about  ten  years  in  the  acceptable  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
his  office:  but,  about  the  year  1770,  he  requested  tlie  church  to  provide  an  assistant  or  succes- 
sor, as  his  duty  to  liis  family  forbade  him  to  pfrfcirni  any  longer  the  r.mount  of  service  to  which 
he  had  been  accustomed.  The  Rev.  James  !\Iaiining  was  acovdingly  employed,  in  1770;  but, 
owing  to  some  difficulty  that  arose  in  connection  with  his  introduction  there,  jNIr.  Windsor  witli- 
drew.  with  a  small  portion  of  the  congregation,  and  formed  a  new  church,  at  Johnston,  a  f i  w 
miles  from  Providence,  to  which  he  subsequently  ministered. 


JAMES  MANNING.  95 

Dr.  Manning,  during  the  whole  of  the  latter  part  of  lils  ministry, 
seems  to  have  been  oppressed  by  the  reflection  that  tlic  interests  of  his 
congregation  required  more  attention  than  he  was  able  to  give  to  them  ; 
and  hence  he  more  than  once  intimated  a  wish  that  he  might  be  allowed  to 
resign  his  pastoral  office.  Notwithstanding  the  affections  and  wishes  of  his 
flock  would  still  have  detained  him,  he  actually  did  resign,  in  1791,  and, 
on  the  last  Sabbath  of  April  in  that  year,  preached  his  Farewell  Sermon. 
It  was  a  deeply  affecting  occasion  to  both  himself  and  his  people  ;  and  it, 
subsequently,  derived  a  greatly  increased  interest  from  the  fact  that  it 
proved  the  harbinger  of  his  removal  from  all  earthly  scenes.  It  would 
seem  almost  as  if  he  had  a  presentiment  that  the  time  of  his  departure  was 
at  hand  ;  for  he  not  only  relinquished  his  pastoral  charge,  but,  at  the 
Annual  Commencement,  in  1790,  expressed  to  the  Corporation  of  the 
College  his  wish  that  they  would  select  some  suitable  person  to  succeed 
him  as  President.  But,  before  his  request  had  been  complied  with,  they 
were  summoned  to  follow  him  to  the  grave.  While  he  was  engaged  in 
family  worship,  on  Sabbath  morning,  July  24,  1791,  he  was  seized  with  a 
fit  of  apoplexy,  which,  from  the  beginning,  deprived  him,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, of  consciousness,  and  terminated  his  life  on  the  succeeding  Friday,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-three. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Manning  produced  a  great  sensation  throughout  the 
whole  community.  Not  only  the  congregation  who  had,  for  so  many  years, 
been  edified  by  his  ministerial  labours,  and  the  students  of  the  College  who 
had  enjoyed  his  valuable  instruction,  as  well  as  been  the  objects  of  his 
parental  solicitude,  and  the  Corporation,  and  all  v/ho  were  associated  with 
him  in  the  government  of  the  institution, — not  only  these,  but  the  whole 
intelligent  portion  of  the  State  at  large,  besides  many  in  every  part  of  the 
countr}',  felt  most  deeply  that  a  great  man  had  fallen.  On  the  day  suc- 
ceeding his  death,  his  remains  were  conveyed  from  his  dwelling  to  the 
College  Hall,  where  the  Funeral  service  was  performed,  by  the  llev.  Dr. 
Hitchcock,  a  Congregational  minister  in  Providence,  and  one  of  the  Fel- 
lows of  the  College.  On  the  next  Sabbath,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Maxey  and 
the  Rev.  Perez  Fobes,  both  of  them  at  that  time  Professors  in  the  Col- 
lege, delivered  impressive  and  eloquent  Funeral  Discourses  to  the  congre- 
gation that  had,  for  so  many  years,  been  privileged  to  sit  under  his 
ministry. 

The  Corporation  of  the  College,  in  due  time,  erected  a  monument  over 
his  grave,  on  which  is  inscribed  a  fitting  record  of  his  extraordinary  talents 
and  worth,  and  his  eminently  useful  life.  In  later  years,  one  of  his  pupils, 
Nicholas  Brown  Esq.,  built,  at  his  own  expense,  a  noble  edifice  for  the  use 
of  the  University,  which  he  has  named  in  honour  of  his  venerated  teacher, 
Manning  Hall. 


FROM  THE  HON.  WILLIAM  HUNTER,  L  J..  D., 

MEMBER  OF    THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE.   ETC. 

Providence,  .Tanuiiry  li),  1818. 
My  dear  Sir:     I  was  a  member  of  the   class  in  Brown  University  that  gra- 
duated the  year  that   Dr.   Manning   died,  and   of  cour.se  the   last   class   that 
enjoyed  the  full  benefit  of  his  instruction.     I  had  great  reverence   for  him  as 


96  BAPTIST. 

a  Man,  a  Minister,  and  the  President  of  a  College;  and  am  glad  to  contribute 
any  recollections  of  him  that  remain  with  me,  in  aid  of  your  design  to  frame 
some  enduring  memorial  of  his  talents  and  worth. 

I  may  safely  say  that  Dr.  Manning  inspired  his  own  times  with  a  deep 
sense  of  his  high  qualities  as  a  Scholar,  an  Orator,  a  Statesman,  a  Theolo- 
gian, and  an  Educationist.  As  he  died  in  1791,  there  are  few  of  the  present 
generation  who  can  claim  to  have  known  him.  A  general  impression  of  his 
high  excellence  remains;  but  what  composed  it,  now  that  it  has  become  a 
matter  of  tradition,  is  so  indistinctly  stated,  that  it  rather  irritates  than 
satisfies,  the  spirit  of  rational  inquiry.  His  few  surviving  contemporaries 
ought,  therefore,  to  retrace  what  they  can  remember  of  him, — not  the  minute 
facts  that  make  up  biographical  detail,  but  those  prominent  lines  and  marks 
M'^hich  constitute  character.  If  1  understand  your  request,  this  is  what  you 
wish  me  to  do,  and  what  I  shall  now  attempt. 

In  the  first  place,  to  satisfy  a  natural  and  excusable  curiosity,  I  would  say 
thatin  person.  President  Manning  was  not  only  beyond  the  ordinary  size,  but 
in  these  "  degenerate  da3\s,"  Avould  be  deemed  bulky,  and  would  have  been 
so  regarded  in  his  own  days,  if  he  had  not  known  literally  how  to  carry  off 
his  bulk.  His  motions  and  gestures  were  so  easy  and  graceful  that  ordinary 
observers  thought  not  of  his  immense  volume  of  flesh,  and  those  who  criti- 
cised, admired  the  manner  by  which  it  was  spontaneously  wielded.  I  do  not 
know  that  he  had  ever  read  Hogarth's  Analj-^sis  of  Beauty,  but  he  moved  in 
his  line  of  grace.  His  face  was  rotund  and  handsome,  his  head  large,  and 
his  countenance  intelligent  and  impressive. 

As  a  Scholar,  President  Manning  was  highlj''  respectable.  To  the  immense 
erudition  of  President  Stiles  he  could  make  no  pretension.  He  Avas  bred  in 
(Jolonial  times,  at  an  institution,  (Princeton),  then  and  ever  since  distin- 
guished for  thorough  scholarship,  especially  in  the  department  of  the  classics. 
Manning  certainlj^  delighted  to  teach  both  the  Roman  and  Greek  classics, — 
Horace  and  Cicero  being  his  favourites  in  the  former,  and  Longinus  in  the 
latter.  In  my  time,  he  never  heard  recitations  in  the  Mathematics  or  Natu- 
ral Philosophy,  or  in  Rhetoric  and  Criticism,  then  taught  by  the  study  of 
Blair's  Lectures,  and  Karnes'  Elements.  But  he  taught  Logic,  Metaphysics, 
and  Moral  Philosophy,  and  in  these  he  was  always  at  home.  Our  Logic  was 
that  of  Watts, — as  useful  perhaps  as  any.  Our  Metaphj^sics,  Locke's  Essay 
on  the  Human  Understanding.  He  taught  Sophomores  the  former,  and  Seniors 
the  latter,  with  apparently  equal  delight.  Our  Moral  Philosophy  was 
Palc3''s,  then  a  new  work.  I  think  the  President  never  appeared  to  more 
advantage  than  when,  after  dwelling  with  all  praise  on  Paley's  general 
merits, — his  clearness  of  style,  his  aptness  of  illustration,  and  his  compara- 
tive liberality  of  sentiment,  he  endeavoured  to  guard  us  against  the  abuses 
that  might  result  from  the  indefinite  adoption  of  his  doctrine  of  expediencj*. 
He  took  occasion,  too,  amply  to  vindicate  our  larger  notions  of  religious  free- 
dom, our  rejection  of  an  Established  Church  and  of  privileged  orders.  His 
opinions  were  soundly  republican.  He  regarded  freedom  as  a  blessing  that 
could  be  perpetuated  only  by  an  education  sound  and  wide,  involving  the 
inculcation  upon  the-rising  generation  of  an  enlightened  love  of  order  and 
submission  to  law. 

President  Manning  has,  so  far  as  I  know,  published  no  book.  It  is,  there- 
fore, difficult  to  estimate,  or  describe  him  as  a  writer.  He  was  chiefly  an 
extemporaneous  speaker,  and  for  that  reason  perhaps  never  wrought  out  for 
himself  any  peculiar  model  style.  In  his  sermons  he  was  careful  in  regard 
to  the  divisions  of  his  subject,  but  in  his  general  range  of  thought  he  moved 
with  the  largest  freedom.  His  periods  were  shaped  by  his  impulses,  and 
were  modulated,  if  not  with  the  view,  certainly  with  the  effect,  of  increasing 


JAMES  MANNING.  97 

the  power  of  his  elocution,  and    of  giving  swell,  depth,  tone,  to  his  almost 
peerless  voice. 

His  admonitory  addresses  to  the  students  (sometimes  made  necessary  by 
juvenile  excesses)  were  bursts  of  indignant  and  pathetic  reprimand.  But  his 
rule  was  mild,  and  his  scheme  of  administration  seemed  entirely  free  from 
causeless  suspicions,  and  over  minute  search  for  petty  offences.  Ilis  imposing 
presence,  his  dignity,  his  impressiveness,  were  his  instruments  of  government. 

It  hardly  becomes  me  to  speak  of  him  as  a  Theologian,  and  yet  I  could  not 
help  observing,  in  some  degree,  his  course  of  reading.  Gill's  Commentaries, 
the  \vorks  of  Doddridge  and  Watts,  and  some  of  Baxter's,  Saurin's,  and 
Tillotson's  Sermons  were  always  about  him. 

llis  position  in  Society  was  eminentl}'  desirable.  His  influence  was  that  of 
high  literary  merit  rendered  easily  accessible,  of  urbane  and  polished  man- 
ners inviting  intercourse,  and  of  great  moral  elevation  and  purity.  Ilis 
election  to  the  old  Congress  was  a  spontaneous  tribute  to  his  acknowledged 
worth.  So  far  from  soliciting  or  expecting  the  appointment,  it  took  him 
wholly  by  surprise. 

Sucli,  very  briefly,  is  the  record,  from  an  old  man,  in  his  seventy-fourth 
year,  of  feelings  and  opinions  he  entertained  at  sixteen. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  HUNTER. 


HEZEKIAH  SMITH,  D.  D. 

1763—1805. 

FROM  THE  KEY.  SAMUEL  F.  SMITH,  D.  D. 

Kewton  Centre,  Mass.,  August  30.  1858. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  Dr.  Hezckiah  Smith  was  the  paternal  grandfather 
of  my  wife  ;  and  thus  many  facts  and  incidents  of  his  life,  and  many  an 
heir  loom,  have  come  into  my  possession.  From  the  materials  at  my  com- 
mand, I  am  happy  to  furnish  you  such  a  sketch  of  him  as  I  suppose  the 
plan  of  your  work  contemplates.  I  ought  to  say,  however,  that  he  seems 
to  have  studiously  avoided  historical  notoriety,  and  suppressed  the  means, 
if  they  ever  existed,  of  any  extended  posthumous  notice.  He  left  no  con- 
tinuous nor  even  fragmentary  record  of  his  life,  out  of  which  his  biography 
I'ould  be  framed,  nor  would  he  ever  permit  a  painter  to  delineate  his 
features  on  canvass. 

Hezekiah  Smith  was  born  on  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  April  21,  1737. 
He  became  pious  in  early  life,  and  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in  New 
York  city,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Gano,  before  he  was 
nineteen  years  old.  He  commenced  his  classical  education  at  the  Academy 
in  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  one  of  the  earliest  Academies  founded  by  the  Baptist 
"churches  for  the  education  of  pious  young  men  for  the  ministry.  From 
this  Academy  he  entered  the  College  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  then  under  the 
Presidency  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies.  He  graduated  in  1762,  and 
received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  course,  in  176'). 

After  leaving  College,  it  was  deemed  requisite  for  him  to  rc-invigorate 
his  health,  which  had  become  impaired  by  study,  by  a  tour  in  the  Southern 

Vol.  VI.  13 


98  BAPTIST. 

Proviuces,  In  a  single  year  he  travelled  four  thousand  miles,  aud  laid  the 
foundation  of  lasting  friendship  with  men  whose  intercourse  and  corres- 
pondence proved  a  delight  to  him  in  his  riper  years.  At  Charleston,  S. 
C,  he  was  ordained  by  several  ministers  of  the  Charleston  Association, 
aud  resided  in  that  Province  some  time  afterwards.  He  supplied  the 
pulpit  of  what  was  then  known  as  the  Cashaway  Church,  near  the  Pedee 
liiver,  and  preached,  as  he  was  able,  in  other  places  in  the  vicinity.  His 
labours  were  both  acceptable  and  useful.  Not  intending,  however,  to  make 
South  Carolina  liis  permanent  residence,  he  left  in  the  spring  of  1T()4,  and 
came  to  New  EnglancL  He  was  admitted  to  preach  in  several  Congrega- 
tional pulpits,  and  a  Divine  blessing  attended  his  ministry.  When  he  first 
visited  Haverhill,  the  committee  of  the  West  parish  in  the  town,  which 
was  then  destitute  of  a  minister,  invited  him  to  preach  awhile  in  their 
meeting-house.  An  unusual  attention  to  religion  was  then  prevailing  in 
the  parish,  and  at  this  juncture  he  both  enjoyed  much  satisfaction  and  was 
eminently  useful.  But,  as  the  people  were  not  Baptists,  they  desired,  after 
a  time,  to  settle  a  minister  of  their  own  faith.  Hence,  after  a  few  months, 
they  instructed  their  committee  to  procure  a  minister  whose  views  of  the 
New  Testament  were  harmonious  with  their  own. 

Mr.  Smith  now  resolved  to  return  to  New  Jersey,  where  several  of  his 
relatives  resided.  The  day  was  fixed  for  his  departure  from  the  scene  of 
his  labours  and  successes.  In  the  morning,  several  young  persons  came  to 
visit  him,  deeply  aifected  by  the  prospect  of  losing  their  loved  and  revered 
teacher,  by  whose  instrumentality  they  had  been  brought  to  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  exhibited  their  ardent  affection  towards  him, 
and  expressed  the  wish  that  he  would  baptize  them.  Still  they  found  him 
fixed  in  his  determination.  Notwithstanding,  they  ventured  to  utter  their 
conviction  that  he  would  soon  return,  and  be  their  minister.  He  replied, — 
"If  I  return,  your  prayers  will  bring  mo  back."  The  same  day  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Boston,  and  the  day  following  commenced  his  journey  to  Provi- 
dence. But,  after  he  had  advanced  eighteen  or  twenty  miles,  the  words 
were  impressed  with  unusual  weight  upon  his  mind, — "  Strengthen  ye  tlie 
weak  hands,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees.  Say  to  them  that  are  of  a 
fearful  heart,  Be  strong,  fear  not ;  behold  your  God  will  come  with  ven- 
geance, even  God  with  a  recompense;  He  will  come  and  save  you."  (Is. 
XXXV.  3.  4.)  Stopping  his  horse,  he  mused  a  while  on  the  occurrence. 
He  soon  proceeded,  but  was  shortly  after  arrested  again  by  the  same 
passage.  Yielding  to  the  impulse,  he  turned  his  horse,  and  rode  back  to 
Boston.  Here  he  found  two  persons,  sent  by  his  friends  in  Haverhill  to 
solicit  his  return.  He  readily  accepted  their  invitation,  and  went  back 
the  next  day  to  Haverhill,  where  he  was  received  with  many  expressions 
of  affection  and  ^-atitude. 

The  first  time  he  preaclied,  after  his  return,  was  from  Acts  x:  29 — 
'•  Therefore  I  came  unto  you  without  gainsaying,  as  soon  as  I  was  sent  for  ; 
I  ask,  therefore,  for  what  intent  ye  have  sent  for  me  V  The  jieople  at 
once  erected  a  meeting-house  for  him,  aud  thus  commenced  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  in  Haverhill,  of  which  he  was  the  honoured,  beloved  and  successful 
Pastor  for  forty  years.  The  church  was  organized  May  9,  1705,  and  Mr. 
Smith  was  publicly  recognised  as  the   Pastor,  November   12,   176G.     The 


HEZEKIAII  SMITH. 


99 


ministers  who  officiated  on  the  occasion  wore  the  Rev.  John  Gano,  of  Now 
York,  Dr.  Manning,  President  of  Brown  University,  and  Dr.  Stilhuan,  of 
Boston. 

He  continued  to  maintain  correspondence  with  his  brethren  in  South 
Carolina,  and  to  Mr.  Smith,  in  connection  with  Oliver  Hart  and  Francis 
Polot,*  of  that  State,  is  to  be  given  the  credit  of  originating  a  Society  in 
Charleston  to  aid  pious  young  men  studying  for  the  ministry. 

His  life  was  now  devoted  to  the  care  of  his  church  and  congregation, 
and  great  success  crowned  his  labours.  The  church  acquired,  under  his 
ministr}',  a  commanding  position  and  a  leading  influence  in  the  town,  which 
it  has  maintained  till  this  day. 

Besides  his  labours  at  home,  he  performed  very  widely  the  work  of  a 
home  missionary  at  his  own  charges.  It  was  on  one  of  these  missionary 
tours  that  an  occurrence  took  place  which  has  often  been  related,  and 
often  without  being  accredited  to  the  true  actor  in  the  scene.  On  a  journey 
into  Maine,  he  arrived  weary  at  a  public  house,  where  he  sought  lodgings 
for  the  night.  "  A  gathering  crowd  soon  made  him  acquainted  with  the 
fact  that  a  ball  was  to  take  place  in  the  house  that  evening.  Intending 
soon  to  seek  the  retirement  of  his  room,  he  paid  no  attention  to  the  gay 
party  near  him,  but  was  warniing  himself  by  the  parlour  fire-side,  in  pre- 
paration for  repose,  when,  to  his  surprise,  he  Avas  waited  upon  by  a  depu- 
tation, with  the  request  that  he  should  join  in  the  mirth  of  the  evening. 
He  politely  declined  ;  but  they  urged  his  acceptance.  Again  he  begged  to 
be  excused,  and  again  they  insisted  on  having  his  company.  At  length, 
overcome  by  their  entreaties,  he  accompanied  them  to  the  hall,  where  the 
assembly  was  waiting  to  commence  the  dance.  His  appearance  being  that, 
of  a  gentleman,  the  company  were  desirous  of  showing  him  some  marked 
respect ;  and  united  in  inviting  him  to  take  the  most  prominent  part  in  the 
performance.  Finding  himself,  involuntarily,  in  this  predicament,  he 
resolved  to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  turn  the  whole  affair,  if  possible,  to 
some  moral  benefit.  So,  after  having  acknowledged,  in  his  own  eas}"  and 
pleasant  manner,  the  attention  which  had  been  shown  him,  he  remarked 
that  he  had  always  made  it  a  principle,  through  life,  never  to  engage  in 
any  employment,  without  having  first  asked  the  blessing  of  God  ;  and  he 
presumed  that  the  courtesy  of  the  company  would  be  farther  extended  to 
him,  while  he  engaged  in  this  imperative  act  of  duty.  Upon  this,  he 
immediately  commenced  a  prayer.  The  singular  turn  which  was  thus 
given  to  the  anticipated  amusement  of  the  evening,  produced  a  remarkable 
effect.  The  commanding  tones  of  his  voice  ;  his  impressive  style  of  suppli- 
catory address ;  the  fervour  of  his  prayer,  and  the  solemn  allusions  made  in 
it,  rivetted  first  upon  himself  every  eye,  and  then  upon  his  sentiments  every 
heart,  so  that,  before  he  closed,  many  were  dissolved  in  tears. 

"Finding,  as  he  ended,  the  way  quite  prepared,  he  began  a  close  and 
pathetic  address  to  the  consciences  of  his  audience,  and  continued  it  some 

•Francis  Pklot,  A.  M.,  was  born  at  Norville  in  .Switzerland,  March  11,  1720.  His  parents 
were  I'rcsbvterians.  Having  received  a  good  education  in  liis  native  country,  he  migrated  tti 
Sontii  Car.ilina  in  1".'34,  and  ten  year?  afterwards  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Baptists.  Soon 
after  the  Kutaw  Church  was  constituted,  he  was  called  to  be  its  Pastor,  and  held  the  place, 
with  much  reputation  and  usefulness,  until  his  death,  in  1771.  He  possessed  an  ample  fortune 
and  a  valuable  library,  and  was  a  diligent  student. 


100  BAPTIST. 

lengtli  of  time.  The  result  was  most  happy.  Suffice  it  to  say,  there  was  no 
music  or  dance  there,  that  evening.  The  company  broke  up  with  pensive 
thoughts.  Many,  who,  to  that  hour,  had  been  immersed  in  the  gay  and 
dissipating  pleasures  of  this  life,  now  resolved  to  break  off  their  sins  by 
righteousness,  and  seek  a  more  solid  and  substantial  good.  A  work  of 
grace,  of  uncommon  interest,  commenced  in  the  neighbourhood,  and,  on  the 
return  of  Mr.  Smith  in  the  following  year  to  that  region,  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  receiving  the  blessings  of  many  of  this  same  party,  who  had 
been  raised,  through  his  instrumentality,  to  a  new  life,  and  who  were 
exhibiting,  in  their  deportment,  the  genuine  virtues  of  the  Cliristian 
character." 

In  the  year  1775,  commenced  the  struggle  of  the  American  Colonies 
with  the  mother  country.  The  Baptists  had  always  been  the  friends  of 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  at  this  critical  period  were  among  the 
first  to  pledge  their  fortunes  and  lives  in  its  defence.  Their  Chaplains 
were  among  the  most  prominent  and  useful  in  the  army,  and  their  spirit 
and  principles  were  not  unappreciated  by  Washington,  as  the  following 
letter  from  the  Commander  in  Chief,  addressed  to  Samuel  Ilarriss.  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  the  United  Baptists  in  Virginia,  will  testify  : — 

"  While  I  recollect,  with  satisfaction,  that  the  religious  Society  of  which 
you  are  members,  have  been,  throughout  America,  uniformly  and  almost 
unanimously,  the  firm  friends  to  civil  liberty,  and  the  persevering  promoters 
of  our  glorious  Revolution,  I  cannot  hesitate  to  believe  that  they  will  be  faith- 
ful supporters  of  a  free,  yet  efficient  general  government.  Under  the 
pleasing  expectation,  I  rejoice  to  assure  them  that  they  may  rely  upon  my 
beat  wishes  and  endeavours  to  advance  their  prosperity. 

"  George  Washington.' 

In  1776,  Mr.  Smith  received  appointment  as  Chaplain  in  the  American 
army  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  tender  ties  binding  him  to  his  flock,  he 
left  his  people  and  home,  and  continued  in  the  army  four  years.  He  became 
the  intimate  friend  of  Washington,  and  possessed  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  whole  army.  Repeatedly  did  he 
expose  his  life  in  battle,  and  ever  was  he  among  the  foremost  in  encouraging 
the  soldiers,  and  in  soothing  the  sorrows  of  the  wounded  and  dying.  He  was 
the  humble,  heroic,  holy  man,  who  would  never  compromise  his  principles  in 
any  station,  but  reproved  vice,  with  a  boldness  of  tone  and  manner  which, 
contrasting  with  his  gentleness  in  the  approval  of  virtue,  awed  the  most 
hardened  into  respect  and  fear.  Devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  army, — 
above  all,  devotion  to  the  God  of  armies,  gave  him  a  superiority  of  worlli 
and  of  influence  which  all  admired  and  confessed.  The  proofs  which  he  gave 
of  his  disinterestedness,  were  constant  and  striking.  In  urging  the  necessity 
of  pure  morals,  and  dependance  on  a  Divine  arm  for  success  in  the  grenl 
enterprise  of  freedom,  he  himself  was  the  living  example  of  what  he  recom- 
mended ;  and,  on  every  occasion,  would  he  sustain  the  efforts  of  the  patriot 
by  his  exertions,  his  sympathies,  and  his  prayers." 

After  the  clouds  of  war  had  been  dispersed,  Mr.  Smith  returned  joyfully 
to  his  family  and  his  parish,  and  to  the  sacred  duties  to  which  he  had  con- 
secrated his  life.  In  his  work  at  home,  and  his  missionary  tours  abroad, 
his  time  was  fully  occupied,  and  the  even  tenor  of  life  flowed  on. 


IIEZEKIAII  SMITH.  JQl 

lie  was  also  an  arJcnt  friend  of  eJucatioii,  and,  in  connection  with  Dr. 
Manning,  used  the  most  strenuous  endeavours  to  secure  the  cstablislmient 
and  prosperity  of  Brown  University.  To  obtain  funds  fur  its  support,  he 
travelled  through  various  parts  of  the  country,  at  much  personal  sacrifice. 
He  was  eniiiientlv  fitted  for  the  service,  and  his  efforts  were  highly  success- 
ful. He  was,  at  an  early  period,  elected  one  of  the  Fellows  of  the  Uni- 
versity, and  in  ITDT  received  from  it  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity, — 
an  honour  not  inappropriate  to  a  man  of  great  personal  worth,  extensive 
attainments,  and  a  character  vcnera})le  for  age  and  sanctity. 

Dr.  Smith  was  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  Haverhill, 
forty  years.  As  he  grew  in  years,  he  advanced  in  every  excellence  that 
could  adorn  the  Christian  and  minister,  and  gained  a  deeper  hold  on  all  who 
came  within  the  sphere  of  his  influence.  He  often  expressed  the  wish  that 
he  might  not  outlive  his  usefulness,  and  his  desire  was  graciously  fulfilled. 
He  preached,  for  the  last  time,  among  his  people,  on  the  Sabbath,  from 
John  xii.  24 — "  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it 
abideth  alone  ;  but  if  it  die,  it  bringcth  forth  much  fruit."  The  sermon 
was  unusually  impressive,  and  a  revival  of  religion  followed,  to  which  it 
seemed  introductory.  On  the  Thursday  succeeding,  he  was  seized  with 
paralysis,  and  spoke  no  more.  His  life-work  was  finished,  and  its  record 
complete.  He  lay  a  week  in  this  condition,  and  died  January  22,  1805, 
in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty-second  of  his  ministry. 
A  Discourse  was  preached  at  his  Funeral  by  Dr.  Stillman  of  Boston, 
from  Acts  xiii.  3(3,  His  ashes  repose  in  the  village  graveyard  at 
Haverhill,  surrounded  by  many  of  bis  parishioners  and  the  fruits  of  his 
ministry. 

Dr.  Smith  was  married,  shortly  after  his  settlement  at  Haverhill,  to  iMiss 
Hepzibah  Kimball,  of  Rowley,  Mass, — (some  testimony  maintains  of  Box- 
ford,  Mass.)  They  had  four  children, — Hezekiah,  who  became  a  fanner, 
and  died  a  few  years  since  at  Northumberland,  N.  H.;  William,  wlio  was 
at  one  time  engaged  in  marine  pursuits  ;  Jonathan  Kimball,  who  died  at 
my  house,  in  Newton,  in  October,  1843,  aged  sixty-eight  ;  and  Rebecca, 
who  became  the  wife  of  the  late  Tliomas  Wendall,  for  many  years  a  highly 
respected  Deacon  of  Dr.  Sharp's  Church  in  Boston.  She  died,  nearly 
half  a  century  ago,  in  great  peace.  Mrs.  Smith  died  on  the  9th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1824. 

Dr.  Smith  was  a  man  of  commanding  presence,  large  and  well  propor- 
tioned, inspiring  respect  by  his  dignity,  and  winning  affection  by  his  affa- 
bility and  grace.  His  voice  was  one  of  unusual  compass  and  power,  and 
his  genuine  eloquence  opened  a  way  for  his  message.  His  views  of  truth 
were  strictly  evangelical,  and  his  ministry  combined,  in  due  proportions, 
the  doctrinal,  the  practical,  and  the  experimental.  He  never  wrote  his 
sermons,  but  uniformly  went  into  his  study  on  Thursday  morning,  and 
ilevoted  the  residue  of  the  week  to  careful  preparation  for  the  duties  of 
the  Sabbath.  He  left  a  large  number  of  skeletons  of  sermons,  which  sup- 
ply a  general  idea  of  his  method  ;  but  the  life  of  his  ministry  is  among 
the  treasured  things  belonging  to  memory  and  to  God. 

Allow  me  to  add  an  incident  or  two  in  Dr.  Smith's  experience,  illustra- 
tive of  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 


102  BAPTIST. 

When  his  influence  began  to  be  largely  felt  in  Haverhill  and  the  vicin- 
ity, many  members  of  the  Standing  Order,  both  clergy  and  laity,  were  not 
a' little  grieved  at  the  progress  of  Baptist  opinions,  and  of  course  looked 
somewhat  coldly  upon  hiin,  as  their  exponent  and  representative.  Dr. 
Smith,  however,  took  it  all  with  meekness  and  dignity.  When  days  of 
fasting  and  prayer  were  held,  with  reference  to  this  peculiar  state  of  things, 
he  was  often  present,  as  an  auditor,  in  the  public  assemblies.  When  less 
conscientious  men  annoyed  him  by  petty  physical  persecution,  he  possessed 
his  soul  in  patience.  Once,  when  he  was  contemplating  a  missionary  tour, 
liis  horse  was  brought  to  him  in  the  morning,  having  been  denuded,  the 
preceding  night,  of  his  mane  and  tail.  "  Ah,  old  fellow,"  said  the  good 
man,  "  you  may  as  well  go  back  to  the  pasture  till  your  mane  and  tail  are 
grown."  When  a  stone  was  thrown,  with  evil  intent,  through  his  window, 
and  would  have  done  him  serious  damage,  had  he  been  occupying  his  usual 
place  in  his  study,  he  quietly  laid  it  up,  as  a  memorial  of  God's  protecting 
providence. 

Tlie  most  amusing  instance  of  persecution,  which  occurred  to  him,  was 
once  when  he  went  to  a  neighbouring  town  to  preacli.  The  Constable  of 
the  town,  a  weak  and  inferior  looking  person,  was  moved  to  go,  clothed  in 
the  majesty  of  the  law,  and  "  warn  him  out  of  the  place."  The  little  offi- 
cer, on  coming  into  the  presence  of  one  of  such  commanding  person,  and 
bearing  all  the  airs  of  a  consummate  gentleman, — on  such  an  errand,  was 
very  naturally  much  confused,  and,  on  opening  his  mouth  to  deliver  his 
message,  said, — "I  warn  you — off  of  God's  earth."  "  My  good  Sir,"  said 
the  preaclier,  "  wliere  shall  I  go  ?"  "Go  any  where,"  was  the  reply  ;  "go 
to  the  Isle  of  Shoals."  It  ma}'  be  presumed  that  the  expounder  of  the  law 
was  scarcely  aware  of  the  indignity  done  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  sea- 
girt rocks,  in  placing  tlieir  geographical  position  so  far  out  of  the  ordinary 
track  of  navigators.  Dr.  Smith  was  of  course  amazed,  but  did  not  feel 
himself  under  obligation  to  undertake  so  dubious  a  journey. 

I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  fraternally  yours, 

S.  F.  SMITH. 

FROM  THE  REV.  LABAN  CLARK,  D.  D. 

MiDDLETOWN,  Conn.,  March  1,  1852. 

Dear  Sir:  There  are  certain  incidents  in  one's  life,  which,  though  of  no 
great  moment  in  themselves,  yet  leave  lasting  impressions  on  the  mind,  and 
lead  to  important  ultimate  results.  Such  was  the  slight  acquaintance  I  had 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hezekiah  Smith,  concerning  whom  you  ask  for  my  recol- 
lections. 

My  parents  were  born  in  the  vicinity  of  Haverhill,  where  he  was  a  settled 
Pastor,  but  migrarted  in  early  life,  with  the  first  settlers,  to  the  Coos  coun- 
try, on  the  Connecticut  River,  some  time  before  the  Revolutionary  War.  In 
their  religious  views  and  attachments  they  were  decided  Congregationalists; 
but  they  entertained  a  high  regard  for  Dr.  Smith,  and,  in  my  boyhood,  I 
often  heard  tliem  speak  of  him,  both  as  a  man  and  a  minister,  in  terms  of 
high  commendation.  Dr.  Smith  occasionally  visited  that  country.  I  remem- 
ber hearing  liim  preach  in  our  parish  church,  when  I  was  about  eighteen 
years  of  age.  The  two  congregations  (Congregational  and  Baptist)  came 
together;  for  all  were  desirous  of  hearing  him.     Though  I  was,  at  that  time. 


IIEZEKIAH  SMITH.  ^03 

u  stranger  to  the  power  of  religion,  I  well  recollect  that  I  was  much   inte- 
rested in  the  appearance  of  the  man,  and  highly  delighted  with  his  eloquence. 

In  the  fall  of  1800,  when  I  was  about  entering  the  ministry,  I  made  a  visit 
to  my  relatives  in  Haverhill  and  its  vicinity,  among  whom  was  my  father's 
youngest  sister,  a  member  of  Dr.  Smith's  church.  She  was  a  devoted  Chris- 
tian, and,  as  might  be  e.\pected,  warmly  attached  to  her  excellent  Pastor.  1 
was  gratilied  to  learn  from  her  that  the  Doctor's  fame  was  as  good  at  home 
as  it  was  abroad;  and  that,  after  a  ministry  of  more  than  thirty  years,  his 
popularity  and  usefulness  among  his  people  remained  undiminished.  I  availed 
myself  of  this  opportunity  of  hearing  him  in  his  own  church.  When  I  arrived 
at  the  place  of  worship,  the  younger  members  were  just  concluding  a  prayer- 
meeting;  and  the  house  seemed  hallowed  with  the  Divine  presence.  I  took 
my  seat,  not  only  as  a  willing  worshipper,  but  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
learn,  if  possible,  the  secret  of  the  great  popularity  and  unusual  success  of 
the  preacher  to  whom  T  was  to  listen.  The  Doctor  soon  entered  the  pulpit, — 
a  man  of  venerable  appearance  and  stately  form, — robust,  but  not  corpulent; 
his  locks  white  as  wool;  his  ej'e-brows  retaining  their  natural  dark  hue;  his 
face  full  and  fair,  bearing  almost  the  flush  of  youth,  and  beaming  with  intel- 
ligence and  good-will;  and  his  manner  grave  and  dignified,  and  well  befitting 
the  office  of  an  ambassador  of  God.  He  commenced  the  public  service,  after 
the  usual  form,  with  singing  and  prayer.  The  prayer  was  solemn,  devout, 
compreliensive,  and  did  not  exceed  six  or  eight  minutes.  He  then  announced 
his  text;  and,  after  a  brief  introduction,  passed  on  to  the  exposition,  which 
was  clear,  concise  and  full,  while  his  illustrations  were  uncommonly  natural 
and  appropriate.  His  composition  was  chaste  and  manly,  and  his  delivery 
earnest  and  impassioned.  The  sermon  occupied  about  thirty  minutes;  at  the 
close  of  which,  he  went  off,  for  ten  minutes  more,  into  a  highly  impressive 
exhortation;  and  then  concluded  with  an  affecting  prayer  of  about  three  min- 
utes. The  entire  service  did  not  exceed  fifty  minutes;  and  the  congregation 
seemed  to  hang  upon  his  lips,  with  eager  attention,  to  the  last,  and  left  the 
church  with  a  good  relish  for  more.  While  I  was  edified  and  delighted  with 
the  service,  I  was  at  no  loss  as  to  the  secret  of  the  uncommon  success  which 
attended  his  ministry.  While  he  laboured  to  keep  his  own  heart  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  his  Master,  he  fed,  not  glutted,  his  flock  with  the  sincere  milk  of 
the  word;  not  exhausting  his  subject,  nor  yet  the  patience  of  his  hearers.  1 
considered  him  a  model  preacher;  and,  during  my  own  ministry  of  fiftj- 
years,  I  have  never  lost  sight  of  his  admirable  manner  of  conducting  the  ser- 
vices of  the  sanctuary. 

Dr.  Smith's  superior  talents  and  accomplishments,  his  remarkably  well 
balanced  character  and  untiring  devotion  to  his  work,  undoubtedly  placed  him 
among  the  most  prominent  ministers  of  his  day.  Not  by  his  own  commu- 
nion only,  but  by  all  evangelical  denominations,  he  was  held  in  the  highest 
respect  while  he  lived,  and  was  tenderly  and  reverently  mourned  for,  when 
his  earthly  labours  were  ended. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  your  most  respectful  and  affectionate  brother  and  fellow- 
servant  in  Christ, 

LABAN  CLARK. 


104:  BAPTIST. 


SAMUEL  JONES,  D.  D  * 

1763—1814. 

Samuel  Jones  was  a  sou  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Jones,  who  was  born  at 
Newton,  Glamorganshire,  South  Wales,  in  1708 ;  came  to  America  in 
1737  ;  was  ordained  in  1710,  the  first  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Tulpohokin,  Pa.,  wliich  was  constituted  chiefly  of  emigrants  from  Wales, — 
on  the  19th  of  August,  1738  ;  and  died  in  the  year  1788.  In  the  Min- 
utes of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,  held  at  Philadelphia,  in 
October  of  that  year,  there  appears  the  following  record  : — "  By  a  letter 
from  the  Church  at  the  Great  Valley,  we  were  informed  that  the  Divine 
Providence  has  removed,  in  the  year  past,  that  ancient  and  beloved  servant 
of  Christ,  Thomas  Jones,  as  we  trust,  to  the  Church  triumphant." 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  on  the  14th  of  January,  1735,  at  a 
place  called  Cefen  y  Gelli,  in  Bettus  Parish,  in  Glamorganshire,  South 
Wales,  and  was  brought  to  this  country  by  his  parents,  when  he  was  two 
years  old.  His  father  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  was  able  to  give  him  the 
best  advantages  for  education  which  the  country  could  furnish.  Accor- 
dingly, he  sent  him,  in  due  time,  to  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  where  he 
received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  on  the  18th  of  May,  17G2.  He 
immediately  devoted  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and,  on  the  2d 
of  January,  1763,  was  ordained  at  the  College  Hall,  at  the  instance  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and 
became  Pastor  of  the  United  Churches  of  Pennepek  and  Southampton. 
In  1770,  he  resigned  the  care  of  the  Southampton  Church,  and  devoted 
himself  entirely  to  that  of  Pennepek,  afterwards  called  Lower  Dublin, 
from  the  name  of  the  township  in  which  it  was  situated.  Of  this  latter 
church  he  was  Pastor  upwards  of  fifty-one  years. 

In  the  autumn  of  1763,  Mr.  Jones  repaired,  by  request,  to  Newport, 
11.  I.,  and  new  modelled  a  rough  draft  they  had  of  a  charter  of  incorpo- 
ration for  a  College,  which,  soon  after,  obtained  the  legislative  sanction. 
This  was  the  germ  of  Brown  University.  He  received  the  Honorary 
Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  the  College  of  Rhode  Island,  in  1769; 
and  the  Honorary  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  College  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  1788. 

With  the  work  of  the  ministry  Dr.  Jones  connected  that  of  a  teacher 
of  youth  ;  and,  in  the  latter  capacity,  as  well  as  in  the  former,  he  was 
much  distinguished.  He  was  remarkably  considerate  and  judicious  in  his 
attentions  to  young  men,  especially  with  reference  to  their  becoming  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel-;  and  not  a  few  who  have  been  useful,  and  some  who 
have  been  eminent,  in  the  ministry,  were  educated  under  his  care. 

The  Minutes  of  the  Philadelphia  Association  show  that  Dr.  Jones, 
during  the  whole  period  of  his  connection  with  it,  was  one  of  its  most 
useful  members.  Here  he  is  appointed  to  frame  a  System  of  Discipline, 
and  there  to   compile   a  Book   of  Hymns,  and   again   to   draw  up  a  Map 

*  Dr.  Staughton's  Fun.  Serm. — Min.  Phil.  Assoc. — MSS.  from  General  Duncan  and  Mrs. 
Sarah  A.  Griffith. 


SAMUEL  JONES.  105 

representing  the  various  Associations :  one  year  lie  holds  tlic  ofRce  of 
Moderator,  and  the  next  writes  the  Circular  Letter  to  the  Churches,  and 
the  next  perforins  some  other  important  public  service — indeed  it  is  impos- 
sible to  look  through  the  Minutes  without  perceiving  that  he  was  always 
one  of  the  master  spirits  of  the  Body.  Few  men  could  manage  more 
adroitly  than  he  a  difficult  and  involved  case;  and,  sometimes,  by  a  single 
suggestion,  in  a  deliberative  Body,  he  would  bring  light  out  of  the  thickest 
darkness,  and  order  out  of  the  wildest  confusion.  His  services  were 
almost  always  put  in  requisition  at  the  constitution  of  churclics,  and  the 
ordination  of  ministers,  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey. 

In  the  course  of  his  pilgrimage,  he  was  called,  several  times,  to  suffer 
severe  affliction.  In  August,  1778,  he  lost  three  lovely  children  in  two 
weeks;  two  of  whom, — his  sons  Thomas  and  Samuel, — the  one  thirteen 
years  of  age,  and  the  other  ten,  were  laid  in  the  same  grave.  Being 
devotedly  attached  to  them,  he  observed  to  a  Christian  mother,  after  the 
interment,  that  ho  was  astonished  to  find  himself  able  to  speak  over  their 
grave.  In  his  latter  years,  he  found  a  source  of  much  comfort  and  amuse, 
ment  in  his  grandchildren. 

The  approach  of  death  occasioned  no  dismay  to  this  venerable  man  ;  for 
he  had  been  for  half  a  century  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  intelligent  and 
unwavering  Christian  hope.  With  the  great  Apostle  he  could  say, — "  I 
know  in  whom  I  have  believed."  He  devoutly  recognised  God's  goodness 
in  having  granted  him  so  long  a  life,  and  crowned  it  with  such  abundant 
testimonies  of  his  favour.  "  When  alone,"  said  he  to  a  friend,  "  I  tune 
like  a  nightingale  at  the  prospect  of  dying;"  and,  on  another  occasion, — 
"  I  have  now  finished  my  course,  and  am  going  to  rest."  At  one  time,  as 
he  was  lying  down,  greatly  exhausted,  he  said — "  See  here  a  picture  of  a 
poor  man."  His  mental  faculties  continued  in  calm  and  delightful  exercise 
till  the  last,  though  his  physical  suffering,  attendant  on  the  final  conflict, 
was  intense.  On  Monday,  the  7th  of  February,  1814,  he  closed  his  own 
eyes,  and,  shortly  after,  sunk  into  his  last  slumber,  A  Sermon,  commemo- 
rative of  his  life  and  character,  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton, 
of  Philadelphia,  in  May  following. 

Dr.  Jones  published,  beside  what  has  been  already  referred  to,  a  Sermon 
entitled  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Covenant,"  preached  at  Pennepek,  in 
1783,  and  a  Century  Sermon,  preached  at  ths  opening  of  the  Philadelphia 
Baptist  Association,  in  1807. 

He  was  married,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1764,  to  Sylvia  Spieer,  of 
Cape  May  County,  N.  J.  They  had  five  children,  all  of  whom  died  young, 
with  the  exception  of  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Harris,  who  died  January  0, 
1856,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  her  age.  Mrs.  Jones  died  on  the  23d 
of  July,  1802,  aged  sixty-six  years. 

FROM  GENERAL   WILLIAM   DUNCAN. 

PiiiLADEXPiiiA,  September  18,  185G. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  quite   willing  to  give  you  my  recollections  of  the  Rev. 

Dr.  Samuel  Jones;  for  though  I  have  seen  eighty-four  years,  tlie  appearance 

of  that  venerable  mau  is  still  vividly  in  my  memory,  and  his  character  embalmed 

in  my  heart.     My  particular  acquaintance  Avith   liim  commenced  as  earli'  as 

Vor..  VI.  14 


106  BAPTIST. 

1797,  in  connection  with  an  exchange  of  property  "which  I  made  with  him; 
and,  during  eight  years,  in  which  I  resided  at  Bustleton,  a  few  miles  from  this 
city,  I  Wiis  a  constant  attendant  on  his  ministry.  We  were  often  visiters  at 
each  others'  liouses;  and  I  had  every  opportunity  I  could  desire  of  seeing  and 
hearing  him,  both  in  public  and  in  private. 

Dr.  Jones  was  a  large,  lirmly  built  man, — six  feet  or  more  in  height,  and 
every  way  well  proportioned.  His  face  was  the  very  image  of  intelligence  and 
good-nature;  which,  with  the  air  of  dignity  that  pervaded  all  his  movements, 
rendered  his  appearance  uncommonl}^  attractive  and  impressive.  His  intellect 
was  confessedly  of  a  very  superior  order;  but  I  think  was  more  distinguished 
for  solid  than  brilliant  qualities.  His  temper  was  remarkable  for  equanimity 
and  kindliness, — for  that  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil;  and,  though  I  have 
sometimes  seen  him  in  circumstances  which  were  well  fitted  to  disturb  his 
equanimity,  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  witnessed  in  him  the  least  sign  of 
auger,  or  to  have  seen  him  even  thrown  off  his  guard.  These  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart  gave  him  a  commanding  influence,  not  only  in  his  denomination,  but  in 
society  at  large.  His  great  knowledge  of  human  nature,  together  with  his 
firmness,  self  control,  and  peaceable  and  dignified  bearing,  imparted  a  weight 
to  his  opinions  and  counsels,  which  can  be  claimed  for  comparatively  few  cler- 
gymen whom  I  have  known. 

Dr.  Jones  had  a  deservedly  high  reputation  as  a  preacher.  His  voice  was 
piaturally  well  .suited  to  public  speaking;  though,  in  his  latter  j-ears,  it  became 
somewhat  husky  and  less  attractive.  His  person  was  commanding,  his  attitudes 
in  the  pulpit  simple  and  natural,  and  his  whole  manner  such  as  could  not  fail 
to  leave  the  impression  that  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  truths  which  he 
was  delivering.  The  staple  of  his  discourses  was  evangelical  truth  :  the  great 
doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified  he  delighted  to  present  in  its  various 
relations;  and  his  grand  aim  evidently  was  to  bring  his  hearers  under  its  prac- 
tical influence.  His  sermons  were  not  remarkable  for  splendid  rhetoric,  nor  did 
they  contain  elaborate  philosophical  discussions;  but,  for  vigorous  thought, 
sound  common-sense  reasoning,  and  an  effective  presentation  of  Divine  truth, 
they  certainly  held  a  very  high  rank.  He  delivered  himself  with  great  freedom, 
and  generally  spoke  either  without  any  manuscript  before  him,  or  from  short 
notes. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  visit  this  excellent  man  in  his  last  illness,  and  to  wit- 
ness the  workings  of  his   strong   faith,  when  he   was  just  ready  to  put  on 
immortality.     May  our  last  end  be  like  his,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 
Your  affectionate  brother  in  Christ  Jesus, 

WILLIAM  DUNCAN. 


THE  BURROWSES. 

Silas  Burrows.         1765 — 1818. 
RoswELL  Burrows.  1801 — 1837. 

FROM     WILLIAM    II.    POTTER,    Esq. 

Mystic  River,  Conn.,  February  25,  1859. 
Dear  Sir :  Though  I  i-egret  that  some  one  could  not  have  been  found 
more  competent  tlian  myself  to  do  justice  to  those  venerable  men, — Silas 
and  Roswell  Burrows,  I  will  cheerfully  furnish  you  such  information  con- 
cerning them  as  T  have  been  able  to  obtain.  What  I  shall  communicate 
has  been  gathered  chiefly  from  surviving  relatives  and  friends  ;  from  manu- 


THE  BURROWSES.  107 

scripts  left  by  Ekler  lloswell  Burrows  ;  from  tlie  Records  of  tlio  clmrch 
they  served  ;  from  the  Minutes  of  Public  Bodies  ;  and,  I  may  add,  from  a 
residence  of  some  twenty  years  on  a  portion  of  the  field  they  cultivated. 

Silas  Burrows  was  born  at  Fort  Hill,  in  Groton,  in  the  year  1741. 
His  father,  Amos  Burrows,  was  the  fourth  in  descent  from  llobcrt  Bur- 
rows, one  of  the  tlirce  original  proprietors  of  the  town.  Amos  Burrows 
had  been  educated  a  strict  Congregationalist  ;  but,  early  in  the  great  New- 
Light  Stir,  he  and  his  wife, — 3Iary  Rathbone,  whom  he  married  in  Col- 
chester,— united  with  others  in  forming  a  little  church  of  Separates,  who 
chose  Elder  Park  Avery*  to  be  their  Pastor.  With  this  then  despised, 
but  truly  pious  and  heroic,  band,  they  retained  their  membership  during 
life.  Indeed,  Mr.  Burrows  had  the  approbation  of  his  brethren  to  conduct 
meetings,  and  "  in)prove  his  gift,"  which  he  occasionally  did  in  a  humble 
way,  to  the  edification  of  his  hearers,  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1773, 
in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  wife  survived  him  more  than  thirty 
years.  Of  their  nine  children,  Amos,  the  eldest  son,  united  with  the  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Groton,  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  finally  closed  his  useful 
labours  in  Central  New  York.  His  second  son,  Silas, — the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  married  to  Mary  Smith,  daughter  of  Isaac  Smith,  of  the  same 
town,  with  whom  he  lived  happily  nearly  sixty  years,  and  who  preceded 
him  to  the  grave  only  about  two  years.  He  was  married,  only  a  few 
months  before  his  death,  to  Mrs.  Phebe  Smith,  who  survived  him. 

Mr.  Burrows  became  hopefully  pious  when  he  was  about  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  during  a  revival  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  under  the  preaching  of 
Elder  Reynolds,  a  New  Light  Baptist  minister  from  Norwich,  who  organ- 
ized a  small  church  near  Fort  Hill,  which  was  afterwards  known  as  the 
"  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Groton."  This  church  made  choice  of  Silas 
Burrows  as  their  leader  ;  and  he  was  ordained  about  the  year  1765,  and 
held  the  office  during  the  long  period  of  fifty-three  years.  He  did  not  pre- 
tend to  much  learning,  but  Ik;  had  unquestionable  piety,  ardent  zeal,  and 
a  well  balanced  mind;  and  considerable  success  attended  his  labours. 
There  was  need  of  great  energy  to  overcome  the  opposition,  which  at  once 
beset  the  new  enterprise  on  all  sides.  There  were  churches  of  Congrega- 
tionalists.  Separates,  and  stricter  Baptists,  around  him,  who  confidently 
predicted  that  the  movement  would  prove  a  failure;  while  Infidelity  was 
taking  the  attitude  of  open  and  stern  resistance.  Still,  however,  their 
numbers  gradually  increased,  and  they  were  constantly  encouraged  by  fresh 
tokens  of  the  Master's  presence.  The  stirring  times  of  the  Revolution 
were  approaching,  and,  like  his  Baptist  brethren  elsewhere.  Elder  Burrows 
at  once  boldly  espoused  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  saw  in  that  struggle  not 
only  the  political  enfranchisement  of  the  land,  but  a  boon  which  to  him 
and  his  oppressed  people  was  still  dearer, — freedom  to  worship  God  inde- 
{.endently  of  the  Civil  Power.  It  is  true  that  the  Baptists  of  Groton  were 
shielded  from  many  embarrassments  and  annoyances,  to  which  their  breth- 

•  Elder  Park  Avery  was  reputed  to  be  an  eminently  pious  man,  and  was  milJ  and  winning 
in  his  aihlress,  and  greatly  beloved.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  and  counsellor  of  Elder  .Silas 
Burrows,  while  he  lived.  He  had  four  sons,  and  a  grandson  nged  sixteen,  in  the  Fort,  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre.  Two  of  his  sons,  and  his  grandson,  were  killed  outright.  Both  of  the 
surviving  sons  were  wounded,  one  of  them  losing  an  eye  and  part  of  his  skull.  The  old  man 
staggered  under  this  awful  shook,  but  murmured  not,  and  died  in  1797,  aged  eighty-seven. 


108  BAPTIST. 

ren,  in  some  places,  were   subjected  ;  but  it  was   rather   through  the  mag- 
nanimity of  the  Congregational  ministry  than  the  protection  of  the  law. 

Perhaps,  in  no  portion  of  our  country  was  the  patriotism  of  the  people 
more  severely  tested,  during  tlie  War  of  the  llevolution,  than  in  Groton. 
On  tliat  eventful  morning  when  Fort  Griswold  was  captured  by  the  Brit- 
ish, in  sight  of  his  residence,  and  forty-two  wives  became  widows  in  one 
day.  Elder  Burrows  was  neither  indifferent  nor  inactive.  He  rushed  to 
the  Fort  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  his  two  youthful  brothers, — both  of  whom 
were  members  of  his  household.  He  found  only  the  hat  of  one  of  them. 
The  appalling  sight  of  sixty  of  his  neighbours  lying  dead  in  their  gore,  and 
thirty  others  mortally  or  very  dangerously  wounded, — from  the  youth  of 
fifteen  to  the  man  of  gray  hairs,  cannot  be  even  faintly  portrayed.  Elder 
Burrows  did  wdiat  he  could  in  tliis  trying  hour  to  comfort  the  mourner,  to 
soothe  the  wounded,  and  to  point  the  dying  patriot  to  the  Lamb  of  Grod. 
His  ministrations  in  connection  with  this  appalling  scene  did  much  to  con- 
ciliate the  favour  of  the  community,  not  only  towards  himself,  but  towards 
the  church  of  which  he  had  the  charge.  Indeed,  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  providential  preparation  for  that  extensive  revival  of  religion  which 
followed  the  next  year,  the  memory  of  which  has  come  down  to  us,  fra- 
grant with  tlie  blessings  of  many  an  aged  saint,  who,  in  our  day,  has 
delighted  to  detail  its  glorious  results.  Meanwhile,  his  brothers  returned 
to  his  house,  from  their  weary  captivity  and  confinement  in  the  prison-ship 
of  the  enemy,  to  communicate  the  sniall-pox  to  his  family.  He  removed 
his  wife  to  a  place  of  safety,  and  opened  his  dwelling  as  a  hospital,  where, 
although  many  had  the  disease,  but  one  person  died  of  it. 

During  the  revival  of  1782-83,  several  of  his  children  were  gathered 
into  the  church,  and  among  them  Daniel  and  Rosivell,  who  afterwards 
became  preacliers.  Da?iiel  subsequently  united  with  the  Methodi:-'ts,  and 
represented  his  native  State  in  Congress,  where,  without  compromising 
his  character  as  a  servant  of  God,  he  faithfully  served  his  country.  He 
died  in  his  native  town,  in  1858. 

The  borders  of  Elder  Burrows'  church  and  congregation  now  became  so 
much  extended  that  they  found  private  houses  no  longer  large  enough  to 
accommodate  the  people.  The  Pastor's  own  house  had  been  enlarged  and 
opened  expressly  for  their  Sabbath  meetings ;  but  they  now  resolved  to 
build  a  meeting-house  on  land  given  for  the  purpose  by  their  Pastor.  This 
edifice  was  soon  so  far  advanced  as  to  make  it  suitable  for  public  assem- 
blies, thougli  it  was  many  years  before  it  was  completed.  Soon  after  its 
erection,  the  Groton  Conference  was  organized  in  it.  This  Body,  which 
was  composed  of  a  score  of  churches  of  the  same  faith  and  order,  was  espe- 
cially dear  to  Elder  Burrows,  who  ever  bore  a  chief  part  in  its  delibera- 
tions, until,  some  twenty  years  later,  it  united  with  another  similar  Body 
in  forming  the  Stonington  Union  Association,  which,  in  turn,  held  its  first 
session  in  the  same  house.  In  these  meetings,  the  ever  watchful  eye  and 
warm  heart  of  Father  Burrows  were  felt,  in  guarding  the  independency  of 
the  churches,  checking  unholy  innovations,  cherishing  their  own  mode  of 
worship  and  form  of  doctrine,  and  binding  together,  in  the  bonds  of 
love,  the  tlien  feeble  sisterhood  of  Baptist  churches.  It  would  be 
pleasant  to    recall  the    names  of  the  godly  ministars  who  laboured  with 


THE  BURROWSES.  |09 

liim,  and  wltli  wliom  he  was  most  intimate.  Elders  Zadoc  Duirow,*  of 
Waterford,  Jason  Lee,t  of  Lyme,  Peter  llogers.t  of  IJozrali,  Samuel 
West,  ^  of  New  London  ;  and,  subsequently,  Asa  Wilcox,  II  of  Lyme,  John 
8terry,  of  Norwich,  Joseph  Utley,1[  of  Hartford,  in  his  own  State  ;  and 
William  Northup,  Philip  Jenkins,  and  Josiah  Wilcox,  of  Rhode  Lsland, 
were  members  of  the  same  old  Groton  Conference  of  which  Elder  Jiurrows 
was  regarded  as  the  father.  Then,  in  the  Stonington  Association,  were 
the  Wightmans,  the  Palmers,**  the  Miners, tt  and  the  Browns, tl:  with 
others, — a  noble  brotherhood,  with  whom  he  took  sweet  counsel,  in  a  day 
when,  without  salaries,  but  not  without  great  sacrifices,  these  men  of  God 
laid  the  foundation  of  that  prosperity  in  Zion,  which  few  of  their  number 
lived  to  see,  but  which  we  so  richly  enjoy. 

The  most  considerable  revival  which  occurred  under  Father  Burrows' 
ministry,  whether  we  regard  its  number  of  converts  or  the  period  of  its' 
continuance,  began  in  January,  1809,  and  continued  eighteen  months. 
After  the  church  had  spent  a  day  in  Fasting  and  Prayer,  Father  Burrows 
and  his  son,  who  was  at  that  time  Assistant  Pastor,  accompanied  by  their 
Deacons,  commenced  visiting  from  house  to  house,  and  holding  more  fre- 
quent meetings  in  all  parts  of  their  parish,  and  in  adjoining  towns,  as  the 
Providence  of  God  opened  the  way.  While  the  son  was  preaching  one 
night,  the  mighty  power  of  God  came  down,  and  souls  were  born  into  the 
Kingdom,  almost  constantly,  for   many  months.      One   hundred  and  thirty 

•  Zadoc  Darrow,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Waterford,  was  born  December  25, 
(0.  S.)  172S.  llo  was  the  only  son  of  Kbenezer  Darrow,  and  liis  mother  was  a  Rogers,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  .John  Rogers,  the  Martyr.  He  was  educated  an  Episcopalian.  lie  was  converted 
under  the  preaching  of  Kidcr  .Joshua  Morse,  a  famous  New  Light  preacher,  and  was  himself 
ordained  over  the  AVatcrford  Church  in  ITGO,  and  continued  in  the  pastoral  office  till  his  death 
in  1827,  aged  ninety-nine  years,  having  been  a  minister  to  the  same  church  almost  sixty  years. 
Jlis  grandson,  the  Rev.  Francis  Dahkow,  was  associated  with  him  in  1809,  and  continued  in 
the  pastoral  relation  till  his  death,  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  and  in  the  forty-first 
year  of  his  ministry.     They  were  both  very  successful  ministers. 

f  JAS0>f  Lke,  the  second  Pastor  of  the  I'irst  Baptist  Church  of  East  Lyme,  was  the  son  of  the 
Rev.  .Joseph  Leo,  of  Jjong  Island.  He  was  ordained  and  settled  over  that  church  in  1774,  and 
continued  in  that  relation  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1810,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his 
age,  and  the  thirty-sixth  of  his  IVstonite. 

+  Pktkr  Rogrrs  was  born  in  Now  London,  Conn.,  in  1754.  His  father  was  Peter  Rogers, 
the  fourth  in  descent  from  James  I'.ogers,  the  earliest  of  the  name  who  came  to  New  England, 
and  who  claimed  to  be  a  great  grandson  of  John  Rogers,  the  Martyr.  I'eter  Rogers,  in  the 
parly  part  of  the  Revolutionary  AVar,  was  a  famous  privateersman.  He  afterwards  entered  the 
army,  and  won  distinction  in  the  Wasliington  Life  Guard.  In  March,  1790,  he  was  ordained 
Pastor  of  the  Bozrah  Baptist  Church.  His  first  wife  was  a  Green,  but  he  afterwards  married  a 
daughter  of  Elder  Zadoc  Darrow,  and  died  in  the  State  of  Illinois  in  1849,  in  the  ninety-sixth 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  sixtieth  of  his  ministry. 

^  Samukl  West  was  born  in  Hopkinton,  R.  I.,  October  0,  176G;  was  converted  in  1787;  was 
ordained  in  1799;  was  settled  for  ten  years  in  New  London;  and  finally  finished  his  useful 
labours  in  North  Madison,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  and  the  thirty-eighth  of  his 
ministry. 

.  II  Asa  Wilcox  was  the  son  of  tlie  Rev.  Isaiah  Wilcox,  of  Westerly,  R.  I.  The  father  died  at 
an  advanced  age,  in  179.3.  Ilis  son,  Asa,  was  ordained  in  1798;  married  Mercy  Rathbiin,  and 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  Connecticut.     He  died  at  Salem,  Conn.,  greatly  lamented,  in  18.14. 

^  J^*^'''^  I'tlev  was  a  proti'g'  of  Elder  Silas  Burrows,  with  whose  church  ho  united  at  the 
agfi  of  sixteen.  Ho  afterwards  became  an  opposer,  but  eventually  returned  to  the  church,  wiis 
ordained  in  Groton,  where,  for  many  years,  he  retained  his  membership,  while  itinerating  as  an 
Evangelist.  He  w.as  the  chief  instrument  in  a  revival  of  religion  in  Albanv,  N.  Y.,  which  «a.s 
the  means  of  establishing  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  city. 

••  Wait  Palmer  was  ordained  in  174:i;  CHRiSTorHER  Palmer  in  1782;  Ahel  Palmer  in 
1785;   REUBE>f  Palmer  in   1785;    Gershom  Palmer  in   1805;   Phineas  Palmer  in  isus. 

tf  AsHUR  Miner  was  ordained  in  1805,  and  died  in  1814;  Jonathan  .Miner  was  ordained 
in  1814. 

tl  Simeon  Brown,  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  of  North  Stonington,  was  ordained 
the  same  year  with  Elder  Silas  Burrows,  and  died  two  years  before  him.  Eleazar  BiiowN, 
Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  North  Stonincton,  was  ordained  in  1770,  and  died  Juno 
20,    1795.  "^ 


no  BAPTIST. 

were  ])aptized  into  Father  Burrows'  church,  and  a  large  number  into  Elder 
Wightnian's.  The  servant  of  God,  though  aged,  continued  to  preach  till 
within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death,  which  did  not  occur  till  he  had  lived  to 
see  his  church  flourishing,  and  to  witness  the  consummation  of  his  long- 
cherished  hopes  and  earnest  endeavours, — the  adoption  of  a  Constitution 
in  Connecticut,  securing  equal  religious  privileges  to  all.  Soon  after  this 
joyful  event,  feeling  that  his  warfare  was  accomplished,  he  sweetly  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus,  on  his  birth-day,  1818. 

Elder  Silas  Burrows  was  a  man  of  marked  character.  He  was  energetic 
and  did  nothing  b}'  halves.  He  was  not  hasty  in  forming  opinions,  nor 
did  he  claim  infallibility  for  them  when  formed.  But  he  brought  all 
things  to  the  Scripture  test,  and  if,  upon  a  candid  and  careful  examination, 
any  one's  conduct  or  views  could  not  be  there  sustained,  he  rejected  them 
without  hesitation  ;  and,  if  occasion  required,  he  openly  exposed  their 
fallacy.  A  striking  instance  of  this  occurred  in  reference  to  Jemima 
Wilkinson,  who  requested  liberty  to  preach  in  his  house,  claiming  a  newer 
light  than  had  been  vouchsafed  to  others.  Not  being  then  aware  of  her 
extravagant  views,  he  appointed  a  meeting  for  her,  at  which  she  boldly  and 
blasphemously  set  forth  her  fanatical  claims.  He  heard  her  through,  and 
then,  with  the  law  and  the  testimony  in  his  hands,  he  proceeded  to  unmask 
her  imposture,  quoting  chapter  and  verse  against  her  extravagant  preten- 
sions, till  she  could  bear  it  no  longer,  but,  interrupting  him,  said,  in  a  loud, 
imperious  voice,  accompanied  by  a  majestic  wave  of  her  hand, — "Silas 
Burrows,  dost  thou  know  with  whom  thou  art  contending.?"  "Oh  yes," 
said  he,  "with  Jemima  Wilkinson;"  and  proceeded  to  urge  home  the 
truth  of  God  against  her  fanaticism,  till  she  left  his  presence,  never  to 
trouble  him  again. 

In  preaching,  he  placed  great  reliance  on  the  sensible  presence  of  his 
Master,  and,  sometimes,  when  his  feelings  were  warmed  and  quickened  by 
a  powerful  Divine  influence,  he  delivered  himself  with  an  energy  and 
pathos  that  were  quite  irresistible.  But  hisjfor^e,  after  all,  was  in  prayer. 
Commencing  in  simple,  trusting  strains,  he  would  raise  his  heart,  his 
eyes,  his  voice,  and  his  right  hand,  to  Heaven,  while  his  left  hand 
crowned  his  temple,  and,  as  one  object  of  supplication  after  another  pre- 
sented itself,  it  seemed  not  only  to  himself  but  to  those  who  listened  as  if 
Heaven  and  earth  had  come  in  actual  contact.  I  hardly  need  add  that  the 
tone  of  his  preaching  was  clearly  and  decidedly  evangelical.  He  was 
eminently  faithful  in  reproving  vice,  in  visiting  the  sick  and  sorrowful, 
and  indeed  in  every  department  of  pastoral  duty. 

In  person  he  was  tall  and  commanding,  and  had  a  mild  blue  eye,  and  a 
stentorian  voice,  that  was,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  distinctly  heard 
in  the  open  air,  more  than  a  mile. 


RoswELL  Burrows,  a  son  of  Elder  Silas  Burrows,  was  born  at  Fort 
Hill,  in  Groton,  September  2,  1768.  He  was  an  apt  scholar,  and  received 
a   good   English    education.     While   yet   a   youth,   he   was   entered,   as   a 


THE  BURROWSES.  HI 

incrcliunt's  clerk,  with  Mr.  Daniel  Stanton,  a  frieuJ  of  the  family,  living 
at  Guilford,  who  took  a  lively  interest  in  his  welfare.  During  hi.s  residence 
here,  he  came  home  on  a  visit,  and  found  himself  in  the  midst  of  a  revival, 
in  the  blessings  of  which  he  became  a  sharer.  After  his  return  to  Guil- 
ford, his  father  wrote  to  Mr.  Stanton  to  inquire  how  his  son  appeared  since 
having  professed  a  change  of  character,  and  the  answer  was  that  his  con- 
versation and  conduct  would  do  honour  to  a  minister.  Fearing  lest  his 
son  was  in  danger  of  becoming  unduly  forward,  he  wrote  him  a  monitory 
letter  on  the  subject,  which  gave  a  shock  to  the  son's  sensitive  mind,  from 
which  it  did  not  soon  recover.  His  fine  talent  for  business,  his  excellent 
powers  of  conversation,  his  studiousness  and  exemplary  conduct,  at  this 
period,  rendered  him  a  favourite,  wherever  he  was  known. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  married  to  Jerusha  Avery,  only 
daughter  of  Luther  Avery,  Esq.,  of  Groton,  who  survived  her  husband 
more  than  a  year.  They  had  seven  children,  all  of  whom  enjoyed  excel- 
lent advantages  for  education.  Four  of  his  children  still  survive,  one  of 
whom  was  recently  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  State  of  New  York. 
At  the  time  of  his  marriage,  he  was  a  prosperous  merchant  in  Hopkinton, 
R.  I.;  but,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  wife's  parents,  he  soon  after 
settled  in  his  native  place,  and  eventually  in  the  old  family  homestead,  on 
Fort  Hill,  where  he  and  several  generations  of  his  ancestors  found  their 
last  resting  place.  Within  a  few  years  after  his  conversion,  it  became 
with  him  a  question  of  deep  interest  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  devote 
his  life  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  but,  though  he  received  every 
encouragement  from  the  older  and  more  prominent  members  of  the  church, 
such  was  his  view  of  the  responsibility  of  the  work,  in  connection  with  his 
constitutional  self-distrust,  that  it  was  not  till  the  summer  of  1801  that  he 
could  summon  the  resolution  to  carry  out  his  own  convictions  of  duty.  In 
August,  1806,  after  repeated  solicitations  from  his  brethren,  he  consented 
to  be  regularly  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  church 
associated  him  with  his  father  as  Pastor,  with  authority  to  labour  as  an 
Evangelist,  at  his  discretion  and  the  call  of  Providence.  Soon  after  his 
ordination,  he  performed,  by  appointment  of  the  Groton  Union  Conference, 
a  missionary  tour,  of  between  two  and  three  months,  in  which  he  rode 
about  thirteen  hundred  miles,  and  preached,  most  of  the  time,  once  or 
twice  daily.  His  labours  on  this  journey,  extending  through  a  portion  of 
the  country,  which  was,  at  that  time,  to  a  great  extent,  both  a  natural  and 
moral  wilderness,  are  known  to  have  been  attended  with  a  rich  blessing. 
The  Pteport  of  his  tour,  which  he  submitted  to  the  Conference,  after  his 
return,  was  received  with  great  favour,  and  gave  an  impulse  to  the  cause 
of  missions  among  the  churches,  which  has,  it  is  believed,  never  been  lost. 
And  here  I  may  as  well  say  that,  like  his  father,  he  ever  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Groton  Conference,  and  the  Stonington 
Union  Association,  which  Bodies  he  often  served  in  an  official  capacity,  at 
their  annual  sessions,  or  as  their  representative  abroad. 

Mr.  Burrows  laboured  also  occasionally,  and  very  successfully,  in  Pres- 
ton,— a  town  lying  a  few  miles  North  of  Groton.  Here  a  church  was 
organized  through  his  instrumentality,  first  as  a  branch  of  his  own  church, 
and  afterwards  as  a  distinct  Bodv.      He  was  also  the  first  Baptist  minister 


112  BAPTIST. 

who  laboured  with  much  sugccss  at  Greeiiport,  L.  I.  Aftei-  the  death  of 
his  father,  his  hibours  were,  for  a  number  of  years,  confined  principally  to 
his  own  people  ;  though  he  made  frequent  visits  to  his  children  in  Western 
New  York,  which  were  always  rendered  subservient  to  the  objects  of  his 
ministry.  For  several  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  his  health  being  less 
firm,  and  his  pastoral  labours  greater,  the  church,  by  his  request,  gave  him 
an  assistant.  In  this  capacity  the  Rev.  E.  Denison  was  employed  for  one 
year  ;  but  it  was  not  till  March,  1833,  that  a  permanent  Assistant  Pastor 
was  secured.  This  was  the  Rev.  Ira  R.  Steward,  whose  faithful  services 
greatly  lightened  the  labours  of  his  venerable  colleague.  The  church  was 
then  in  the  midst  of  a  powerful  revival.  In  a  letter  which  he  addressed 
to  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Secretary,  about  that  time,  he  says, — "Since 
December,  1809,  the  Lord  has  visited  this  church  with  seven  special  revi- 
vals ;  in  which  time  I  have  had  the  unspeakable  pleasure  of  formally  intro- 
ducing into  the  church  six  hundred  and  thirty-five."  About  ninety  were 
added  by  Baptism  during  the  year  in  which  this  letter  was  written ;  and 
he  lived  to  enjoy  yet  another  season  of  refreshing  in  the  year  1835. 

It  appears,  from  private  records  left  by  Mr.  Burrows,  that,  during  his 
ministry  of  thirty-five  years,  he  preached  no  less  than  two  thousand,  eight 
hundred  and  eighty-six  times.  Though  he  was  not  accustomed  to  deliver 
his  sermons' from  a  manuscript,  he  rarely  preached  without  having  written 
at  least  the  plan  of  his  discourse,  and  not  unfrcquently  much  tlie  greater 
part  of  all  that  he  delivered.  His  sermons  were  eminently  biblical, 
always  lucid,  full  of  evangelical  thought,  often  pungent,  often  pathetic. 
He  was  distinguished  for  sound  judgment  and  excellent  common  sense, 
which  made  him  an  admirable  counsellor  in  things  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual.  In  personal  appearance  he  was  of  medium  height,  of  prepos- 
sessing presence,  with  a  grave  countenance  when  in  repose,  but,  when  ani- 
mated in  conversation  or  in  the  pulpit,  his  dark  blue  eye  and  his  every 
feature  reflected  the  genial  warmth  within. 

Without  possessing  naturally  a  ver}'  firm  constitution,  lie  was  rarely 
visited  with  severe  illness  during  his  life.  In  the  fall  and  early  in  the 
winter  of  183G,  his  health  was  uncommonlv  good,  and  his  labours  as  con- 
stant as  in  almost  any  preceding  period  of  his  ministry.  But  he  was  now 
performing  liis  last  work.  While  on  a  visit  to  his  daughter  in  Griswold, 
in  January,  1837,  he  was  thrown  from  a  sleigh,  which  lamed  him  in  one 
leg  so  as  to  confine  him  for  nearly  a  fortnight.  About  this  time,  as  he 
stepped  out  of  his  house,  one  very  icy  morning,  he  fell  upon  the  corner  of 
the  door-stone,  and  injured  himself  near  the  small  of  his  back.  From  the 
effect  of  this  fall  l>n  never  recovered,  but  continued  gradually  to  sink, 
often  enduring  the  severest  distress.  About  a  week  before  his  death,  he 
suffered  a  severe  attack  of  plcuris}'',  which  he  seemed  to  recognise  as  the 
immediate  harbinger  of  dissolution.  He  died  in  the  exercise  of  the  most 
quiet  and  unqualified  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  on  Sabbath  morning, 
May  28,  1837.  On  the  Tuesday  following,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Wildman,  of 
New  London,  delivered  an  appropriate  Funeral  Discourse  to  a  large 
assembly,  from  Psalm  xii.  1. 

Allow  mc  to  add,  in  concluding  this  communication,  that,  in  Avriting  of 
the  Rev.  Roswell  Burrows,  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  substance  of  some 


THE  BURROWSES.  1X3 

of  the  statements  contained  in  a  biMgiaphical  notice  of  him  by  the  Rev.  I. 
R.  Steward  ;  and  am  also  indebted  to  Mrs.  Mary  llandall  for  incidents  in 
the  life  of  her  fivther,  the  Rev.  Silas  Burrows. 

Hoping  that  the  above  sketches  may  avail  to  your  purpose,  I  am, 
My  dear  Sir,  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  II.  POTTER. 


JOHN  WALLER.* 

1768—1802. 

John  Waller  was  born  on  the  23d  of  December,  1741,  in  Spottsyl- 
vania  County,  Va.,  being  a  descendant  of  a  family  of  that  name,  of  high 
respectability,  in  England.  At  a  very  early  age,  he  manifested  an 
uncommon  talent  for  satire  ;  and  this  determined  his  uncle,  who  was  his 
guardian,  to  educate  him  for  the  Law.  He  was,  accordingly,  sent  to  a 
Grammar  School,  and  made  considerable  progress  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
classics;  but  his  uncle's  death,  and  his  father's  straitened  circumstances, 
in  connection  with  his  own  unrestrained  inclinations  for  vice,  were  the 
occasion  of  his  being  prematurely  withdrawn  from  the  school,  and  the  idea 
of  his  prosecuting  the  study  of  the  Law  being  abandoned.  He  now 
became  addicted  to  almost  every  f^pecics  of  vice,  and  acquired  such  an 
ignoble  notoriety,  by  his  profaneness,  that  he  was  familiarly  known  by  the 
appellation  of  Sioearing  Jack  Waller, — being  thus  distinguished  from  some 
other  persons  of  the  same  name.  As  an  illustration  of  his  mischievous 
tendencies,  it  is  stated  that  he  had  once  three  warrants  served  on  him  at 
the  same  time,  on  account  of  the  part  which  he  had  in  one  riotous  pro- 
cedure. He  was  particularly  bitter  in  his  hostility  to  the  Baptists,  and 
was  one  of  the  Grand  Jury  who  presented  the  Rev.  Lewis  Craig, t  for 
preaching.  But,  happily,  this  was  overruled  for  bringing  him  to  a  better 
mind.      Mr.  Craig,  the  moment  the   Jury  were    dismissed,   wishing  to  say 

•  Benedict's  Ilist.  Bapt.  II. — Taylor's  Lives  of  Virg.  Bapt.  Min. 

t  Lewis  Ckaig  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  belonged  to  an  cuiinently  pious  family.  He 
was  first  awakened  under  the  preaching  of  the  llcv.  Samuel  Hiirriss,  and,  in  17l»7,  when  he  was 
about  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  was  baptized,  and  began  to  preach.  Though  not  possessed  of 
a  cultivated  mind,  he  was  a  sensible  man,  had  a  musical  voice,  agreeable  manners,  and  earncsr 
piety,  and  was  quite  a  favourite  among  the  people.  He  travelled  largely,  and  his  preaching 
w!\s  heard  with  mueli  attention,  and  produced  no  inconsiderable  effect.  The  first  Baptist  church 
organized  between  .lamr?  and  Rappahannock  Rivers,  called  Lower  Spottsylvania,  afterwards 
Craig  s,  was  the  fruit  of  his  labours.  This  church  was  constituted  in  1767,  and  three  years 
after,  he  became  its  Pastor.  He  was  arrested  by  the  Sheriff  of  Spottsylvania,  and  brought 
before  three  magistrates,  in  the  yard  of  the  meeting-house, — who  bound  hiui,  with  three  others. 
in  the  jienalty  of  two  thousand  pounds,  to  appear  at  Court,  two  days  after.  They  attended. 
and  tiio  Court  agreed  to  liberate  them,  if  they  would  pledge  themselves  to  preach  no  more  in 
the  county  for  a  twelve-month.  On  their  refusing  to  comply  with  this  condition,  they  were 
sentenced  to  close  confinement  in  the  jail ;  and  there  they  remained  for  one  month,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  they  were  released.  In  1771,  he  was  again  imprisoned,  for  a  similar  car.se,  and 
for  three  months,  in  the  Coimty  of  Caroline.  After  his  liberation,  he  continued  to  labour  with 
his  wonted  zeal,  and  the  Churches  of  Tuckahoe,  Upper  King  and  Queen,  and  Ujiper  Kssex,  in 
the  Dover  Association,  were  placed  under  his  ministry.  In  1781.  he  removed  to  the  West,  and 
settled  on  Gilbert's  Creek,  in  Lincoln  County,  where  he  formed  a  church,  and  two  years  after 
again  removed  to  Avithin  six  miles  of  Lexington,  and  built  up  the  first  I^aptist  Church  in  that 
part  of  Kentucky,  called  South  Klkhorn.  In  1795,  he  settled  in  Bracken  County,  where  also 
he  was  instrun  ental  of  building  up  a  large  church.  Ue  died  after  a  short  illness,  in  the  eighty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age. 

Vol.  VI.  15 


114  BAniST. 

.something  for  their  benefit,  thus  addressed  them: — "I  thank  you,  Gentle- 
men of  the  Grand  Jury,  for  the  honour  you  have  done  me.  AV^hile  I  was 
wicked  and  injurious,  you  took  no  notice  of  me,  but  since  I  have  altered 
my  course  of  life,  and  endeavoured  to  reform  my  neighbours,  you  concern 
yourselves  much  about  me.  I  shall  take  the  spoiling  of  ni}'  goods  joy- 
fully." 

These  remarks,  uttered  with  great  firmness,  yet  with  great  meekness, 
arrested  Waller's  attention,  and  suggested  to  him  the  idea  that  there  must 
be  a  reality  in  that  religion  which  could  produce  such  effects.  From  this 
period  he  began  to  attend  the  Baptist  meetings,  and  to  feel,  for  the  first 
time,  a  deep  anxiety  iu  respect  to  his  salvation.  He  was,  for  seven  or 
eight  months,  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  his  exceeding  sinfulness,  and, 
during  much  of  the  time,  was  on  the  borders  of  despair.  Some  of  his 
exercises  are  thus  described  by  himself: — 

"  I  liad  felt  the  greatest  abhorrence  of  myself,  and  began  ahaost  to  desjiair  of  tije 
mercy  of  God.  However,  I  determined  never  to  rest  until  it  pleased  God  to  show 
mercy  orto  cut  me  off.  Underthese  impressions..  I  was  at  a  certain  place,  sitting  under 
preaching.  On  a  sudden,  a  man  exclaimed  that  ho  iiad  found  mercy,  and  began  to 
praise  God.  No  mortal  can  describe  the  horror  with  which  1  was  seized  at  that 
instant.  I  began  to  conclude  my  damnation  was  certain.  Leaving  the  meeting,  I 
hastened  into  a  neighbouring  wood,  and  dropped  on  my  knees  before  God,  to  beg  for 
mercy.  In  an  instant,  I  felt  my  heart  melt,  and  a  sweet  application  of  the  Jiedeemer'.** 
love  to  my  poor  soul.     The  calm  was  great,  but  short." 

From  this  time,  he  seems  to  have  indulged  a  hope  in  the  mercy  of  God 
through  Christ,  though  it  Avas  some  time  before  he  had  sufficient  confidence 
in  the  genuineness  of  his  experience  to  make  a  public  profession  of  his 
faith.  He  was  baptized  by  James  Head,*  in  the  year  1767,  and  he  realized 
from  the  ordinance  a  great  accession  of  strength  and  comfort.  He  soM 
property  to  pay  debts  which  he  had  contracted  by  dissipation.  Fired  by 
an  ardent  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  he  began,  almost  immediately,  to 
preach  the  Gospel ;  but  his  preaching  seems,  from  some  cause,  to  have 
awakened  a  powerful  opposition. 

At  length,  a  church  was  constituted  in  Mr.  Waller's  neighbourhood, 
and  he  was  ordained  its  Pastor,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1770.  He  began 
now  to  extend  his  labours,  travelling  in  uiffcrent  directions,  and  preaching 
with  uncommon  power.  The  first  person  he  baptized  was  William  Web- 
ber,! who  soon  after  became  a  minister.  He  attracted  great  attention, 
evcrywTiere,  by  the  vigour  and  boldness   that  characterized  his  mini.-^tra- 

*  Jamf.s  Head  was  born  about  the  year  172f),  and  was  hopefully  converted  under  the  preach- 
ing of  Elder  Daniel  Marshall,  when  he  was  not  far  from  thirty  years  of  ago.  When  he  entered 
upon  the  niinistry,  he  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but,  under  the  instnuUion  of  his  wife,  he 
was  soon  able  to  read  the  Bible.  He  travelled  extensively,  both  in  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina, and  preached  with  great  earnestness,  and  not  without  very  considerable  effcet  He  was, 
at  one  time,  on  a,ccount  of  some  impropriety  of  conduct,  e.xcliided  from  Christian  foilouship  for 
two  or  three  years;  but,  sub.scqnentlj',  npuii  having  given  evidence  of  repentance,  was  restored 
not  only  to  communion,  but  to  the  exercise  of  his  ministerial  functions.  There  seems  to  havp 
been  a  strong  tendency  in  his  mind  to  enthu.«iasm.  He  died  in  17'.!8,  in  the  seventy-second 
year  of  his  age,  hxring  been  for  more  than  forty  3'ears  engaged  in  the  ministry. 

f  William  Webukk  was  born  of  respectable  parentage,  on  the  ]5ih  of  August,  1747.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  house-joiner.  He  was  baptized  wben  he  was  in 
his  tv.enty-lhird  year,  and  united  uilh  the  Lower  Spottsylvania  Church,  and  a.^hort  time  after 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry.  After  being  engaged,  for  several  years,  in  itinerant  labours,  he 
accepted  the  Pastorate  of  the  Dover  Church,  in  1774,  and  held  it  till  hi.s  death,  which  ocuurrcd 
on  the  29th  of  February,  1808.  In  two  instances,  he  was  arrested  by  the  civil  authority,  oast 
into  prison,  and  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  treatment,  for  preaching  the  Gosjud.  Ijider  8eu!- 
ple  says  that  •'  he  v,a.--  a  man  of  sourul  and  correct  judgment,  well  acquainted  with  mankind, 
well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  sound  in  the  princijjlcs  of  the  Gospel,  and  ingenious  in  defending 
them." 


JOUN   WALLER.  2^5 

lions,   :uul    the   Baptists   in   that   region   seemed,  Ly   common   consent,  to 

recognise  him  as    their  leader.     The    following   letter,   written    by   him, 

during    an    imprisonment   of  forty-six    days,  in    the  County  of  Middlesex, 

will  give    some  idea   of  tlie    trials   to  which  he   and    liis  associates  in   the 

ministry,  were  subjected  : — 

"  Urbanna  Prison,  Middlesex  County,  August  12,  1771. 
■■  De'ar  Brother  in  the  Lord: 

"  At  a  uu't.-tinj;  wiiicli  was  held  at  Brother  McCain's,  in  this  county,  last  Saturday, 
whilst  Brotlior  \\  illiani  W'cbhcr  was  addressing  the  congregation,  from  James  ii.  18. 
there  came  running  towards  him,  in  a  most  furious  rage,  Captain  .James  Montague,  a 
Magistrate  of  the  county,  followed  by  tlic  Parson  of  the  parish,  and  several  otiiers, 
wlio  seemed  gieatly  e-xasporated.  The  Magistrate  and  another  took  liold  of  Brother 
Webber,  and,  dragging  him  from  the  stage,  delivered  him,  with  Brethren  Wafl'ord, 
Robert  \V lire.  Hichard  Falkner,  James  Greenwood,*  and  myself  into  custody,  ancl 
commanded  that  we  shouUl  be  brought  before  him  I'or  trial.  Brotlier  W'atlurd  w;is 
severely  scourged,  and  Brother  Henry  Street  received  one  lash  from  one  of  the  perse- 
cutors, who  was  i)revcnted  from  proceeding  to  further  violence  by  his  companions — to 
be  short,  1  may  inform  you  that  we  were  carried  before  the  above  mentioned  Magis- 
trate, W'ho.  with  the  Parson,  and  some  others,  carried  ns,  one  by  one,  into  a  room,  and 
examined  our  pockets  and  wallets  for  tire-arms,  &c.,  charging  us  with  carrying  on  a 
mutiny  against  the  authorities  of  the  land.  Finding  none,  we  were  asked  if  we  had 
license  to  preach  in  this  county;  ;uid,  learning  we  had  not,  it  was  required  of  us  to 
give  bond  and  security  not  to  preach  any  more  in  the  county,  which  we  mcjdestl}- 
refused  to  do ;  whereupon,  after  dismissing  Brother  Waflford  with  a  charge  to  make 
liis  escape  out  of  the  county  by  twelve  o'clock  the  next  day,  on  pain  of  imjjrisonment, 
and  dismissing  Brother  Falkner,  the  rest  of  us  v;ere  delivered  to  the  Sheritf,  and  sent 
to  close  jail,  witli  a  charge  not  to  allow  us  to  walk  in  the  air  until  Court  day  Blessed 
be  God.  the  Sheritf  and  jailor  have  treated  us  \vith  as  much  kindness  as  could  have  been 
expected  from  strangers.  May  t)ie  Lord  reward  them  for  it.  Yesterday  we  ha<l  a 
large  number  of  people  to  hear  us  preach;  and,  among  others,  many  of  the  great  ones 
of  the  land,  who  behaved  well,  while  one  of  us  discoursed  on  the  new  birth.  We  lind 
tiie  Lord  gracious  and  kind  to  us  beyond  expression,  in  our  alilicti(ms.  We  cannot  toll 
how  long  we  shall  be  kept  in  bonds:  we,  therefore,  beseech.  Dear  Broth.;r,  that  you  and 
the  Cliurch  supplicate,  niglit  and  day,  for  us,  our  benefactors,  and  our  persecutors. 

"  1  have  also  to  inlbrm  you  that  six  of  our  brethren  are  confined  in  Caroline  jail,— - 
namely,  Brethren  Lewis  Craig,  .John  Burrus,  John  Young, f  Edward  lierndon,  James 
(joodrick,  and  Bartjiolomew  Cheming.  The  most  dreadful  tlireatenings  are  raised  in 
the  neiglibonring  counties  against  the  Lord's  faithful  and  humble  followers.  Excu.se 
haste.     Adieu.  "  John  Waller." 

Mr.  Waller  continued  in  great  favour  with  his  denomination,  everywhere 

attracting  much  attention   as   a   preacher,   until    1775  or  1776,  when  he 

formed  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  a  Methodist  preacher  of  some  repute 

by  the  name  of  Williams,  and,  througli  his  influence,  became  a  convert  to 

the  Armiuian  system  of  doctrine.     Knowing  that  his   brethren   strongl}- 

dissented  from  these  views,  ho  resolved   to   make  a  bold  effort,  at  the  next 

meeting  of  the  Association,  publicly  to  maintain  them  ;  and,  if  his  brethren 

were  not  convinced  by  his  arguments,  to  .submit  to  an  expulsion  from  their 

•  James  Greenwood  was  born  about  the  year  1749,  in  the  lower  part  of  Virginia.,  and  in 
liis  twentieth  year  became  a  Baptist,  and  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  At  the  constitution  of  tlic 
Piscatawiiy  Church,  Essex  County,  he  became  its  I'a.sior,  and  continued  to  sustain  the  relation 
nearly  forty  years.  He  was  (listingnisl)e(l  for  an  eniiiicntly  Jjlamoloss  and  consistent  Cliri.stian 
lifc._  When  he  was  imprisoned  for  preaching  the  Gospel,  lie  still  preached  from  tlie  windows 
of  his  cell,  and  some  who  were  without  are  said  to  Lave  «ept  and  believed. 

t  JoHv  You.NG  was  born  in  Caroline  County,  Va.,  on  the  11th  of  January,  H-'JO.  lie  wnf 
brought  up  to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  About  the  year  1770,  he  made  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion, was  haplizod  by  the  Uev.  Jainos  Uead,  ami  soon  commenced  preaching  the  IJospel.  lie 
was  onliiined  in  177.'!;  at  which  time  the  church,  called  Hendx,  in  his  native  county,  was  con- 
stituted, and  he  became  its  Pastor,  lie  continued  to  preach  in  that  vicinity  twenty-five  years. 
In  17il'.l.  he  removed  to  Amherst,  and  the  next  year  became  Pastor  of  the  BufTalo  Cliurcli, 
.«ince  called  Mount  Moriali.  He  was  arrested,  in  "one  of  his  early  preaching  excursions,  and 
confined  in  Caroline  jail  six  month?,  until,  by  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  he  was  taken  to  Wil- 
liamsbu'-<;h.  lie  continued  to  preach  until  he"  was  disabled  by  the  infirmities  of  age.  He  was 
distinguished  for  the  purity  of  his  life,  and  the  fidelity  and  success  of  his  ministrations,  lie 
died,  in  a  r.ipturous  frame  of  ndnd,  on  the  ICth  of  April,  1817. 


116  BAPTIST. 

Body.  He  preaclied  from  I  Cor.  xiil.  11.  In  his  exordium,  be  stated 
that,  when  young  and  inexperienced  in  religion,  he  had  fallen  in  with  the 
Calvinistic  plan,  but  that,  becoming  more  expert  in  doctrine,  or,  in  the 
language  of  his  text,  when  he  became  a  man,  he  put  away  these  childish 
notions.  He  then  went  at  length  into  the  argument;  but,  as  he  failed  ti) 
carry  conviction  to  the  minds  of  any  of  his  brethren,  and  foresaw  what 
the  result  of  a  trial  would  be,  he  took  the  shorter  course,  and  proclaimed 
himself  an  Independent  Baptist.  He  immediately  set  up  his  standard,  and 
made  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to  attract  persons  to  it,  from  all  quarters, — 
preaching  from  house  to  house,  ordaining  lay-elders  in  every  neighbour- 
hood, and  establishing  what  he  called  camp-meetings ;  and,  by  this  means, 
his  party  gained  considerable  strength.  He  kept  aloof  from  his  brethren, 
from  whom  he  separated,  until  the  year  1787,  when  he  returned  to  them, 
with  suitable  concessions,  and  was  formally  reinstated  in  their  connection. 

In  1787,  there  commenced  a  great  revival  under  Mr.  Waller's  labours, 
which  continued  for  several  years,  and  extended  to  all  the  places  in  which 
he  exercised  his  ministry.  Of  this  revival  his  nephew,  Mr.  Ali.-alom 
Waller,*  became  a  subject,  and,  after  a  few  years,  began  to  preach,  and, 
by  his  uncle's  request,  became  his  successor  in  the  Pastorate.  Accord- 
ingly, Mr.  John  Waller,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1793,  took  an  affection- 
ate farewell  of  the  churches  to  which  he  had  ministered,  and  removed  to 
Abbeville,  S.  C.  This  removal  is  said  to  have  been  induced,  partly  by 
economical  considerations,  and  partly  from  the  desire  of  himself  and  wifV 
to  live  near  a  beloved  daughter,  who  had  some  time  before  been  marrim! 
to  the  Rev.  Abraham  Marshall,  of  Georgia.  He  continued  his  labours, 
as  he  had  opportunity,  after  his  removal,  but  without,  as  it  would  seem, 
any  signal  results.  The  last  sermon  he  preached  was  on  the  death  of  a 
young  man  ;  and  he  took  occasion  to  express  his  confident  conviction  that 
it.wovld  be  his  last,  and  fervently  prayed  that,  like  Samson,  he  might 
slay  more  by  his  death  than  by  his  life.  He  continued  speaking  until  his 
strength  failed  him,  and  it  was  not  without  difficulty  that  he  was  conveyed 
to  his  house  after  the  service.  Just  before  his  departure,  he  summone<I 
all  his  family,  black  and  white,  around  him,  and  told  them  he  was  anxious 
to  be  gone  and  to  be  present  with  Christ,  and  then  warned  them  to  walk 
in  the  fear  of  God,  shook  hands  with  all,  and,  shortly  after,  with  the  utmost 
serenity,  breathed  his  last.      He  died  on  the  4th  of  July,  1802. 

The  Rev.  James  B.  Taylor,  in  his  •'  Lives  of  Virginia  Baptist  Minis- 
ters," after  giving  some  particulars  of  Mr.  Waller's  death,  says: — 

"  Thus  this  great  man  of  God  conquered  the  last  enemy,  and  ascended  to  tliMt  n-st 
that  rem aineth  fm- the  people  of  God.  He  died  in  the  sixty-second  ye;ir  of  his  ;i,i;o, 
having  hcen  a  minister  of  (iod's  word  for  ahout  thirty-five  years,  and  in  that  time  had 
lain  in  four  different  jails,  one  hundred  and  thirteen  days,  besides  receiving  reproaehes. 
buffetings,  stripes,-^c.  Nor  was  his  labour  in  vain.  AVhile  in  Virginia,  he  baptized 
more  than  two  thousand  persons,  assisted  in  the  ordination  of  twenty-seven  ministers, 
aad  in  the  constitution  of  eighteen  churches.     For  many  years,  he  had  the  miui.stii  iiil 

•  Absalom  Waller  was  born  in  Spottsylvania,  Va.,  in  1772;  was  hopefully  converlcJ 
when  he  w:is  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  about  two  years  after. 
He  took  charge  of  AValler's,  County  Line,  and  Bethany  Churches,  and  continued  to  labour  fur 
them  many  years.  His  ministry  was  attended  by  several  powerful  revivals,  the  nioatexten- 
aire  of  which  was  in  1817-18;  but,  previous  to  that  time,  be  had  baptized  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  persons.  For  many  years  previous  to  his  death,  he  was  afllioted  with  partial  deafness, 
80  as  to  render  it  difficult  for  him  to  engage  in  CDnversation.  lie  died  in  great  peace  about  the 
year  1820,  and  was  lamented  in  death,  as  ho  had  been  esteemed  and  venerated  in  life. 


JOHN  WALLER.  117 

sarc  of  five  chnrclics,  for  which  he  preached  statedly.  As  a  pioachor,  his  talents  wcro 
not  above  nicdiociity,  but  he  was  certainly  a  man  oi' very  strong  mind  His  talent  for 
intrigue  was  ciiualUd  by  few.  This  he  exercised,  sonietiiues,  beyond  the  innoe  'nee 
of  the  dove.  He  was  ivrliaps  too  emnloiis  to  carry  his  favourite  points,  especially  in 
Associations;  yet  it  must  be  owiud  that  such  influence  as  lie  acquired  in  this  way,  he 
always  endeavoured  to  turn  to  the  glory  of  (jod." 


JOHN  DAVIS. 

1709—1772. 

FROM  IIOUATIO  GATES  JONES,  Esq. 

Philadelphia,  January  3,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  The  inalcrials  fur  a  sketch  of  the  Rev.  John  Davis,  of 
whom  you  ask  nie  to  give  you  some  account,  are  by  no  means  abundant  ;  but 
I  have  had  access  to  all  the  sources  of  information  concerning  him  within 
my  knowledge,  and  I  now  send  you  the  result  of  my  inquiries,  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  answer  your  purpose. 

John  Davis  was  born  at  Welsh  Tract,  Pencadcr  Hundred,  New  Castle 
County,  De.,  in  the  year  1737.  His  father,  the  Rev.  David  Davis,  was  a 
native  of  Pembrokeshire,  South  Wales,  but  came  to  America  in  1710, 
when  he  was  two  years  of  age,  and  was  Pastor  of  the  Welsh  Tract  Baptist 
Church,  from  May  27,  1748,  until  his  death,  August  19,  17G9.  Wis 
mother  was  Rachel  Thomas,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Elisha  Thomas,*  second 
Pastor  of  the  Welsh  Tract  Church.  His  parents  had  three  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Their  son  Jonathan  became  a  Seventh  Day  Baptist,  and 
was  Pastor  of  the  church  of  that  denomination  at  Cohansey.  His  son 
Johfi  early  evinced  a  tasle  for  literature,  and,  after  preliminary  instruction 
at  Hopewell  School,  under  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton,  he  was  placed  at  the  Col- 
lege of  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  graduated  in  the  year  17G3.  He  exer- 
cised his  gifts  in  Delaware,  and,  upon  his  father's  decease,  supplied  the 
Welsh  Tract  Church,  where  there  is  scarcely  any  doubt  that  he  was 
ordained.  The  talents  which  he  exhibited  caused  him  to  be  known  abroad; 
and,  in  the  spring  of  1770,  he  was  called  to  the  Pastorate  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  of  Boston.  At  this  time  he  was  only  thirty-three  years 
of  age,  and  the  Baptists  were  suffering  from  the  stringent  laws  then 
in  force  in  Massachusetts.  As  he  had  come  from  Delaware  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  full  religious  liberty  was  enjoyed  by  all  denominations,  his 
heart  went  out  in  deep  sympathy  for  his  oppressed  brethren.  At  the 
period  referred  to.  the  grievances  to  which  the  Baptists  were  subjected 
were  so  heavy  that  the  Associations  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  "  Com- 
mittees of  Grievances  "  were  appointed,  to  whom  all  complaints  wore  made 
known,  and  an  agent  was  chosen  to  represent  the  sufferings  to  which  the 
brethren  were  subjected.  Mr.  Davis  was  appointed  to  this  agency,  in  1770, 
and  was  thus  placed  in  the  front  rank  of  his  Church.  It  was  finally  con- 
cluded to  petition  the  Throne  on    the  subject;  for   the   Act   of  Assembly, 

•Elisha  Thomas  wns  bom  in  the  eoiinty  of  Caermarthen,  in  1074  He  emigrated  from 
Wales  with  the  other  original  members  of  the  Welsh  Tract  Church;  became  its  I'astor  iu  1726; 
and  died  on  the  7th  of  November,  1730. 


US  BAPTIST. 

passed  in  1757,  ^^■hicll  was  designed  to  relieve  Baptists  and  Quakers,  wa? 
rendered  almost  inoperative  by  those  in  power.  Mr.  Backus  said  that  "no 
tongue  or  pen  could  fully  describe  all  the  evils  that  were  perpetrated  under 
it." 

Bcferring  to  Mr.  Davis'  sentiments,  Mr.  Backus,  in  a  letter  to  the  llev. 
Dr.  Stennett,  of  London,  observes, — "  Upon  search,  he  found  that  our 
charter  gives  equal  religious  liberty  as  well  as  theirs  ;  and  that  what  is 
called  the  lleligious  Establishment  in  this  Province,  stands  only  upon  somo 
laws  made  by  the  Congregationalists  to  support  their  way  which  [have] 
happened  not  to  be  timely  discovered  by  the  powers  at  home,  but  [which] 
are  really  in  their  nature  contrary  to  our  charter.  And  when  they  tried 
to  call  a  Provincial  Synod,  iu  17-5,  an  express  was  sent  from  the  British 
Court  against  it,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  their  way  was  not  established 
here.  Therefore  Mr.  Davis  judged  it  to  be  our  duty  to  strike  more 
directly  at  the  root  of  our  oppressions  than  we  had  before  done." 

Soon  after  his  appointment  as  agent,  he  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Rev. 
Morgan  Edwards,  who  was  his  attached  friend  : 

"Boston,  September  2G,  1770. 
"  My  good  friend  :  I  have  just  time  to  tell  you  that  when  we  published 
our  advertisement.  Dr.  C.  pretended  to  nie  to  be  much  interested  in  our 
affairs,  and  said  he  would  join  us  in  an  Address  to  the  General  Court,  and 
a  good  deal  to  that  purpose.  In  consequence  of  which,  I  called  the  com- 
mittee together,  when  it  was  agreed  to  suspend  further  publication  till  we 
had  asked  the  Court  to  give  us  a  law,  and,  if  they  refused,  to  prosecute 
the  matter  with  all  the  spirit  we  could.  I  sent  for  Mr.  Smith  of  Haver- 
hill, who  is  now  in  town.  We  had  drawn  a  petition  which  we  propose  pre- 
Henting  as  soon  as  convenient  after  the  Court  goes  upon  business.  I  waited 
yesterday  on  the  Lieut.  Governor,  who  said  many  things  to  encourage  us, 
and  said  he  would  do  all  he  could  for  us,  if  we  could  make  our  way  through 
the  Supreme  Court.  I  asked  him  whether  it  would  be  proper  to  say  they 
had  no  right  by  charter  to  establish  a  religion,  &c. — he  told  me  such  a 
thing  might  do  beyond  the  water,  but  not  here.  I  mentioned  the  evil  that 
our  going  to  England  might  do.  He  said  he  did  not  think  it  would  do  any; 
for,  said  he,  it  is  bad  as  can  be  already.  I  have  had  remarkably  kind  invi- 
tations from  one  of  the  Council  within  these  few  days;  for  what  reason  I 
know  not.  I  have  refused  his  kindness  hitherto  ;  perhaps  it  may  do  for 
.something  or  other  at  some  future  time.  He  happens  to  be  a  courtier,  and, 
therefore,  not  to  be  depended  on.  Our  religious  affairs  have  been  full  as 
well,  if  not  better,  than  I  expected John  Davis." 

Mr.  Davis,  Samuel  Stillman,  and  Hezekiah  Smith,  drew  a  petition  and 
presented  it  to-  the  General  Court,  which  met  in  the  fall  of  1770,  and 
styled  it  "  The  Petition  of  the  Baptist  Committee  of  Grievances,  acting 
in  the  name,  and  by  the  appointment,  of  the  Baptist  Churches,  met  in  Asso- 
ciation at  Bellingham,  in  this  Province." 

The  old  "  certificate  law  "  expired  in  1770,  and  the  new  one  directed 
that  the  certificates  should  ]>e  signed  by  three  or  more  principal  members, 
and  should  state  that  the  holder  thereof  was  conscientiously  of  the  Baptist 
persuasion. 


JOHN   DAVIS.  119 

Mr.  Davis,  tlicroforc,  culled  the  Committee  together,  und  it  was  resolved 
not  to  accept  the  Act.  He  was  also  requested  to,  and  did,  reply  to  some 
auoDjmous  attacks  on  the  Baptists,  which  drew  from  the  opposite  party  a 
rcjoiiidor  fall  of  personal  abuse,  and  designating  Mr.  Davis,  as  "a  little 
upstart  gentleman,"  &c.  But  none  of  these  things  moved  him,  and  he 
retained  the  esteem  and  regard  of  all  his  suifcring  brethren. 

Dr.  Benedict  says  of  him, — "  His  learning,  abilities,  and  zeal  were  ade- 
(juate  to  any  services  to  which  his  brethren  might  call  him.  Mr.  Backus 
had  now  begun  his  History,  and  had  the  promise  of  assistance  from  this 
literary  companion  ;  but  a  mysterious  Providence  saw  fit  to  cut  him  down 
almost  in  the  beginning  of  his  course." 

Early  in  1772,  Mr.  Davis'  health  failed,  and  in  July  he  resigned  his 
pastoral  charge,  and  returned  to  Delaware,  hoping  that  a  milder  climate 
would  restore  him  to  his  accustomed  vigour.  And,  for  a  time,  the  experi- 
ment seemed  likely  to  succeed.  He  very  soon  set  out  on  a  journey  for  his 
health,  with  the  Rev.  David  Jones,  then  of  Freehold,  N.  J.,  who  was  at 
that  lime  on  a  missionary  visit  to  the  Indians  West  of  the  Ohio,  and  kept 
a  journal  of  his  travels, — from  which  I  make  the  following  extract: — 

"  "We  travelled  so  slow,  and  could  make  so  little  progress  over  the  Alle- 
ghany Mountains,  that  we  did  not  arrive  at  Redstone  until  the  17th  day  of 
November,  [1773.]  A  few  days  before  me,  the  Rev.  John  Davis  arrived 
here,  and  intended  to  go  with  me  to  Ohio.  I  was  surprised  to  see  him  so 
much  reduced  in  health.  We  conversed  awhile,  and  I  found  he  would  go 
with  me  at  least  as  far  as  Ohio.  I  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him  from  his 
purpose,  but  could  not  prevail Mr.  Davis  and  I,  in  com- 
pany with  some  others,  set  out  for  the  River  Ohio,  but,  by  bad,  stormy 
weather  and  high  waters,  our  journey  was  so  retarded  that  we  did  not 
arrive  at  the  Ohio  till  Wednesday,  the  2d  day  of  December.  When  we 
came  to  the  house  of  Dr.  James  McMachan,  who  formerly  lived  a  neigh- 
bour to  ]Mr.  Davis,  the  heart  of  poor  Mr.  Davis  was  filled  with  joy  to  see 
his  old  acquaintance  and  the  River  Ohio,  after  such  a  tedious  journey — 
but,  dear  man,  his  time  was  short ;  for,  on  the  13th  day  of  said  month,  he 
departed  this  life. 

"  During  the  lime  of  his  illness,  he  was  very  submissive  to  the  will  of 
God,  and  was  often  heard  to  say, — '  Oh  that  the  fatal  blow  was  struck !' 
When  he  drew  near  his  last,  he  was  very  delirious.  To  compose  him,  I 
gave  him  a  strong  anodyne,  which  had  so  much  effect  that,  for  about  fifteen 
minutes,  he  enjoyed  his  senses,  and  spoke  very  rationally,  and  told  me  that 
in  a  little  time  he  expected  to  be  with  Christ.  lie  told  me  his  faith  in  his 
Saviour  was  unshaken.  At  this  time,  he  made  as  humble  addresses  to  God 
as  I  ever  heard  drop  from  mortal  lips.  Soon  after,  his  delirium  returned, 
and  never  more  remitted.  On  the  Lord's  day,  about  one  hour  and  a  half 
before  sunset,  this  great  man  took  his  final  departure  from  this  troublesome 
world,  being  the  13th  day  of  December,  1772.  Mr.  Davis,  it  is  well 
known,  was  a  great  scholar,  possessed  of  a  good  judgment  and  very  reten- 
tive memory.  He  had  a  great  soul,  and  despised  any  thing  that  was  little 
or  mercenary.  He  told  me  the  reason  why  he  left  Boston  was  because  he 
abhorred  a  dependant  life  and  popularity  ;  that,  if  God  continued  him,  he 
intended  to  settle  in  this  new  country,  and  preach  the  Gospel  of  our  Saviour 


120  BAPTIST. 

freely.  His  address,  in  all  his  religious  performances,  was  sweet  and 
pleasing ;  his  private  conversation,  informing  and  engaging,  though  he  was 
at  times  a  little  reserved  in  company ;  and,  what  is  above  all,  1  believe  he 
was  an  humble  disciple  of  our  blessed  Saviour. 

"  The  remains  of  this  worthy  man  are  interred  near  a  brook,  at  the 
North  end  of  the  level  land,  that  lies  adjacent  to  Grave  Creek.  About 
sixteen  feet  North  of  his  grave,  stands  a  large  black  oak  tree,  on  which, 
with  my  tomahawk,  I  cut  the  day  of  the  month,  date  of  the  year,  and  Mr. 

Davis'  name He  was  the  first  white  man  that  died  in  thiK-< 

part  of  the  country." 

Thus  died,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six  years,  this  noble  defender  of 
religious  liberty.  Dr.  Hovey,  in  his  Life  of  Backus,  says, — "  Mr.  Backus 
calls  him  '  the  pious  and  learned  Mr.  John  Davis,'  and  always  refers  to  hh 
character  and  conduct  with  the  utmost  respect.  During  the  brief  period 
of  his  ministry,  in  a  place  remote  from  all  his  early  friends,  he  so  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  responsible  office  as  to  win  the  esteem  and  love  of  his 
flock  ;  and  he  so  commended  himself  to  his  brethren  throughout  New  Eng- 
land as  to  be  made  their  agent  in  affairs  which  they  esteemed  of  vital  inte- 
rest. His  task  was  soon  done,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  it  was  well 
done." 

As  early  as  1770,  Mr.  Davis  was  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophi- 
cal Society. 

The  following  notice  of  his  death  appeared  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
for  February  3,  1773  :— 

"  Ohio,  (ninety-five  miles  below  Pittsburgh,)  > 
December  13,  1772.      5 

"  This  day  died  here,  after  three  weeks  severe  illness,  the  Bev.  John 
Davis,  A.  M.,  Fellow  of  Rhode  Island  College,  and  late  Pastor  of  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  The  third  day  following,  his  corpse 
was  decently  interred  near  the  river,  in  a  spot  of  ground  which  had  been 
fixed  upon  for  erecting  a  Baptist  meeting-house.  His  Funeral  was  attended 
by  the  Rev.  David  Jones,  Mr.  James  McMachan,  (at  whose  house  he  died,) 
and  several  others  of  his  old  acquaintances,  who  are  settling  in  this  part  of 
the  country.  As  yet,  he  has  no  other  Monument  than  a  large  and  venera- 
ble Oak,  standing  at  the  head  of  his  grave,  with  his  Name  carved  on  it. 
Mr.  Davis  was  a  Man  of  fine  Parts,  an  excellent  Scholar,  and  a  pretty 
Speaker. 

"Refined  his  Language,  and  his  reasoning  true, 
"  He  pleased  only  the  Discerning  Few." 

With   great  regard. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
-  H.  G.  JONES. 


BURGESS  ALLISON.  121 

BURGESS  ALLISON,  D.  D. 

17G9— 1827. 
FROM    THE    REV.   HOWARD    MALCOM.   D.  D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AT  LEWISBURGII,  PA. 

Lewisburgii,  August  18,  1858. 

My  dear  friend  :  I  am  glad  to  comply  with  your  request  for  a  sketch  of 
the  late  Dr.  Allison,  and  yet  I  fear  that  it  will  be  but  a  meagre  view  of 
his  life  and  character  that  I  sliall  be  able  to  give  you.  I  fir.st  knew  him 
in  1817,  when  I  was  beginning  to  preach,  and  was  a  member  of  Dr. 
Staughton's  Theological  School.  He  was  loved  by  us  all  ;  and,  though 
slender  and  unimposing  in  appearance,  always  commanded  the  highest 
respect.  It  gives  me  pleasure,  even  at  this  late  day,  to  pay  the  tribute  to 
his  memor}-  which  your  request  contemplates. 

Burgess  Allison,  a  son  of  Richard  and  Euth  Allison,  was  born  in 
Bordentown,  N.  J.,  August  17,  1753.  Ilis  father,  who  was  an  eminently 
pious  man,  died  in  176G;  but  so  happy  had  been  the  influence  of  his  exam- 
ple and  counsels  upon  this,  his  only  son,  that,  from  the  age  of  five  years. 
Burgess  was  under  strong  religious  impressions.  lie  seems,  however,  to 
have  had  no  correct  views  of  his  character  and  condition  as  a  sinner,  and 
to  have  settled  down,  for  the  time,  with  the  conviction  that  he  had  only  to 
perform  a  certain  round  of  external  duties,  in  order  to  become  entitled  to 
the  blessings  of  salvation.  He  prayed,  fasted,  read  the  Scriptures,  &c., 
with  great  punctuality,  and  seems  not  to  have  doubted  that  he  was  in  the 
way  of  life.  But,  on  being  placed  at  a  boarding  school,  he  found  himself 
derided  by  the  boys  for  kneeling  in  prayer  before  retiring  to  bed,  and  sub- 
jected to  other  petty  persecutions.  His  religion  could  not  stand  such  a 
test  as  this,  and  he  gradually  came  to  enjoy  vain  company,  Sunday  excur- 
sions, and  other  improper  practices. 

He  was  arrested  in  this  fatal  course,  by  encountering  great  peril  from 
a  violent  gust  of  wind,  on  one  of  his  Sunday  frolics.  When  the  party 
reached  the  shore,  he  and  another  left  their  companions,  being  fully  resolved 
that  they  would  break  off  from  their  evil  ways,  and  cast  themselves  at 
the  feet  of  Divine  mercy.  They  solemnly  announced  this  intention  to 
their  thoughtless  associates  :  and,  from  that  time,  all  intimacy  with  them 
ceased.  But  Allison  began,  as  before,  to  build  on  a  sandy  foundation. 
He  became  circumspect  in  all  his  conduct,  and  strictly  attentive  to  hi.s 
external  duties.  He  felt  that  he  needed  a  Saviour's  aid,  and  that  he  was 
quite  unable  of  himself  to  merit  Heaven.  But  he  presumed  that  Christ 
would  make  up  what  he  lacked  in  himself.  He  worked  for  life,  but  was 
continually  falling  under  the  power  of  temptation,  and  began  to  feel  that 
Christians  had  something  of  which  he  was  destitute. 

Deep  and  anxious  now  were  his  reflections,  and  he  soon  felt  that  he  was 
under  the  condemnation  of  a  violated  law.  His  subsequent  exercises  he 
thus  describes: — "As  I  was  taking  a  solitary  walk,  more  disturbed  in 
mind  than  usual,  all  at  once  a  ray  of  Divine  light  broke  into  my  soul,  and 
I  was  filled   with   wonder   and  joy.     T  beheld    in  imagination  the  blessed 

Vol.  VI.  16 


122  BAPTIST. 

Saviour,  full  of  compassion,  and  ready  to  receive  rac,  notwithstanding  the 
vilcncss  I  now  saw  iu  myself.  Immediately  I  cast  myself  upon  Ilim.  I 
felt  emptied  of  self.  The  demands  of  the  law  I  saw  to  be  answered  in 
Iliiii.  My  feet  seemed  to  be  placed  on  a  rock,  and  a  new  song  put  into 
my  mouth.  I  stood  astonished, — so  wonderful  did  the  way  of  salvation 
through  a  Redeemer  appear,  and  so  utterly  diifercut  from  any  views  I  had 
ever  before  experienced." 

During  the  succeeding  summer,  he  continued  to  enjoy  great  peace,  and 
resolved  to  join  some  church.  He  set  himself  to  a  diligent  examination 
of  the  New  Testament,  and,  having  become  "satisfied  that  the  Baptist 
Church  was  nearest  the  primitive  constitution,"  he  offered  himself  as  a 
candidate  for  communion  at  Upper  Freehold,  where  he  was  baptized,  Octo- 
ber, 1769. 

At  this  time,  Bordentown  was  destitute  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
with  the  exception  of  perhaps  five  or  six  Sabbaths  in  a  year.  This  occa- 
sioned him  deep  regret,  and  it  became  an  object  of  much  interest  with 
him  to  have  religious  services  regularly  established  there.  There  was, 
however,  no  one  but  himself  to  officiate  ;  and,  being  but  about  sixteen,  he 
shrunk  from  the  attempt.  But  a  sense  of  duty  overcame  his  timidity. 
He  obtained  a  room  and  invited  the  people  to  attend.  The  novelty  of  the 
occasion  brought  out  a  large  number.  It  was  a  severe  trial.  Before  him 
were  many  of  his  fo-rmer  associates — most  of  his  audience  had  known 
him  from  infancy — he  v,-is  but  a  boy — all  conspired  to  abash  and  confound 
him.  He,  however,  proceeded  through  the  usual  form  of  public  worship, 
and  expounded  a  passage  of  Scripture.  This  meeting  was  regularly  kept 
up  on  Sunday  evenings,  for  about  four  years.  A  considerable  number  of 
persons  were  thus  hopefully  brought  to  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
were  baptized  in  the  Delaware,  and  were  subsequently  formed  into  a 
church.  jMr.  Allison  was  meanwhile  anxiously  deliberating  whether  it 
was  not  his  duty  to  give  himself  permanently  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
When,  at  length,  his  Christian  friends  communicated  to  him  their  convic- 
tion that  such  was  his  duty,  he  resolved  on  the  measure  ;  and  at  once  ^in 
1774)  placed  himself  under  the  instruction  of  the  Bev.  Samuel  Jones,  D. 
D.,  of  Lower  Dublin,  near  Philadelphia.  Here  he  received  a  classical 
education,  and  also,  to  some  extent,  studied  Theology.  He  prosecuted  his 
studies  with  great  diligence,  and,  as  his  mind  was  strong,  and  susceptible 
of  high  culture,  his  progress  was  proportionally  rapid. 

An  admirable  feature  in  Dr.  Jones'  school  was  the  provision  which  it 
made  for  bringing  into  successful  exercise  both  the  reflective  and  the 
rhetorical  powers  of  his  pupils.  He  preached  but  once  on  Sunday,  and  the 
afternoon  was  devoted  to  discussions,  by  the  young  ministers,  of  questions 
in  Theology,  cases  of  conscience,  &c.,  which  had  been  previously  given 
out.  His  students  generally  showed,  in  after  life,  the  value  of  this 
discipline. 

In  1777,  Mr.  Allison  studied  a  session  or  two  at  Rhode  Island  College ; 
and,  on  his  return,  became  Pastor  of  the  recently  formed  congregation  at 
Bordcntown.  As  he  received  from  his  people  little  or  no  pecuniary  com- 
pensation for  his  services,  he  opened  a  classical  boarding  school, — his 
mother  acting  as  matron.     This  institution  rose  rapidly  in  both  reputation 


BURGESS  ALLISON.  123 

aiiJ  nuiuLci's,  aiiJ  ultiiaatoly  brouylit  liiiii  an  amide  furtunc.  Ills  pupils — 
nunibcring  generally  about  one  liuuilrod — eaiiio  not  only  from  almo.st  every 
State  in  the  Union,  but  from  Lisbon,  tlie  West  Indies,  the  Azores,  and 
South  America.  His  Electrical  Machine,  Orrery,  and  most  of  his  philo- 
sophical instruments,  were  of  his  own  construction, — the  Revolutionary  War 
precluding  him  from  importing  apparatus.* 

In  Deeember,  1783,  he  was  married  to  3Irs.  llhoda  Stout,  widow  of 
Zephaniah  Stout,  of  Hopewell,  N.  J., — a  connection  that  proved  pre-cmi- 
uently  happy.  She  at  once  engaged  zealously  in  the  superintendence  of 
the  boys  out  of  school,  and  was  universally  loved  and  honoured  by  them. 
They  never  spoke  of  her  but  with  respect  and  affection.  Such  a  woman 
was  admirnbl}'  adapted  to  aid  Mr.  A.  in  his  new  mode  of  government;  for 
he  had  introduced  the  plan  of  ruling  without  a  rod.  In  his  hands  it 
proved  successful,  and  no  school  had  better  discipline.  He  was  among  the 
first,  if  not  the  very  first,  to  try  this  mode,  now  so  universally  approved. 

Having  rendered  himself  independent  in  his  worldly  circumstances,  he 
retired  from  his  school  in  1790,  renting  his  buildings  to  the  Ilev.  William 
Staughton,  who  entered  into  his  labours  in  the  business  of  instruction. 

He  now  engaged  with  great  zeal  in  the  invention  and  improvement  of 
sundry  machines  and  implements.  Among  these  were  a  machine  for  taking 
profiles,  and  a  polygraph  in  which  steel  pens  were  used,  but  especially  the 
steam  engine  which,  for  some  years,  he  had  endeavoured  to  apply  to  navi- 
gation. But,  like  his  great  compeers  in  such  enterprises,  he  found  that 
these  projects  wasted  his  estate.  He  also  suffered  some  heavy  losses  by 
endorsements,  and  still  more  by  the  discovery  of  a  flaw  in  his  title  to 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Kentucky.  But  the  heaviest  blow  was 
the  removal  of  his  noble  wife  by  death.  In  these  most  trying  circum- 
stances, his  piety  shone  out  with  new  lustre.  Instead  of  deep  dejection  or 
querulous  regret,  he  manifested  a  calm  and  all-sustaining  confidence  in 
God.  He  would  say, — "  My  Heavenl}'  Father  knows  best  what  my  interest 
requires,  and  why  should  I  desire  to  take  the  direction  of  my  affairs  out 
of  his  hands  ?"  He  often,  in  subsequent  years,  remarked  that  he  had 
learned  more  true  wisdom  in  the  brief  period  of  his  adversity  than  in  ail 
the  prosperous  3'ears  of  his  life. 

In  October,  1801,  he  repurchased  the  Academy  buildings  in  Borden- 
town,  and  resumed  his  school  with  a  large  patronage.  Dr.  Staughton  had 
removed  to  Burlington,  and  the  pulpit,  thus  made  vacant,  was  again 
tendered  to  Mr.  Allison,  and  accepted.  But  the  failure  of  his  health 
soon  compelled  him  again  to  relinquish  these  lal)0urs. 

For  some  years,  he  now  enjoyed  relaxation  from  the  burdens  of  care, 
and  gave  himself  assiduously  to  theological  studies,  in  which  he  had  the 
advantage  of  one  of  the  finest  libraries  in  the  country  at  that  time.  His 
religious  feelings  became  more  fervent,  and  his  whole  demeanour  more 
impressive.  He  was  much  in  prayer,  especially  ejaculatory  prayer,  even 
in  company,  and  in  the  midst  of  business.  Adversity  had  chastened  him  ; 
and  a  faith,  strong  and  steady,  infused  into  his  heart,  and  sjtrcad  over  hit. 
life,  a  most  delightful  tranquillity. 

•His  ingenuity,  as  well  a.s  patrioti.sm,  was  exerted,  about  this  time,  in  preparing  kegs  contain- 
ing explosive  substances,  v.hicli  were  floated  down  the  Delaware,  for  the  destruction  of  the 
British  men-of-war,  at  anchor  there. 


124  BAPTIST. 

In  181G,  lie  was  elected  Cliaplain  to  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
Congress,  aiul  continued  in  that  office  for  several  years.  He  then  was 
appointed  Chaplain  at  the  Navy  Yard  in  Washington,  in  which  office  he 
died,  February  20,  1827,  having  reached  the  venerable  age  of  seventy-four. 

As  a  preacher,  Dr.  Allison  may  be  said  to  have  lacked  fluency,  though 
his  discourses  always  indicated  good  sense,  a  well  furnished  mind,  and  an 
evangelical  spirit.  He  w-as  an  eminently  wise  man,  and  this  rendered  him 
a  most  acceptable  and  useful  counsellor.  In  all  ecclesiastical  meetings,  he 
was  honoured  and  trusted,  and  his  influence  ever  tended  to  love  and  zeal 
As  a  teacher  of  youth,  he  had  few,  if  any,  superiors.  His  reputation  in 
this  respect  procured  him  iuvitations  to  the  Presidency  of  three  several 
Colleges,  all  of  which  he  declined.  He  possessed  great  mechanical  inge- 
nuity, and  was  no  mean  connoisseur  in  some  of  the  fine  arts.  He  was  an 
adept  particularly  in  music  and  painting,  in  both  which  he  took  great 
delight  as  recreations,  and  spent  some  hours  almost  daily.  At  an  early 
period,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
and  was  long  one  of  its  Secretaries.  He  kept  up  an  extensive  foreign  cor- 
respondence, and  wrote  much  for  magazines  and  newspapers.  On  the  for- 
mation of  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  he  was  chosen  one  of  its 
Vice  Presidents.  Indeed,  I  may  safely  say  that  few  men  have  lived  a 
longer,  better,  happier  and  holier  life  than  Burgess  Allison. 

Dr.  Allison  had  seven  children, — four  sons  and  three  daughters.  A  son 
and  a  daughter  died  in  early  childhood — the  others  were  all  married  and 
had  families.  Three  of  them, — two  sons  and  a  daughter,  died  many  )'ears 
since ;  and  a  son  and  a  daughter  still  survive. 

The  following  notice  of  Dr.  Allison  was  written  by  Morgan  Edwards  in 
1789:— 

"  Mr.  Allison  is  a  slender  built  man,  and  neither  tall  nor  of  firm  consti- 
tution, yet  approaches  towards  an  universal  genius  beyond  any  of  my 
acquaintance.  His  stated  preaching  shows  his  skill  in  Divinity.  The 
Academy  he  opened  in  1778  gives  him  daily  opportunities  of  displaying  mas- 
tership in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  and  ancient  and  modern  languages ; 
several  foreign  youths  deem  his  seminary  their  Alma  Mater;  foreigners 
prefer  him  for  a  tutor,  because  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  French,  Span- 
ish, Portuguese,  &c.  The  Academy  is  well  furnished  with  books,  globes, 
glasses,  and  other  pieces  of  apparatus  for  experiments  in  Natural  Philoso- 
phy, Astronomy,  Geography,  Optics,  Hydrostatics,  &c.  Some  of  the  said 
pieces  arc  of  his  own  fabrication.  He  is  now  preparing  materials  for  an 
Orrery,  on  an  improved  plan.  He  is  not  a  stranger  to  the  Muses  and 
Graces;  for  he  is  an  adept  in  Music,  Drawing,  Painting,  Katoptrics,  &c. 
He  has  two  curious  and  well  finished  chandeliers  in  his  parlour,  which  show 
the  maker,  wltcnever  he  stands  before  them.  He  is  as  remarkable  a 
mechanic  as  he  is  an  artist  and  philosopher:  the  lathe,  the  plane,  the  ham- 
mer, the  chisel,  the  graver,  &c.,  have  displayed  his  skill  in  the  use  of  tools. 
His  accomplishments  have  given  him  a  name  and  a  place  in  our  Philosoph- 
ical Society,  and  in  that  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Rumsey,  and  in  the 
Society  for  promoting  Agriculture  and  Home  Manufactures." 

Yours  with  afi"ectionate  respect, 

HOWARD  MALCOM. 


LEWIS  LUNSFORD.  125 

LEWIS  LUNSFORD. 

1770—1793. 

FROM  TUB  REV.  JAMES  B.  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  December  13,  1848. 

Dear  Sir  :  Lewis  Lunspord,  concerning  whom  you  inquire,  may  justly 
be  reckoned  among  tlie  more  distinguished  ministers  of  the  Baptist  denom- 
ination. He  was  born  in  Stafford  County,  Va.,  about  the  year  1753.  His 
parents  were  poor,  and,  from  earliest  infancy,  he  was  accustomed  to  the 
hardships  peculiar  to  his  condition  in  life.  Though  possessing  a  mind  of 
superior  order,  the  ample  stores  of  knowledge  were  not,  in  childhood, 
placed  within  his  reach.  He  was  destined,  however,  with  his  powers  con- 
secrated to  the  cause  of  Christ,  to  be  the  instrument  of  extensive  good  to 
his  fellow-men.  At  what  time  his  conversion  took  place,  cannot,  with 
precision,  now  be  determined.  It  must,  however,  have  occurred  at  an  early 
period,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  he  had  commenced  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  when  he  was  not  more  than  seventeen  years  old.  The  instru- 
mentality of  his  conversion  is  attributed  to  Elder  William  Fristoe,*  and 
by  him  he  was  baptized. 

Having  united  himself  with  the  Potomac  Church,  now  called  Ilartwood, 
he  began  immediately  to  proclaim  salvation  through  the  blood  of  atone- 
ment. It  was  perceived  by  all  that  he  possessed  remarkable  talents,  and 
crowds  attended  his  ministry  from  ever}'  direction.  His  extreme  youth, 
united  with  the  fluency  and  pungency  of  his  address,  excited  astonishment. 
He  was  fiimiliarly  called  "  the  wonderful  boy,"  and  it  is  justly  a  matter 
of  surprise  that,  amidst  so  many  flattering  attentions  as  he  received,  he  was 
not  ruined. 

A  few  years  after  his  entrance  into  the  ministry,  he  left  his  native 
county,  and  extended  his  influence  through  all  the  counties  of  the  North- 
ern Neck  of  Virginia.  In  Westmoreland,  Northumberland,  and  Lancaster 
especially,  did  the  Lord  make  his  ministrations  effectual,  and  believers 
were  daily  added  to  the  Church.  Several  churches  were  gathered  as  the 
fruit  of  his  toils  ;  the  most  prominent  of  which  are  Nomini,  Moratico,  and 
Wicomico.     When  the  Moratico  Church  was  constituted,  in  the  year  1778, 

•William  Fristoe  was  born  in  Stafford  County,  Va.,  in  the  year  1712.  His  parents 
belonged  to  the  Established  Church,  but  were  not  particularly  interested  in  religious  things. 
In  bis  fourteenth  year,  when  he  was  watching  witii  a  sick  and  dying  man,  a  word  that  was 
dropped  by  a  Scotch  Presbyterian,  who  was  sitting  up  with  him,  went  to  his  heart,  and  awa- 
kened deep  solicitude  in  respect  to  his  own  salvation.  At  li  ngth,  after  a  protracted  struggle 
with  himself,  his  mind  became  composed,  and  his  heart  fixed  upim  the  gracious  ))romiscs  of  (lie 
(lospel;  and,  soon  after  this,  when  he  was  not  far  from  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  was  licensed  to 
preaeh  by  the  Chapawansick  Church,  of  which,  in  due  time,  he  was  called  to  take  the  pa^loml 
care.  He,  however,  travelled  extensively,  and  was  instrumental  of  forming  many  ollirr 
churches.  lie  also,  at  different  periods,  su|>plied  several  churclies  regularly,  among  which  weii> 
Ihosi'  of  Brentown,  Ilartwood,  flrove.  and  llockhill.  dn  removing  to  the  County  of  Slienan- 
doiih.  he  resigned  all  but  one,  and  that  he  retained  till  the  year  before  his  di'alli.  After  U'u 
settlement  in  .Shenandoah,  he  took  charge  of  Ebene/.i.r,  Buckinarsh,  Bethel.  Zion,  and  .'^alcm. 
in  their  destitution,  and  gave  them  up  successivel}',  whenever  Pastors  could  be  obtained.  In 
the  year  1809,  he  published  a  work  entitled  "The  History  of  the  Ketockton  Baptist  Associa- 
tion."' He  died,  after  a  short  illness,  at  his  residence  in  Shenandoah  County,  oti  the  14(h  of 
.\ugust,  1828,  having  reached  his  eighty-sixth  year.  AVithout  having  enjoyed  the  advantages 
of  an  early  education,  he  had,  by  caro  and  industry,  acquired  much  general  knowledge,  and 
was  an  acceptable  and  useful  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 


126  BAPTIST. 

lie  was  unanimously  chosen  its  Pastor.  This  relation  lie  sustained  as 
long  as  he  lived.  It  is  proijcr  here  to  state  that  he  was  never  ordained  by 
the  imposition  of  hands,  as  he  entertained  the  sentiment  that  there  was 
nothing  necessary  to  constitute  a  valid  ordination,  but  the  call  of  some 
church  to  the  Avork  of  a  Pastor  or  an  Evangelist.  Many  of  his  brethren, 
at  that  lime,  considered  his  course  objectionable,  in  reference  to  this  sub- 
ject ;  they  were,  however,  disposed  to  make  it  a  matter  of  forbearance,  they 
loved  him  still,  and  co-operated  with  him  in  every  good  work. 

I  have  already  intimated  that  he  was  distinguished  for  his  natural  tal- 
ents ;  he  was  also  a  diligent  student,  and  acquired  a  large  fund  of  useful 
knowledge.  In  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  when  compelled  to  labour 
during  the  week,  whilst  he  preached  on  Lord's  day,  he  was  accustomed  to 
occup}''  a  large  portion  of  the  night  in  reading  by  fire-light.  When  he  set- 
tled in  the  Northern  Neck,  he  supplied  himself  with  a  small  but  valuable 
collection  of  books,  and  employed  all  the  time  he  could  abstract  from  active 
ministerial  labour,  in  the  cultivation  of  his  intellectual  powers.  His  mem- 
ory was  most  retentive.  The  stores  of  knowledge  which  he  had  accumu- 
lated were  always  at  hand,  and  so  well  arranged  that,  when  neccssarj',  he 
could  bring  them  forth,  and  use  them  for  the  instruction  of  his  auditors. 
In  ability  to  make  extensive  and  accurate  quotations  from  good  authors,  few 
excelled  him.  He  possessed,  also,  a  very  considerable  taste  for  the  study 
of  jMedicinc,  and  read  the  most  approved  works  on  that  subject.  His 
medical  attainments  were  so  considerable  that  his  services  as  a  physician 
were  frequently  solicited  by  families  residing  at  a  distance.  The  follow- 
ing reference  to  his  talents  as  a  minister  is  furnished  by  Elder  J.  P. 
Jeter,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Richmond,  and,  for  several  years. 
Pastor  of  the  Moratico  and  Wicomico  churches,  in  the  Northern  Neck. 

"  Lunsford  was  unquestionably  endowed  with  superior  genius.  Desti- 
tute of  literary  acquirements,  residing  in  an  isolated  and  obscure  part  of 
the  country,  having  access  to  few  books,  and  few  enlightened  ministers,  ho 
rose,  by  native  vigour  of  intellect  and  dint  of  application,  to  real  distinc- 
tion. For  this  distinction  he  was  not  indebted  to  the  gloom  b}'  which  he 
was  surrounded.  He  would  have  been  distinguished  in  any  age,  or  any 
country.  I  have  conversed  with  several  intelligent  gentlemen,  who  were 
intimately  acquainted  with  him,  and  who  concur  in  the  opinion  that  his 
pulpit  talents  were  of  the  first  order.  His  conceptions  were  clear,  quick 
and  sublime  ;  his  style,  though  far  from  being  polished,  was  lucid,  copious 
and  strong,  and  his  gestures  were  natural  and  impassioned." 

The  following  anecdote  was  related  by  a  living  clergyman  of  high 
standing,  who  belongs  to  a  different  denomination  of  Christians  ■•■'  .m  that 
to  which  Lunsford  belonged.  Dr.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  .  Princeton. 
N.  J.,  had  engaged  to  preach  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  appointment: 
through  courtesy  to  Dr.  S.,  Lunsford  declined  preaching,  and  repaired  with 
all  his  congregation  to  hear  the  Doctor's  sermon.  Dr.  S.,  having  heard  the 
fame  of  Lunsford,  earnestly  pressed  him  to  preach.  Lunsford,  yielding 
to  his  importunity,  preached,  after  Smith  had  delivered  his  discourse. 
Dr.  Smith  afterwards  remarked, — "I  had  heard  much  of  Lunsford's 
preaching,  and  was  prepared  to  hear  a  great  sermon,  but  the  one-half  had 
not  been  told  me." 


LEWIS  LUNSFORD.  127 

AUliougli  this  Jistinguishcil  man  was  taken  from  the  field  of  laliour  in 
the  vigour  of  liis  days,  few  liave  aceoniplishod  more  tliau  he  did  for  tlie 
extension  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  He  was  in  various  respects  useful. 
As  a  Pastor,  he  was  affectionate  and  faithful.  lie  delighted  to  contribute 
to  the  relief  of  those  who  were  in  suffering  circumstances.  Being  quali- 
fied to  administer  in  sickness,  he  attended  the  calls  of  distress  which  met 
his  ear,  and  uniformly  without  compensation.  Mr.  Semple  says  of  him, — 
"  From  the  time  he  settled  in  the  Northern  Neck,  and  indeed  from  the 
time  he  began  to  preach  there,  he  gradually  increased  in  favour  with  the 
people,  lie  had  two  remai-kable  revivals  of  religion  within  the  bounds  of 
his  church — the  one  about  the  time  of  the  constitution  of  the  church,  and 
the  other  commenced  in  the  year  1788,  and  had  scarcely  subsided  at  his 
death,  in  1793.  During  these  revivals,  he  was  uncommonly  lively  and 
engaged.  He  preached  almost  incessantly ;  and,  by  his  acquaintances, 
after  the  last  revival,  it  was  thought  that  he  made  a  rapid  advance  both  in 
wisdom  and  warmth,  especially  the  latter,  from  which  he  never  receded, 
during  his  residence  on  earth." 

"  If  Lunsford  were  now  living,"  says  Elder  Jeter,  "he  would  be  an 
advocate  for  the  benevolent  institutions  by  which  the  age  is  distinguished. 
The  Moral ico  Church  Book  contains  an  order,  made  during  his  Pastorate, 
and  doubtless  by  his  influence,  for  making  collections  to  aid  the  College  in 
Providence,  R.  I.,  now  Brown  University.  He  was  a  man  of  enlarged 
views  and  feelings.  He  corresponded  with  Isaac  Backus,  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  Dr.  llippon,  of  London.  With  the  Presbyterian  ministers  of 
his  neighbourhood  he  maintained  the  most  intimate  and  friendly  intercourse. 
He  appears  to  have  possessed  a  catholic  spirit  towards  all  Christian 
denominations." 

The  early  part  of  Lunsford's  ministry  was  in  the  midst  of  perilous 
times.  No  power  of  mind  or  extent  of  attainments;  no  piety,  zeal,  or 
faithfulness,  was  sufficient  to  shield  from  the  assaults  of  persecution.  Elder 
Semple,  referring  to  Lunsford's  early  visits  to  the  Northern  Neck, 
says, — "  Here,  as  in  most  other  places  where  the  Baptists  preached,  they 
cried  out  that  some  new  doctrine  was  started  ;  that  the  Church  was  in 
danger.  I\Ir.  L.  was  accounted  worthy  to  share  a  part  of  this  opposition. 
A  clergyman  appointed  a  day  to  preach  against  the  Anabaptists.  Crowds 
attended  to  hear  him.  He  told  stories  about  Jack  of  Leyden  and  Crom- 
well's Roundheads ;  but  he  could  not,  by  such  tales,  stop  the  Gospel  cur- 
rent, now  swelling  to  a  torrent.  When  Mr.  L.  preached  again  in  those 
parts,  they  attacked  him  by  more  weighty  arguments.  A  constable  was 
sent  with  a  warrant  to  arrest  him.  The  constable,  with  more  politeness 
than  is  usual  on  such  occasions,  waited  until  Mr.  Lunsford  had  preached. 
His  fascinating  powers  palsied  the  constable's  hand.  He  would  not,  he 
said,  serve  a  warrant  on  so  good  a  man.  Another  man  took  it,  went 
tremblingly  and  served  it.  Mr.  Lunsford  obeyed  the  summons,  and 
appeared  before  a  magistrate.  He  held  him  in  a  recognizance  to  appear 
at  Court.  The  Court  determined  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  a  1)reach  of 
good  behaviour,  and  that  he  must  give  security  or  go  to  prison.  He  was 
advised  to  give  security,  under  the  expectation  of  obtaining  license  to 
preach.     He  tried,  but  could  not.      He  often  regretted  that  he   had   taken 


128  BAPTIST. 

this  step,  and  was  sorry  that  lie  had  not  gone  to  prison.     This    took   place 
in  Richmond  County. 

"After  the  repeal  of  the  law  for  establishing  one  sect  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  rest,  a  banditti  attended  Mr.  Lunsford's  meeting-house,  with  sticks 
and  staves,  to  attack  him.  Just  as  he  was  about  to  begin  to  preach,  they 
approached  him  fur  the  attack.  His  irreligious  friends,  contrary  to  his 
wish,  determined  to  defend  him.  This  produced  a  great  uproar  and  some 
skirmishes.  jMr.  Lunsford  retired  to  a  house.  The  persecutors  pursued 
him.  He  shut  himself  up,  and  they  were  not  hardy  enough  to  break  in  to 
him.  One  of  them  desired  to  have  the  privilege  of  conversing  with  Mr. 
L.,  with  a  view  of  convincing  him.  He  was  let  in,  and  did  converse. 
When  he  came  out,  he  wore  a  new  face.  His  party  asked  him  the  result. 
'  You  had  better,'  said  he,  '  converse  with  him  yourselves.'  " 

I  quote  still  further  from  Elder  Semple  in  reference  to  Mr.  Lunsford's 
last  hours: — "This  great,  this  good,  this  almost  inimitable,  man,  died 
when  about  forty  years  of  age.  He  lived  in  a  sickly  climate,  and  had 
frequent  bilious  attacks.  They  were  sometimes  very  severe.  For  two  or 
three  years  before  his  death,  he  laboured  under  repeated  indispositions, 
even  when  travelling  about.  His  manly  soul  would  never  permit  him  to 
shrink  from  the  work,  so  long  as  he  had  strength  to  lift  up  his  voice. 
Sometimes,  after  going  to  bed,  as  being  too  ill  to  preach,  prompted  by  his 
seraphic  spirit,  he  would  rise  again,  after  some  other  person  had  preached, 
and  deal  out  the  bread  of  life  to  the  hungry  sons  and  daugliters  of  Zion. 

"  The  Dover  Association  for  the  year  1793  was  held  at  Glebe  Landing 
Meeting-House,  in  Middlesex  County.  This  was  nearly  opposite  to  Mr. 
Lunsford's,  and,  the  river  emptied,  not  more  than  fifteen  or  eighteen  miles 
from  his  house.  Although  just  rising  from  a  bilious  attack,  he  would  not 
stay  from  a  place  where  his  heart  delighted  to  be,  and  where  he  had  the  best 
ground  to  believe  he  could  do  good.  He  went,  and  appeared  so  much  bet- 
ter, that  he  made  extensive  appointments  to  preach  in  the  lower  parts  of 
Virginia.  He  was  chosen  to  preach  on  Sunday,  and  he  did  preach  indeed. 
On  Tuesday,  he  came  up  to  King  and  Queen,  and  preached  at  Bruingtou 
Meeting-House,  from  these  words, — '  Therefore,  let  us  not  sleep  as  do 
others,  but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober.'  It  was  an  awakening  discourse, 
worthy  of  tliis  masterly  workman.  On  that  day,  he  took  cold,  and  grew 
worse.  He,  however,  preached  his  last  sermon,  the  next  day  evening, 
observing,  v.heu  he  began, — '  It  may  be  improper  for  me  to  attempt  to 
preach  at  this  time  ;  but,  as  long  as  I  have  any  strength  remaining,  I  wish 
to  preach  the  Go.spel  of  Christ ;  and  I  will  very  gladly  spend  and  be  spent 
for  you.'  He  then  preached  his  last  sermon  from — '  Therefore,  being  jus- 
tified by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
He  continued -to  grow  worse,  until,  having  arrived  at  Mr.  Gregory's,  in 
Essex,  he  took  his  bed,  from  whence  he  was  carried  to  his  grave.  In  his 
sickness  he  was  remarkably  silent;  having  very  little  to  say  which  he  could 
avoid.  He  was  fond  of  joining  in  prayer;  and  sometimes  exerted  liis  now 
relaxed  mind,  in  making  remarks  worthy  of  such  a  man.  He  expressed 
some  anxiety  at  the  thought  of  leaving  his  helpless  family,  but  appeared 
quite  resigned  to  the  will  of  Heaven.  On  the  26th  of  October,  1793,  he 
fell  asleep  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,  aged  about  forty  years." 


LEWIS  LUNSFORD.  129 

The  Rev.  Henry  Toler*  preached  two  Funeral  Sermons  for  him  : — One  at 
the  place  of  his  death  ;  another  at  Mr.  Lunsford's  Meetiiig-House  in  Lancaster 
County,  called  Kilmarnock,  These  two  Sermons  were  printed  in  a  pam- 
phlet, and  annexed  to  them  were  two  handsome  elegies,  written  by  ladies 
of  his  church. 

Mr.  Lunsford  was  twice  married  :  by  his  first  marriage  he  had  one 
child  ;  by  his  second,  three. 

I  am,  Dear  Sir,  faithfully  yours, 

JAMES  B.  TAYLOR. 


JOHN  WILLIAMS. 

1770—1795. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  B.  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  December  15,  1818. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  regret  to  say  that  the  materials  for  any  thing  like  a  satis- 
factory sketch  of  Elder  John  AYilliams,  of  this  State,  cannot  now  be  ob- 
tained. In  the  brief  notices  which  follow,  you  have  the  result  of  a  pretty 
thorough  inquiry,  which  I  have  instituted  in  respect  to  him. 

John  Williams  was  born  in  Hanover  County,  in  the  year  1747.  His 
parents,  though  not  wealthy,  were  in  comfortable  circumstances,  and  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunities  they  enjoyed,  to  give  their  sou  a  liberal 
education.  At  what  time  he  left  Hanover  is  not  known  ;  but,  in  1769,  he- 
was  engaged  in  the  capacity  of  Sheriff  in  Lunenburg  County.  About  thi.s 
period,  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  was  gloriously  displayed,  in  variou,-* 
parts  of  Virginia,  and  many  yielded  to  the  sway  of  the  King  of  saints. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Williams'  attention  was  first  directed  to  the 
subject  of  religion  ;  and,  having  himself  been  brought  to  the  feet  of  Christ, 
he  began  at  once  to  tell  others  of  the  value  of  a  Saviour.  Being  exten- 
sively acquainted  in  the  county,  in  discharging  his  duties  as  Sheriff,  he  had 
a  favourable  opportunity  of  doing  good  to  many.  Nor  did  he  neglect  it. 
He  warned  his  fellow  men  to  turn  from  sin's  deceitful  ways,  notwithstand- 
ing he  had  not  then  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ.  He 
was  not  baptized  until  February,  1770,  six  months  after  his  conversion. 

•  IlExnY  Toler  was  a  native  of  King  and  Queen  County,  Va.,  where  he  lived  till  he  reached 
manhood.  lie  received  his  first  religious  impressions  under  the  ministry  of  Elder  .lohn  Court- 
ney, and  in  due  time  became  a  mcuibcr  of  the  Upper  College  Church,  and  shortly  after  began 
to  speak  in  public.  After  this,  through  the  kindness  of  a  wealthy  and  benevolent  friind.  he 
went  to  Pennsylvania,  and  became  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Scfiool,  then  conducted  by  Dr. 
Samuel  Jones  •,  and  here  he  remained,  greatly  to  his  advantage,  for  about  three  years.  He  then 
returned  to  his  native  county,  was  ordained  shortly  after,  and  addressed  himself  with  great  zeal 
and  energy  to  the  work  upon  which  his  eye  and  his  heart  had  so  long  been  fixed.  Having 
preached  with  much  acceptance  in  the  County  of  King  George,  in  178o  he  consented  to  scttk' 
there;  though,  after  two  or  three  years,  he  removed  into  the  County  of  Westmoreland,  where  he 
exerci-scd  his  ministry  with  great  success,  at  the  same  time  travelling  extensively  in  the  upper 
counties,  and  in  the  Northern  Neck,  as  well  as  between  the  York  and  Rappahannock  Rivers,  lie 
wa.s,  however,  obliged,  for  want  of  an  adequate  support,  to  leave  this  i)lace,  and  hn  purchased  a 
farm  in  Fairfax  County,  but,  finding  himself  unable  to  pay  for  it,  ho  relinquished  his  title,  and 
removed  West  of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Thence  he  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  and  became  Pastor  of  a 
church  in  Versailles,  which  position  he  occupied  aCthe  time  of  his  death.  He  died  in  March, 
1824. 

Vol.  VL  17 


130 


BAPTIST. 


He  contiuucd  to  prosecute  the  work  of  tlie  miuistry,  as  a  licentiate,  with 
the  diligence  and  perseverance  of  one  who  knew  the  value  of  the  Gospel, 
and  who  earnestly  desired  the  salvation  of  sinners.  At  length,  tlie  num- 
ber of  disciples  had  so  far  increased,  that  it  was  thought  expedient  to  form 
a  new  church  iu  the  County  of  Lunenburg,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of 
Meherriu.  The  church  was  constituted  November  27,  1771  ;  and,  after  a 
short  time,  they  invited  Elder  Williams  to  become  their  Pastor ;  which 
invitation  he  accepted.  In  December,  1772,  he  was  publicly  set  apart  by 
imposition  of  hands.  He  appears,  while  labouring  for  this  church,  to  have 
been  eminently  useful.  At  the  Association  iu  1774,  it  was  ascertained, 
from  the  report  of  the  churches,  that  the  church  at  Meherrin  had  received, 
during  the  previous  year,  a  larger  number  than  any  other  represented  at 
that  meeting.  Such  was  the  increase,  during  his  ministry,  that  five  or  six 
churches  were  formed  from  the  Meherrin  Church,  in  the  counties  of  Lunen- 
burg, Mecklenburg,  and  Charlotte.  In  1785,  he  removed  his  membership 
to  Sandy  Creek  Church,  Charlotte,  and  became  their  Pastor.  This  rela- 
tion he  sustained  as  long  as  he  lived.  He  consented,  also,  in  1780,  to  serve 
the  Blue  Stone  Church,  Mecklenburg  County.  They  were  supplied  by  him 
about  eight  years,  until  the  removal  of  Elder  William  Richards*  into 
their  immediate  vicinity  ;  when  he  tendered  his  resignation.  It  ought 
here  tobe  mentioned  that,  immediately  after  Mr.  Williams'  conversion  to 
God,  he  began  to  preach  in  a  destitute  neighbourhood  of  Mecklenburg 
County,  and  was  successful  in  the  formation  of  a  church  called  Allen's 
Creek.  Here,  for  twenty  years,  as  frequently  as  possible,  and  with  much 
success,  he  preached  the  Gospel.  Many  coloured  persons  were  brought  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  added  to  this  church. 

The  influence  of  this  servant  of  Christ  was  not  to  be  confined  within 
these  limits.  He  early  distinguished  himself  as  one  who  felt  deeply  for 
the  general  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  He  was  a  regular 
attendant  of  the  meetings  of  the  General  Association,  which  continued  in 
existence  until  1783  ;  and,  afterwards,  when  the  General  Committee  was 
organized,  he  never  failed  to  be  present.  Many  of  the  most  important 
subjects  were  discussed  at  these  meetings,  and  there  is  satisfactory  evidence 
that  he  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  those  deliberations.  Any  scheme 
which  promised  to  promote  the  welfare  of  man,  he  was  not  only  willing 
to  approve,  but  to  aid  in  its  accomplishment. 

Among  the  important  objects  which  engaged  his  attention  may  be  men- 
tioned the  cause  of  religious  liberty.  When  lie  entered  the  ministry,  the 
Chureli  of  lingland  was  established    liy  law,  and    dissenters  were  deprivcl 

*  William  Richards  was  born  in  Essex  County,  Ya.,  of  highly  rcspeetfible  paronts,  in  tho 
ycarl7l'):>.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  became  hopefully  pious,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  Baptists,  and  joined  a  Baptist  Church  in  1781.  .Soon  after  this,  he  commenced  preach- 
ing the  (iospel,  but  his  first  cflorts  were  regarded  as  rather  vinproinising.  Having  laboured,  for 
.some  time,  in  North  Carolina,  he  removed,  in  1794,  to  IMccklenburg  County,  ^'a.,  where  he 
spent  the  reniaiiuler  of  liis  life.  Tl)e  same  year  that  he  removed,  he  was  chosen  Pastor  of  Blue 
iitone  (now  Bethel)  Church.  In  1799,  a  revival  took  place  in  connection  with  his  labours,  that 
resulted  in  the  accession  to  tlio  church  of  more  than  one  hundred  members.  The  year  previ- 
ous, he  consented  to  serve  the  Sandy  Creek  Church,  Charlotte  County,  and  in  1SU2  an  inter- 
esting revival  commenced  there  also,  which  continued  for  eighteen  months.  His  labours  were 
extended  to  dilVerent  parts  of  Mecklenburg,  Ijunenburg,  and  Charlotte,  for  many  3'ears.  though 
his  attciiti(}n  was  chiefly  given  to  the  J]ethel  Ciiurch,  which  was  near  his  residence.  He  died, 
after  having  been  disabled,  by  bodily  infirmity,  for  pastoral  labour,  several  years,  on  the  l.'5th 
of  July,  1837,  in  tho  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  an  eminently  consistent  and 
devout  Christian,  and  a  highly  evangelical,  acceptable  and  useful  preacher. 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  131 

of  many  privileges  enjoyed  by  Episcopalians.  As  Non-conforini.sts,  tliey 
were  exposed  to  the  loss  of  person;il  liberty,  and  to  the  endurance  of  many 
severe  sufferings.  The  Baptists  had  sore  experience  of  these  grievances. 
Elder  Williams  was,  in  the  meetings  of  the  General  Association  and  Gen- 
eral Committee,  one  of  the  most  unbending  champions  in  opposing  these 
proscriptions,  and  employed  his  influence  to  encourage  his  brethren  to 
resist,  by  all  scriptural  means,  those  unhallowed,  though  legalized,  oppres- 
sions. At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Association,  in  1775,  a  Resolution 
was  adopted,  authorizing  memorials  to  be  prepared  and  circulated  through- 
out the  Colony,  praying  the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  that  the  Church 
Establishment  might  be  abolished,  and  that  religion  might  be  allowed  to 
stand  upon  its  own  basis.  Elder  Williams,  with  two  others,  were  deputed 
to  wait  on  the  Legislature  with  these  petitions.  At  several  times  was  he 
appointed  on  a  similar  mission.  Nor  were  his  efforts,  with  those  of  his 
brethren,  vain, — for  he  lived  to  see  one  of  the  warmest  wishes  of  his  heart 
gratified  in  the  entire  prostration  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny. 

The  interests  of  education  also  found  in  him  an  efficient  patron.  He 
had  no  idea  of  having  learning  divorced  from  piety.  The  subject  of  edu- 
cation, it  is  well  known,  was  favourably  received,  and  plans  adopted  for 
its  promotion  by  the  Baptists  of  the  last  century.  In  1793,  it  was  com- 
mitted by  the  General  Committee  to  John  Williams  and  Thomas  Read, 
who  reported  the  following  plan : — that  fourteen  Trustees  be  appointed, 
all  of  whom  shall  be  Baptists  ;  that  these,  at  their  first  meeting,  appoint 
seven  from  the  other  denominations ;  and  that  the  whole  twenty-one  then 
form  a  plan  and  make  arrangements  for  executing  it.  Why  this  scheme 
failed  is  not  distinctly  known  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  brethren  of  that 
day  not  only  contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  Seminary  of  learning, 
but  actually  adopted  the  incipient  measures  for  carrying  their  wishes  into 
execution.  The  following  extract  from  a  paper,  presenteni  b}-  Elder  Wil- 
liams, indicates  his  own  feelings,  and  the  progress  which  had  been  made 
in  the  cause  of  education  : — "  Two  Seminaries  of  learning  are  proposed  in 
our  State, — one  on  each  side  of  James  River.  W^e  have  sufficient  encour- 
agement from  our  learned  brethren  in  the  North  that  we  shall  not  want 
for  able,  skilful  teachers.  This  will  also  require  very  diligent  efforts  and 
liberal  contributions.  And  if  we,  in  this,  as  we  ought  in  every  thing. 
act  with  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  interest,  then  shall  we  have  sufficient  grounds  to  hope  we  shall 
meet  with  the  approbation  of  Heaven." 

Another  subject  in  which  this  excellent  man  felt  a  deep  and  lively  inte- 
rest, was  the  preparation  of  a  History  of  the  Virginia  Baptist  Churches, — 
in  reference  to  which  Elder  Semplc  writes  thus:  —  "  The  compilation  of  a 
History  of  the  Virginia  Baptists  having  been  committed  wholly  to  the 
bands  of  Mr.  Williams,  after  Mr.  Leland's  removal,  he  had  made  no  incon- 
siderable progress  in  collecting  documents,  when,  in  consequence  of  the 
decline  of  his  health,  he  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of  resigning  his 
trust.  This  he  did,  in  a  letter  to  the  General  Committee,  in  1794.  The 
Committee  received  his  resignation,  and  resolved  to  decline  it  for  the  pre- 
sent." A  few  years  previous,  he  himself  thus  refers  to  this  subject  :  — 
"  It  is  thought  very  expedient   to  form  or  compile   a  History  of  the   Bap- 


132  BAPTIST. 

tlzed  Churches  in  Virginia, — their  rise,  progress,  hindrances,  remarkable 
events  and  occurrences,  chief  instruments,  present  condition,  &c.  Our 
General  Committee  have  taken  up  the  matter,  and  appointed  ministers  in 
the  various  districts  to  collect  materials,  who  find  it  very  necessary  to 
claim  the  exertions  and  assistance  of  the  several  churches,  ministers,  and 
other  individuals.  We  desire  every  circumstance  to  be  presented  as  clearly 
as  possible,  and  with  candour  and  truth." 

Elder  Williams  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  strength  of  intellect.  This 
is  indicated  by  such  written  documents  as  were  left  by  him,  and  the  con- 
current testimony  of  those  who  knew  and  still  survive  him.  He  was  much 
devoted  to  reading,  and  his  attainments  were  by  no  means  inconsiderable. 
Especially  on  theological  subjects  was  his  knowledge  enlarged  and  profound. 
As  a  public  speaker.  Elder  Semple  thus  describes  him  :  —  "  His  talents, 
if  not  equal  to  any,  were  certainly  very  little  inferior  to  those  of  the  first 
grade.  His  appearance  in  the  pulpit  was  noble  and  majestic,  yet  humble 
and  affectionate.  In  the  beginning  of  his  discourses,  he  was  doctrinal  and 
somewhat  methodical ;  often  very  deep,  even  to  the  astonishment  of  hi.s 
hearers — towards  the  close,  and  indeed  sometimes  throughout  his  sermon, 
he  was  exceedingly  animated.     His  exhortations  were  often  incomparable." 

From  the  Minutes  of  Associations  to  which  he  belonged,  and  other 
sources,  it  appears  that,  in  his  religious  sentiments,  he  was  a  moderate  Cal- 
vinist.  It  is  intimated  by  some  who  knew  him  that  he  was  favourable  to 
Open  Communion.  If  this  were  his  sentiment,  it  was  not  carried  into  prac- 
tice. Nor  did  he  fail,  on  all  suitable  occasions,  to  vindicate  the  exclusive 
propriety  of  Believers'  Baptism.  Mr.  Patillo,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of 
some  celebrity,  having  preached  in  his  vicinity  a  discourse  on  the  subject 
of  Baptism,  a  reply  of  considerable  merit  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Williams. 
This  reply  he  intended  to  put  to  the  press,  had  tlie  discourse  itself  been 
published.  A  brief  extract  from  the  preface  will  indicate  the  spirit  with 
which  the  work  was  undertaken  : — "I  hope  I  have  sufficiently  demonstrated 
to  my  countrymen,  for  a  series  of  years,  that  I  am  not  overbearing  on 
others,  or  bigotted  to  those  of  my  principles  which  are  not  essential  to  sal- 
vation. I  have  universally  endeavoured  to  promote  a  catholic  spirit,  with 
peace  and  concord,  in  the  Israel  of  God.  But,  nevertheless,  I  am  set  for 
the  defence  of  the  Gospel  ;  and,  as  such,  circumstances  often  occur,  that 
require  me  to  contend  for  the  faith  and  order  of  Christ's  Church." 

Mr.  Williams  laboured  diligently,  wherever  he  had  opportunity,  for  the 
salvation  of  souls  ;  and  his  heart  was  set  upon  the  promotion  of  the  great 
interests  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  Immediately  previous  to  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  while  the  American  army  were  encamped  in  the 
lower  part  of  Virginia,  permission  to  preach  to  the  soldiers  was  ol)taineiI 
from  the  Legislature,  and  he  gladly  engaged  in  the  work.  Had  he  lived 
in  the  present  day,  none  can  question  that  he  would  heartily  unite  in  those 
efforts  which  are  intended  to  send  among  the  nations  the  unsearchable  riclics 
of  Christ. 

Elder  Williams  was  not  permitted  to  live  to  old  age.  A  quotation  from 
Elder  Semple  will  give  all  the  particulars,  which  may  be  interesting,  in 
respect  to  the  latter  part  of  his  days  : — "  Being  very  corpulent,  at  an  Asso- 
ciation in  1793.  he  accidentally  fell   liy  the   turning   of  a  step,  as   he  was 


JOHN  AVILLIAMS.  133 

passing  out  of  a  door,  aiul  becamo,  for  a  year  or  two,  a  cripple,  liciiig  uiiilcr 
the  necessity  of  going  on  crutches.  Notwithstanding  this,  lie  would  still 
go  in  a  carriage  to  the  meeting,  and  preach,  sitting  in  a  chair  in  the  pulpit. 
During  several  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  he  was  aillicted  with  a  very 
painful  disease.  Under  his  severe  suffering  he  was  not  only  patient,  hut, 
v.'hen  he  could  have  any  mitigation  of  his  pain,  he  was  also  cheerful. 
About  ten  days  before  his  death,  he  was  attacked  by  a  pleurisy,  from  which 
no  medicine  could  give  him  relief.  His  work  was  finished,  and,  April  30th, 
1795,  he  fell  asleep. 

"  Nothing  very  remarkable  occurred  in  connection  with  the  closing  scene. 
He  told  his  wife  that  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  with  him  whether  he 
lived  or  died  :  he  had  committed  this  to  God,  who  would  do  right.  He 
said  ho  felt  some  anxiety  for  his  numerous  family  ;  but  that  these  also  he 
was  willing  to  trust  in  the  hands  of  a  Gracious  Providence." 

In  Januar}',  17GS,  Elder  Williams  was  married  to  Miss  Frances  Hughes, 
of  Powhattan  county,  by  whom  he  had  fourteen  children  ;  of  whom  eleven 
were  living  at  the  time  of  his  death;  and,  of  these,  four  professed  religion 
and  were  baptized. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

JAMES  B.  TAYLOR. 


CHARLES  THOMPSON. 

1770—1803. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ABIAL  FISHER,  D.  D. 

West  Boylston,  Mass.,  Marcli  24,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  Of  the  llev.  Charles  Thompson,  the  subject  of  your 
inquiry,  I  had  all  the  opportunities  of  information  that  could  be  furnished 
by  my  having  the  pastoral  charge,  for  several  years,  of  the  same  church 
which  he  served,  having  access  to  both  the  Town  and  Church  Records,  and 
being  in  intimate  relations  with  his  descendants  and  many  others  who  had 
personal  knowledge  of  him.  You  may,  therefore,  rely  upon  the  statements 
which  I  am  about  to  make  concerning  him  as  perfectly  authentic. 

Charles  Thompson  was  born  in  Amwell,  N.  J.,  April  14,  1748.  As 
Dr.  Manning  came  from  New  Jersey,  and  commenced  the  College  at 
Warren,  R.  I.,  which  is  now  Brown  University  at  Providence,  Mr. 
Thompson  came  with  him,  or  soon  after  him,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
an  education.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  class  in  iliat  institution, 
graduating  in  1769,  and  delivering  the  Valedictory  Oration.  Before  he 
graduated,  he  had  commenced  preaching,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1770  was 
called  to  preach  at  Warren  as  a  candidate  for  settlement.  In  March  fol- 
lowing, he  received  a  call  to  become  the  Pastor  of  that  church,  and,  having 
accepted  it,  was,  in  due  time,  inducted  into  the  pastoral  office.  He  continued, 
for  some  time,  to  discharge  his  duties  in  this  relation,  much  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  people.  But,  early  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  he  was 
appointed  a  Chaplain   in   the  American   army,  and  continued  to   hold  the 


134  BAPTIST. 

place  for  about  three  years.  At  the  time  of  the  burning  of  the  meeting- 
house in  Warren,  by  the  British  soldiery,  he  was  there  with  his  family, 
who,  until  that  time,  had  made  Warren  their  home.  He  was  taken  and 
carried  to  Newport,  and  confined  there  in  a  guard-ship,  from  which  he  was 
released  in  about  a  month,  but  by  what  means  he  never  knew.  After  this, 
he  removed  his  family  to  Ashford,  Conn.,  where  they  remained  for  some 
time,  and  meanwhile  he  was  occupied  in  preaching  at  Pomfret,  and  other 
places  in  that  neighbourhood.  The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Swansea, 
jMass., — only  three  miles  from  Warren,  where  he  had  been  previously 
hettled,  being  now  vacant,  invited  him  to  become  their  Pastor;  and  he 
accepted  the  call,  and  entered  upon  his  labours  there  in  the  fall  of  1779. 
The  Church  at  Warren  having  been  broken  up  and  scattered  by  the  burning 
of  their  meeting-house  and  parsonage,  and  the  destruction  of  much  of  their 
property,  and  being  unable,  in  consequence,  to  maintain  public  worship  by 
themselves,  proposed  to  unite  with  the  people  of  Swansea  in  supporting 
their  minister,  and  enjoying  the  benefit  of  his  labours — and  their  proposal 
was  acceded  to.  Mr.  Thompson's  preaching  here  was  attended  with  a 
manifest  blessing,  almost  immediately,  so  that,  within  a  few  months,  seventy- 
five  persons  were  baptized  and  added  to  the  Church.  About  1789,  there 
was  another  extensive  revival,  which  brought  into  the  church  about  fifty 
new  members;  and  in  1801,  another,  of  still  greater  extent,  that  resulted 
in  the  admission  to  the  church  of  about  one  hundred. 

After  a  ministry  of  twenty-three  years  in  Swansea,  Mr.  Thompson  found 
his  support  so  scanty  that  he  felt  obliged  to  ask  for  the  dissolution  of  his 
pastoral  relation.  He  accepted  an  invitation  to  settle  in  Charlton,  Worcester 
County,  Mass.,  in  the  beginning  of  1803,  with  every  prospect  of  a  comfort- 
able support  and  a  useful  ministry.  But,  even  before  his  removal  to 
Cluulton,  he  was  attacked  with  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  proved  the 
harbinger  of  a  rapid  consumption,  that  terminated  his  life  on  the  4th  of 
May  following.     He  died  in  the  full  confidence  of  passing  to  a  better  world. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  tall,  spare,  and  of  a  fine  figure.  The  expression  of  his 
countenance  was  indicative  at  once  of  a  vigorous  intellect,  and  an  amiable 
disposition.  He  placed  a  high  value  upon  time,  and  improved  all  his  hours  to 
good  purpose.  In  his  family,  and  in  the  church,  he  was  a  model  at  once  of 
kindness  and  firmness.  As  a  preacher  he  held  a  very  high  rank.  He  liad  a 
voice  of  great  compass,  and  its  tones  were  at  once  sweet  and  commanding. 
He  had  great  depth  and  tenderness  of  feeling,  and  often  wept  with  his 
people,  while  he  occasionally  addressed  them  in  a  voice  of  thunder.  His 
sermons  were  carefully  studied,  and  sometimes  written,  but  his  manuscript 
was  never  seen  in  the  pulpit,  and  his  language  was  generally  such  as 
was  supplied  to  him  at  the  moment.  He  had  a  deep  sense  of  his  responsi- 
bility, and  feared  not  to  proclaim,  in  all  fidelity,  the  whole  counsel  of  God. 

For  several  years,  Mr.  Thompson  received  young  men  under  his  care, 
with  a  view  to  direct  their  education.  He  was  fully  master  of  every  thing 
he  attempted  to  teach.  Indeed  he  may  be  regarded  as  having  been  an 
accomplished  scholar,  as  well  as  a  devout  Christian,  and  an  able  and  suc- 
cessful preacher.  When  he  died,  it  might  well  be  said, — "  A  great  man  is 
fallen  in  Israel."  Very  faithfully  yours, 

ABIAL  FISHER. 


SAMUEL  SHEPARD. 


SAMUEL  SHEPARD,  M.  D.^ 

1770—1815. 

Samuel  Siiepard  was  born  in  Salisbury,  Mass.,  on  the  22d  of  June, 
1739.  His  father,  Israel  Shepard,  was  born  in  England,  in  1685.  After 
he  went  to  reside  in  Salisbury,  he  was  married  to  Mary  True,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

His  intellect,  in  its  earliest  developments,  showed  a  much  more  than 
ordinary  degree  of  strength ;  and  his  power  of  committing  to  memory  was 
almost  unrivalled.  When  a  mere  lad,  he  was  stationed  in  a  watch-tower, 
in  the  neighbourhood,  to  report  the  approach  of  the  Indians.  His  father's 
house  stood  on  the  main  road,  leading  from  Newburyport  to  Portsmouth, — 
two  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack.  That  point  of  land,  on  the 
East  side  of  the  river,  was  in  those  days  a  favourite  resort  for  the  Indians, 
and  said  to  be  visited  occasionally,  even  to  this  day,  by  a  remnant  of  the 
Penobscot  tribe. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  at  South 
Hampton,  N.  H.,  and,  soon  after,  taught  a  school  in  the  same  place.  He 
studied  Medicine,  and  settled  as  a  practising  physician  at  Brentwood,  N. 
H.,  where  he  soon  became  distinguished  in  his  profession.  A  Miss  Rachel 
Thurber,  an  excellent  and  zealous  Baptist  lady,  who  resided  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood,— having  removed  thither,  some  years  before,  from  Rehoboth, 
Mass., — had  distributed  among  the  families  of  her  acquaintance  a  consid- 
erable number  of  copies  of  Norcott's  work  on  Baptism  ;  and  one  of  these 
happened  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Shepard  at  the  house  of  one  of  his 
patients.  On  glancing  at  it  casually,  he  was  induced  to  read  it  through  ; 
and  the  result  was  that,  though  he  had  always  been  a  Congregationalist, 
he  adopted  heartily  the  views  which  this  book  maintained,  and  became  a 
decided  Baptist.  In  June,  1770,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Hezekiah 
Smith,  of  Haverhill,  and,  shortly  after,  began  to  preach.  On  the  18th  of 
July  following,  he,  with  thirteen  others,  united  to  form  a  Baptist  Church 
in  Stratham.  On  the  2d  of  May,  1771,  another  church,  consisting  of 
thirteen  members,  was  constituted  at  Brentwood  ;  and,  on  the  next  day, 
another  still,  consisting  of  sixteen  members,  at  Nottingham.  These  three 
churches  unitedly  called  Dr.  Shepard  to  become  their  Pastor.  He  accepted 
the  call,  and  was  ordained  at  Stratham,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1771 ; 
on  which  occasion  Dr.  Stillman  of  Boston  preached.  Dr.  Smith  of  Haver- 
hill gave  the  Charge,  and  Dr.  Manning  of  Providence,  the  Right  Hand  of 
Fellowship. 

Dr.  Shepard  was,  until  the  time  of  his  death,  one  of  the  most  active  and 
honoured  ministers  of  his  denomination.  He  had  not  only  an  uncommonly 
vigorous  mind,  but  great  power  of  physical  endurance,  and  his  labours 
were  so  widely  extended  that  he  might  almost  be  said  to  have  lived  the 
life  of  an  itinerant.     And,  in  addition  to  his  duties  as  a  minister,  he  con- 

•  Benedict'8  Hist.  Bapt.,  I.— MSS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  E.  E.  Cutnminge  and  Mrs.  U.  S.  Riddle. 


13G  BAPTIST. 

tinued  his  practice,  to  some  extent,  as  a  physician ;  as  his  medical  skill 
was  so  highly  appreciated  that  the  community  in  which  he  lived  were  not 
willing  to  dispense  with  his  services  in  that  capacity.  The  following  let- 
ter, which  he  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Isaac  Backus,  in  1781,  furnishes  some 
idea  of  the  extent  of  his  early  labours  : — 

"  I  rejoice,  Sir,  to  hear  that,  in  the  midst  of  judgment,  God  is  remembering  mercy, 
and  calling  in  his  elect  from  East  to  "West.  You  have  refreshed  my  mind  with  good 
news  from  tlie  West  and  South,  and,  in  return,  I  will  inform  you  of  good  news  from 
the  Nortli  and  East.  Some  hundreds  of  souls  are  hopefully  converted  in  the  counties 
of  Rockingham,  Strafford,  and  Grafton,  in  Kcw  Hampshire,  within  a  year  past.  In 
the  last  journey  I  made  before  my  beloved  wife  was  taken  from  me,  I  baptized  sev- 
enty-two men,  women,  and  some  that  may  properly  be  called  cliildreu,  who  confessed 
with  their  mouths  the  salvation  God  had  wrought  in  their  hearts,  to  good  satisfaction. 
Meredith,  in  Strafford,  has  a  church  gathered  the  year  past,  consisting  of  between 
sixty  and  seventy  members.  I  baptized  forty-three,  in  that  town,  in  one  day,  and 
such  a  solemn  weeping  of  the  multitude  on  the  shore  I  never  before  saw.  The  ordi- 
nance of  Baptism  appeared  to  carry  universal  conviction  through  them,  even  to  a 
man.  The  wife,  when  she  saw  her  husband  going  forward,  began  to  weep,  to  think  she 
was  not  worthy  to  go  with  him;  in  like  manner,  the  liusband  the  wife,  the  parent  the 
child,  the  cliildren  the  parent;  that  the  lamentation  and  weeping  methinks  may  be 
compared  to  the  inhabitants  of  Hadadrimmon,  in  the  Valley  of  Maegiddon.  Canter- 
bury, in  Rockingham  County,  has  two  Baptist  Churches,  gathered  in  the  year  past: 
one  in  the  parish  of  Northfield — the  number  I  cannot  tell,  but  it  is  considerably  large. 
I  baptized  thirty-one  there,  and  a  number  have  been  baptized  since  by  others.  The 
other  is  in  the  parish  of  Loudon,  in  said  Canterbury,  containing  above  one  hundred 
members.  Another  church,  of  about  fifty  members,  is  gathered  in  Chichester;  another 
in  Bennington,  consisting  of  a  goodly  number,  and  one  in  Ilubbardston, — all  three  in 
Strafford  County.  Two  churches  in  Grafton  County, — one  in  Holderness,  the  other  in 
Rumney.  The  church  in  Rumney  had  one  Haines*  ordained  last  August,  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  people.  All  these  seven  churches  have  been  gathered,  in  about 
a  j'ear  past.  One  church  was  gathered  last  fall  in  "Wells,  over  which  Brother  Nathaniel 
Lord,t  late  of  Berwick,  is  ordained.  There  appears  to  be  a  general  increase  of  the 
Baptist  principles,  through  all  the  Eastern  parts  of  New  England." 

We  find  the  following  notice   of  Dr  Shepard  in  the   Life   of  Governor 

Plummer : — 

"  In  1777,  by  the  influence  of  the  labours  of  Dr.  Shepard.  a  flourishing  church  was 
gathered  at  Epping.  Governor  Plummer's  father  had  joined  this  church,  and  his  son 
attended  this  meeting.  In  less  than  seven  years  after  Dr.  Shepard's  ordination,  his 
church  had  become  the  largest  ever  collected  under  one  Pastor  in  New  England.  He 
had  a  meeting-house  built  in  Epping,  Brentwood,  and  Stratham,  and  preached  suc- 
cessively in  each.  Through  a  wide  spread  region  of  country,  he  was  folk)wed  and 
admired  by  a  multitude,  and  everywhere  revivals  and  conversions  attested  the  power 
of  his  preaching.  Among  others.  Governor  Plummer,  then  in  his  twentieth  year, 
attended  these  meetings,  and  became  a  convert.  He  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Shepard  in 
May,  1779,  in  company  with  twenty  others,  in  the  river,  at  Nottingham." 

Dr.  Shepard's  plan  of  church  extension  was  to  furnish  branch  churches 
to  the  one  of  which  he  was  the  Pastor.  These  branches  were  supplied 
with  ministers ;  but  Brentwood  was  their  Jerusalem  to  which  they  used 
frequently  to  repair.  There  Dr.  Shepard  resided,  like  a  Bishop  in  the 
midst  of  his  Diocese.  In  his  active  days,  he  was  accustomed  to  visit  all 
these  churches,  making  a  circuit  of  about  two  hundred  miles ;  and  they  all 
looked  up  to  hinuwith  grateful  and  reverential  regard.  The  general  spirit 
with  which  he  prosecuted  his  work,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 
extract  from  a  manuscript  record  of  his  views  and  feelings,  made  by  him- 
self, about  five  years  before  his  death  : — 

•  Cotton  Haines,  who  was  not  long  after  ejected  from  tho  fellowship  of  the  Baptists. 

t  Nathaniel  Lord  was  born  in  175-1;  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Church  iu  Wells,  Me.,  in 
1780;  resigned  his  charge,  and  became  Pastor  of  the  Second  Church  in  Berwick,  Me.,  in  1804; 
and  died  in  18;-i2.  He  was  a  devoted  nuiiister,  and  rendered  important  service  to  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  Maine,  especially  at  an  early  period. 


SAMUEL  SHEPARD. 


137 


"I  have  thought  my  work,  for  about  thirty-five  years  past,  has  been 
to  warn  sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ;  to  alarm  those  who 
are  at  ease  in  Ziou,  and  dwell  in  their  ceiled  houses,  shunning  the  Cross  of 
Christ,  holding  a  form  of  godliness  and  denying  the  power ;  and  to  en- 
deavour to  feed  those  who  appeared  to  be  the  sheep  and  lambs  of  Christ, 
with  the  siucere  milk  of  the  word,  according  to  my  ability.  My  work  has 
often  been  my  wages.  It  has  at  times  been  in  my  mouth  sweet  as  honey, 
and  bitter  as  gall  in  my  belly.  Persecutions  and  trials  have  awaited  me 
many  years  ;  but,  through  all  these  things,  I  have  been  supported  thus  far. 
But  alas,  such  is  my  ignorance,  I  am  at  times  fearful  to  proceed,  lest  I 
should  darken  counsel  with  words  without  knowledge,  or  should  give  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant  a  wrong  touch.  The  truth  contained  in  tlic  Scrip- 
tures is  the  key  of  true  knowledge,  which  reveals  the  settled  counsel  of 
God,  the  only  foundation  of  hope." 

Dr.  Shepard  died  at  Brentwood,  on  the  4th  of  November,  1815,  aged 
seventy-seven  years. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Shcpard's  publications  : — A  Scriptural 
Inquiry  respecting  the  Ordinance  of  Water  Baptism.  A  Reply  to  several 
Answers,  in  defence  of  this  Inquiry.  A  Scriptural  Inquiry  concerning 
what  the  Friends  or  Quakers  call  Spiritual  Baptism ;  being  an  Answer  to 
a  work  published  by  Moses  Brown,  of  Providence,  11.  I.  The  Principle 
of  Universal  Salvation  examined  and  tried  by  the  Law  and  the  Testimony. 
An  Examination  of  Elias  Smith's  two  Pamphlets,  respecting  Original  Sin, 
the  Death  Adam  was  to  die  the  day  he  eat  of  the  Forbidden  Fruit,  and 
the  Final  Annihilation  of  the  Wicked. 

The  following  anecdotes  have  been  communicated  to  me  by  Mrs.  Biddle, 
a  gi-aud-daughter  of  Dr.  Shepard,  as  illustrative  of  some  of  his  character- 
istics : — 

"  He  used  to  tell  a  story  which  he  was  accustomed  to  apply  to  men  who 
attempted  to  dodge  difficulties  by  assuming  neutral  ground.  He  said  that 
a  certain  farmer  was  in  the  habit  of  riding  on  the  tongue  of  the  cart  as  a 
place  of  safety, — being  out  of  the  way  of  both  the  cart  and  oxen.  This 
was  all  very  well  till  the  team  came  to  a  rough  piece  of  ground,  when  the 
oxen  became  restive,  kicked  the  farmer  off,  and  the  wheels  ran  over  him. 

"  On  a  visit  he  made  at  Meredith,  at  a  certain  time,  he  baptized  forty- 
four  persons  in  one  day,  and  preached  from  the  words — '  Wilt  thou  go  V — 
which  Isaac's  servant  addressed  to  Rebecca,  to  persuade  her  to  become 
his  master's  wife.  As  he  was  approaching  the  close  of  the  sermon,  he 
began  to  apply  the  subject,  with  great  earnestness  and  pathos,  to  the 
impenitent  portion  of  his  audience,  and,  as  he  uttered  the  words  of  his 
text — '  Wilt  thou  go?' — in  a  most  expostulatory  tone,  a  man  in  the  congre- 
gation, bclisving  himself  converted  at  the  moment,  arose  and  said, — '  Yes, 
I  will  go.'  The  preacher  instantly  closed  the  book  and  sat  down.  On 
being  asked  why  he  so  abruptly  terminated  his  discourse,  his  reply  was, — 
'  Why  the  match  was  made!' 

"  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  presence,  and  could,  almost  by  a  look, 
exert  great  power  over  other  minds.  On  one  occasion,  he  was  called  to 
visit  a  suffering  woman,  a  member  of  his  church,  whose  husband,  wealthy 
but  penurious,  did  not  allow  his  family  necessary  comforts.     After  calling 

Vol.  VI.  18 


138  BAPTIST. 

for  different  things,  and  being  told  there  were  none  in  the  house,  Dr. 
Shepard  rose  upon  his  feet,  indignantly  stamped  upon  the  floor,  and  said, — 
'  Mr, — do  you  go  at  once  and  tackle  your  horse,  and  purchase  the  articles, 
and  a  tea-kettle.'  The  man  started,  as  if  electrified  with  terror,  and 
obeyed  the  command,  to  the  great  comfort  of  his  sick  wife. 

"  The  Rev.  Elias  Smith,  when  he  was  quite  a  young  man,  paid  a  visit 
to  Dr.  Shepard,  at  Brentwood,  of  which  he  gives  the  following  account  : — 
'  He  received  us  kindly — so  we  tarried  with  him  over  night.  He  was 
naturally  a  cheerful  man,  and,  after  we  had  partaken  of  his  hospitality,  he 
told  a  story,  which  he  wished  me  always  to  remember,  lest  I  should  be  too 
much  lifted  up,  on  account  of  the  notice  taken  of  me  by  the  brethren  and 
elders.  He  said  that  a  certain  Indian,  having  to  cross  a  river  in  his  canoe, 
thought  to  save  the  labour  of  paddling,  by  raising  a  large  bush  in  the  bow 
of  his  boat.  When  launched  upon  the  tide,  the  wind  blew  so  hard  that  it 
upset  the  canoe,  and  he  was  obliged  to  reach  the  shore  by  swimming,  while 
his  boat  floated  down  the  stream.  People  saw  his  difliculty,  and  asked 
him,  after  he  had  reached  the  land,  why  he  did  not  come  in  his  canoe,  instead 
of  swimming  to  the  shore.  '  Oh,  said  the  Indian,  '  me  carry  too  much 
bush.'  '  Now,'  said  Dr.  Shepard,  'you  are  young,  and  just  set  out  in  the 
world,  and  you  will  do  well,  if  you  do  not  carry  too  much  bush.'  " 

Dr.  Shepard,  according  to  the  testimony  of  those  who  remember  him  in 
his  later  years,  was  a  large  and  well  proportioned  man,  with  dark  eyes  and 
flowing  locks,  and  a  mild  yet  commanding  expression  of  countenance. 

He  was  married  three  times,  and  had  fifteen  children,  several  of  whom 
have  occupied  important  posts  of  usefulness.  His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth 
Hill,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H. ;  his  second  was  Ursula  Pinkham,  of  Madbury, 
N.  H. ;  and  his  third,  Mrs.  Lydia  Thacher,  of  Concord,  Mass. 


EDMUND  BOTSFORD.=^ 

1771—1819. 

Edmund  Botspord  was  born  at  Woburn,  Bedfordshire,  England,  in  the 
year  1745.  At  the  age  of  seven  years,  he  had  lost  both  his  father  and  his 
mother ;  though  the  lack  of  parental  guardianship  was  very  happily  sup- 
plied by  his  being  placed  under  the  care  of  an  excellent  aunt,  who  sent 
him  to  board  with  a  lady,  an  intimate  friend  of  his  mother,  with  whom  he 
attended  a  Baptist  meeting.  At  this  early  age,  he  was  frequently  the  sub- 
ject of  strong  -religious  impressions,  which  were  occasioned  or  deepened  by 
reading  Bunyan's  works,  and  other  serious  books,  and  especially  by  a 
remarkable  dream  which  he  had  in  his  eighth  or  ninth  year. 

After  this,  however,  he  lost  his  interest  in  religious  things,  and  became 
irregular  in  his  habits,  so  that  his  friends  well-nigh  despaired  of  both  his 
respectability  and  usefulness.  He  wished  to  go  to  sea,  but,  not  having  the 
opportunity,  he   enlisted  as  a  common   soldier  ;  and,  in  this  capacity,  was 

•  Georg.  Bapt. — MS.  from  Kev.  Dr.  Mallary. 


EDMUND  BOTSFORD.  139 

subjected  to  many  perilous  adventures  and  severe  liardsliips.  At  tlic  age 
of  twenty,  he  sailed  for  Charleston,  S.  C,  where  he  arrived  in  January, 
17GG. 

Finding  himself  now  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  having  to  encoun- 
ter some  serious  diflicultics  in  his  new  situation,  his  early  religious  impres- 
sions began  to  return  upon  him,  and  at  length  his  distress  became  so  great 
as  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  members  of  the  family  in  which  ho  lived. 
At  the  suggestion  of  one  of  them,  he  went,  on  a  certain  Sabbath,  to  hear 
the  Rev.  Oliver  Hart,  an  excellent  Baptist  minister,  of  Charleston ;  and  it 
was  under  his  faithful  preaching,  as  he  believed,  that  he  first  obtained 
spiritual  light,  and  was  enabled  to  devote  himself  to  the  service  and  glory 
of  God.     He  was  baptized  on  the  13th  of  March,  1707. 

After  continuing,  for  some  time,  in  secular  pursuits,  Mr.  Botsford  became 
inipre?:sed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  called  to  devote  himself  to  the  Gospel 
ministry ;  and,  accordingly,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Charleston,  in  February,  1771.  His  immediate  preparation 
for  the  ministry  was  made  under  the  direction  of  his  Pastor,  the  Bev. 
Mr.  Hart.  In  referring  to  the  commencement  of  his  minisiry,  in  con- 
nection with  some  previous  events  of  his  life,  he  says, — "  So  I  have 
been  groom,  footman,  painter,  carpenter,  and  soldier,  and  have  now  com- 
menced preacher." 

Mr-.  Botsford  continued  with  Mr.  Hart  till  the  following  June,  when, 
having  been  presented  by  some  of  his  friends  with  necessary  clothing, 
together  with  a  horse,  saddle,  and  bridle,  he  left  Charleston,  and  travelled 
to  Eutaw,  where  he  remained  with  the  Bev.  Mr.  Pelot  till  the  end  of 
July.  There  were  a  few  Baptists,  constituting  a  branch  of  the  Eutaw 
Church,  and  residing  near  Tuckaseeking, — a  settlement  about  forty  miles 
from  Savannah,  Ga.,  whose  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stirk,*  had  then  recently 
died;  and,  hearing  of  Mr.  Botsford,  tlie}^  invited  him  to  come  over  and 
help  them.  He  accepted  their  invitation,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  to 
them  on  the  27th  of  June,  1771.  His  labours  were  highly  acceptable, 
and  he  agreed  to  remain  with  them  one  year.  He  did  not,  however,  confine 
his  ministrj^  to  this  place,  but  preached  extensively  in  contiguous  regions, 
both  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 

In  1772,  he  enlarged  still  more  the  field  of  his  labours,  travelling  and 
preaching  almost  incessantly.  He  visited  Augusta,  Kiokee,  and  several 
other  places  on  the  frontiers  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  At  the 
close  of  this  year,  he  concluded  to  leave  Tuckaseeking,  and  preached  his 
Farewell  Sermon,  though  he  continued,  for  some  time  after,  to  favour  the 
neighbourhood  with  his  occasional  services. 

•  Benjamin  Stirk  was  a  native  of  Leeds,  Yorkshire.  England.  lie  was  talsen  by  Mr. 
\\  hitefielJ  unJer  his  patronage,  and  was  employed  by  him,  in  some  capacity,  at  his  Orphan 
IIousc,  in  Georgia,  as  early  as  17G0.  He  was  e<hicated  a  Presbyterian,  but  became  a  Baptist  in 
176.3.  lie  remained  at  the  Orphan  House  about  four  years  after  tliis,  and  tlien.  in  consequence 
of  bis  marriage,  removed  to  a  plantation  in  the  neighbourhood  of  (Joshen,  about  eighteen  miles 
from  Paviinnah.  As  there  was  no  Baptist  church  in  that  vicinity,  be  united  with  the  Church  at 
Eutaw,  S.  C.,  distant  from  his  residence  about  twenty-five  miles.  He  soon  commenced  preach- 
ing'~bolding  one  meeting  in  his  own  house,  and  another  at  Tuckaseeking,  and  occasionally 
officiating  at  Eutaw.  As  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  latter  place,  be  fell  from  his  horse  into  the 
water,  and  received  an  injury,  of  which,  after  Languishing  for  some  time,  he  liied  in  1770.  He 
was  a  man  of  good  talents,  and  consi.lerable  cultivati<m,  and  was  especially  distinguished  for 
his  piety  and  zeal.     He  was  a  benefactor  of  Rhode  Island  College. 


140  BAPTIST. 

The  Church  in  Charleston,  hearing  of  the  success  of  Mr.  Botsford's 
ministry,  determined  to  call  him  to  ordination.  He  was,  accordingly, 
ordained  on  the  14th  of  March,  1773, — Oliver  Hart  and  Francis  Pelot  offi- 
ciating on  the  occasion.  He  began  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  Baptism, 
shortly  after,  and,  by  the  middle  of  November  following,  had  baptized 
forty-five.  He  travelled  so  much,  during  this  year,  that,  he  says,  "some 
used  to  call  me  the  flying  preacher." 

For  some  time  after  he  left  Tuckaseeking,  he  seems  to  have  had  no  par- 
ticular place  of  residence;  but,  in  May,  1774,  he  purchased  some  land,  and 
built  him  a  house  on  Brier  Creek,  in  Burke  County,  Ga.  About  this  time, 
he  received  between  three  and  four  hundred  pounds  sterling  from  the  estate 
of  his  brother  in  England,  recently  deceased,  which  enabled  him  to  live 
comfortably,  though  he  had  but  a  poor  compensation  for  his  services  as  a 
minister.  From  this  place  he  sallied  forth  in  various  directions,  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  with  great  fervour  and  success  through  the  whole  surround- 
ing country. 

Mr.  Botsford  continued  to  be  thus  employed  till  the  spring  of  1779, 
when  he  was  driven  from  his  home,  and  from  the  State,  by  the  horrors  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Such  was  the  haste  in  which  they  were  compelled 
to  make  their  escape,  that  they  were  only  able  to  take  with  them  two  horses 
and  a  cart,  containing  a  bed,  a  blanket,  and  a  sheet.  The  property  which 
he  had  received,  a  short  time  before,  from  his  brother's  estate,  was  all  sac- 
rificed in  his  precipitate  flight.  He  was,  for  a  while,  a  Chaplain  in  the 
army,  but  at  what  period  of  the  Revolution  does  not  appear. 

On  leaving  his  home  in  Georgia,  he  directed  his  course  to  Virginia,  and 
for  some  time  laboured  in  diff"erent  places  in  that  State  with  much  accept- 
ance. Early  in  the  year  1782,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  pastoral  chai-ge 
of  the  West  Neck  Church,  in  South  Carolina,  which  he  had  previously 
served  as  a  temporary  supply;  and  he  took  up  his  residence  near  the  Pedee, 
on  aHract  of  land  presented  to  him  by  a  generous  friend,  and  iu  a  dwelling 
erected  for  him  by  the  church.  He  retained  his  connection  with  this  church 
about  fifteen  years,  and  was  the  means  of  gathering  in  a  considerable  num- 
ber to  its  membership.  Whilst  residing  on  the  Pedee,  during  several  suc- 
cessive years,  he  visited  the  city  of  Charleston,  and,  by  his  zealous  and 
timely  labours,  was  instrumental  in  reviving  there  the  Baptist  interest, 
which  had  become  much  weakened  and  depressed  by  the  trying  events  of  the 
Revolutiomiry  War.  During  his  visit  to  Charleston,  in  1785,  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  preaching  to  children,  and  continued  it  iu  his  sub- 
sequent visits,  until  the  church  was  supplied  with  a  stated  Pastor.  Several 
of  these  children  afterwards  became  hopeful  subjects  of  a  spiritual  renova- 
tion, and  exemplary  members  of  the  Bapti^^t  Church. 

In  February,  1707,  IMr.  Botsford  removed  to  Georgetown,  S.  C,  and 
took  the  oversight  of  the  Baptist  church  in  that  place,  where  he  remained, 
the  object  of  peculiar  respect  and  aff'ection,  as  long  as  he  lived. 

During  the  last  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Botsford  suff"ered 
much  from  Ijodily  disease.  His  principal  complaint  was  an  aff'ection  of  the 
nerves,  called  '  Tic-Douloureii x ,''  which,  though  seated  principally  in  one 
side  of  his  head,  subjected  his  whole  frame  to  the  most  distressing  par- 
oxysms, varying  in    duration   from   half  a  minute  to  several  minutes.     In 


EDMUND  BOTSFORD.  141 

whatever  po.sition  lie  was  when  they  seized  liiin,  he  became  fixed  as  a  statue, 
aud  remained  so  till  they  passed  off.  Sometimes,  for  weeks  at  a  time, 
they  recurred  in  quick  suecessiou,  rendering  it  difficult  for  him  to  cat, 
drink  or  sleep  ;  aud  so  slight  a  movement  as  some,  particular  contraction 
of  the  lip,  would  sometimes  appear  to  bring  them  on.  "  He  was,"  says 
one  of  his  particular  friends,  "a  kind  and  affectionate  preacher,  aud  when 
engaged  in  his  subject,  used  considerable  action.  Many,  many  times 
have  I  seen  him,  when  preaching,  seized  with  one  of  those  dreadful  par- 
oxysms, when  his  hand  was  up  or  extended,  and  his  head  stretched  forward 
with  earnestness ;  and  there  he  would  stand  till  it  passed  off, — the  only 
perceptible  movement  a  sudden  start,  extending  or  lifting  the  hand  a  little. 
He  became  so  accustomed  to  the  agony  that  it  did  not  disturb  his  train  of 
thought,  and  he  would  resume  the  discourse  where  he  had  been  stopped. 
I  have  known  him  thus  arrested  several  times  in  one  exercise ;  but  he 
would  not  withhold  his  hand  as  long  as  he  could  speak."  In  a  letter  to  a 
Christian  brother,  Mr.  Botsford  thus  alludes  to  one  of  these  attacks : — 
"  Last  Lord's  day,  in  the  midst  of  my  discourse,  I  was  struck  so  violently 
that  I  was  obliged  to  desist  from  speaking,  aud  could  not,  for  some  minutes, 
dismiss  the  congregation,  who  were  all  attention.  Who  knows  but  some 
sudden  stroke  may  unawares  send  me  to  Heaven  !  Surely  I  ought  to  live 
each  day  looking  for  my  change." 

This  terrible  disease  continued  to  prey  upon  his  constitution  till  it 
terminated  in  death.  He  died  at  Georgetown,  on  the  25th  of  December, 
1819,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was 
preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furman  of  Charleston. 

Mr.  Botsford  rendered  good  service  to  the  cause  of  religion  with  his 
pen.  His  principal  production  was  The  Spiritual  Voyage. — an  Allegory 
in  which  the  Christian's  life,  embracing  his  various  trials,  conflicts,  com- 
forts, victories,  &c.,  are  happily  illustrated  under  the  similitude  of  a  sea- 
voyage.  This  little  work  has  passed  through  many  editions,  and  is  embraced 
in  the  list  of  books  issued  by  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society, 
at  Philadelphia.  He  also  published  Sambo  and  Toney :  A  Dialogue 
between  two  Servants.     Republished  by  the  American  Tract  Society. 

Mr.  Botsford  was  married  four  times.  In  1773,  he  was  married  in 
Augusta,  Ga.,  to  Susanna  Nun,  who  was  a  native  of  Cork,  Ireland,  but 
had  lived  in  America  from  her  childhood.  She  died  March  9,  1790,  aged 
thirty-nine  years.  By  this  marriage  he  had  six  living  children — Mary,  the 
eldest  daughter,  was  married  to  the  late  Thomas  Park,  LL.  D.,  for  many 
years  Professor  of  the  Learned  Languages  in  South  Carolina  College,  and 
died  in  1828.  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  her  age.  In  1791,  he  was  married 
to  his  second  wife,  who  was  a  Mrs.  Catharine  Evans,  and  who  died  in 
179G.  By  this  marriage  he  had  one  daughter,  who  is  still  living,  (18,58,) 
a  pious  and  honoured  widow  in  South  Carolina.  In  1799,  he  was  nuirricd 
to  his  third  wife,  Mrs.  Ann  Deliesseline,  by  whom  he  had  two  children — 
she  died  in  1801.  In  December,  1803,  he  was  married  to  his  fourth  wife, 
Mrs,  Hannah  Goff,  who  survived  her  husband  a  few  years,  and  perished, 
with  several  others,  in  a  terrible  storm,  which  raged  along  the  sea  coast  in 
G.  orgia,  in  or  about  the  year  1822. 


142  BAPTIST. 


FROM  THE  REY.  CHARLES  D.  MALLARY,  D.  D. 

Albany,  Ga.,  November  18,  1857. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir:  I  had  the  plea.sure  of  receiving  your  recent  communica- 
tion, in  which  you  express  a  desire  that  I  shouUl  furnish  something  that  may 
aid  you  in  illustrating  the  character  of  the  Rev.  Edmund  Botsford.  I  will 
endeavour  to  comply  with  your  request.  As  he  died  several  years  before  I 
came  to  the  South  to  reside,  I  had  not  the  privilege  of  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  never  so  much  as  saw  him;  but  the  recollections  of  one  of  his 
granddaughters,  who  was  my  first  wife,  and  that  of  several  other  relatives 
and  intimate  friends,  together  with  the  use  Avith  which  I  was  favoured  of  his 
manuscripts  and  most  of  his  private  correspondence,  when,  some  twenty-six 
years  ago,  I  prepared  a  Memoir  of  his  life,  supplied  me  with  pretty  ample 
means  of  forming  a  just  estimate  of  his  character.  I  think  1  knew  him 
well.  He  was  one  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  was  truly  an  admirable  character.  Though  not  a  person  of  great 
genius  or  extensive  learning,  yet  he  was  a  man  of  such  sterling  integrity  and 
worth;  so  rich  in  the  experience  of  Divine  things;  he  passed  through  such  a 
variety  of  interesting  scenes,  and  aided  so  considerably  in  nourishing  the  infant 
cause  of  piety  in  our  land,  that  he  deserves  to  be  held  in  lasting  remembrance. 

He  possessed  an  active  mind,  warm  affections,  sanguine  temperament,  and 
fine  social  qualities.  In  conversation  he  was  animated  and  instructive:  he  had 
at  his  command  a  rich  fund  of  anecdote,  and  his  manner  of  narrating  events 
was  peculiarly  happy.  There  was  about  him  a  touch  of  English  bluntness, 
so  blended,  however,  with  hearty,  unaftected  kindness,  as  to  produce  pleasure 
rather  than  dislike.  His  personal  appearance  was  in  his  favour:  he  was,  if  I 
rightly  remember  what  Avas  said  of  him,  of  medium  size  and  stature,  (per- 
haps slightly  less  as  to  stature,)  erect  in  his  carriage,  active  in  his  movements, 
and  neat  in  his  apparel.  He  lived  in  the  days  of  short  pantaloons  and  silver 
knee-buckles;  and  I  think  I  have  heard  it  said  that  his  appearance,  in  the 
antique  costume  of  those  times,  was  quite  agreeable. 

He  was  a  man  of  unquestioned  piety.  His  long  life  of  useful  and  self-deny- 
ing labours;  his  ardent  love  for  souls  and  the  Kingdom  of  Christ;  his  peculiar 
attachment  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  his  habitual  conformity  to  its  Divine 
requirements;  his  patient  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God  in  times  of  severe 
bereavement  and  suffering;  the  savoury  Christian  sentiments  which  adorned 
his  conversation,  and  breathed  sweetly  through  his  epistolary  correspondence; 
all  went  to  show  that  he  was  truly  a  man  of  God,  endowed,  in  no  ordinary 
measure,  with  the  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  his  last  days,  he  was  quite 
remarkable  for  his  habit  of  devotion.  Suffering  much  from  protracted  illness, 
he  used  to  pass  many  sleepless  nights,  and  many  solitary  days,  in  which 
he  could  neither  read  nor  write.  On  such  occasions  he  would  spend  whole 
hours  in  prayer  for  his  friends,  presenting  their  cases  separately  and  minutely 
to  the  Throne  of  Grace;  and  these  devout  exercises  greatly  refreshed  his  own 
soul. 

He  had  a  certain  nobleness  of  spirit  and  bearing,  which  one  could  not  easily 
overlook.  He  oiice  said  of  himself,  and  no  doubt  truly, — <<  I  do  not  remember 
ever  to  have  considered  myself  poor,  even  when  I  had  not  a  half-penny  in  the 
world.  I  somehow  thought  myself  a  gentleman  born;  and  whether  I  had 
money  or  not,  I  had  much  the  same  feeling;  yet  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever 
despised  any  body,  except  for  base  actions." 

Mr.  Botsford  had  a  great  aversion  to  ever}'  thing  like  impertinent  curiosity. 
If  he  could  have  found  out  any  thing  relating  even  to  one  inimical  to  him,  by 
questioning  a  youth,  a  servant,  or  any  one;  or  by  glancing  at  an  open  letter 
which  might  be  thrown  in  his  way;  it  would  not  even  have  occurred  to  him  to 


EDMUND  BOTSFORD.  143^ 

avail  hinisflf  of  any  such  opportunity.  "  Guard,"  says  he,  "  against  inquir- 
ing: inti)  family  secrets. " 

Thou;;h  he  was  often  straitened  in  his  pecuniary  affairs,  he  seems  to  have 
maintained  an  habitual  confidence  in  God's  providential  care.  "  I  do  not 
remember,"  says  he,  '<  that  I  was  ever  in  my  life  the  least  uneasy  in  respect 
to  my  poverty.  1  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  afraid  of  coming  to  want,  and 
I  do  not  remember  ever  being  but  one  whole  day  without  food:  that  was  in 
Scotland.  Distrusting  Providence  for  food  and  raiment  is  a  sin  I  have  not  to 
account  for,  either  when  single  or  married." 

lie  Avas  never  corrupted  by  the  love  of  money.  <'  He  had  less  of  covetous- 
ness  in  his  disposition,"  says  a  friend,  who  knew  him  well,  '<  than  almost  any 
man  I  ever  knew."  He  was  often  generous  beyond  his  means.  AVhen  he  had 
but  a  penny  in  the  world,  he  would  give  a  beggar  half,  lie  would  never  see  a 
person  in  distress  without  relieving  him,  if  in  his  power.  He  seldom,  if  ever, 
shed  tears,  when  receiving  benefactions  from  others,  but  he  frequently  did  so, 
when  giving  to  the  poor. 

He  was  faithful  in  his  reproofs,  and  had  a  happy  talent  of  reminding  his 
brethren  of  their  faults  in  a  way  the  least  likely  to  give  offence.  To  a  young 
Christian  brother  he  thus  writes:  —  "  "When  I  think  or  hear  of  your  doing 
wrong,  1  will  scold  you;  and  if  you  do  not  like  it,  I  will  give  you  up  a  while, 
and  let  out  at  j^ou  again.  You  shall  hear  of  your  ftiults  from  me  as  long  as  1 
live."  And  yet  he  as  freely  and  honestly  invited  the  reproofs  of  others.  <«Do, 
my  brother,"  says  he  to  a  pious  friend,  "  pray  for  me,  and  do  not  spare  me 
in  an}-  point,  Avhere  you  think  a  hint  will  be  of  service.  1  promise  you  I  will 
receive  it  kindly,  and  try  to  benefit  by  it."  That  same  brother  had  occasion 
to  reprove  him  for  unbecoming  lightness  of  conduct;  and  what  a  noble  Chris- 
tian response  the  admonition  drew  from  him:  —  "  I  forget  if  I  ever  returned 
you  thanks  for  the  hint — if  not,  I  do  now  most  sincerely;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  beg  you  will,  my  brother,  for  my  sake,  but  more  especially  for  the  sake 
of  the  cause  of  God,  continue  to  use  freedom  with  me."  And  more  than 
twenty  years  afterwards,  and  but  a  short  time  before  his  death,  he  calls  up 
the  circumstance  again,  with  grateful  emotions:  —  "  Many  a  time  your  broth- 
crh'  admonition  has  met  me  full  in  the  face;  yes,  my  brother,  to  this  day  I 
feel  thankful  to  you  and  to  God  for  it." 

During  Mr.  Botsford's  ministry,  much  preaching  was  done  in  open  fields 
and  in  forests.  Ministers  Averc  not  over  nice  about  their  pulpits.  It  is  said 
that,  on  one  occasion,  Mr.  Botsford  ascended  a  ])arrel,  and  when  he  had  made 
some  progress  in  his  sermon,  either  in  consequence  of  some  radical  defect  in 
the  barrel,  or  the  vehement  emphasis  of  the  foot,  (an  oratorical  embellishment 
which  some  of  our  zealous  fathers  well  understood,)  all  at  once  the  head  of 
the  barrel  gave  way,  and  the  preacher  went  down  with  it.  It  does  not  appear, 
however,  that  he  was  diverted  from  his  upright  posture,  or  that  the  misfor- 
tune essentially  deranged  the  thread  of  his  discourse. 

1  may  mention  in  this  connection  another  somewhat  ludicrous  incident  that 
occurred,  (perhaps  about  the  period  of  the  Revolution,)  while  Mr.  Botsford 
was  preaching.  The  congregation  was  assembled  in  a  grove,  or  perhaps  an 
open  field.  During  the  progress  of  the  sermon,  one  of  the  distant  outside 
hearers  l^ecame  quite  drowsy.  At  length  he  began  to  nod.  A  large  surly 
goat,  that  was  nibbling  grass  hard  by,  happened  to  notice  the  sleeper,  and 
interpreted  the  nodding  of  his  head  as  a  challenge  for  battle.  There  was  no 
flinching  in  his  goatish  nature;  and,  after  having  gone  through  the  usual  pre- 
liminaries of  advancing  and  receding  a  few  times, — the  noddcr  continuing  to 
repeat  the  challenge,— he  at  length  darted  forward  with  fury  and  laid  the 
sleeper  low.  Many  of  the  congregation  smiled;  and  the  preacher  who  was  so 
situated  as  to  be  obliged  to  witness  the  whole  transaction,  could  not  find  it  in 


144  BAPTIST. 

his  heart  to  reprove  them.  It  ■was  one  of  those  incidents  that  sometimes 
occur,  reminding  us  how  intimately  tlie  indescribably  ludicrous  is  occasionally 
blended  with  the  solemn  and  sacred,  aud  that  whilst  many  things  are  provi- 
dentially permitted  for  the  special  trial  of  the  Christian's  faith,  other  things 
are  permitted,  as  it  might  seem,  for  the  special  trial  of  the  Christian's  gravity. 

Mr.  Botsford  frequently  used  notes  in  preaching, — sometimes  pretty  copious 
ones.  But  he  was  never  a  reader  of  sermons.  Referring  to  some  of  his  young 
brethren,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  reading  their  discourses,  he  thus  writes 
to  a  friend: — '<  It  surely  never  was  the  design  of  our  Master  that  his  servants 
should  read  the  Gospel,  when  he  said  «  Go,  preach.'  Do  you  say,  Dr.  Still- 
man  writes  all  his  sermons  .''  But  Dr.  Stillman  does  not  read  his  sermons.  I 
mean  not  to  object  against  writing,  but  reading.  I  hope  you  will  use  your 
influence  to  persuade  young  gentlemen  to  lay  aside  their  crutches  by  degrees." 
At  a  certain  time,  however,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Botsford  himself  depended  too 
much  upon  his  crutches,  and  thereby  subjected  himself  to  some  little  disap- 
pointment and  mortification.  He  had  prepared  himself  "  handsomely,"  as  he 
thought,  for  an  Education  Sermon.  When  the  day  arrived,  the  weather  was 
rainy;  the  man  whose  business  it  was  to  raise  the  tunes  did  not  come;  and  at 
this  he  was  a  little  damped.  After  reaching  the  pulpit,  he  found  that  he  had 
left  his  spectacles  at  home:  he  sent  his  son  for  them,  and  in  the  mean  time 
commenced  by  prayer.  "When  his  son  returned,  he  had  brought  the  wrong 
spectacles.  He  was  now  in  a  sad  dilemma — however,  he  made  out  to  read  his 
text,  (Gal.  vi.  10,)  hobbled  along  as  well  as  he  could,  sweating  profusely,  and 
his  heart  in  dreadful  palpitation.  He  was  glad  when  he  was  done,  and  wound 
up  by  saying  what  he  thought  was  the  best  thing  he  had  said  that  day — "  I 
am  sorry,  truly  sorry,  so  good  an  institution  has  not  a  better  advocate." 
"  Is  it  not  a  shame,"  he  says,  when  referring  to  the  incident,  "  an  old  soldier 
should  be  so  foiled.''  What  a  poor,  worthless,  proud,  ignorant  wretch 
am  I!" 

Mr.  Botsford  sustained  a  very  interesting  and  endeared  relation  to  some  of 
the  most  excellent  and  useful  men  of  the  denomination.  The  Rev.  Oliver 
Hart,  of  precious  memor}^,  was  his  spiritual  father;  that  truly  wise,  godly, 
and  eminent  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  late  Richard  Furman,  was  one  of 
his  bosom  counsellors  and  friends;  and  the  Rev.  William  B.  Johnson,  still 
living  in  South  Carolina,  honoured  for  his  years,  wisdom,  and  useful  service, 
was  in  a  sense  a  spiritual  son,  for  whose  happiness  he  felt  a  most  intense  and 
affectionate  interest.  Some  of  his  letters  addressed  to  Mr.  Johnson,  when  an 
irreligious  young  man,  and  also  subsequent  to  his  conversion  and  entrance 
upon  the  Christian  ministry,  are  amongst  the  most  faithful  and  interesting 
letters  of  the  kind  that  I  have  ever  met  with. 

And  this  naturally  leads  me  to  speak  of  one  of  Mr.  Botsford's  striking  and 
useful  gifts, — the  talent  for  letter-writing.  His  letters  were  indeed  truly 
charming; — simple,  eas}'',  picturesque,  pious,  abounding,  as  occasion  required, 
with  pungent  appeals,  faithful  reproofs,  paternal  counsel,  scriptural  instruc- 
tion, and  the  most  tender  condolence.  His  kind  native  bluntness  was  pretty 
sure  of  a  place,  often  mingled  with  a  touch  of  chastened  Avit  and  playful 
humour.  Whilst  preparing  the  sketch  of  Mr.  Botsford's  life,  already  alluded 
to,  I  had  an  cppoi-tunity  of  knoAving  with  what  great  care  his  letters  were 
preserved  by  surviving  acquaintances,  as  precious,  fragrant  memorials  of  his 
affectionate  and  faithful  friendship. 

I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  this  excellent  man  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
instruction  of  the  coloured  people.  Besides  composing  a  little  book  adapted 
to  their  condition,  he  took  much  pains  to  instruct  them  from  the  pulpit  in  dis- 
courses suited  to  their  capacity,  and  also  in  private  conversation.  "  I  was 
once  told,"  said  he,  "  You  are  a  pretty  good  negro  preacher.     I  suppose  the 


EDMUND  BOTSFORD.  145 

meaning  was,  preadier  to  negroes.  Really  were  my  labours  blessed  to  them, 
I  should  feel  thankful,  and  could  be  well  content  to  preach  wholly  to  them." 
Uut  I  must  close  my  communication, — already  extended  to  an  unreasonable 
length.  I  will  only  add  that  the  Sermon,  preached  by  Dr.  Furman  on  the 
occasion  of  Mr.  Bolsford's  death,  contains  an  estimate  of  his  character  that 
fully  justifies  all  the  praise  I  have  bestowed  upon  him. 
1  remain  yours,  dear  Sir, 

With  sentiments  of  Christian  respect  and  affection, 

C.  D.  MALL  ART. 


WILLIAM  ROGERS,  D.  D  * 

1771—1824. 

William  PvOGERS,  the  second  son  of  William  and  Sarah  Rogers,  was 
born  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  July  22,  (0.  S.)  1751.  His  parents  were  biglily 
respectable  persons,  and  worthy  members  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  that 
town.  They  were  careful  to  conduct  the  education  of  their  son  upon  truly 
Christian  principles.  The  effect  of  this  was  that  his  mind  early  became 
awake  to  the  importance  of  religion,  though  it  was  not  till  he  had  reached 
the  age  of  nineteen  that  he  believed  himself  the  subject  of  a  radical 
spiritual  change. 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Hutchinson,  a  Congregational  minister  of  Grafton,  Ma<s.,  with  a  view  to  fit 
for  College.  Having  gone  through  his  preparatory  course,  he  joined  the 
Freshman  class  in  Rhode  Island  College,  (then  at  Warren,)  September, 
1765,  being  only  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  was  admitted  to  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1700.  The  next  year,  1770,  he  made  a  public 
profession  of  religion,  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Thurston,  Pas- 
tor of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  and  was  received  as  a  mem- 
ber of  that  church,  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands.  His  reading 
from  this  time  was  chiefly  on  theological  subjects,  though  he  still  indulged, 
to  some  extent,  his  taste  for  scientific  studies.  It  docs  not  appear  at  what 
time  his  purpose  for  entering  the  ministry  was  definitely  formed  ;  but,  in 
August,  1771,  he  was  called  and  licensed  to  preach,  by  the  church  of 
which  he  was  a  member.  In  December  following,  in  consequence  of 
earnest  solicitations,  he  removed  from  Newport,  where  he  was  Principal  of 
an  Academy,  to  Philadelphia,  and  continued  preaching  on  probation  till 
March,  1772,  when  he  received  a  unanimous  call  to  take  the  charge  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  that  cit}'.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  was  ordained  on 
the  31st  of  May  following.  The  Sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by 
the  PvCT.  Isaac  Eaton,  from  the  words — "And  who  is  sufficient  for  these 
things  ?"  It  proved  to  be  the  last  sermon  that  Mr.  Eaton  ever  preached, 
while  the  text  was  the  first  upon  which  Mr.  Rogers  ever  preached.  He 
resigned  his  pastoral  charge  in  March,  1775,  but  continued  his  labours 
among  them,  as  a  supply,  till  June  following. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  having,  in  IMarch,  1770,  voted 
three  battalions  of  foot  for  the  defence  of  their  Province,  appointed  Mr. 

•  Amer.  Bapt.  Mag.,  1824.— MS.  from  Dr.  Rogers'  daughter,  Miss  Eliza  J.  Rogers. 
Vol.  VI.  19 


146  BAPTIST. 

Rogers  to  be  the  sole  Chaplain  of  the  said  forces.  In  June,  1778,  he  was 
promoted  to  a  Brigade  Chaplaincy  in  the  Continental  army,  which  office 
he  continued  to  hold  till  June,  1781,  when  he  retired  from  military  service 
altogether.  About  this  time,  he  received  invitations  from  three  very 
important  churches, — and  what  is  somewhat  remarkable,  of  as  many  differ- 
ent denominations, — in  different  parts  of  the  country,  to  settle  in  the 
ministry;  but  he  declined  them  all,  choosing  rather  to  supply  destitute 
churches,  as  he  might  find  occasion  or  opportunity,  in  the  city  and  vicinity 
of  Philadelphia. 

In  March,  1789,  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  English  and  Oratory  in 
the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia;  and,  in  April,  1792,  was  elected 
to  the  same  office  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  July,  1790,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  ;  having  received  the  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  from  Yale  College,  in  1780,  and  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
in  1786. 

On  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ustick,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Philadelphia, — which  occurred  in  April,  1803,  he  was  invited 
to  become  the  stated  supply  of  the  A^acant  pulpit.  This  invitation  he 
accepted,  and  continued  his  services  there  until  February,  1805. 

In  January,  1812,  he  resigned  his  Professorship  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  consequence  of  some  dissatisfaction  with  the  proceedings 
of  the  Trustees. 

In  May,  1813,  he  received  a  call  from  the  church  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  to 
become  their  Pastor  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  he  visited  them,  but  finally 
declined  the  proffered  settlement. 

In  1816  and  1817,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  served 
in  that  capacity. 

His  last  years  were  spent  in  dignified  retirement,  and  in  the  diligent 
cultivation  of  pious  and  devout  feelings.  He  died  in  Philadelphia,  April 
7,  1824,  aged  seventy-three  years.  The  First  Baptist  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia, as  a  testimony  of  their  regard  and  veneration,  erected  a  handsome 
monument  to  his  memory. 

Dr.  Rogers  was  connected  with  many  of  the  important  benevolent  move- 
ments of  his  da}'.  In  1790,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  promoting  the  Gradual  Abolition  of  Slavery  ; 
in  179-4,  a  member  of  the  Maryland  Society  for  the  same  object;  in  1797, 
one  of  the  Vice  Presidents  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  alleviating  the 
miseries  of  Public  Prisons;  in  1802,  one  of  the  Correspondents  and 
Editors  of  the  London  Evangelical  Magazine;  in  1805,  Chaplain  to  the 
Philadelphia  Militia  Legion  ;  in  1816,  Senior  Chaplain  of  the  New 
England  Society-of  Philadelphia;  in  1819,  Vice  President  of  the  Religious 
Historical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  &c.,  &c. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Rogers'  publications  : — A  Circular  Letter 
on  Justification,  1785;  (reprinted  in  London,  1786.)  An  Introductory 
Prayer  at  the  request  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  of  Cincinnati,  1787. 
An  Oration  at  the  request  of  the  same  Society,  1789.  A  Sermon  on  the 
Death  of  the  Rev.  Oliver  Hart,  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  1796.     An  Introductory 


WILLIAM  ROGERS  147 

Prayer,  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  General  Washington,  1800.  A  Circular 
Letter  on  Christian  Missions.  Various  ISIoral,  lleligious  and  lN)litical 
Essays  in  newspapers  and  different  magazines. 

Dr.  Rogers  was  married  to  Hannah  Gardner,  daughter  of  William 
Gardner  of  Philadelphia,  June  29,  1773.  They  had  four  children,— all 
of  them  sons, — only  one  of  whom  lived  to  maturity.  Mrs.  Rogers  died  in 
Philadelphia,  October  10,  1703,  of  Yellow  Fever,  at  the  age  of  forty. 
On  the  loth  of  January,  1795,  Dr.  Rogers  was  married  to  Susannah 
Marsh,  daughter  of  Joseph  Marsh,  of  Philadelphia.  By  this  marriage  he 
had  five  children, — four  daughters  and  one  son.  His  widow,  a  lady  highly 
distinguished  for  her  accomplishments  and  virtues,  died  at  Bristol,  R.  I., 
November  8,  1849,  aged  eighty-eight  years.  Two  daughters  only  now 
(1858)  survive. 

Dr.  Rogers  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  influential  of  the  Baptist 
clergymen  of  his  day  in  this  country.  He  was  in  intimate  relations  with 
many  of  the  prominent  actors  of  the  Revolution,  as  well  as  of  the  genera- 
tion succeeding,  and  was  also  extensively  known,  and  highly  respected  in 
Great  Britain.  Among  his  foreign  correspondents  he  numbered  such 
men  as  Rippon,  Pearce,  Carey,  Marshman,  &c.  The  late  Albert  Gallatin, 
shortly  before  his  death,  is  said  to  have  referred  to  his  acquaintance  with 
him  with  great  pleasure,  and  to  have  expressed  a  very  high  estimate  of 
his  character  and  accomplishments. 


FROM  THE  REY.  DANIEL  SHARP,  D.  D. 

Boston,  December  7,  1850. 

Rev,  and  dear  Sir:  I  regret  my  inability  to  give  you  such  a  sketch  of  the 
character  of  the  late  Rev.  William  Rogers,  D.  D.,  as  might  be  due  to  him, 
and  worthy  of  a  place  in  3''our  proposed  work. 

It  is  true  I  was  a  student  in  Theology,  in  Philadelphia,  some  forty-three 
years  ago;  but  disparity  of  age,  and  some  other  circumstances,  over  which  I 
had  no  control,  prevented  my  acquaintance  with  him  from  becoming  as  inti- 
mate as  might  have  been  desirable  to  mc. 

Having  mingled  much  in  what  is  called  good  society,  Dr.  Rogers  was  much 
more  than  ordinarily  refined  in  bis  manners  and  habits.  There  was  some- 
thing not  only  pleasant  but  highly  venerable  in  his  appearance.  I  have 
no  doubt,  from  what  I  saw  and  heard  of  him,  that  he  commanded  the 
respect  of  all  his  acquaintance,  and  won  the  affection  of  those  wiio  were 
privileged  to  be  near  to  him.  I  believe  he  was  a  person  of  a  truly  catholic 
spirit.  Without  surrendering  his  principles  to  any  one,  he  had  words  of 
truth  and  kindness  for  all. 

But  it  was  (I  liave  been  told  by  one  who  well  and  tenderl}-  knows)  in  the 
circle  of  his  family  that  the  light  and  beauty  of  his  character  shone  in  mildest 
and  brightest  radiance.  He  was  almost  worshipped,  certainly  he  was  greatly 
loved,  reverenced  and  confided  in,  by  his  wife  and  children. 

As  he  occupied  a  Professor's  chair,  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
had  no  pastoral  charge,  T  seldom  heard  him  preach.  But  the  following 
description  of  him,  as  a  preacher,  Avhich  was  from  the  pen  of  one  who  knew 
him  well,  and  esteemed  him  hishly,  1  tliink  you  may  receive  as  accurate: — 

"  As  a  Gospel  Minister,  his  characteristics  w^ere  of  the  best  kind  ;  for  he  was 
a  plain  preacher, — he  exhibited  the  truth  and  taught  it  as  he  had  received  it 
of  God.     Ilis  style  and  language  evinced  this;  for  while  he  avoided  common- 


148  BAPTIST. 

place  and  low  phraseology,  still,  knowing  the  Gospel  was  designed  for 
persons  of  every  grade  of  intellectual  capacity,  he  meant  to  be  understood, 
and  therefore  presented  Divine  truth  in  such  a  style  and  manner  as  was 
acceptable  to  the  hearer  of  taste  and  acquirement,  and  at  the  same  time 
instructive  to  the  plain  unlettered  Christian.  In  the  best  sense  of  the  word, 
Dr.  llogcrs  was  a  powerful  preacher — he  testified  to  the  truth  like  a  witness 
for  God,  being  deeply  impressed  with  its  reality  and  importance.  In  his 
manner  he  was  earnest,  but  not  boisterous  and  declamatory;  his  cadence  and 
emphasis  belonged  to  his  theme,  and  the  richest  evidence  was  exhibited  that 
ho  believed  and  felt  what  he  spake.  Dr.  Rogers  was  a  prqfitabh  preacher. 
Systematic  Theology  had  long  engaged  his  attention;  his  subjects  were  well 
chosen,  and  his  Sermons,  clearly  arranged  and  well  digested,  did  not  fail  to 
interest  the  hearer;  and,  being  a  man  of  faith  and  prayer,  and  much  in  the 
habit  of  cherishing  a  sense  of  dependance  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  his  discourses 
were  listened  to  by  religious  persons  of  different  denominations  with  satisfac- 
tion and  benefit.  With  an  extensive  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  a  deep 
conviction  of  the  original  sin  and  depravity  of  man,  he  kept  back  nothing 
designedly,  that  might  be  profitable  to  his  hearers.  He  knew  when  and  how 
to  point  the  artillery  of  Divine  truth  at  the  obdurate  heart  and  stupid  con- 
science of  the  sinner,  and  when,  '  in  strains  as  soft  as  angels  use,'  to  pro- 
claim peace  to  the  awakened  and  anxious  soul.  He  avoided  a  dry  metaphysical 
mode  of  sermonizing  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  that  careless  kind  of 
preaching,  which  is  connected  with  no  thoughtfulness,  no  study,  and  no  pre- 
paration for  the  duties  of  the  pulpit.  The  feeling,  spiritual,  ardent  and 
correct  course  was  his  choice;  and,  acquainted  with  the  best  helps,  a  great 
reader,  and  blessed  with  a  retentive  memory,  it  is  not  strange  that  attentive 
Christians  retired  from  his  preaching,  edified,  delighted  and  built  up  in  the 
truths  of  our  holy  religion.  He  possessed  the  happy  talent  of  exhibiting  the 
essential  truths  of  the  Gospel  with  such  clearness  of  illustration  and  scriptural 
connection,  as  to  remove  doubts  from  the  mind  of  the  anxious  believer,  when 
perplexed  with  the  plausible  and  confident  assertions  of  the  advocates  of 
popular  errors,  and,  by  showing  the  intimate  and  necessary  connection  between 
each  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  and  the  whole  scheme  of  grace,  he  was  instru- 
mental in  leading  many  a  wandering  and  doubting  Christian  back  to  the 
•simplicity  which  they  first  found  in  Christ  Jesus. 

"It  is  proper  to  observe  that  Dr.  Rogers  was  a  highly  evangelical  preacher. 
What  are  called  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  such  as  were  believed  and 
preached  by  a  Watts,  a  Doddridge,  and  a  multitude  of  able  advocates  of 
virtue  and  religion,  were  ably  and  constantly  defended  by  him.  The  doctrines 
of  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour,  the 
necessity  of  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convince,  enlighten  and  save, 
and  the  obligation  of  all  men  to  believe  the  Gospel,  formed  the  grand  features 
of  his  preaching.  It  has  been  remarked  by  those  most  conversant  with  him, 
that,  in  illustrating  these  great  and  saving  truths,  more  particularly  towards 
the  close  of  his  long  and  useful  life,  he  seemed  to  regain  the  ardour  of  youthful 
feeling;  and  the  zeal  and  solemnity  with  Avhich  he  spake  of  them,  evinced 
that  they  were  deeply  rooted  in  his  mind.  But,  notwithstanding  his  attach- 
ment to  evangelical  principles.  Dr.  Rogers  was  truly  the  liberal  Christian; 
for  he  loved  all  good  men;  and,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  he  was  invited,  by 
churches  of  three  different  denominations,  to  settle  in  the  ministry." 

Hoping  that  this  extract,  in  connection  with  what  1  have  myself  written, 
may  give  your  readers  a  tolerably  correct  idea  of  the  venerable  man  of  whom 
you  have  asked  my  recollections,  I  am  ever,  my  dear  Sir, 

Truly  yours, 

DANIEL  SHARP. 


JOB  SEAMANS.  149 


JOB  SEAMANS.^ 
177'2— 1830. 

Job  Seamans  was  born  at  Koiioboth,  Mass.,  on  (he  24tli  of  May,  1748. 
His  father,  Charles  Seamans,  was  a  farmer;  was  born  in  the  year  1700, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  one,  a  highly  esteemed  Deacon  of  tlie  Bap- 
tist Cliureh  in  Sackville,  in  the  Province  of  New  lirunswick.  His  mother, 
Mrs.  Hannah  Seamans,  died  at  the  age  of  eiglity-nine  years,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  son,  in  New  London,  N.  H.,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1798. 
Both  his  parents  were  persons  of  an  excellent  religious  character. 

AVhen  he  was  about  a  year  and  a  half  old,  his  father  sold  his  farm  in 
Rehoboth,  and  purchased  one  in  Swansea,  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
where  he  lived  until  tlie  son  was  about  five  years  old.  He  then  removed  to 
Providence,  11.  I.,  where  he  remained  about  ten  years,  and,  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  time,  this  son  attended  school,  though,  owing  to  the 
incompetency  or  unfiiithfuliiess  of  his  teacher,  he  made  but  little  improve- 
ment. The  family  then  migrated  to  New  lirunswick,  and  took  up  their 
residence  in  a  place  called  Sackville,  in  the  County  of  Cumberland,  in  that 
Province.  Here  the  father  carried  on  a  farm  ;  and  his  son  Job  became  a 
labourer  upon  it.  The  young  man  seems  to  have  been  rather  precocious  in 
some  of  his  developments.  He  took  the  lead  among  those  who  were  con- 
siderably older  than  himself,  in  all  scenes  of  gaiety  and  merriment ;  and, 
though  his  regard  for  the  good  opinion  of  his  fellow-men  kept  him  from 
gross  vices,  he  had  not  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes  to  deter  him 
from  those  sins  which  were  tolerated  by  the  more  decent  part  of  the  com- 
munity. 

From  early  childhood,  he  remembered  to  have  had,  at  times,  fearful 
apprehensions  of  death  and  judgment;  but  that  which  first  awakened  his 
conscience  in  any  high  degree,  was  the  reading  of  Robert  Russell's  Seven 
Sermons.  In  the  summer  of  1766,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  one 
of  his  companions,  who  afterwards  became  a  zealous  preacher  of  the  Gos- 
pel, was  converted,  and  began  at  once  publicly  to  exhort  men  to  repent. 
An  unusual  attention  to  religion  now  commenced  in  the  neighbourhood  ; 
but  young  Seamans  looked  upon  it,  not  only  without  complacency,  but  with 
strong  aversion ;  though  he  flattered  himself  that  it  was  one  of  those  New 
Light  excitements  that  would  quickly  die  away.  As  it  continued,  however, 
from  summer  to  autumn  and  from  autumn  to  winter,  without  any  percepti- 
ble abatement,  he  bccan  to  feel  considerable  uneasiness  ;  and,  on  listening 
one  evening  to  a  discourse  from  his  young  friend,  already  referred  to,  who 
had,  by  this  time,  become  a  preacher, — on  the  text, — '-Incline  your  ear 
and  come  unto  me,  hear  and  your  soub  shall  live," — he  became  the  subject 
of  distressing  convictions,  and  resolved  that,  thenceforward,  he  would 
make  religion  his  chief  concern  ;  though  he  seems,  at  this  time,  to  have 
had  no  just  view  of  the  Gospel  plan  of  salvation.  In  August,  1767,  from 
listening  to  the  preaching  of  Elder  Windsor,  of  Rhode   Island,  and  to  the 

•  Benedicts  Hist.  Bapt.,  I.— MS.  from  Dr.  E.  E.  Cummings. 


150  BAPTIST. 

relation  of  the  Christian  experience  of  several  of  his  3'oung  companions,  he 
evidently  gained  a  much  deeper  sense  of  his  entire  dependance  on  the  grace 
of  God,  than  he  had  had  before.  In  this  state  of  mind,  he  went  to  see 
the  ordinance  of  Baptism  administered  to  some  of  his  youthful  associates ; 
though,  from  a  deep  feeling  of  unworthiness,  he  only  followed  at  a  distance, 
and  was  absorbed  in  meditation  upon  what  seemed  to  him  the  hopelessness 
of  his  prospects.  But,  as  he  walked  along  under  this  fearful  burden  of 
anxiety  and  distress,  he  imagined  that  he  saw,  with  his  bodily  eyes,  the 
Saviour,  in  the  act  of  being  crucified  for  his  redemption  ;  but,  though  this 
scene  overwhelmed  him,  and  left  an  impression  upon  his  mind  that  remained 
vivid  till  the  close  of  life,  instead  of  melting  him  into  penitence,  it  seems, 
by  some  strange  process,  to  have  only  nourished  a  spirit  of  despair.  He 
?till  had  to  pass  through  a  protracted  scene  of  conflict  before  he  was  ena- 
bled heartily  to  bow  to  the  requirements  of  the  Gospel.  The  change,  when 
it  occurred,  was  emphatically  a  change  from  darkness  to  light;  old  things 
had  passed  away,  and  all  things  had  become  new. 

Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  Seamans  related  his  experience  to  the  church  in 
Sackville,  and  was  baptized.  He  felt,  at  once,  a  strong  conviction  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel  ;  though  he  was,  at  the  same  time, 
greatly  oppressed  by  a  sense  of  his  incompetency  to  the  work.  For  some 
time,  he  ^yas  painfully  embarrassed  on  the  subject ;  but,  at  length,  his  scru- 
ples so  far  yielded  that  he  determined  to  give  himself  to  the  ministry.  He 
commenced  his  public  labours  while  he  was  yet  in  New  Brunswick ;  but  it 
would  seem  that,  shortly  after,  and  probably  in  consequence  of  his  father's 
death,  he,  with  the  family,  returned  to  New  England  ;  for,  in  the  year 
1772,  we  find  him  supplying  the  Church  in  North  Attleborough,  Mass., 
and,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1773,  he  was  ordained  as  its  Pastor.  The 
Sermon  at  his  Ordination  was  preached  by  the  llev.  Isaac  Backus  of  Mid- 
dleborough,  and  the  Charge  was  delivered  by  the  llev.  James  Manning, 
first  President  of  Rhode  Island  College. 

Mr.  Seamans'  connection  with  this  church  continued  about  fourteen 
years,  during  which  time  he  witnessed  two  powerful  revivals  as  the  fi*uit 
of  his  ministry.  His  labours,  however,  were  not  confined  to  his  own 
people  :  he  made  frequent  preaching  excursions  in  the  surrounding  country, 
and  there  was  scarcely  a  town  in  the  region  where  his  voice  was  not  some- 
times heard  in  proclaiming  the  offer  of  salvation.  During  his  residence  in 
Attleborough,  he  baptized  more  than  a  hundred  persons. 

But  the  field  of  Mr.  Seamans'  most  important  labours  was  New  London, 
N.  II.  He  was  attracted  thither  by  the  spiritual  desolation  of  the  region, 
the  country  being  then  but  very  sparsely  settled,  and  the  few  people  who 
were  there  being  entirely  destitute  of  the  means  of  religious  instruction. 
He  preached  liis  first  sermon  in  New  Hampshire  on  the  17th  of  June, 
1787  ;  and,  on  tlic  Sunday  following,  preached,  for  the  first  time,  in  New 
London  ;  but  it  was  not  until  Fe])ruary  of  the  next  year  that  he  could  be 
said  to  have  become  identified  with  that  people.  His  preaching  seemed  at 
once  to  be  attended  with  a  blessing  ;  and  he  soon  had  the  pleasure  of  bap- 
tizing five  persons,  who,  with  seven  from  other  churches,  including  the 
Pastor  and  his  wife,  were  constituted  a  church  in  October,  1788.  He  was 
regularly  installed  as  the  Pastor  of  this  church  by  an  Ecclesiastical  Coun- 


JOB  SEAMANS.  151 

cil,  convened  for  tlie  purpose,  on  the  21st  of  January,  1780,  on  which 
occai«ion  the  Rev.  Amos  Wood,*  of  Weare,  preached  the  Sermon,  and  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Canaan,  gave  the  Charge.  The  public  exercises 
were  held  in  an  untinishod  meeting-house, — there  being  no  pews  to  sit  in, 
nor  even  floors  to  stand  upon  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  poor  accommoda- 
tions, and  the  iuclemout  season,  there  was  a  very  large  and  deeply  inte- 
rested audience. 

Mr.  Seamans'  ministry  here  continued  for  upwards  of  thirty-seven  years, — 
until  the  iiifirniities  of  age  led  him  to  resign  his  charge.  He  died  among 
the  people  whom  he  had  so  long  served,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1830,  in 
the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Seamans'  salary,  on  his  settlement  at  New  London,  was  fixed  at 
forty  pounds,  lawful  money;  to  be  paid  in  corn  and  grain,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  three  pounds,  which  he  was  to  receive  in  cash.  In  addition  to  this, 
as  the  first  settled  minister  of  the  place,  he  had  what  was  called  "  the  min- 
isterial lot."  His  life  was  attended  with  at  least  the  usual  degree  of  vicis- 
situde, and  there  were  times  when  he  found  a  formidable  opposition  arrayed 
against  him.  During  his  Pastorate  in  New  London,  there  were  three 
extensive  revivals, — in  the  years  1792, 1809,  and  1818.  In  the  first,  about 
one  hundred  were  added  to  the  church  ;  in  the  second,  forty  ;  in  the  third, 
eighty-three.  During  his  connection  with  this  church,  he  baptized,  in  New 
London  and  the  neighbouring  towns,  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  ;  and 
in  the  last  revival  during  his  ministry,  when  he  was  too  feeble  to  adminis- 
ter the  ordinance,  forty-seven  were  baptized  by  another  minister,  making 
in  all  two  hundred  and  seventy-four.  The  whole  number  supposed  to  have 
been  converted  under  his  ministry,  most  of  whom  were  baptized  by  him 
also,  was  three  hundred  and  seventy-nine.  Three  of  them  afterwards 
became  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

FROM  THE  REV.  E.  E.  CUMMINGS,  D.  D. 

Concord.  February  8,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Job  Seamans  was  limited,  as 
the  infirmities  of  age  compelled  him  to  retire  from  the  active  duties  of  the 
ministry  before  I  entered  upon  them.  The  first  time  I  saw  him  was  at  the 
installation  of  his  successor  in  the  pastoral  office,  among  the  people  with  whom 
he  had  so  long  lived  and  laboured.  I  was,  at  that  time,  deeply  impressed  with 
a  feeling  of  veneration  for  this  aged  servant  of  Christ,  when,  at  the  close  of 
the  service,  I  saw  him  moving  among  the  retiring  congregation,  like  a  father 
among  his  children,  giving  to  each  one  a  word  of  paternal  greeting.  He  was 
greatly  beloved  by  the  younger  ministry,  who,  though  not  permitted  to  labour 
with  him,  were  indulged  the  privilege  of  witnessing  the  sublime  and  heavenly 
composure  that  marked  the  closing  part  of  his  eminently  useful  life. 

He  was  a  man  of  about  medium  stature,  with  rather  coarse  features  and 
light  complexion,  and  in  advanced  life  had  a  very  commanding  and  venerable 
appearance. 

That  he  was  a  man  of  sincere,  ardent  and  uniform  piety,  no  one  who  knew 
him  could  ever  doubt.  lie  made  it  manifest,  by  all  his  conduct,  that  he  pos- 
sessed   true    love    for  the  Saviour   and  his  Church,  and   earnest  desires  for 

•  Auo.s  Woon  was  graduated  at  the  College  of  Rhode  Island,  in  1786;  was  ordained  Pastor 
of  the  B.iptist  Church  in  Weare,  N.  H.,  in  1787;  and  continued  in  that  relation  until  his 
death.  He  was  a  respectable  and  useful  minister,  and  the  church,  during  his  connection  with 
it,  was  in  a  flourishing  condition. 


152  BAPTIST. 

the  salvation  of  sinners.  In  the  family,  in  social  life,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the 
discipline  of  the  cliurch,  he  evinced  great  coolness,  self-control,  and  wisdom. 
Perhaps  I  may  say  that  his  distinguishing  characteristics  were  a  ready  and 
almost  intuitive  perception  of  the  workings  of  human  nature,  and  a  high 
degree  of  practical  common  sense  in  meeting  those  developments.  Hence  he 
made  few  blunders,  and  always  secured  the  confidence  of  those  with  whom  he 
had  intercourse.  He  was  a  man  of  great  industry — having  a  large  family,  and 
receiving  only  a  small  salary,  he  was  obliged  to  perform  no  little  labour  on  the 
farm.  He  deeply  lamented  that  all  his  time  and  energies  could  not  be  given  to 
the  ministry.  Yet,  whether  he  were  called  to  farming  or  tent-making,  to 
study,  or  preaching,  or  visiting,  he  went  cheerfully  to  the  duty,  and  laboured 
in  it  to  the  extent  of  his  ability.  Few  men  enter  the  study  more  earnestly,  or 
apply  themselves  with  more  enthusiasm  or  success,  than  he  did.  He  gave  him- 
self to  study  that  his  profiting  might  appear  unto  all.  As  a  preacher,  he  was 
uniformly  acceptable,  seldom  rising  to  a  high  degree  of  eloquence,  yet  always 
serious,  instructive,  earnest,  and  often  making  direct  and  pungent  appeals  to 
the  heart  and  conscience.  He  never  wrote  a  sermon;  yet  his  manner  of  treat- 
ing many  texts,  as  exhibited  in  his  own  written  memoranda,  still  extant,  shows 
that  he  had  a  mind  of  more  than  common  clearness  and  vigour.  His  views  of 
doctrine  and  duty  were  discriminating  and  well-defined.  In  early  life,  he 
embraced  what  is  commonly  called  the  doctrine  of  limited  atonement,  as  set 
forth  by  Dr.  Gill;  but  he,  subsequently,  held,  substantially,  the  views  of  that 
subject,  which  were  entertained  by  Andrew  Fuller. 

I  will  only  add,  in  the  language  of  another,  —  "The  best  monument  of 
Elder  Seamans  is  the  enterprising  and  thriving  town,  in  whose  grave-yard  his 
remains  have  long  since  mouldered  away.  His  long  ministry  there  Avas  no 
insignificant  element,  among  others,  that  have  ministered  to  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  prosperity  of  the  people  and  church  of  New-London." 

Yours  fraternally, 

E.  E.  CUMMINGS. 


JOHN  TAYLOR. 

1772—1833. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  E.  WELCH. 

Hickory  Grove,  "Warren  county,  Mo.,  } 
July  7,  1854.      $ 

My  dear  Sir :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  send  you  the  following 
sketch  of  the  life  and  character  of  the  Rev.  John  Taylor,  an  eminent  Bap- 
tist clergyman,  with  •whom  I  had  the  privilege  of  an  acquaintance  during 
the  latter  years  of  his  life. 

John  Taylor  was  born  in  Fauquier  county,  Va.,  in  tlie  year  1752. 
He  was  a  great  grandson  of  John  Taylor,  who,  with  two  brothers, — Argyle 
and  William,  emigrated  from  England  to  Virginia,  in  1650.  He  was  a 
son  of  Lazarus  and  Anna  (Bradford)  Taylor — his  maternal  grandfather 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  his  maternal  grandmother,  of  France.  AVhile  he 
was  growing  up,  he  was  compelled  to  labour  hard  for  the  support  of  his 
father's  famil3%  which  had  been  rendered  dependant  upon  him  by  his  father's 
improvident  or  dissolute  habits.  His  early  education  was,  of  course, 
much  neglected.     Before  the  llevolutionary  War,  his  father  removed,  with 


JOHN   TAVLOli.  153 

his  young  and  growing  family,  to  the  west  of  the  Blue  llidgc,  and  settled 
near  the  Shenandoah  River,  in  Frederick  county,  Va.  When  John  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age,  the  llev.  William  Marshall,*  an  uncle 
of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  came  through  that  fertile  country  on  a 
preaching  tour  ;  and  while  Marshall,  standing  on  a  stuniji,  was  discoursing 
of  the  awful  scenes  of  the  judgment,  he  uttered  this  fearful  exclamation — 
•'  Oh  rocks,  fall  on  me  ;  oh  mountains,  cover  me  from  the  face  of  Ilim  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  ;  for  the  great  day 
of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand  ?"  "  I  felt,"  said 
Taylor,  "  the  whole  sentence  dart  through  my  soul."  lie,  however,  soon 
after,  lost  the  vivid  impressions  then  made  upon  his  mind,  and  relapsed 
into  his  former  general  habit  of  indifference ;  though  he  had  repeated 
warnings  of  conscience,  and  his  mind  was  ill  at  ease.  Under  the  fer- 
vent and  solemn  addresses  of  two  young  preachers,  who  lived  near  his 
father's  residence,  he  was  again  awakened  to  a  deep  sense  of  his  guilt  and 
danger;  and,  soon  afterwards,  in  a  lonely,  uninhabited  mountain,  kneeling 
beneath  an  overhanging  rock,  was  enabled  to  apprehend  the  fulness  and 
grace  of  Christ,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 

He  was  baptized  by  James  Ireland,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church 
at  South  Biver,  of  which  Ireland  was  then  Pastor,  in  the  twentieth  year 
of  his  age.  He  soon  began  to  feel  a  strong  desire  to  communicate  what 
he  felt  and  knew  of  the  Saviour,  to  his  fellow-men ;  and,  when  attending 
the  social  meetings  of  the  neighbourhood,  would  aid  in  conducting  the 
public  services,  and  thus,  in  a  few  months,  he  came  to  be  known  as  a 
public  speaker  in  the  region  in  which  he  lived. 

He  says  himself, — "Although  I  was  twenty  years  old,  my  lack  of  infor- 
mation filled  me  with  dismay.  My  boyhood  was  such,  even  in  stature, 
that,  in  a  strange  place,  I  was  taken  to  be  about  sixteen  years  old — in  one 
place  it  was  said  that  my  head  came  but  little  above  the  pulpit."  About 
four  years  after  he  had  been  licensed  to  preach,  he  was  ordained,  as  an 
itinerant,  at  South  Biver.  For  a  number  of  years,  he,  in  company  with 
Joseph  Bedding,!  another  Baptist  minister,  continued  to  range  through  the 

•William  Marshall  was  born  in  the  Northern  Neck,  Va.,  in  the  year  1735.  In  early 
life,  he  was  remarkable  for  his  devotion  to  fashionable  amusements;  but,  in  1768,  ho  was 
awakened,  under  the  ministry  of  those  who  were  then  called  New  Lights,  and,  after  a  season 
of  deep  distress,  became  the  subject  of  a  hopeful  renovation.  This  occurred  in  the  county  of 
Fauquier.  He  soon  joined  the  Baptists,  and  commenced  preaching,  to  the  great  surprise  of 
those  who  had  known  his  previous  history  and  habits.  His  earnest  and  impressive  appeals  gave 
so  much  offence  that  he  was  actually  sei/.ed,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  imprison  him,  but  he 
was  released  through  the  interposition  of  his  brotlier,  Col.  Thom.as  Marshall.  He  continued  to 
preach  for  some  time,  and  with  great  success,  in  the  county  of  Fauquier,  but,  afterwards,  visited 
the  county  of  Shenandoah,  where  his  labours  were  cquall3'  successful.  At  length  he  became 
the  Pastor  of  Happy  Creek  Church,  though  this  connection  continued  but  a  short  time.  In 
1780,  he  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Shelby  county,  and,  shortly  after, 
was  interrupted  in  his  labours,  for  a  considerable  time,  by  a  fall  from  a"  horse.  During  this 
period  of  confinement,  he  devoted  himself  to  study,  and  was  afterwards  more  instructive  and 
gystcmatic  in  his  pulpit  efforts.     lie  died  in  1808,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  .age. 

t  JosETH  KEDnisf}  was  born  in  Fauquier  County,  Va.,  in  the  year  1730,  He  was  left  an 
orphan  in  early  life,  and,  with  six  or  seven  other  children,  was  thrown  upon  the  care  of  an 
uncle.  In  consequence  of  this  bereavement,  they  received  but  little  education,  though  they 
were  brought  up  in  strict  conformity  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  Joseph  was  hopefully  converted, 
under  circumstances  of  peculiar  interest,  was  baptized  by  immersion  in  1771,  and,  almost 
immediately  after,  commenced  preaching.  Having  laboured  for  two  years  in  his  native  State, 
he  removed  to  South  Carolina,  where  he  romaineil,  preaching  with  much  success,  until  1779, 
when  he  finally  settled  in  Kentucky.  There  he  became  a  prominent  man. — at  first  connected 
with  the  KIkhorn  District,  but  aftenvards  a  leader  in  the  Licking  Association.  He  died  in 
December,  1815. 

Vol.  VI.  20 


154  BAPTIST. 

mountains,  washed  hy  the  waters  of  the  Shenandoah,  Potomac,  Mononga- 
hela,  and  Green  Brier  Rivers,  and  even  into  the  wilds  of  Kentucky, 
preaching  the  Go.spel  and  organizing  churches,  where  no  messenger  of 
salvation  had  ever  penetrated  before.  Their  lives  were  often  in  danger 
from  the  mountain  snows,  and  still  more,  perhaps,  from  the  ruthless  toma- 
hawk. In  this  hazardous  work  they  laboured  with  pleasure,  and  were 
greatly  blessed  in  their  labours  ;  and,  as  they  passed  from  mountain  to 
valley,  they  would  sing 

"  On  these  mountains  let  me  labour, 
"  In  tliese  vallics  let  me  tell 
"  How  He  died,  tlie  blessed  Saviour, 
"To  redeem  a  world  from  hell." 

In  1782,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Philemon  and  Nanny 
(Cave)  Kavanaugh, — a  young  lady  of  a  respectable  family,  and  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  About  the  same  time,  an  uncle  of  his  died,  who 
left  him  sole  heir  to  his  property,  which  was  valued  at  about  three  thousand 
dollars.  This  was  altogether  unexpected  to  him,  and  was  the  more  wel- 
come because  it  came  at  a  time  when  he  needed  it  most.  Soon  after  this, 
he  considered  it  his  duty  to  remove  to  Kentucky  ;  and,  accordingly,  he 
took  passage  at  Redstone,  (now  Brownsville,)  for  a  place  then  called  Bear- 
grass,  (now  Louisville  ;)  the  whole  country  on  the  Ohio  River  between 
Wheeling  and  Louisville  being  entirely  unsettled,  and  travelling  being 
attended  with  great  jeopardy.  This  was  about  the  close  of  the  year  1783. 
Within  a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  he  left  Louisville  for  Craig's  Station, 
in  Lincoln  County,  Ky, — a  distance  of  eighty  miles  ;  though  it  was  now 
mid-winter.  This  was  a  most  perilous  journey ;  and  it  required,  on  the 
part  of  both  himself  and  his  wife,  an  indomitable  strength  of  purpose. 
Accustomed,  from  early  childhood,  to  range  over  and  around  the  spurs  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  he  was  prepared,  by  habit,  to  meet  and  brave 
the  dangers  of  the  river  and  the  wilderness,  while  his  piety  taught  him  to 
trust  for  protection  to  that  God  who  holds  the  waters  as  in  the  hollow  of 
his  hand,  and  can  bid  the  wild  beasts,  and  more  savage  men,  to  touch  not 
his  anointed,    and  do  his  servant  no  harm. 

There  was  a  Baptist  Church  at  Craig's  Station,  in  Lincoln  County, 
called  Gilbert's  Creek,  the  members  of  which  had  emigrated  from  Virginia 
to  Kentucky,  with  Lewis  Craig,  their  Pastor.  Just  before  Taylor  arrived 
in  Kentucky,  Craig,  with  a  number  of  others,  had  left  Gilbert's  Creek, 
and  settled  on  the  North  side  of  the  Kentucky  River,  and  established  a 
church  at  South  Elkhorn,  six  miles  South  of  Lexington.  This  church  was 
favoured,  in  no  small  degree,  with  the  labours  of  William  Hickman,  Senior,* 

•William  Hickman,  Senior,  was  born  about  the  year  1746,  in  one  of  the  counties  South 
of  James  River,  Va.  He  was  hopefully  converted  in  consequence  of  listening  to  sermons 
delivered  by  certairf  Baptist  ministers  from  the  windows  of  the  jail,  in  the  County  of  Chester- 
field. Soon  after  making  a  profession  of  religion,  ho  visited  Kentucky,  and  there,  in  1776, 
commenced  preaching.  On  his  return  to  Virginia,  he  preached  with  great  efl'ect,  especially  in 
the  Southern  part  of  Chesterfield  County,  where,  in  1778,  he  was  instrumental  in  founding  the 
Skinquarter  Church.  In  1781,  the  church  called  Tomahawk  also  secured  his  services,  and  he 
laboured  among  them  for  three  years.  In  1784,  he  became  a  permanent  resident  of  Kentucky. 
Here  he  submitted  to  great  sacrifices  and  perils  for  the  sake  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  scat- 
tered population  in  those  frontier  settlements.  He  was,  for  many  years,  Pastor  of  the  church 
known  by  tlie  name  of  the  "  Forks  of  Elkhorn,''  and  in  this  church  alone  baptized  more  than 
five  hundred  ])ersons  He  was  twiee  married,  had  a  number  of  children,  one  of  whom,  ll'iHiarn, 
became  a  respectable  Baptist  minister  in  Kentucky.  Ho  (the  father)  lived  to  an  advanced  age, 
and  at  fourscore  years  had  almost  his  full  vigour.     Elder  Taylor  writes  thus  concerning  him : — 


JOHN   TAYLOR.  155 

who  lived  iu  this  uoighbourhooJ.  After  a  residence  of  seven  months  iu 
Lincoln  County,  Taylor  followed  Craig  to  the  North  side  of  the  lliver,  and 
settled  in  Avhat  is  now  Woodford  County,  and,  in  August,  1784,  united  in 
meuiborship  with  the  South  Klkliorn  Baptist  Church,  then  under  tlie  pas- 
toral charge  of  Lewis  Craig,  who  had  aided  in  his  ordination  in  Virginia. 

In  1785,  a  church  was  formed  at  Clear  Creek,  of  which  Mr.  Taylor,  and 
three  other  preachers,  who  had  moved  into  that  neighbourhood,  became 
members.  Some  time  the  next  winter,  Mr.  T.,  much  to  his  surprise,  was 
chosen  Pastor  of  the  Church  ;  and  though,  at  first,  he  declined  the  call, 
on  the  ground  that  there  were  three  ministering  brethren  in  tlic  church 
older  than  himself,  two  of  whom  had  already  sustained  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion, yet,  when  it  came  to  be  urged  upon  him,  as  a  matter  of  unquestiona- 
ble duty,  he  finally  consented  to  accept  the  place,  and  was  installed  after 
the  usual  mode.  His  introduction  to  the  pastoral  office  marked  the  com- 
mencement of  a  powerful  revival  of  religion,  and  proved  auspicious  of  the 
greatly  increased  prosperity  of  the  church.  In  consequence,  however,  of 
different  views  of  the  subject  of  Church  Discipline,  the  harmony  of  the 
church  began  at  length  to  be  disturbed,  and  Mr.  T.,  after  a  ministry  of 
about  three  years, — during  which  he  baptized  an  hundred  persons, — was 
led  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge.  Though  this  measure  was  at  first  strongly 
objected  to  by  a  portion  of  the  churcli,  they  became  reconciled  to  it,  upon 
his  giving  them  the  assurance  that  though,  sustaining  no  longer  the  pas- 
toral relation,  he  should  continue  to  serve  them  with  as  much  alacrity  and 
fidelity  as  ever.  This  he  actually  did  ;  and,  not  long  after,  a  revival  of 
great  power  commenced,  which  brought  large  numbers  into  the  church, 
and  was  marked  by  many  very  signal  instances  of  conversion. 

But  scarcely  had  this  revival  passed  away,  before  evil  surmisings  and 
jealousies  arose  among  the  members  of  the  church,  which  presented  a  sad 
contrast  to  the  scenes  which  had  then  lately  been  witnessed.  This,  in 
connection  with  some  other  circumstances,  suggested  to  Mr.  Taylor  the 
idea  of  seeking  another  residence.  Thougli  he  had  originally  possessed 
fifteen  hundred  acres  of  land  in  that  neighbourhood,  he  had  disposed  of  it 
to  one  friend  after  another,  till  only  about  four  hundred  remained  to  him  ; 
and  he  felt  the  importance  of  making  some  better  provision  for  his  increas- 
ing family.  As  there  was  an  eligible  opening  on  the  Ohio  lliver,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  in  Boone  County,  he  purchased  nearly  three 
thousand  acres,  in  different  tracts,  in  that  region,  and  removed  thither, 
with  his  family,  in  April,  1795,  nearly  eleven  years  after  he  had  settled  on 
Clear  Creek. 

The  summer  before  his  removal  to  the  Ohio  River,  while  on  a  visit 
there,  he  was  present  at  the  constitution  of  a  small  church,  called  "The 
Baptist  Church  of  Christ  at  Bullittsburg."  To  this  church  he  transferred 
his  membership  ;  and  though  he  was  immediately  requested  to  take  the 
pastoral  charge  of  it,  he  peremptorily  declined  the  proposal,  while  yet  he 
cordially  proffered  them  any  ministerial  service  which  he  might  Ite  able  to 
perform.     At  this  period  he  seems   to  have  had   little   enjoyuicnt   in   his 

"  His  preaching  is  in  a  plain  and  solemn  style,  and  the  sound  of  it  like  that  of  thunder  at  a 
distance ;  but,  when  in  his  best  gears,  his  sound  is  like  thunder  at  home,  and  operates  with  pro- 
digious force  on  tlie  consciences  of  his  bearers — his  mode  of  speaking  is  so  glow  that  the  hearer 
at  times  gets  ahead  uf  him  in  the  subject." 


256  BAPTIST. 

ministry,  p;irtly  because  there  were  so  few  people  around  him  for  his  influ- 
ence to  act  upon,  and  partly  because  the  prospect  was  at  best  a  very  distant 
one,  of  his  condition  in  this  respect  being  materially  improved.  lie,  how- 
ever, addressed  himself,  with  characteristic  enterprise,  to  the  work  of 
felling  the  forest  and  cultivating  the  earth;  and,  after  a  few  months,  the 
settlement  was  enlarged  by  very  considerable  emigrations  from  Virginia, 
iis  well  as  from  different  parts  of  Kentucky.  The  church  soon  numbered 
not  less  than  sixty  members  ;  and,  though  it  received  few  or  no  additions 
from  the  world,  and  there  seemed  a  suspension  of  the  converting  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  respect  to  the  surrounding  population,  the  utmost 
harmony  and  good-will  prevailed  among  the  members.  This  state  of  things 
continued,  without  interruption,  for  several  years. 

In  the  Spring  of  1800,  Mr.  Taylor,  having  heard  from  a  friend  of  an 
extensive  revival  of  religion  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River,  made  a 
journey  thither,  intending  not  only  to  mingle  in  the  scenes  of  the  revival, 
but  to  settle  the  boundaries  of  a  tract  of  land  in  Gallatin  County,  which 
he  had  purchased  some  time  before.  He  attended  a  meeting  at  the  house 
of  his  friend^  and  preached,  but  he  had  little  comfort  in  the  exercise,  and 
went  on  his  way,  to  meet  his  secular  engagement,  with  a  heavy  heart. 
The  land  which  he  went  to  survey  had  been  surveyed  about  forty  years 
before  for  a  Colonel  Byrd,  and,  being  one  of  the  highest  bluffs  on  the 
river,  it  was  called  Mount  Byrd.  From  this  place,  he  went  to  visit  the 
Clear  Creek  Church,  and  spent  a  Sabbath  with  them,  and  preached  a  ser- 
mon, suited  not  less  to  his  own  gloomy  feelings,  than  to  their  depressed 
condition.  On  his  return  to  Bullittsburg,  he  was  not  a  little  distressed  to 
find  that  professing  Christians  there  were  becoming  lamentably  conformed 
to  the  world,  and  that  some  of  them  were  indulging  freely  in  scenes 
of  mirth  and  frivolity,  to  the  great  dishonour  and  injury  of  religion.  This 
state  of  things,  however,  was  quickly  succeeded  by  a  revival  that  continued 
about  a  year,  and  resulted  in  an  addition  to  the  church  of  an  hundred 
and  twelve  new  members.  The  whole  number  of  communicants,  at  this 
time,  was  about  two  hundred. 

As  the  church  at  Bullittsburg  had  now  several  preachers  connected  with 
it,  and  as  the  climate  had  proved  unfavourable  to  the  health  of  his  family, 
Mr.  Taylor,  after  a  residence  there  of  seven  years,  moved,  in  the  spring 
of  1802,  to  Mount  Byrd,  some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  distant, — where,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  he  had  a  considerable  tract  of  land.  He  now,  with 
his  family,  became  connected  with  the  Corn  Creek  Church,  which  was 
about  four  miles  from  his  residence,  and,  as  he  was  already  well  known  to 
most  of  the  members,  was  almost  immediately  called  to  take  the  pastoral 
charge  of  it.  This,  however,  he  declined  to  do,  while  yet,  as  on  former 
occasions,  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  serve  them,  in  the  general  capa- 
city of  a  minister,  to  the  extent  of  his  ability. 

Mr.  Taylor  now  entered  afresh  on  the  work  of  cutting  down  trees,  and 
enclosiii"'  lots,  and  doing  whatever  else  was  needful  for  a  comfortable  set- 
tlement ;  and  his  wife  and  children  co-operated  with  him  most  vigorously 
in  the  new  enterprise.  Providence  smiled  on  their  industry,  the  change 
of  climate  proved  favourable  to  their  health,  and  they  were  soon  in  pos- 
session of  a  pleasant  and  commodious  home.     Though  the  church  was  well 


JOHN  TAYLOR.  157 

satisficil  with  Lis  iniiu.strations,  its  minibcrs  were  very  small,  and  its  growth, 
by  no  moans,  rapid,  as  there  were  not  more  than  fifty  families  in  the  entire 
settlement.  But,  before  he  had  been  long  there,  several  circumstances 
occurred,  to  disappoint  his  hopes  and  mar  his  enjoyment.  A  fine  barn 
which  he  had  just  built,  and  filled  with  choice  grain,  was  struck  with 
lightning  and  burnt,  occasioning  him  a  loss  of  at  least  a  thousand  dollars. 
Two  of  his  children  were  taken  from  him  by  death.  And,  to  crown  all, 
a  powerful  prejudice  had  sprung  up  against  him  in  the  church,  and  the 
surrounding  community,  on  account  of  his  endeavouring  to  bring  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  church  to  bear  upon  a  member  for  having  become  a  Freema- 
son. Those  and  other  circumstances  connected  with  them,  he  interpreted 
as  a  providential  intimation  that  it  was  his  duty  to  seek  yet  another  home; 
and,  accordingly,  in  March,  1815,  after  living  at  Mount  Byrd  thirteen 
years,  and  labouring  with  the  Corn  Creek  Church,  during  that  period, 
(though  without  any  marked  success,)  he  left  the  place,  and  went  to  live  at 
the  Forks  of  Elkhorn. 

Here  he  became  connected  with  the  Big  Spring  Church,  in  Woodfora 
County,  about  five   miles   distant  from  his  residence,  and   then  under  the 

pastoral  care  of  the  llev.  Silas  M.  Noel.     Just  before  this.  Judge  D , 

an  influential  member  of  this  church,  had  published  a  pamphlet,  containing 
a  vigorous  defence  of  Arminianism.  Mr.  Taylor,  while  entertaining  great 
respect  for  the  author  of  the  pamphlet,  felt  constrained  to  secure  some 
public  expression  of  disapprobation  in  respect  to  it ;  and,  though  his 
movements  on  the  subject  were  embarrassed,  and  to  a  great  extent  resisted, 
in  the  church,  yet  no  less  than  three  Baptist  Associations  ultimately  passed 
judgment  against  it. 

As  a  church  was  now  about  to  be  constituted  at  Frankfort,  ]Mr.  Taylor, 
partly  from  its  being  more  convenient  to  him,  and  partly  from  the  want 
of  sympathy  with  him,  on  the  part  of  the  Big  Spring  Church,  in  regard  to 
the  offensive  pamphlet,  resolved  to  identify  himself  with  the  new  enter- 
prise;  and,  accordingly,  he  took  his  letter  of  dismission  from  Big  Spring 
in  January,  1816,  after  being  a  member  there  about  ten  months.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  felt  little  at  home  in  the  Frankfort  Church  ;  and, 
after  about  two  years,  he  joined  with  a  number  of  his  brethren  in  forming 
yet  another  church  within  the  Forks  of  Elkhorn — this  church  was  called 
"  the  Baptist  Church  of  Christ  on  Black  Run,"  and  was  constituted  in 
January,  ISIG. 

Mr.  Taylor  was  immediately  called  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Black 
Run  Church,  but,  on  stating  to  them  his  objections  to  serving  them  in  that 
relation,  and  his  willingness  to  preach  to  them,  as  a  stated  supply,  once  a 
month,  and  administer  ordinances,  they  readily  yielded  to  his  proposal. 
His  labours  proved  highly  acceptable,  and  the  church  increased,  from  year 
to  year,  under  hia  ministry.  His  strength  gradually  declined  during  his 
last  years,  though  he  continued  to  labour  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his 
ability.  He  dieil  in  the  year  1833,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
He  had  several  children,  one  of  whom  entered  the  ministry,  and,  after 
labouring  some  years  in  Kentucky,  removed  to  Illinois,  and  died  on  Apple 
Creek,  several  years  ago. 


158  BAPTIST. 

John  Taj-lor  was  one  of  the  most  industrious  of  men,  in  both  his  secular 
and  saci-ed  callings.  He  could  not  tolerate  idleness  under  any  circum- 
stances ;  and  hence,  in  his  scvcntj-fifth  year,  when  unable  to  ride  much  on 
horseback,  (his  usual  mode  of  travel,)  he  prepared  for  the  press  a  work, 
forming  a  duodecimo  volume  of  almost  three  hundred  pages,  entitled,  "A 
History  of  Ten  Baptist  Churches,  of  which  the  Author  has  been  successively 
a  member ;  in  which  will  be  seen  something  of  a  Journal  of  the  Author's 
Life  for  more  than  fifty  years.  Also  a  Comment  on  some  parts  of  Scrip- 
ture, in  which  the  Author  takes  the  liberty  to  differ  from  other  Exposi- 
tors." I  have  witnessed  his  persevering  industry,  when  travelling  with 
him  to  and  from  Associations  in  Kentucky, — six  or  eight  of  which,  lying 
between  the  Kentucky  and  Ohio  llivers,  he  usually  visited  every  year. 

Another  prominent  trait  of  his  character  was  punctuality,  especially  in 
his  ministerial  engagements.  He  said  himself, — "  I  have  been  in  the  min- 
istry just  about  fifty-four  years  ;  and,  of  the  many  thousands  of  meetings 
I  have  appointed,  I  do  not  recollect  that  worldly  business  ever  detained  me 
from  one  of  them  ;  and  I  have  been  a  man  of  such  uninterrupted  health, 
that  I  do  not  think  I  have  disappointed  half  as  many  meetings  in  my  life 
as  I  have  been  preaching  years."  Nor  could  ho  be  easily  diverted  from 
what  he  considered  the  path  of  duty.  When  once  his  mind  was  fully  made 
up,  he  carried  out  his  convictions  with  such  unyielding  tenacity,  as  to  render 
himself  liable,  in  the  estimation  of  some,  to  the  charge  of  obstinacy.  He 
was,  undoubtedly,  a  man  of  strong  prejudices.  He  was  once  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  missionary  cause,  and  prepared  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Thoughts 
on  Missions,"  which  no  persuasion  of  his  friends  could  induce  him  to  with- 
hold from  the  press,  notwithstanding  it  contained  palpable  mistakes.  I 
saw  him  at  the  Long  Run  Association,  in  1830,  at  New  Castle,  Ky.,  Avhen 
I  expressed  a  desire  to  have  some  conversation  with  him  relative  to  that 
pamphlet ;  but  he  replied, — "  Oh,  Brother  James,  I  hope  you  do  not  doubt 
that  I  believed  I  was  telling  the  truth,  when  I  wrote  that  thing."  I 
answered, — "  How  could  you  ?  "  and  he  replied, — "  Oh,  never  mind,  let  it 
sleep  in  silence  ;  "  and  his  whole  manner  showed  that  he  regretted  he  had 
ever  written  it.  Wherever  he  became  attached,  his  friendship  was  ardent ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  whoever  should  offend  him,  might  expect  to  feel 
the  weight  of  his  displeasure  ;  and  yet  he  was  famed  for  his  success  in 
reconciling  contending  parties,  and  usually  so  directed  his  efforts  as  to  be 
regarded  the  friend  of  both.  I  recollect  an  instance  of  this,  in  1805,  when 
contention  ran  high  in  the  Elkhorn  Association,  for  several  days,  and  was 
terminated  by  a  vote,  which  induced  several  of  the  oldest  ministers  to 
withdraw.  On  Sabbath,  John  Taylor  took  for  his  text, — "  Let  Reuben 
live"  (Deut.  xxxiii.  8);  and,  from  the  fact  that  Reuben  was  the  oldest  son 
of  Jacob,  he  pleaded  with  the  younger  ministers  of  the  Association  not  to 
rejoice  over  their  elder  brethren,  because  they  were  in  the  minority;  and, 
although  it  did  not  heal  the  breach,  it  acted,  for  a  time,  like  oil  upon  the 
troubled  waters.  There  was,  undoubtedly,  something  of  eccentricity  about 
him.  He  would  often  arise  to  preach,  without  a  moment's  study,  whenever 
prompted  by  any  unexpected  or  exciting  circumstance.  He  once  met  Jacob 
Creath,  Sen.,  and  James  Suggett,  (if  mj'  memory  serves  me,)  at  the  Forks 
of  Elkhorn,  on  the  Sabbath,  when,  as  was  usual  on  such  occasions,  they 


JOHN   TAYLOR.  *  159 

Jctonnliicd  to  have  two  services  before  dismissing  the  congregation.  Sug- 
gott  preached,  and  then  he  and  Taylor  urged  Creath  to  preach,  which  he 
refusing  to  do,  Taylor  arose  at  once  and  took  for  his  text, — "  Pray  ye  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would  send  forth  labourers  into  liis  harvest." 
With  this  text,  he  soon  entered  the  harvest  fields  of  Virginia,  and  began 
to  describe  the  kind  of  "labourers"  the  Virginia  fanners  wanted — "not 
gentlemen,  who,  when  asked  to  cut  a  swarth,  would  plead  various  excuses — 
not  men  to  lie  about  under  the  shade — such  hands  always  had  their  wages 
docked ;  but  they  wanted  labourers, — men  who  were  willing  to  bear  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day,"  &c.,  &c.  As  soon  as  Taylor  closed  his  ser- 
mon, Creath  arose,  and  made  an  apology  to  the  audience  for  his  inactivity. 

I  saw  this  aged  brother  at  the  meeting  of  the  Elkhorn  Association,  at 
the  Big  Spring  Church,  near  Frankfort,  in  1832.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Body ;  and  yet  he  took  his  place  on  the  front  seat  of  the  gallery.  The 
Moderator,  observing  him,  said, — "  Come  down,  Brother  Taylor,  and  sit 
with  us  ;"  but  he  promptly  replied, — "  I  am  a  free  man.  Brother  Modera- 
tor," and  kept  his  seat.  He  was  low  of  stature,  muscular,  had  broad 
shoulders  and  a  broad  face,  high  check  bones  and  heavy  eye  brows,. over- 
hanging a  pair  of  light  and  small,  but  expressive,  eyes.  He  was  plain, 
and  by  no  means  particular,  in  his  apparel,  and  rather  reserved  in 
conversation,  though,  at  times,  he  seemed  to  enjoy  a  dry  joke  upon  his 
brethren. 

His  death  was  peaceful  and  tranquil,  and  he  has  left  behind  him  a  name 
worthy  of  enduring  remembrance. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

JAMES  E.  WELCH. 


WILLIAM  WILLI AMS.*= 

1773—1823. 

William  "Williams,  a  son  of  John  and  Ann  (White)  Williams,  was 
born  in  HilUown,  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  in  the  year  1752.  His  father  emi- 
grated from  Wales  to  this  country,  and  was  obliged  to  work  his  passage 
over  as  a  sailor,  having  no  other  means  of  paying  for  it.  He  settled  in 
Bucks  County  as  a  farmer,  where  he  accumulated  a  handsome  property, 
and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  The  son, — the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  fitted  for  College  at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  at  a  somewhat  celebrated  school 
taught  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton.  He  entered  the  institution  which  is  now 
Brown  University, — then  situated  at  Warren,  E.  I.,  one  year  in  advance, 
in  1766,  and  graduated  with  the  first  class  in  1769.  In  the  autumn  fol- 
lowing, he  was  married  to  Patience,  daughter  of  Colonel  Nathan  Miller,  of 
Warren.  On  the  29th  of  September,  1771,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  Thompson,  of  the  same  place,  and  admitted  to  the  cnmniunion  of 
the  church  under  his  pastoral  care.  On  the  18th  of  April,  1773,  he  was 
licensed,  by  the  Warren  Church,  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 

♦MSS.  from  his  daughter,— Miss  Williams,  from  Rev.  Gideon  Cole,  and  Professor  Oammell. 


160  BAPTIST. 

For  several  years  after  leaving  College,  he  was  engaged  chiefly  in  teach- 
ing. He  connnenccd  preaching  at  Wrentham  as  early  as  November,  1773, 
and  shortly  after  removed  his  family  thither,  by  request  of  the  church, 
though  not  to  assume  the  pastoral  charge.  In  March,  1775,  the  church 
invited  him  to  become  their  Pastor,  and  he  accepted  the  invitation, — but 
his  ordination  did  not  take  place  till  the  3d  of  July,  177G. 

About  the  time  of  his  settlement  at  Wrentham,  he  opened  an  Academy, 
whicli  attained  to  high  distinction  among  the  literary  institutions  of  that 
day.  lie  is  supposed  to  have  had  under  his  care  nearly  two  hundred  youth, 
about  eighty  of  whom  he  fitted  for  his  Alma  Mater,  and  not  a  few  became 
distinguislieil  in  literary  and  professional  life.  He  also  conducted  the  theo- 
logical studies  of  several  young  men,  with  a  view  to  their  entering  the 
ministry. 

Mr.  Williams  continued  to  be  engaged  as  both  teacher  and  preacher  till 
almost  the  close  of  his  life.  In  May,  1823,  he  began  to  exhibit  decisive 
symptoms  of  consumption,  and  it  was  quickly  found  that  the  disease  was 
too  deeply  seated  to  yield  to  medical  treatment.  He  preached  his  last  ser- 
mon at  his  own  house,  after  he  had  become  so  ill  as  to  be  unable  to  go  to 
the  usual  place  of  worship.  At  one  time  it  was  thought  that  there  was 
some  reason  to  hope  for  his  recovery ;  but  he  seemed  rather  desirous  to 
depart,  and  could  hardly  be  reconciled  to  the  idea  of  surviving  his  use- 
fulness. He  died  on  the  22d  of  September,  1823,  aged  about  seventy-one 
years. 

Mrs.  Williams  died  of  apoplexy,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1803.  In  Feb- 
ruar}-,  1804,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Dolly  Hancock,  of  Wrentham,  daughter 
of  a  Mr.  Titus.  He  was  the  father  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom,  except 
the  eldest  and   the  youngest,  still  (1859)  survive. 

Mr.  Williams  was  a  Fellow  of  Brown  University,  from  1789  to  1818. 
In  1777,  when  the  College  building  was  occupied  as  a  barrack  for  Militia, 
and  afterwards  as  a  hospital  for  French  troops,  the  library  was  removed  to 
the  country,  and  placed  in  the  keeping  of  Mr.  Williams. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ABIAL  FISHER,  D.  D. 

TTest  Boti.ston,  Marcli  22,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  did  not  know  the  Rev.  William  Williams,  of  Wrentham,  till 
he  was  far  advanced  in  life,  but  I  was  well  acquainted  with  his  general  char- 
acter and  standing,  both  as  a  teacher  and  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  lie  is  espe- 
cially worthy  of  notice  as  having  been  one  of  the  first  graduates  of  tlic  College 
of  Rhode  Island,  now  Brown  University,  and  as  having  contributed  not  a  little 
to  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  New  England. 

As  respects  his  personal  appearance,  he  was  of  about  the  middle  size,  quite 
spare,  and,  when  I  knew  him  in  old  age,  somewhat  inclined  to  stoop — his  com- 
plexion was  ruddy,  and  his  nose  somewhat  prominent.  His  manners  were 
easy  and  agreeable,  and  his  powers  of  conversation  such  as  to  render  him 
quite  attractive.  Ilis  talents  and  acquirements  were  highly  respectable.  His 
services  as  a  teacher  commanded  great  respect,  not  only  in  but  out  of  his 
denomination.  Among  his  pupils  were  the  late  Hon.  David  R.  Williams, 
Governor  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  Hon.  Tristam  Burgess,  LL.D.,  late 
Professor  of  Oratory  and  Belies  Lettrcs  in  Brown  University,  and  for  many 
years  a  distinguished  Representative  in  Congress.     He  could  not  be  regarded 


I 


WILLIAM  U^ILLIAMS.  1(31 

as  a  higlily  pojmlar  incjioher,  though  he  ^vas  strongly  evangelical  in  his  doc- 
trines, and  succeeded  in  keeping  his  churcli  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  state.  lie 
was  not  a  num  greatly  to  attract  or  impress  the  multitude  in  any  way,  hut, 
by  a  steady  course  of  enlightened  and  Christian  activity,  he  accomplished  an 
amount  of  good  for  his  denomination,  which  fairly  entitles  him  to  a  place 
among  its  more  distinguished  benefactors.  He  dill'used  a  spirit  of  improve- 
ment, a  love  of  intellectual  culture,  throughout  the  circle  in  which  he  moved, 
and  no  doubt  his  influence  will  continue,  and  lind  new  channels  through 
which  to  flow  down  to  posterity,  long  after  the  last  of  his  surviving  contem- 
poraries shall  have  passed  away. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ABIAL  FISUER. 


RICHARD  FURMAN,  D.  D.=^ 

1773—1825. 

Richard  Furman  was  born  at  ^Esopus,  in  the  then  Province  of  New 
York,  in  the  year  1755.  In  his  early  childhood,  his  father  removed  with 
his  family  to  South  Carolina,  and,  after  spending  some  time  on  the  sea 
coast,  settled  at  the  High  Hills  of  Santee.  His  father  was  a  person  of 
more  than  ordinary  intelligence  for  that  day  :  he  followed  the  profession 
of  a  Surveyor,  and  also  hold  the  oiliec  of  Prothonotary  in  the  place  where 
he  lived.  He  attended  carefully  to  the  education  of  his  son,  instructing 
him  not  only  in  the  common  English  branches,  and  the  Mathematics,  but 
especially  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Under  a  judicious  and  evangelical 
training,  the  mind  of  the  son  gradually  opened,  giving  early  promise  of  an 
earnest  and  useful  Christian  life. 

On  account  of  the  uncomnion  maturity  of  his  intellectual  and  ChristiaL 
character,  he  was  brought  forward,  by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, to  preach  the  Grospel,  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen.  After  some  pro- 
bationary exercises  in  his  own  church,  he  began  gradually  to  extend  the 
sphere  of  his  labours,  making  it  an  object  to  preach  in  the  most  destitute 
places.  There  were  large  portions  of  South  Carolina,  which,  at  that  period, 
were  altogether  without  the  means  of  religious  instruction;  and,  in  these 
desolate  regions  particularly,  his  influence  was  widely  and  deeply  felt. 
Through  his  instrumentality,  many  churches  were  now  established,  which 
were  afterwards  embodied  in  the  Charleston  Association.  Though  he  was 
a  mere  youth,  such  were  the  attractions  of  his  character  and  eloquence,  that 
he  commanded  the  respect  and  affection  of  all  classes,  from  childhood  to 
venerable  age. 

Like  most  of  the  Baptist  ministers  of  that  day,  Mr.  Furman  was  a 
decided  Whig,  and  entered,  with  all  his  heart,  into  the  cause  of  American 
Indepen  lence.  As  the  British  army  had  invaded  South  Carolina,  thus  not 
only  interrupting  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  but  rendering  it  hazardous 
for  him  to  remain  there,  he  retired,  with  his  family,  into  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia;  and,  in  this  retreat,  continued  not  only  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  a 
*  Dr.  Brantly's  Fun.  Serm.— MS.  from  Rer.  Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson. 
Vor..  VI.  21 


1(32  BAPTIST. 

Minister,  Imt  to  exemplify  the  character  of  a  Patriot.  Here,  by  his  fervid 
eloquence,  as  well  as  his  lofty  patriotism,  he  attracted  the  attention  of 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  advocates  of  the  Revolution,  among  whom 
was  Patrick  Henry. 

After  the  danger  had  passed  away,  he  returned  to  his  former  residence, 
at  Statesburg,  S.  C,  where  he  remained  as  the  Pastor  of  a  church  until 
the  year  1787,  when  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Charleston.  Here  he  laboured  with  great  zeal, 
fidelity,  and  acceptance,  to  the  close  of  life. 

He  received,  at  various  times,  high  testimonies  of  public  respect  and  con- 
fidence. He  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the 
Constitution  of  South  Carolina.  He  was  appointed,  by  the  Revolution 
Society,  in  connection  with  the  Society  of  Cincinnati,  to  deliver  a  Discourse 
commemorative  of  Washington,  and,  at  a  later  period,  another,  commemora- 
tive of  Hamilton.  In  1800,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Brown  University,  having  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from 
the  same  institution,  in  1792.  He  was  President  of  the  First  Baptist 
Convention  fur  the  United  States,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  1814. 

Dr.  Furman  was  blessed  with  an  uncommonly  vigorous  constitution,  and. 
during  nearly  his  whole  life,  with  excellent  health.  At  length,  however, 
his  health  .began  to  decline,  and  it  was  apparent  to  both  himself  and  his 
friends  that  the  silver  cord  must  quickly  be  loosed.  His  last  Sermon  was 
founded  on  the  text, — "  And  Enoch  walked  with  Grod,  and  was  not,  for 
God  took  him."  It  was  a  noble  effort,  worthy  of  one  who  was  standing  at 
the  portals  of  Heaven;  but  it  left  him  in  a  state  of  great  physical  exhaust- 
ion, that  told  but  too  plainly  that  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand. 
In  the  progress  of  his  disease,  he  had  intense  bodily  suffering,  but  he 
exhibited  a  uniformly  serene  and  patient  spirit.  The  last  time  he  visited 
the  house  of  God,  he  heard  a  sermon,  from  one  of  his  brethren,  on  some 
of  the  plainest  and  simplest  points  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  and  he  remarked 
respecting  it, — "  These  are  blessed  truths  on  which  we  may  live  and  die." 
As  he  was  making  his  passage  through  the  dark  valley,  he  said  to  some  of 
his  friends  who  stood  around  him, — "  I  am  a  dying  man,  but  my  trust  is  in 
the  Redeemer  :  I  preach  Christ  to  you  dying,  as  I  have  attempted  to  while 
living."  The  moment  before  he  expired,  he  requested  that  the  twenty- 
third  Psalm  should  be  read ;  and,  before  the  reading  of  it  was  concluded, 
his  heart  had  ceased  to  beat.  He  died  on  the  25th  of  August,  1825,  aged 
seventy  years.  The  Funeral  Discourse  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam A.  McDowell,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Another  Sermon,  com- 
]uemorative  of  his  life  and  character,  was  subsequently  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Brantly,  and  was  puldished. 

Dr.  Furman  published  Rewards  of  Grace  conferred  on  Christ's  Faithful 
People:  A  Sermon  delivered  in  Charleston,  on  occasion  of  the  Deatli  of 
the  Rev.  Oliver  Hart,  1796  ;  an  Oration  delivered  at  the  Charleston 
Orphan  House  before  the  Intendant  and  Wardens  of  the  city,  the  Board 
of  Commissioners,  and  a  large  Assembly  of  the  Benefactors  of  the  Insti- 
tution, 1796  ;  Humble  Submission  to  Divine  Sovereignty,  the  Duty  of  a 
Bereaved  Nation:  A  Sermon  commemorative  of  General  Washington, 
1800;  and  a  Sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Edmund  Botsford,  1819. 


RICUAUD  FURMAN.  Ig3 

One  of  Dr.  Fnnnan's  sons  has  been  settled,  for  many  years,  as  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  in  his  native  State. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  B.  JOHNSON,  D.  D. 

Edgkfield  Coukt  II0U.1K,  S.  C,  May  27,  1848. 

]My  dtar  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furnian  began  when  I  was 
a  boy,  and  I  well  remember  the  deep  and  solemn  impression  which  his  grave 
and  minister-like  appearance  made  upon  my  mind,  young  as  I  then  was; — an 
impression  which  was  deepened  by  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  his  character. 
As  we  never  lived  in  the  same  town  or  neighbourhood,  after  I  entered  the 
ministry,  nor  indeed  before,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  months  which  I  spent 
in  liis  family,  when  going  to  school, — I  saw  him  but  seldom,  except  in  the 
meetings  of  the  general  organizations  of  the  denomination;  so  that  my  oppor- 
tunities for  observing  him  continuously  were  not  ample.  His  deportment, 
however,  was  so  uniform  that  his  life  presented  a  series  of  good  deeds,  without 
very  numerous  incidents  of  striking  variety.  His  regular  habits,  his  consci- 
entious regard  for  duty,  made  him  observe,  with  more  than  ordinary  faithful- 
ness, the  precepts  of  his  Divine  Master.  So  that,  though  of  Adam's  race,  he 
was,  by  common  consent,  regarded  as  not  exceeded  by  any,  as  a  consistent, 
uniform  and  exemplary  person,  in  a  community  of  from  twenty  to  thirty 
thousand,  of  whom  not  a  few  were  upright  professors  of  religion  in  diil'erent 
denominations. 

As  a  man,  Dr.  Furman  was  most  kind  and  benevolent.  In  his  family,  he 
was  a  pattern  of  conjugal  and  parental  tenderness.  To  the  poor  he  was 
sympathizing  and  benelicent.  To  the  sick,  a  phj'^sician  of  both  soul  and 
body.  He  was  the  former  by  his  profession,  and  to  become  the  latter,  he 
bestowed  much  attention  upon  the  science  of  medicine.  To  this  he  was  led  by 
the  benevolence  of  his  heart,  from  seeing  the  necessities  of  the  numerous 
poor  in  the  city,  whose  streets  and  lanes  he  threaded  in  his  pastoral  visits. 
During  the  sickly  season,  in  Charleston,  sometimes  visited  by  that  awful 
scourge  of  the  sea-ports, — the  y'cllotu  Fever,  Dr.  Furman  remained  firm  at  his 
post,  and,  like  an  angel  of  mercy,  was  found  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and 
the  dying.  In  one  of  the  most  latal  seasons  of  this  epidemic,  he  had  more 
than  thirty  patients,  of  whom  he  lost  none;  and,  to  the  honour  of  this  phi- 
lanthropist, be  it  said,  these  acts  of  kindness  were  performed  loithout  vioney 
and  without  pric3.  In  the  exercise  of  the  same  benevolence,  Avhich  led  to  these 
acts,  his  manner  was  to  take  with  him,  when  he  travelled,  his  lancet  and 
medicines;  and,  not  unfrequentl}-,  was  it  his  privilege  to  minister,  on  these 
journeys,  to  the  relief  of  the  sick,  especially  in  the  General  meetings  of  the 
denomination,  when  some  sudden  attack  of  disease  upon  one  or  other  of  the 
members  called  into  requisition  his  skill  and  his  kindness. 

Dr.  Furman  was  the  firm  friend  of  true  freedom  and  of  equal  rights.  As  a 
member  of  the  Convention  of  this  State,  in  the  year  1790,  he  took  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  that  Body,  assembled  to  form  the  Constitution.  "When  the 
article,  which  prohibits  ministerial  the  Gospel  from  admission  into  the 
Legislative,  Judicial  and  Executi^-officcs,  came  up  for  discussion,  he 
opposed  it  on  the  ground  of  its  violating  the  right  of  the  people  to  elect  whom 
they  pleased,  and  of  the  ministry  to  fill  any  office  to  which  the  people  should 
elect  them.  He  repudiated  the  principle  of  disfranchising  a  class  of  citizens, 
on  the  ground  of  their  consecration  to  a  holy  office. 

As  a  Christian,  the  bearing  of  Dr.  Furman  was  pre-eminently  that  of  a 
man  of  God,  who  .set  the  Lord  always  before  him,  ordering  his  conversation 
aright,  and  acting  under  the  solemn  conviction, — '  Thou  God  scest  wi?."  The 
religion  of  this  good  and  great  man  was   truly  a   spiritual,  practical  religion, 


164  BAPTIST. 

under  whose  influence  he  was  careful  to  maintain  good  works,  thus  letting  his 
light  shine  before  others,  with  no  false  or  doubtful  lustre.  Indeed,  so  emi- 
nent was  he  for  exemplary  piety  and  holy  living,  that  the  whole  city  held 
him  in  veneration.  The  ungodly  stood  abashed  in  his  sight,  and  the  profligate 
carefully  hid  his  iniquities  from  his  view.     A  member  of  a  bachanalian  party 

once  said  to  his  fellows  in  debauch, — "  Suppose  Rev.  Mr. should  enter 

the  room,  would  j^ou  be  restrained?"  <<  No,"  was  the  repl}^.  The  names  of 
other  ministers  of  the  city  were  mentioned,  with  the  like  inquiry,  and  Avith 
the  like  negative.  Last  of  all.  Dr.  Furman's  name  was  mentioned  in  the  same 
way,  when  the  universal  exclamation  was — "  Yes,  Dr.  Farman  would  restrain 
us — we  could  not  stand  his  presence."  It  was  no  unfrequent  remark  that,  if 
good  works  could  save  a  man,  the  good  works  of  Dr.  Furman  would  assuredly 
secure  him  admission  into  Heaven. 

As  a  Minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  tout  ensemble  of  Dr.  Furman  was  more 
solemn  and  imposing  than  that  of  any  other  man  whom  I  have  ever  beheld. 
When  he  arose  to  speak  in  Church-meeting,  Association,  Convention,  or  any 
other  assembly",  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  him,  with  profound  attention,  and 
reverential  awe.  In  the  services  of  the  sacred  desk,  such  was  the  appropriate 
solemnit}^  of  his  manner,  that  the  audience  felt  themselves  to  be  in  the 
presence  of  a  man  of  God,  who  had  "  studied  to  show  himself  approved  unto 
God,  a  workman  that  needed  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth." 

As  an  Orator  of  the  grave  character,  Dr.  Furman  was  pre-eminent.  In  his 
preaching,  he  intermingled  doctrine  and  practice,  experimental  religion  and 
pathetic  appeal.  I  remember  hearing  him,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  preach 
from  the  text, — "I  am  set  for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel" — it  was  truly  a 
masterly  effort.  Never  shall  I  forget  his  solemn,  impressive  countenance,  his 
dignified  manner,  his  clear  statements  of  the  Gospel  doctrine  and  precepts, 
his  unanswerable  arguments  in  support  of  the  Gospel's  claim  to  a  Divine 
origin,  the  loft}^  sentiments  that  he  poured  forth,  the  immovable  firmness 
with  which  he  maintained  his  position,  and  the  commanding  eloquence  with 
which  he  enforced  the  whole  argument.  Another  discourse,  two  or  three 
years  before,  is  fresh  in  my  memory,  from  the  text, — "  They  shall  ask  the 
way  to  Zion,  with  their  faces  thitherward,  saying,  come  and  let  us  join 
ourselves  to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall  not  be  forgotten." 
In  this  discourse  there  was  much  pathos.  The  audience  was  deeply  moved. 
Indeed,  the  Doctor  seemed  to  reign  over  them  with  irresistible  influence,  melt- 
ing their  hearts  into  the  tenderest  frame,  and  happily  preparing  them  for  the 
Sacramental  table. 

In  the  administration  of  Baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  his  manner  was 
of  the  happiest  kind;  more  especially  in  the  latter,  when  directing  the  faith 
of  the  communicants  to  their  suffering,  crucified  Lord.  Deepl}'  affected  him- 
self with  tlie  remembrance  of  the  scenes  of  Calvary,  he  failed  not,  by  their 
recital,  to  affect  the  communicants.  Their  abhorrence  of  sin,  Avhich  had 
nailed  their  Great  Head  to  the  Cross,  was  deepened,  whilst  their  gratitude  for 
his  condescension,  in  delivering  them  from  guilt  and  condemnation,  by  such 
sufferings,  was  heightened,-~and  their  love  inflamed. 

As  the  Presiding  Officer  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Body,  his  administration  was 
in  keeping  with  all  the  other  parts  of  his  character.  Intimately  acquainted 
with  parliamentary  rule,  he  conducted  the  movements,  and  preserved  the 
decorum,  of  the  Body,  with  ease,  propriety,  and  dignity.  Indeed,  his  very 
appearance  preserved  order.  The  points  presented  in  ordinary  business,  or 
in  queries  from  the  Churches,  which  were  of  difficult  solution,  met  at  his 
hands  an  easy  explanation,  so  that  the  facilities  of  the  Body  were  equal  to 
the  exigencies, — a  privilege  and  blessing  of  no  small  importance. 


RICHARD  FURMAN.  Ig5 

The  gift  of  such   a  man  to   the   denomination,  for  the  period  that    Dr.  Fur- 
man  lived,   was  a   gracious   ordering   of    Divine   Providence,    and    it   is  with 
melancholy  pleasure  that  I  present,  for  the  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit," 
this  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  so  good  and  great  a  man. 
Affectionately  yours, 

WILLIAM  BULLEIN  JOHNSON. 


THOMAS  USTICK.=^ 

1774—1803. 

Thomas  IJstick  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  oOlh  of 
Auo'ust,  1753.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  Ustick,  was  a  native  of  Corn- 
wall, England,  came  to  this  country  in  early  life,  and  purchased  a  tract 
of  land  near  Schooley's  Mountain,  N.  J.,  known  by  the  name  of  Copper 
Mines.  His  father,  Stephen  Ustick,  the  eldest  son  of  Tliomas,  was  a 
respectable  architect  in  New  York,  and,  with  the  other  members  of  the 
family,  belonged  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  His  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Jane  Ruland — she  was  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  Luke  lluland,  many  years 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Patchogue,  Long  Island,  and  was  herself 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.      His  father  died  at  Port  Au  Prince. 

Thomas  was  early  placed  under  the  care,  and  in  tlie  family,  of  his  uncle, 
William  Ustick,  a  hardware  dealer,  in  New  York;  and,  until  lie  was 
thirteen  years  of  age,  he  was  employed  in  his  uncle's  business.  During 
this  time,  he  became  acquainted  with  several  families  connected  with  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Gano. 
In  company  with  some  of  these,  he  was  accustomed  to  attend  a  weekly 
prayer  meeting,  where  his  first  enduring  religious  impressions  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  receired.  His  general  deportment  was  so  consistent 
and  serious  that,  on  one  occasion,  he  was  asked  to  lead  the  devotions  of 
the  meeting  ;  and,  after  hesitating  a  few  moments,  he  resolved  to  comply  ; 
and  the  effort  served  greatly  to  deepen  his  own  impressions,  and  to  carry 
him  forward  towards  the  decisive  point  of  an  unreserved  dedication  of 
himself  to  God.  He  was  but  little  more  than  thirteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  was  baptized,  on  a  profession  of  his  faith,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gano.  In 
reading  the  Hymn  to  be  sung  on  the  occasion,  Mr.  Gano  so  changed  it  that 

it  read, — 

"  His  honour  is  engaged  to  save 
"  The  youngest  of  his  sheep." 

Young  Ustick,  as  he  leaned  on  liis  Pastor's  arm,  looked  him  in  the  face, 
and  said, — "  Why  did  you  not  read  the  word  as  it  is, — '  the  meanest  of  his 
sheep  ;'  for  truly  so  I  am," 

The  young  man  had  serious  obstacles  to  encounter  in  becoming  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church.     His  uncle,  with  whom  he  lived,  was  a  decided 
Episcopalian,  and  could  not  give  his  consent  that  he  should   connect  him- 
self with  any  other  than  the  Episcopal  communion  ;  and  he  even  meditated 
*  Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.  I.— Bapt.  Mem.,  1844.— MS.  from  Miss  S.  M.  Ustick. 


ICC  BAPTIST. 

tlie  purpose  of  confining  him  to  his  chamber,  during  the  day  on  which  he 
was  baptized.  The  nephew,  however,  succeeded  in  following  out  his  con- 
scientious convictions,  and  the  uncle — notwithstanding  that  one  act  of  dis- 
obedience (and  it  is  said  to  have  been  a  solitary  one) — never  withdrew 
from  him,  in  any  degree,  his  confidence  and  afi"ection. 

Having  now  accomplished  his  desire  in  becoming  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  he  soon  expressed  a  wish  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  become  a 
minister  of  the  Grospel.  Accordingly,  after  due  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject on  the  part  of  his  friends,  it  was  arranged  that  he  should  be  put  in 
the  way  of  making  the  requisite  preparation  for  the  ministry.  Shortly 
after  this,  he  was  admitted  a  student  in  the  Academy  at  Warren,  R.  I., 
of  which  the  Rev.  James  Manning  was  then  Principal.  This  Academy 
was  soon  incorporated  as  a  College,  and  removed  to  Providence — young 
Ustick,  in  due  time,  became  a  member  of  the  College,  and  graduated  in 
the  year  1771. 

In  1772,  Mr.  Ustick  was  married  to  Hannah,  youngest  daughter  of  John 
Whittier,  a  bell-founder,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  They  had  thirteen  children, 
most  of  whom  reached  mature  years,  and  became  professors  of  religion 
and  useful  members  of  society.  One  of  them  only,  an  unmarried  daughter, 
now  (1855)  survives.  Mrs.  Ustick  died  in  March,  1837,  in  her  eighty- 
sixth  year. 

For  some  time  after  his  graduation  and  marriage,  he  was  engaged,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  teaching  a  school,  at  the  same  time  prosecuting  his 
studies  with  reference  to  the  ministry.  In  1774,  he  received  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  and,  about  the  same  time,  was  licensed  to  preach,  by 
the  church  with  which  he  originally  connected  himself. 

In  1775,  when  there  was  a  prospect  that  the  city  of  New  York  would 
be  taken  and  occupied  by  the  British  troops,  Mr.  Ustick  retired,  with  his 
family,  to  Fairfield,  Conn.,  and  spent  some  time  with  his  wife's  relatives, 
who  resided  there.  He  was,  however,  very  soon  employed  in  preaching 
to  the  neighbouring  church  of  Stamford  ;  and,  when  he  closed  his  labours 
there,  they  gave  him  a  letter,  certifying  that  "his  conduct  was  in  character 
with  his  calling,  and  that  he  had  given  such  general  satisfaction  in  his 
public  labours  as  proved  the  Apostle's  declaration,  who,  after  saying  Christ 
Lad  ascended  on  high,  added   'and  hath  given  gifts  unto  men.'  " 

In  1776,  he  removed  to  Ashford,  Conn.,  by  an  invitation  from  the 
church  in  that  place,  and  laboured  there,  and  in  the  surrounding  region, 
witli  very  considerable  success.  The  next  year,  he  was  solemnly  ordained 
to  the  ministry,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manning,  Rev.  Job  Seamans  of  Attic- 
borough,  and  Rev.  William  Williams  of  Wrenthara. 

In  1779,  he  removed  to  Grafton,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  in  the  faith- 
ful and  successful  discharge  of  his  duties  nearly  three  years. 

In  October,  1781,  the  incipient  step  was  taken  towards  his  removal  to 
Philadelphia.  Dr.  Manning,  being  on  a  visit  to  that  city,  and  finding 
the  church  there  destitute,  cordially  recommended  his  friend  and  pupil  as 
a  suitable  person  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Mr.  Ustick  was,  accordingly,  invited, 
by  the  church,  to  visit  them,  with  a  view  to  their  hearing  him  as  a  candi- 
date. After  spending  a  winter  with  them,  they  gave  him  a  unanimous 
call  to   become   their   Pastor.     He   accepted   the   call,   and  removed  his 


THOMAS  USTICK.  167 

family,  shortly  after,  from  Grafton  to  Philadelpliia,  where  he  lived  and 
preached  the  Gospel  for  twenty-one  years.  His  settlement  here  was 
attended  by  some  circumstances  of  peculiar  difficulty.  His  immediate 
predecessor  was  the  Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  who  had  received  the  doc- 
trine of  Universal  salvation,  and  preached  it  with  considerable  effect.  He 
established  another  congregation,  and  drew  off  a  large  number  of  the 
church  to  which  he  had  previously  ministered  ;  and  it  was  only  by  a  suit 
at  law  that  those  who  remained  were  confirmed  in  the  right  of  possessing 
their  meeting-house.  In  consequence  of  these  unpropitious  circumstances, 
he  had  but  a  small  congregation,  at  the  commencement  of  his  ministry ; 
but,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  his  labours,  the  number  of  his  hearers 
increased,  and  the  tone  of  religious  feeling  and  action  among  them  was 
greatly  elevated. 

In  1793,  when  the  Yellow  Fever  occasioned  such  almost  unprecedented 
desolation  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  inhabitants  were  flying,  panic-struck, 
in  every  direction,  one  of  Mr.  Ustick's  friends, — a  highly  respectable 
gentleman  in  Bucks  County,  requested  him  and  his  family  to  occupy  a 
house  in  the  country,  which  he  had  made  ready  for  their  use  ,*  but,  as  his 
eldest  daughter  was,  about  that  time,  attacked  by  the  disease,  and,  as  he 
could  not  feel  willing  to  submit  to  a  separation  of  the  family,  under  such 
circumstances,  he  concluded  to  remain  at  his  post,  and  keep  them  with 
him,  trusting  to  God's  preserving  care  and  goodness.  During  that  time  of 
peril  and  dismay,  he  devoted  himself,  without  any  regard  to  his  own  safety, 
to  the  sick  and  dying, — the  great  and  good  Dr.  Rush  being  his  companion 
in  labour  and  in  sorrow ;  and  both  himself  and  his  family  were  mercifully 
spared,  though  several  of  his  children  were  violently  attacked  by  the 
disease. 

In  1801,  a  pulmonary  complaint  fastened  upon  him,  which  was  followed 
by  a  gradual  decline  of  strength.  In  1802,  an  epidemic  fever  prevailed  in 
the  city,  in  consequence  of  which,  he  removed  his  family  to  Burlington, 
N.  J. ;  and,  though  his  health  was  then  much  reduced,  he  occasionally 
officiated  for  Dr,  Staughton,  who  was  then  the  Pastor  of  a  church  there. 
His  last  sermon  to  that  people  was  from  Paul's  benediction, — '•  The  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.  Amen  ;"  and  it  was  prepared 
under  the  conviction  that  he  should  preach  to  them  no  more.  From  that 
time  his  disease  made  rapid  progress,  and,  in  March  following,  confined 
him  entirely  to  his  room.  The  night  before  he  died,  being  fully  sensible 
of  the  approaching  change,  he  said  to  his  son — "  The  Lord  is  my  shield 
and  buckler."  He  passed  away  in  perfect  peace,  on  the  18th  of  April, 
1803,  aged  about  fifty  years.  An  appropriate  Funeral  Discourse  was 
preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Rogers,  from  the  text, — "  Our  friend 
Lazarus  sleepetb." 

FROM  GENERAL  WILLIAM  DUNCAN. 

Philadelphia,  September  18,  1856. 

My  dear  Sir :    It  gives  me  pleasure  to  answ'er  your  inquiries  concerning  the 

Rev.  Thomas  Ustick,  as  I  knew  him  intimately,  and  had  a  high  appreciation 

of  his  character.     When  I  came  to  this  city  to  reside,  I  found  him  here,  the 

Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church;  and,  in  1792,  he  married  me  to  a  lady 


158  BAPTIST. 

who,  though  not  then  a  communicant  in  his  church,  was  one  of  his  stated 
hearers;  and,  from  that  time  till  his  death,  we  attended  half  of  the  time  his 
ministry,  and  half  of  the  time  that  of  Dr.  Sproat  and  Dr.  Green,  of  the  Arch 
Street  /Presbyterian)  Church.  I  knew  him  so  well  that  I  can  speak  of  him, 
in  both  his  public  and  private  relations,  without  any  embarrassment. 

Mr.  Ustick  was  a  man  of  about  the  middle  size,  had  a  well  proportioned 
frame,  and  fine  expressive  countenance,  showing  a  sedate  and  thoughtful 
mind,  with  the  utmost  gentleness  and  kindliness  of  spirit.  And  his  face  was 
but  a  faithful  expression  of  his  character.  With  highly  respectable  talents, 
and  an  excellent  education,  he  combined  a  most  lovely  and  loving  temper, 
which  could  not  fail  to  make  him  a  favourite  wherever  he  was  known.  He 
was  an  extremelj'^  modest  man,  and,  instead  of  seeking  to  occupy  high  places, 
was  always  disposed  to  keep  himself  in  the  back  ground,  unless  urged  for- 
ward by  an  imperious  call  of  duty.  In  his  private  intercourse,  he  was  most 
considerate  and  obliging;  and  in  his  pastoral  duties,  while  nothing  could 
exceed  his  tenderness,  nothing  was  suffered  to  interfere  with  his  fidelity. 
He  evidently  watched  for  souls  as  one  that  must  give  an  account.  His  preach- 
ing, though  not  the  most  stirring  and  animated,  was  always  edifying  and 
acceptable.  His  voice  was  not  distinguished  for  strength  or  compass,  but 
was  of  a  bland  and  pleasant  tone,  and  loud  enough  to  fill  any  ordinary  place 
of  worship.  His  discourses  were  not  mere  rhapsodies,  or  the  unstudied 
effusions  of  the  moment,  but  were  evidently  premeditated,  and  arranged  with 
devout  care,  though,  I  think  nothing  beyond  the  outline  was  ordinarily  writ- 
ten. His  general  influence  in  the  community  was  that  of  an  intelligent, 
godly  and  earnest  Christian  minister.  His  death  occasioned  deep  lamentation, 
much  beyond  his  own  immediate  circle. 

Very  sincerely,  your  friend  and  brother  in 

Christian  fellowship, 

WILLIAM  DUNCAN. 


ABRAHAM  MARSHALL. 

1774—1819. 
FROM  THE  REV.  A.  E.  MARSHALL, 

PROFESSOR    IN    MARSHALL    COLLEGE. 

Griffin,  Ga.,  May  25,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  am  happy  to  aid  your  proposed  effort  to  commemorate 
my  venerable  grandfather.  Most  of  his  contemporaries  are  gone  ;  but 
there  remain  authentic  records  and  family  traditions  concerning  him, 
amply  sufficient  to  supply  the  material  for  such  a  sketch  as  you  desire. 

Abraham  Marshall  was  born  in  Windsor,  Conn.,  on  the  23d  of 
April,  1748.  Although  bm-n  under  a  New  England  sky,  it  was  not 
allotted  to  him  to  be  reared  in  so  genial  a  clime  ;  but  he  left  the  home  of 
his  nativity,  and  the  refinements  of  the  highest  social  life,  to  accompany 
his  father,  during  the  tender  years  of  childhood  and  yoixth,  in  his  various 
perigrinations,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Mohawk  Indians  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  as  an  evangelist  to  the  scattered  inhabitants  of  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  Thus,  at  the  same  time  that  he  became  a 
■witness  of  the  self-denial  and  heroic  zeal  of  his  father,  his  constitution 


ABRAHAM  MARSHALL.  1(39 

became  hardeued  by  the  active  life  to  which  he  was  subjected,  so  that,  to 
a  good  old  age,  he  was  able  to  undergo  a  vast  amount  of  physical  labour. 
Riding  on  horseback  became  his  usual  mode  of  travelling ;  and  twice  in 
this  way  did  he  perform  the  long  journey  from  Georgia  to  Connecticut  and 
back.  In  these  excursions,  so  exhilarating  to  the  feelings,  and  so  condu- 
cive to  health,  it  would  appear,  from  his  diary,  that  he  never  lost  an  oppor- 
tunity of  preaching.  He  was  in  stature  low,  but  remarkable  for  strength 
and  agility.  Indeed,  after  he  had  entered  the  ministry,  he  appears  to 
have  still  indulged  a  passion  for  running  and  wrestling.  It  is  related  of 
him,  that  he  was  once  bathing  with  a  number  of  others  in  a  river,  and  an 
Irishman,  who  made  one  of  the  party,  and  who  could  not  swim,  leaped  on 
to  his  back  as  soon  as  he  made  his  plunge  into  the  deep  stream.  In  order 
to  save  his  life,  he  sank  to  the  bottom,  until  his  companion  was  compelled 
to  relax  his  hold  to  prevent  suffocation. 

He  was  the  subject  of  early  religious  impressions  ;  but  it  was  not  until 
he  had  reached  his  twentieth  year  that  he  made  an  open  profession  of  reli- 
gion, and  united  himself  with  the  Baptist  Church  at  Kiokee,  Columbia 
County,  Ga., — the  first  Baptist  Church  constituted  in  the  State.  Soon 
after  this,  he  began  his  labours  as  a  licentiate,  and,  in  his  twenty-seventh 
year,  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist.  At  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1784, 
he  succeeded  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church  at  Kiokee, — a  relation 
which  he  held  until  his  own  death,  in  1819. 

His  education  was,  in  early  life,  confined  to  about  forty  days  instruction 
in  what  is  known  in  Georgia  as  an  "  old  field  school ;"  but  his  manliness  of 
character,  his  native  good  sense,  his  all  but  perfect  acquaintance  with  the 
avenues  to  the  human  heart,  his  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  his  splendid 
bugle-like  voice,  and  his  unquenchable  zeal  in  his  Master's  service,  sup- 
plied, in  a  great  measure,  this  lack,  and  rendered  him  acceptable  as  a 
preacher  amid  the  refinement  of  cities,  and  to  churches  holding  other  doc- 
trines than  his  own.  Whilst  preaching  to  a  Congregational  church  in  the 
town  of  Simsbury,  Conn.,  where  there  was  a  very  crowded  audience,  the 
galleries  gave  way,  from  the  unusual  pressure,  and  he  was  forced  to  resort 
to  what,  with  him,  was  very  common — preaching  in  the  open  air.  But  he 
had  enough  of  the  art  of  the  orator  to  turn  the  consternation  that  ensued 
to  a  good  account,  and  thus  made  a  powerful  impression  on  the  hearers. 

It  falls  to  the  lot  of  but  few  ministers,  especially  those  whose  advantages 
for  education  are  so  limited,  to  attain  the  fame  of  Abraham  Marshall.  His 
labours  were  not  confined  to  a  single  city  or  town,  to  any  one  County  or 
State,  still  less  to  a  single  church ;  but,  of  the  two  thousand  whom  he  bap- 
tized, some  were  in  Connecticut, — the  land  of  his  nativity  ;  many  were  in 
Georgia,  his  principal  field  of  labour  ;  and  not  a  few  were  scattered  over 
the  intervening  States.  It  may  not  be  assuming  too  much  to  say  that  it 
was  owing,  in  no  small  degree,  to  a  few  zealous  labourers  in  the  early  set- 
tlement of  Georgia, — Abraham  Marshall  among  the  number, — that  such 
seed  was  planted,  as  produced  the  surprising  result  which  we  now  behold  in 
the  Baptist  denomination. 

But  it  is  not  as  a  minister  only  that  Mr.  Marshall  must  be  viewed.  He 
was,  when  necessity  required,  a  soldier  in  our  Revolution,  and  fought  in 
the  battle  at  Augusta.     He  was  also  a  delegate  to  the  State  Convention, 

Vol.  VI.  22 


170  BAPTIST. 

when  the  Constitution  was  formed.  He  was  prominent  among  the  friends 
of  Education  in  tlie  State  ;  was  a  Trustee  of  the  State  University;  and, 
in  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  he  appears  prominent  as  a  promoter  of 
education  amongst  the  denomination  of  his  choice. 

At  the  age  of  forty-four,  he  married  Miss  Ann  Waller,  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  John  Waller,  of  Spottsylvania  County,  Va.,  hy  whom  he  had  four 
sons; — one  of  whom  iJabez)  became  a  minister,  who  succeeded  him  as 
Pastor  of  the  famous  Kiokee  Church.  Thus,  for  nearly  fifty  years,  was 
that  church  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  a  Marshall.  Nor  has  the  race  of 
Marshalls,  as  preachers,  yet  become  extinct — a  fourth,  in  the  order  of 
generation,  .still  lives  to  hold  up  Christ  crucified  ;  and,  if  the  prayers  of  a 
dying  mother  be  heard,  and  her  consecrated  offer  be  accepted,  a  fifth, — a 
lovely  child  of  two  and  a  half  summers,  will  yet  stand  on  the  walls  of  Zion. 
A  College  in  Griffin  bears  the  name  of  Marshall. 

At  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-three,  this  servant  of  God  was  called  to  put 
on  immortality.  His  last  sermon  was  preached  to  his  beloved  charge  at 
Kiokee,  the  Sabbath  before  he  died.  Among  his  last  words,  were  these — 
"  I  have  fought  a  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  my  course  ;  I  have  kept  the 
faith  ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which 
the  Lord,' the  righteous  Judge,  will  give  me  at  that  day." 

His  method  of  preaching  was  extemporaneous.  He,  indeed,  made  copious 
skeletons,  many  of  which  were  included  in  the  biography  which  was  written 
by  his  son.  Only  one  of  his  sermons  was  ever  published — the  text  was 
"  The  iron  did  swim."  It  was  preached  before  the  Faculty  and  Students 
of  the  State  University. 

Hoping  that  the  above  may  answer  the  purpose  contemplated  by  your 
request. 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

A.  E.  MARSHALL. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JURIAH  HARRISS. 

Appling,  Colmiibia  County,  Ga.,  \ 
March  21,  1859.      \ 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  received  your  letter,  asking  for  my  recollections  of  the 
late  Rev.  Abraham  Marshall,  and  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  render  my  tes- 
timony in  honour  of  that  trul}^  venerable  man.  I  became  acquainted  with  him, 
first,  in  February,  1807,  when  I  came  into  his  immediate  neighbourhood  to 
reside.  About  that  time,  he  performed  the  ceremony  of  marriage  for  me,  and 
I  always  lived  within  a  short  distance  from  his  dwelling,  and  a  still  shorter 
distance  from  his  church,  until  his  death,  which  was  about  a  dozen  years. 
This  gave  me  an  opportunity  not  only  of  hearing  him  in  public,  but  of  fre- 
quent personal  intercourse  with  him,  of  observing  him  in  various  circumstances 
and  relations,  and,  in  short,  of  forming  an  intelligent  opinion  of  his  character. 

Mr.  Marshall,  when  I  first  knew  him,  was  a  man  of  decidedly  fine  personal 
appearance.  He  was  rather  low  in  stature, — not  more  than  five  feet,  eight  or 
nine  inches,  of  a  square  frame,  and  a  full  habit,  without  being  corpulent. 
When  he  was  dressed  in  his  fine  suit  of  black  broadcloth,  with  his  long,  white- 
topped  boots,  after  a  fashion  that  still  lingered  at  that  day,  his  appearance 
was  really  imposing.  Though  his  early  education  was  quite  limited,  his  mind 
was  naturally  of  a  superior  order,  and,  by  the  aid  of  a  good  library,  he  ulti- 
mately attained  to  a  very  considerable  degree  of  mental  culture.     His  disposi- 


ABRAHAM  MARSHALL.  171 

tions  were  amiable  and  benevolent,  and  his  manners  affiible  and  winning — 
indeed  he  may  be  said  to  have  been  an  accomplished  man,  of  the  old  school. 
He  had  a  good  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  and  had  a  large  fund  of  anecdotes 
at  command,  which  he  could  put. in  requisition  to  illustrate  almost  any  subject, 
and  which  served  greatly  to  enliven  his  conversation.  I  heard  him  preach  pretty 
constantly  from  18U7  to  1819;  and  my  honest  conviction  is  that — take  him  all 
in  all — I  have  not  known  his  superior.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard 
him  preach  what  I  would  call  an  indiifercnt  sermon.  His  voice  was  one  of 
great  power,  melody,  and  flexibility — it  could  pass  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  note  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  v,'ith  the  most  graceful  facility. 
In  nothing,  perhaps,  was  he  more  remarkable  than  the  power  of  description. 
He  would  portray  the  glories  of  Heaven  with  such  matchless  force  and  beauty, 
that  his  hearers  could  scarcely  remain  upon  their  seats;  and  then  he  would 
depict  the  miseries  of  the  lost  in  such  terrible,  burning  language,  as  almost  to 
make  the  hair  stand  erect  upon  your  head.  Dr.  Gill  and  Dr.  Doddridge  were, 
I  suppose,  his  favourite  theological  authors;  for  he  quoted  from  them  more  fre- 
quently than  from  any  others;  but  his  quotations — no  matter  who  the  author 
might  be — were  always  made  with  great  ease, — thus  illustrating  the  remarka- 
ble power  and  readiness  of  his  memory.  And  he  was  an  eminently  successful 
as  well  as  popular  preacher — large  numbers  were  baptized,  and  admitted  to  the 
church,  under  his  ministrj^  He  had  great  influence  among  his  brethren,  and, 
as  an  illustration  of  their  regard  for  his  character,  I  may  mention  that,  from 
the  time  I  flrst  knew  him  until  his  death,  he  was  always  the  Moderator  of  the 
Georgia  Association.  Indeed  he  commanded  great  attention,  and  occupied  a 
wide  space,  in  his  day;  and  his  name  is  still  fragrant  much  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  own  denomination. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JURIAH  HARRISS. 


JOHN  HASTINGS.=^ 

1775—1811. 

John  Hastings  was  born  in  Suffield,  Conn.,  in  the  year  1743.  His 
father  was  Joseph  Hastings,  who  was  a  farmer,  and  for  some  time  a  member 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Suffield.  Soon  after  the  "  Great 
Awakening  "  commenced,  (about  1742,)  he  (the  father)  seceded  from  that 
church,  and  united  with  others  in  forming  a  Separate  church,  in  the  West- 
ern part  of  the  town,  of  which  he  was  himself  subsequently  ordained  Pas- 
tor ;  but  how  long  he  continued  in  that  relation  is  not  known.  It  appears, 
however,  from  Backus'  History,  that  he,  with  several  other  preachers  in 
the  Separate  connection,  were  baptized  by  immersion,  in  1752 ;  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  changed  his  ecclesiastical  relations  for  several  years 
afterwards.  In  1763,  he  was  one  of  a  number  to  organize  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  of  Suffield.  As  he  had  been  Pastor  of  the  Separate  church, 
so  he  was  regarded  Pastor  of  the  new  Baptist  church,  though  there  is  no 
evidence  that  he  ever  received  ordination  or  installation  as  a  Baptist  cler- 
gyman. He  was,  at  this  time,  sixty-six  years  of  age  ;  but  he  was  sole 
*  Backus'  Hist.  N.  E.— MSS.  from  Rev.  E.  Andrews  and  Rev.  G.  Robins. 


172  BAPTIST. 

Pastor  until  1775,  when  bis  son  John  was  ordained,  as  Associate  Pastor. 
After  the  settlement  of  liis  son,  he  travelled  abroad,  preaching  in  various 
places,  until  near  the  time  of  bis  death ;  and  Avas  instrumental,  by  thi's 
means,  of  doing  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  bis  denomination.  He 
died  in  1785,  aged  eighty-two  years. 

John  Hastings,  the  son,  was,  during  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  not  only 
a  neglecter,  but  a  contemner  of  religion.  For  several  years  after  he  bad  a 
family  of  his  own,  be  lived  in  bis  father's  house,  and  was  rendered,  b}^  his 
infidelity,  so  forgetful  even  of  filial  respect,  that  be  made  bis  preaching  a 
subject  of  ridicule.  He  was,  however,  a  good  singer,  and  used  to  lead  the 
singing  in  his  father's  church ;  but  he  always  made  it  a  point  to  leave  the 
place  of  worship  before  the  sermon.  He  used  to  play  the  violin,  for 
dancing  parties,  and  would  often  tell  his  companions  in  gaiety  that  bis 
father  had  always  predicted  that  be  would  become  a  preacher,  and  that 
they  must  make  up  their  minds  to  hear  preaching  from  him  instead  of  fid- 
dling. The  same  gift  that  made  him  the  centre  of  attraction  in  the  convi- 
vial circle,  afterwards  rendered  him  no  less  attractive  in  the  religious  circle. 
The  event  which  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  bringing  him  to  serious  reflec- 
tion, was  connected  immediately  with  bis  marriage.  He  w\as  married,  in 
bis  early  manhood,  to  Rachel  Remmington,  of  Suffield ;  and,  when  be  com- 
menced housekeeping,  be  thought  it  his  duty,  according  to  the  custom  of 
that  day,  with  strange  inconsistency,  to  institute  family  worship.  He 
found  himself,  however,  utterly  incompetent  to  the  service  ;  and,  as  be 
occupied  part  of  bis  fiither's  house,  be  made  a  compromise  with  bis  con- 
science, by  going  with  bis  wife  into  bis  father's  apartment,  at  the  appointed 
hour,  and  bearing  him  read  and  pray.  The  old  man  told  John  and  Eachel 
that  that  would  never  do — that,  as  they  had  become  a  distinct  family,  so 
they  must  have  worship  by  themselves;  and  that  he  could  not  countenance 
their  coming  into  his  room  to  share  in  the  devotions.  This  prohibition  and 
admonition  lodged  an  arrow  of  conviction  in  John's  heart,  and  he  found  no 
peace  until  be  had  become  a  penitent  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and  there 
erected  a  domestic  altar.  The  exact  period  of  bis  conversion  is  not  known  ; 
but  in  1775  he  had  become  a  minister  of  the  Grospel,  and,  as  has  been 
already  intimated,  was  ordained,  in  that  year,  as  Co-pastor  with  bis  father, 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Suffield.  After  bis  father's  death,  in  1785, 
be  continued  in  sole  charge  of  the  church  until  his  own  death,  which 
occurred  on  the  17tb  of  March,  1811,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  During 
the  thirty-six  years  that  bis  ministry  continued,  be  travelled  extensively 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  was  instrumental  in  gathering  a  large 
number  of  churches.  His  own  church  greatly  increased  in  numbers  and 
strength,  and  became  one  of  the  largest  and  most  efficient  Baptist  churches 
in  Connecticut.  It  is  said  that,  during  his  whole  ministry,  be  baptized 
about  eleven  hundred  persons. 

Mr.  Hastings  became  prematurely  an  old  man,  so  that,  for  several  years 
previous  to  his  death,  his  pulpit  was  supplied  by  other  ministers,  among 
whom  was  the  Rev.  Caleb  Green.*     He  died  in   great   peace  of  mind,  and 

*  Caleb  Gheen  was  born  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  the  year  1767,  and  early  became  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  Cliurch  in  his  native  town.  Though  his  advantages  for  school  education  were  but 
limited,  his  father's  house  was  the  resort  of  many  ministers  and  other  persons  of  intelligence 
and  piety,  from  whose  conversation,  especially  on  religious  and  theological  subjects,  he  derived 


JOHN  HASTINGS.  173 

is  held  in  grateful  remembrance  throughout  the  region  in  which  he  exer- 
cised his  ministry. 

FROM  THE  REV.  DANIEL  WALDO. 

Syracuse,  February  19,  1858. 

My  dear  friend :  I  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  you  something  about  Elder  Hast- 
ings; for  he  was  my  neighbour  for  eighteen  years,  and  my  relations  with  him 
were  always  of  the  most  agreeable  and  fraternal  kind.  Though  we  belonged 
to  different  denominations,  that  circumstance  never  in  the  least  interfered 
with  our  social  and  Christian  intercourse,  and  indeed  the  points  of  differ- 
ence between  us  we  rarely  conversed  upon,  and  never  but  in  the  most  kindly 
.spirit. 

In  private  life,  Elder  Hastings  was  highly  and  deservedly  esteemed.  He  was 
a  man  of  an  amiable  temper,  and  of  a  pleasant  and  cordial  manner;  and  while 
he  was  always  ready,  in  social  intercourse,  to  bear  his  part  in  the  conversa- 
tion, he  was  no  less  ready  to  listen  to  others,  and  always  seemed  grateful  for 
any  information  they  might  communicate.  He  had  had,  1  think,  nothing  more 
than  a  common  education,  and  his  general  knowledge  was  not  very  extensive; 
but  he  had  naturally  a  mind  of  more  than  ordinary  capacity,  and  was  capa- 
ble, either  in  or  out  of  the  pulpit,  of  making  a  vigorous  effort.  He  was  espe- 
cially a  diligent  student  of  the  Bible;  and  I  remember  his  once  saying  that 
there  was  no  passage  in  it  upon  which  his  mind  was  not  so  definitely  made  up 
that  he  felt  ready  to  preach  upon  it.  This,  doubtless,  Avas  more  than  most 
of  his  brethren  would  be  able  to  say;  but  it  showed  at  least  a  consciousness 
of  what  was  undoubtedly  true, — that  he  was  much  devoted  to  the  study  of 
the  Scriptures. 

Elder  Hastings'  preaching  was  of  a  strongly  evangelical  tone,  the  type  of 
his  Theology  being,  I  think,  pretty  high  Calvinism.  He  had  a  manly  and 
pleasant  voice,  which  he  modulated  to  very  good  purpose,  and  manifested  that 
interest  in  his  subject  and  his  audience,  that  rarely  fails  to  produce  an  effect. 
He  never,  I  believe,  preached  even  from  short  notes,  and  I  doubt  whether  he 
ever  wrote  a  sermon;  still,  his  thoughts  were  generally  W'cll  expressed,  and 
quite  consecutive,  though  I  sometimes  thought  that  a  little  more  premedita- 
tion would  have  rendered  his  discourses  somewhat  shorter.  I  suppose  him 
to  have  been  one  of  the  most  popular,  as  well  as  successful,  preachers  of  his 
denomination  in  Connecticut,  during  the  period  in  which  he  lived. 

Elder  Hastings  was  a  very  decided  Baptist,  and  yet  it  gives  me  pleasure  to 
sa}'  that  I  never  saw  any  thing  in  him  to  indicate  an  unfair,  sectarian  spirit. 
AVith  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gaj^  the  minister  of  the  First  Congregational  Parish,  to 
whom  he  was  a  still  nearer  neighbour  than  to  myself,  he  was  always  on  the 

great  advantage.  On  arriving  at  manhood,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  tlie  church  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  and  was  immediately  after  chosen  its  Pastor.  He,  liowevcr.  owing  to  sonie 
peculiar  circumstances,  felt  obliged  to  divide  his  time  between  his  pastoral  and  secular  duties. — 
being  at  the  same  time  a  busy  merchant  and  an  earnest  preacher,  lie  was  a  zealous  politician 
of  the  Jefferson  school,  and  was  not  only  the  representative  of  his  town  in  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, but  occupied  the  Speaker's  chair  in  that  Body.  Through  his  whole  life,  he  wa.«  the 
uncouipromising  enemy  of  slaverj',  and  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  for  its  abolition.  In  ISOii, 
he  removed  to  SufBeld,  and  at  first  officiated  for  the  Mother  Church,  but  soon  became  Pastordf 
the  Second.  Here  he  remained,  giving  his  unilivided  attention  to  the  ministry,  during  a  period 
of  six  years,  lie  then  became  Pastor  of  the  neighbouring  church  of  Westfield,  Mass.,  and, 
at  a  later  period,  of  the  church  in  Waterford,  N.  Y.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  ho 
enlisted  with  great  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Anti-Masonry.  His  last  ten  years  were  ye.ars  of  much 
bodily  debility.  The  last  time  that  he  left  his  house  was  tlje  day  of  the  Presidential  Election, 
in  1840;  and,  when  he  had  deposited  his  vote,  he  felt  that  his  last  act  as  a  citizen  was  per- 
formed. His  death,  which  took  place  shortly  after,  was  marked  by  the  utmost  composure,  and 
his  attention  seemed  fastened  upon  the  mysterious  process  of  dissolution,  even  up  to  the  point 
of  taking  note  of  his  last  pulsation.  He  possessed  an  uncommonly  vigoroi:s  mine!,  iuid  an  indo- 
mitable strength  of  purpose. 


174  BAPTIST. 

most  friendly  terms,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  enjoyed  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  the  whole  neighbourhood. 

In  his  person,  he  was  fully  the  medium  height  and  size,  and  stooped  a  little 
in  his  gait.     His  whole  personal  bearing  was  that  of  a  plain  but  dignitied  man. 

Yours  affectionately, 

DANIEL  WALDO. 


JOHN  LELAND * 

1775—1841. 

John  Leland  was  born  of  Congregational  parents,  in  Grafton,  Mass., 
on  the  14th  of  May,  1754.  He  evinced  an  early  fondness  for  learning, 
though  he  enjoyed  no  other  advantages  than  were  furnished  by  the  common 
schools.  The  minister  of  the  town  urged  his  father  to  give  him  a  collegiate 
education,  with  a  view  to  his  becoming  a  minister  ;  the  physician  of  the 
place  was  equally  desirous  that  he  should  become  a  medical  practitioner  ; 
and  he  himself  had  formed  the  purpose  of  being  a  lawyer;  but  his  father 
designed  that  he  should  remain  with  him,  as  the  support  of  his  declining 
jears.  Though  he  was,  by  no  means,  free  from  serious  reflection,  and 
occasionally  even  suffered  deep  remorse,  during  his  childhood  and  early  youth, 
he  seems  to  have  yielded,  to  some  extent,  to  vicious  indulgences,  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  he  became  deeply  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  eternal  realities.  For  the  next  fifteen  months,  his  mind  was 
in  an  unsettled,  and  much  of  the  time  agitated,  state  ;  and  the  record  that 
he  has  left  of  his  exercises  shows  that  he  was  disposed  to  deal  with  himself 
with  great  honesty  and  fidelity.  It  was  during  this  period  that  he  became 
acquainted  with  Elhanan  Winchester,  then  a  young  Baptist  (afterwards  a 
Universalist)  preacher,  whose  influence  probably  assisted  to  give  a  direction 
to  his  mind  favourable  to  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists.  On  the 
1st  of  June,  1774,  he  was  baptized  at  Northbridge,  with  seven  others,  by 
Elder  Noah  Alden,  of  Bellingham.  On  the  20th  of  the  same  month, — 
there  being  no  preacher  at  the  meeting  in  Grafton,  to  which  he  had 
gone, — he  felt  constrained  to  say  a  few  words  himself;  and,  finding  that 
he  had  an  unexpected  freedom  of  utterance,  he  continued  to  speak,  with 
comfort  to  himself,  and  to  the  edification  of  his  hearers,  for  half  an  hour. 
He  now  formed  the  purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  the  ministry,  and,  from 
that  time,  preached  in  the  neighbouring  towns,  whenever  he  was  requested. 
In  the  autumn  of  that  yea*,  he  joined  Bellingham  Church,  (for  until  then 
he  had  belonged  to  no  church,)  and,  "  about  six  months  after,"  he  says, 
"that  church  gave  me  a  license  to  do  that  which  I  had  been  doing  for  a 
year  before." 

In  October,  1775,  he  made  a  journey  to  Virginia,  and  did  not  return 
till  about  the  beginning  of  the  next  summer.  On  the  30th  of  September, 
1776,  he  was  married  to  Sally  Devine,  of  Hopkinton,  Mass.,  and  imme- 
diately started  with  her  for  Virginia,  where  he  had  previously  found,  as  he 

*  Autobiography,  &c. 


JOHN  LELAND.  175 

thought,  an  advantageous  field  for  labour.  At  Mount  Poney,  in  Culpep- 
per, he  joined  the  church,  and  engaged  to  preach  there  every  alternate 
Sabbath.  In  August,  he  was  ordained,  by  request  of  the  church,  without 
the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  a  Presbytery ;  and,  as  this  was  a  departure 
from  the  usage  of  the  Virginia  churches,  they  generally  withheld  from 
him  their  fellowship.  He  remained  in  Culpepper  but  a  short  time,  as 
ditiiculties,  with  which  he  was  more  or  less  connected,  sprung  up  in  the 
church,  and  he  was  glad  to  seek  another  field.  He  removed  now  to  the 
County  of  Orange,  and  laboured  abundantly,  but,  for  some  time,  without 
much  apparent  success.  He,  however,  very  soon  commenced  his  preaching 
tours  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  and  extending  sometimes  much  beyond 
the  State,  in  which  his  labours  were  instrumental  often  of  gathering  large 
numbers  into  the  church.  In  1784,  he  travelled  Northward  as  far  as 
Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  six  weeks.  As  he  went  in  company  with 
Mr.  Winchester,  who,  meanwhile,  had  become  a  Universalist,  he  was  sus- 
pected of  holding  the  same  views  with  his  fellow-traveller,  and,  therefore, 
was  not  invited  to  preach  in  the  Baptist  meeting-house  in  Philadelphia; 
but  he  preached  in  the  Hall  of  the  University,  and  in  private  houses,  and, 
as  the  number  of  his  hearers  increased,  he  appointed  meetings  in  the  street, 
which  were  very  largely  attended;  and,  as  a  result  of  his  labours  here,  he 
baptized  four  persons  in  the  Schuylkill. 

In  June,  1787,  he  was  ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  by  means  of 
which  he  was  brought  into  fraternal  relations  with  the  Baptist  ministers  in 
the  State  generally.  In  1788,  he  laboured  constantly  in  a  revival,  extend- 
ing through  several  counties,  and  baptized  three  hundred  persons.  In 
1790,  he  made  a  journey  to  New  England,  to  visit  his  friends,  and  was 
absent  about  four  months,  during  which  time  he  baptized  thirty-two.  The 
winter  following,  he  made  his  arrangements  to  remove  to  New  England  for 
a  permanent  home ;  having  baptized  seven  hundred  persons  during  his 
residence  in  Virginia,  and  having,  at  that  time,  charge  of  two  large 
churches,  one  in  the  County  of  Orange,  the  other  in  the  County  of  Louisa. 
On  the  last  of  March,  1791,  he  embarked  with  his  family  at  Fredericks- 
burg, and,  after  a  most  perilous  voyage,  in  which  all  hope  of  making  land 
was,  for  a  time,  abandoned,  the  vessel  arrived  at  New  London,  Conn. 
Having  remained  there  a  couple  of  months,  he  went  with  his  family  to 
Sunderland,  Mass.,  and  thence  to  Conway,  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
where  his  father  and  some  of  his  early  acquaintance  were  living,  and 
where  he  determined  to  make  a  temporary  residence.  Here  his  family 
remained  about  eight  months,  while  he  was  himself  occupied  chiefly  in 
travelling,  with  a  view  to  find  a  place  which  might  be  their  permanent 
home.  In  February,  1792,  he  removed  his  family  to  Cheshire,  Mass., 
where  he  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  remaining  days. 

Elder  Leland  made  a  visit  to  his  old  friends  in  Virginia,  in  the  summer 
of  1797,  and  was  absent  from  home  about  six  months.  In  1800,  he  made 
a  tour  of  four  months,  travelling  Southward  as  far  as  Bedford,  N.  Y.,  and 
Eastward  into  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts.  In  November,  1801, 
occurred  the  event  of  his  life,  which  perhaps  has  contributed  as  much  to 
his  celebrity  as  any  other,— the  affair  of  the  Mammoth  Cheese.  He  went 
to  Washington  City  to  present  an  immense  cheese    to    Mr.  Jeff'erson,  as  a 


176  BAPTIST. 

present  from  his  people  at  Clicsliire,  and  a  testimony  of  their  approhation 
of  his  politics.  It  was  made  from  curds,  furnished,  on  a  particular  day, 
by  the  dairy-women  of  the  town,  and  weighed  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds.  The  Elder  presented  it  in  behalf  of  his  people,  as  a  "pepper- 
corn "  of  their  esteem  for  the  Democratic  President.  Referring  to  this 
event,  he  says, — "  Notwithstanding  my  trust,  I  preached  all  the  way  there, 
and  on  my  return.  I  had  large  congregations,  led  in  part  by  curiosity  to 
hear  the  Mammoth  Priest,  as  I  was  called." 

In  March,  1804,  he  removed  into  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. ;  but 
returned  to  Cheshire  in  1806.  At  the  close  of  1813  and  the  beginning 
of  1814,  he  made'  another  visit  to  Virginia,  and  remained  in  the  State 
eighty  days,  during  which  time  he  travelled  seven  hundred  miles,  and 
preached  more  than  seventy  times.  In  the  autumn,  after  his  return  home, 
he  sold  his  place  in  Cheshire  with  a  view  to  removing  into  the  Western  part 
of  New  York,  where  his  children  were  settled,  but  his  object  was  defeated 
by  the  breaking  of  his  leg  shortly  after ;  and  he  purchased  a  place  at  New 
Ashford,  where  he  lived  for  more  than  sixteen  years;  but,  in  November, 
1831,  he  returned  to  Cheshire. 

In  1819,  Elder  Leland  wrote  a  brief  narrative  of  his  life,  from  which 
the  following  is  an  extract : — 

''  Since  I  began  to  preach,  in  1774, 1  liave  travelled  distances  which,  together,  would 
form  a  girdle  nearly  sufficient  to  go  round  the  terraqueous  globe  tliree  times.  The 
number  of  sermons  which  I  have  preached  is  not  far  from  eight  thousand.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  whom  I  have  baptized  is  one  thousand,  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight. 
The  number  of  Baptist  ministers  wjiom  I  have  personally  known  is  iiine  liundred  and 
sixty-two.  Tliose  of  them  whom  I  have  beard  preach,  in  number,  make  three  hun- 
dred and  three.  Those  wlio  bave  died,  (whose  deaths  I  bave  heard  of,)  amount  to 
tiu'ce  hundred.  The  number  that  have  visited  nie  at  my  house  is  two  liundred  and 
seven.  The  pamplilets  which  I  have  written,  tliat  have  been  published,  are  about 
thirty. 

"I  am  now  iu  the  decline  of  life,  having  lived  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  century. 
When  Jacob  had  lived  twice  as  long,  his  days  bad  been  few  and  evil  Looking  over 
the  foregoing  narrative,  there  is  proof  enough  of  imperfection;  and  yet  what  I  have 
wiitten  is  the  best  part  of  my  life.  A  history  seven  times  as  large  might  be  written 
of  ray  errors  in  judgment,  incorrectness  of  behaviour,  and  baseness  of  heart.  My 
only  hope  of  acceptance  with  God  is  in  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  .Tesus  Christ. 
And  when  I  come  to  Christ  for  jjardon,  I  come  as  an  old  gray-headed  sinner;  in  the 
language  of  tlie  Publican, — '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.'" 

On  the  10th  of  November,  1881,  he  writes  thus  : — 

"  My  age  and  decays  admonish  me  that  the  time  of  my  departure  is  not  far  distant. 
When  I  die,  I  neither  desire  nor  deserve  any  funeral  pomp.  If  my  friends  think  best 
to  rear  a  little  monument  over  my  body,  "  Here  lies  the  body  of  John    Lel.4.nd,  who 

laboured to  promote  piety,  and  vindicate  the  civil  and  religious  rights  of  all  men,' 

is  the  sentence  which  I  wish  to  be  engraved  upon  it." 

Elder  Leland  continued  to  prosecute  his  ministerial  labours  till  near  the 
close  of  his  life.  On  the  5th  of  October,  1837,  he  was  afflicted  by  the 
death  of  his  wife,  in  whom  he__had  found  a  most  efficient  and  admirable 
helper,  during  a  large  part  of  his  pilgrimage.  Shortly  after  her  deatJi,  he 
removed  to  the  house  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  James  Greene,  in  Lanes- 
borough,  where  he  resided  most  of  the  time  till  his  death.  In  the  summer 
of  1838,  he  made  a  journey  to  Utica,  and  its  vicinity,  (the  residence  of 
his  eldest  son,)  and  was  absent  several  weeks.  In  the  winter  of  1840-41, 
he  was  induced,  by  some  considerations,  to  remove  back,  for  a  few  weeks, 
to  Cheshire,  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Chapman.  His  last  sermon  was  preached 
at  North  Adams,  on  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  January,  1841,  from  I  John 


JOHN  LELAND.  177 

ii.  20,  27.  After  tlic  service,  he  went  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Darling,  and 
appeared  as  well  and  cheerful  as  usual.  Soon  after  he  retired  to  his 
chamber,  the  family  were  alarmed  by  an  unusual  noise,  and  Mr.  D.,  on 
going  to  the  room,  found  him  prostrate  on  the  floor.  It  was  apparent,  at 
once,  that  he  was  seriously  ill;  but,  being  placed  in  a  bed,  he  was  able, 
during  the  night,  to  get  a  little  rest.  He  continued  until  the  evening  of 
the  14th,  suffering  little,  except  from  laborious  breathing,  but  making 
many  strikingly  characteristic  demonstrations, — and  then  passed  away  so 
quietly  that  it  was  impossible  to  fix  the  moment  of  his  departure.  His 
remains  were  conveyed  to  Cheshire  for  interment ;  and  a  Funeral  Discourse 
was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  John  Alden,  from  Ilev.  xiv,  13. 

Elder  Leland  was  among  the  most  prolific  writers  of  his  denomination 
in  this  country,  at  least  during  the  period  in  which  he  lived.  His  produc- 
tions, which  consist  of  Occasional  Sermons  and  Addresses,  and  Essays  on 
a  great  variety  of  subjects,  moral,  religious,  and  political,  were  published, 
in  a  large  octavo  volume,  together  with  his  Autobiography,  and  additional 
notices  of  his  life  by  Miss  L.  F.  Greene,  of  Lanesborough,  in  1845. 

FROM  THE  HON.  G.  N.  BRIGGS,  LL.  D., 

GOVERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

PiTTSFiELD,  Mass.,  April  15,  1857. 

Dear  Sir :  The  first  personal  recollection  I  have  of  Elder  John  Leland  dates 
back  to  1803  or  1804;  when  he  lodged  a  night  at  the  house  of  my  father  in 
Manchester,  Vt.  He  had  started  on  a  missionary  tour  to  Canada,  on  horse- 
back. In  the  morning,  after  he  left,  he  called  at  a  house  about  a  mile  on  his 
way.  to  deliver  a  message  to  the  family  from  their  brother  in  Cheshire.  The 
woman  of  the  house  came  to  the  door,  and,  on  learning  who  she  was,  he 
said, — "Madam,  your  brother  in  Cheshire  wished  me  to  call  and  tell  you 
that  his  family  are  well."  As  he- was  turning  his  horse,  she  inquired  his 
name — "  You  may  call  me  Mr.  John,"  said  he,  "  and  I  stayed  at  Capt.  B.'s 
last  night;"  and  rode  on.  Some  of  the  family  were  very  soon  at  Capt.  B.'s 
to  ask  who  the  odd  stranger  was.  On  hearing,  they  were  much  disappointed 
and  surprised  that  so  noted  a  man  had  dodged  them  so  successfully.  On  his 
return  from  Canada,  he  preached  in  the  neighbourhood,  to  the  great  delight  of 
the  people.  I  was  a  small  boy,  but  I  distinctly  remember  his  person  and 
manner. 

Three  or  four  years  before  he  died,  Mrs.  Brigg.?  and  myself  spent  an  after- 
noon with  him,  and  his  aged  and  worthy  wife.  They  had  then  lived  together 
more  than  sixty  years.  They  lived  entirely  by  themselves.  '^  As  to  numbers 
and  family,"  said  he,  "  we  are  just  where  w^e  started  in  life."  They  had  ten 
children,  and  I  think  he  told  me  they  were  all  then  living;  and  what  was 
most  remarkable,  he  said  they  had  never  had  a  death  in  their  house.  Their 
house  was  an  humble,  but  convenient,  dwelling,  a  mile  from  the  village  ot 
Cheshire.  The  inside  was  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  antique,  of  convenience, 
neatness  and  taste, — a  model  from  which  modern  and  more  fashionable  houses 
could  have  taken  useful  lessons.  He  was  then  eighty-five,  and  she  eighty-three, 
years  old.  To  me  it  was  an  afternoon  of  rare  interest,  enjoyment,  and  instruc- 
tion. When  the  tea  hour  approached,  the  good  old  mother  went  about  getting 
tea,  in  the  style  and  manner  of  her  own  time.  She  kneaded  and  baked  her 
nice  short  cake,  and  cooked  her  steak  in  the  same  room  where  we  sat.  When 
supper  was  on  the  table,  nothing  about  her  person  indicated  that  she  had 
been  cook,  and   nothing   in  the   room  showed   that  that  simple  and  tasteful 

Vol.  VI.  23 


178  BAPTIST. 

repast  had  been  jirepared  there.  In  due  time,  the  venerable  form  of  that  aged 
minister  bent  over  the  table,  as  he  implored  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  and  we  sat 
down.  In  the  fulness  of  my  heart,  I  said  to  him, — "  Sir,  I  never  sat  down 
to  a  table  with  more  pleasure  than  I  do  to  this."  "With  patriarchal  dignity 
and  simplicity,  he  instantly  replied, — '<  You  never  sat  down  to  a  table  where 
you  were  more  welcome." 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  he  spoke  of  many  of  the  incidents  of  his 
long  life.  When  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  only  books  in  his 
father's  house,  and  that  he  had  ever  read,  were  the  Bible,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  and  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  soul.  He 
said  he  had  been  charged  with  being  an  enemy  to  education;  but  it  was  not 
so — he  was  a  friend  to  education,  and  always  had  been,  "  Education,"  said 
he,  "  has  but  one  enemy  in  the  world;  and  that  is  ignorance."  He  believed 
the  history  of  the  Christian  world  would  show  that  learning  with  clergymen 
had  too  often  been  made  to  take  the  place  of  piety,  and  those  spiritual  gifts 
and  qualifications,  which  he  deemed  essential  to  one  who  entered  upon  the 
sacred  duties  of  the  Gospel  ministry.  A  clergyman  could  not  have  too  much 
learning,  if  it  was  made  subordinate,  and  especially  auxiliary,  to  those  higher 
spiritual  endowments  which  he  considered  indispensable,  and  without  which 
no  man  had  a  right  to  assume  to  be  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  From  the  time 
he  began  to  feel  the  need  of  education,  he  had  had  a  strong  desire  to  read,  and 
he  had  read  ever}^  thing  that  came  within  his  reach.  "  Once,"  said  he,  "  I 
had  a  discussion  with  a  Jew  as  to  a  passage  in  the  Hebrew  Bible;  and  I  Avent 
on  foot  four  miles  through  a  wilderness  to  get  a  Hebrew  Bible  to  settle  the 
question." 

Soon  after  his  conversion,  the  minister  of  the  parish  to  which  his  father 
belonged  preached  at  his  father's  house.  He  was  a  pious  and  excellent  man. 
After  he  had  finished  his  sermon,  and  taken  his  seat,  he  observed  that  if  any 
one  present  wished  to  make  any  remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  sermon,  or  any 
other  religious  topic,  there  was  then  an  opportunity,  and  he  should  be  very 
happy  to  hear  him.  He  said  that,  through  the  sermon,  he  had  been  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  the  minister  had  mistaken  the  import  of  the  text,  and 
that  he  ought  to  give  his  own  views  of  its  true  meaning.  But  il  seemed 
that  it  would  be  presumption  in  a  mere  boy,  in  his  tow  frock  and  trowsers, 
with  his  leather  apron  on,  and  in  his  own  father's  house, — the  neighbours  all 
there,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  venerable  clergyman,  with  his  great  wig  on, 
to  call  in  question  the  correctness  of  the  minister's  interpretation  of  the 
Scripture.  After  waiting  some  time, — no  one  else  rising,  and  the  invitation 
being  repeated  in  a  kind  and  familiar  manner,  he  found  himself  on  his  feet, 
and,  in  the  best  and  most  respectful  way  he  could,  gave  his  views  as  to  the 
true  meaning  of  the  text,  and  resumed  his  seat.  During  the  few  moments  of 
silence  which  followed,  he  said  he  was  exceedingly  depressed,  and  felt  as 
though  he  had  been  guilty  of  inexcusable  presumption. 

Very  soon  the  minister  rose,  and  expressed  his  satisfiiction  that  the  young 
man  had  so  clearly  and  properly  stated  his  views  of  the  text  upon  which 
he  had  been  comme7ating7  and,  though  they  diifered  materiall)^  from  his 
own,  he  was  not  then  prepared  to  say  that  the  young  man  was  not  right.  He 
should  endeavour  carefully  to  review  his  own  construction  of  the  passage, 
and  try  to  find  out  the  truth.  The  friendly  and  paternal  manner  of  his 
minister  somewhat  quieted  the  perturbation  of  his  own  mind,  but  for  a 
good  while  he  was  oppressed  with  the  idea  that  he  had  been  quite  too  for- 
ward for  one  of  his  5'ears. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  I  told  him  that  I  had  recently  seen  in  the 
public  prints  an  extract  from  an  Eulogy  delivered  by  J.  S.  Barbour,  of 
Virginia,  upon  the  character  of  James  Madison;  that  Barbour  had  said  that 


JOHN  LELAND.  1^9 

the  credit  of  adopting  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  properly  belonged 
to  a  Baptist  clergyman,  formerly  of  Virginia,  by  the  name  of  Leland;  and  he 
reached  his  conclusion  in  this  way — he  said  that  if  Madison  had  not  been  in 
the  Virginia  Convention,  the  Constitution  would  not  have  been  ratified  by 
that  State;  and,  as  the  approval  of  nine  States  was  required  to  give  effect  to 
this  instrument,  and  as  Virginia  was  the  ninth  State,  if  it  had  been  rejected 
by  her,  the  Constitution  would  have  failed;  and  that  it  was  by  Elder  Leland's 
inlluence  that  Madison  was  elected  to  that  Convention. 

He  replied  that  Barbour  had  given  him  too  much  credit;  but  he  supposed  he 
knew  to  what  he  referred.  He  then  gave  this  history  of  the  matter : — Soon  after 
the  Convention,  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  had  fin- 
ished their  work,  and  submitted  it  to  the  people  for  their  action,  two  strong  and 
active  parties  were  formed  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  on  the  subject  of  its  adop- 
tion. The  State  was  nearly  equally  divided.  One  party  was  opposed  to  its 
adoption,  unless  certain  amendments,  which  they  maintained  that  the  safety 
of  the  people  required,  should  be  incorporated  into  it,  before  it  was  ratified 
by  them.  At  the  head  of  this  great  party  stood  Patrick  Henry,  the  Orator 
of  the  Revolution,  and  one  of  Virginia's  favourite  sons.  The  other  party 
agreed  with  what  their  opponents  said  as  to  the  character  and  necessity  of  the 
amendments  proposed;  but  they  contended  that  the  people  would  have  the 
power,  and  could  as  well  incorporate  those  amendments  into  their  Constitu- 
tion after  its  adoption  as  before;  that  it  was  a  great  crisis  in  the  affairs  of 
the  country,  and  if  the  Constitution,  then  presented  to  the  people  by  the  Con- 
vention, should  be  rejected  by  them,  such  would  be  the  state  of  the  public 
mind,  that  there  was  little  or  no  reason  to  believe  that  another  would  be 
agreed  upon  by  a  future  Convention;  and,  in  such  an  event, — so  much  to  be 
dreaded, — the  hopes  of  constitutional  liberty  and  a  confederated  and  free 
Republic  would  be  lost.  At  the  head  of  this  party  stood  James  Madison. 
The  strength  of  the  two  parties  was  to  be  tested  by  the  election  of  County 
Delegates  to  the  State  Convention.  That  Convention  would  have  to  adopt  or 
reject  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Madison  was  named  as  the  candidate  in  favour 
of  its  adoption  for  the  County  of  Orange,  in  which  he  resided.  Elder  Leland, 
also,  at  that  time,  lived  in  the  County  of  Orange,  and  his  S3''mpathies,  he  said, 
were  with  Henry  and  his  party.  He  was  named  as  the  candidate  opposed  to 
the  adoption,  and  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Madison.  Orange  was  a  strong  Bap- 
tist County;  and  his  friends  had  an  undoubting  confidence  in  his  election. 
Though  reluctant  to  be  a  candidate,  he  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  Constitution,  and  accepted  the  nomination. 

For  three  months  after  the  members  of  the  Convention  at  Philadelphia  had 
completed  their  labours,  and  returned  to  their  homes,  Mr.  Madison,  with  John 
Jay  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  had  remained  in  that  city  for  the  purpose  of 
preparing  those  political  articles  that  now  constitute  The  F'ederalist.  This 
gave  the  party  opposed  to  Madison,  with  Henry  at  their  head,  the  start  of 
him,  in  canvassing  the  State  in  his  absence.  At  length,  when  Mr.  Madison 
was  about  ready  to  return  to  Virginia,  a  public  meeting  was  appointed  in  the 
County  of  Orange,  at  which  the  candidates  for  the  Convention, — Madison  on 
the  one  side,  and  Leland  on  the  other, — were  to  address  the  people  from  the 
stump.  Up  to  that  time  he  had  but  a  partial  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Madison,  but  he  had  a  high  respect  for  his  talents,  his  candour,  and  the 
uprightness  and  purity  of  his  private  character.  On  his  way  home  from  Phil- 
adelphia, Mr.  Madison  went  some  distance  out  of  his  direct  road  to  call  upon 
him.  After  the  ordinary  salutations,  Mr.  Madison  began  to  apologize  for 
troubling  him  with  a  call  at  that  time;  but  he  assured  Mr.  M.  that  no  apology 
was  necessary — "  I  know  your  errand  here,"  said  he,  "  it  is  to  talk  with  me 
about  the  Constitution.     I  am  glad  to  see  you,  and  to  have  an  opportunity  of 


180  BAPTIST. 

learning  jour  views  on  the  subject."  Mr.  Madison  spent  half  a  day  with 
him,  and  fully  and  unreservedly  communicated  to  him  his  opinions  upon  the 
great  matters  which  were  then  agitating  the  people  of  the  State  and  the  Con- 
federacy. 

They  then  separated  to  meet  again  very  soon,  as  opposing  candidates  before 
the  electors,  on  the  stump.  The  day  came,  and  they  met,  and  with  them 
nearly  all  the  voters  in  the  County  of  Orange,  to  hear  their  candidates  respec- 
tively discuss  the  important  questions  upon  which  the  people  of  Virginia  were 
so  soon  to  act.  "Mr.  Madison,"  said  the  venerable  man,  "first  took  the 
stump,  which  was  a  hogshead  of  tobacco,  standing  on  one  end.  For  two 
hours,  he  addressed  his  fellow-citizens  in  a  calm,  candid  and  statesman-like 
manner,  arguing  his  side  of  the  case,  and  fairly  meeting  and  replying  to  the 
arguments,  which  had  been  put  forth  by  his  opponents,  in  the  general  canvass 
of  the  State.  Though  Mr.  Madison  was  not  particularly  a  pleasing  or  elo- 
quent speaker,  the  people  listened  with  respectful  attention.  He  left  the  hogs- 
head, and  my  friends  called  for  me.     I  took  it and  went  in  for  Mr.  jNIadison; 

and  he  was  elected  without  difficulty.  This,"  said  he,  "  is,  I  suppose,  what 
Mr.  Barbour  alluded  to."  A  noble  Christian  Patriot!  That  single  act,  with 
the  motives  which  prompted  it,  and  the  consequences  which  followed  it,  enti- 
tle him  to  the  respect  of  mankind. 

After  Elder  Leland  came  to  Massachusetts,  he  kept  up  a  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Madison  for  many  years.  He  said  he  had  given  to  his  friends  all 
Mr.  Madison's  letters,  except  one,  and  that  he  showed  to  me.  One  opinion, 
I  remember,  was  expressed  in  it,  which  seems  singular  enough  to  those 
acquainted  with  the  present  condition  of  the  revenues  of  this  Goverinnent, 
and  shows  how  very  limited  and  incorrect  were  the  views  of  the  public  men 
of  that  day,  as  to  the  future  sources  of  revenue  for  the  United  States.  lie 
said  it  was  not  probable  that  the  duties  derived  from  imports  would  ever  be 
sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Government. 

For  candour,  integrity,  and  intelligence,  he  placed  Mr.  Madison  before  any 
of  our  statesmen  whom  he  had  ever  known.  As  a  public  debater,  he  said  he 
had  one  trait  which  he  had  never  witnessed  in  any  other  man — after  stating, 
in  the  clearest  manner,  the  positions  and  arguments  of  his  opponent,  if  that 
opponent  had  omitted  any  thing  that  would  strengthen  his  side  of  the  case, 
he  would  add  it,  and  then  proceed  to  meet  and  ansAver  the  whole. 

When  in  Virginia,  he  was  in  the  habit,  occasionally,  of  preaching  at  the 
house  of  a  widow  lady,  who  had  a  son  who  had  been  an  officer  in  the  Eevo- 
lutionary  War.  After  the  War  closed,  he  came  home,  and  became  both  a 
drunkard  and  an  infidel.  He  was  displea.sed  at  the  meetings  being  held  at  his 
mother's  house,  and  gave  out  threats  that  if  Leland  came  there  again  to 
preach,  he  would  kill  him.  His  threats,  however,  were  disregarded;  and, 
after  that,  when  another  meeting  was  being  held,  this  Captain  came  home 
drunk,  and  during  sermon  time.  He  made  his  way  through  the  people  in  one 
of  the  rooms,  and  seized  his  sword,  which  hung  on  the  wall,  di'ew  it  from  the 
scabbard,  and  rushed  towards  the  preacher.  No  one  interposed  to  arrest 
him,  until  he  got  almost  within  reach  of  the  object  of  his  malice,  "  when, 
instantly,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  "  a  pair  of  arms  were  thrown  around  him 
from  behind,  and  they  held  him  as  firm  as  a  vice,  until  he  was  disarmed 
by  others,  and  secured."  Turning  his  bright  blue  eye,  and  pointing  his  finger, 
towards  his  aged  wife,  whose  arms  hung  down  by  her  side,  he  said, — "  Those 
are  the  arms  which  arrested  and  held  the  madman.  The  men  present  seemed 
to  be  stupified  by  the  daring  act  of  the  desperado." 

While  I  was  at  his  house,  I  inquired  of  him  about  a  remarkable  noise, 
which  I  had,  when  a  boy,  heard  that  he  and  his  family  had  been  annoyed  by, 
when  they  lived  in  Virginia.     He  gave  this  account  of  it :  —  His  family,  at  the 


JOHN  LELAMD.  |81 

time,  consisted  of  liimsclf,  wife,  and  four  children.  One  evening,  all  the 
family  being  together,  their  attention  was  attracted  by  a  noise,  which  very 
much  resembled  the  faint  groans  of  a  person  in  pain.  It  was  distinct,  and 
repeated  at  intervals  of  a  few  seconds.  It  seemed  to  be  under  the  sill  of  the 
window,  and  between  the  clap-boards  and  the  ceiling.  They  paid  very  little 
attention  to  it,  and  in  a  short  time  it  ceased.  But,  afterwards,  it  returned  in 
the  same  way — sometimes  every  night,  and  sometimes  not  so  frequently,  and 
always  in  the  same  place,  and  of  the  same  character.  It  continued  for  some 
months.  He  said  it  excited  their  curiosity,  and  annoyed  them,  but  they  were 
not  alarmed  by  it.  During  its  continuance,  they  had  the  siding  and  casing 
removed  from  the  place  Avhere  it  appeared  to  be,  but  found  nothing  to  account 
for  it;  and  the  sound  continued  the  same.  lie  consulted  his  friends,  especially 
some  of  his  ministerial  brethren,  about  it.  I  think  he  said  it  was  never  heard 
by  any  except  himself  and  his  family;  but  it  was  heard  by  them  when  he  was 
absent  from  home.  Mrs.  Leland  said  that  often,  when  she  was  alone  with 
the  children,  and  while  they  were  playing  about  the  room,  and  nothing 
being  said,  it  would  come,  and  they  would  leave  their  plaj^  and  gather  about 
her  person.  They  had  a  place  fifty  or  sixty  rods  from  the  house,  by  the  side 
of  a  brook,  where  the  family  did  their  washing.  One  day,  while  she  was  at 
that  place,  it  met  her  there  precisely  as  it  had  in  the  house. 

After  the  noise  had  been  heard  at  brief  intervals  for,  I  think,  six  or  eight 
months,  they  removed  their  lodgings  to  quite  an  opposite  and  distant  part  of 
the  house;  but  it  continued  as  usual,  for  some  time,  in  its  old  locality.  One 
night,  after  they  had  retired,  they  observed,  by  the  sound,  that  it  had  left  the 
spot  from  which  it  had  previously  proceeded,  and  seemed  to  be  advancing,  in  a 
direct  line,  towards  their  bed,  and  was  becoming  constantly  louder  and  more 
distinct.  At  each  interval,  it  advanced  towards  them,  and  gathered  strength 
and  fulness,  until  it  entered  the  room  where  they  were,  and  approached  the 
bed,  and  came  along  on  the  front  side  of  the  bed,  when  the  groan  became 
deep  and  appalling.  "Then,"  said  he,  "for  the  first  time  since  it  began 
I  felt  the  emotion  of  fear;  I  turned  upon  my  face,  and  if  lever  prayed  in 
my  life,  I  prayed  then.  I  asked  the  Lord  to  deliver  me  and  my  family  from 
that  annoyance,  and  that,  if  it  were  a  message  from  Heaven,  it  might  be 
explained  to  us,  and  depart;  that  if  it  were  an  evil  spirit,  permitted  to  disturb 
and  disquiet  me  and  my  family,  it  might  be  rebuked,  and  sent  away;  or  if  there 
was  any  thing  for  me  to  do,  to  make  it  depart,  I  might  be  instructed  what  it 
was,  so  that  I  could  do  it."  This  exercise  restored  his  tranquillity  of  mind, 
and  he  resumed  his  usual  position  in  the  bed.  Then,  he  said,  it  uttered  a 
groan  too  loud  and  startling  to  be  imitated  b}-  the  human  voice.  The  next 
groan  was  not  so  loud,  and  it  had  receded  a  step  or  two  from  the  front  of  the 
bed,  near  his  face.  It  continued  to  recede  in  the  direction  from  which  it  came, 
and  grew  less  and  less,  until  it  reached  its  old  station,  when  it  died  away  to 
the  faintest  sound,  and  entirely  and  forever  ceased. 

No  explanation  was  ever  found.  "I  have  given  you,"  said  he,  "  a  simple 
and  true  history  of  the  facts,  and  you  can  form  your  own  opinion.  I  give 
none."  His  wife  confirmed  all  he  said.  I  think  I  can  say  that  I  never  knew 
a  person  less  given  to  the  marvellous  than  Elder  Leland. 

Forty  years  ago,  a  very  intelligent  physician  in  this  county  became  pious.  He 
had  long  known  Elder  Leland.  One  day  he  met  him  on  the  highway,  leisurely 
driving  along  a  horse  that  he  called  Billy.  They  both  stopped,  and,  after  some 
conversation,  the  Doctor  told  him  that  he  should  be  glad  to  have  his  views  upon 
two  or  three  points  of  religious  doctrine.  First,  as  to  the  Sovereignty  of  God. 
This  was  Avith  Elder  Leland  a  favourite  theme,  and  one  in  which  his  head  and 
his  heart  had  been  engaged  for  sixty  years.  He  proceeded,  and  occupied 
several  m-inutes  in  repeating  appropriate  passages  of  Scripture,  and  comment- 


182  BAPTIST. 

ing  upon  them  in  a  most  lucid  and  able  manner,  until  the  Doctor  said  that  he 
was  entirely  satisfied  with  those  views.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "please  let  me 
know  what  you  think  of  the  free  agency  of  man."  With  no  less  authority 
from  Scripture,  and  no  less  potency  of  reason,  he  made  this  point  equally  satis- 
factory. "  Now,  Elder,"  said  the  Doctor, — <' one  more  solution,  and  I  shall 
be  entirely  satisfied — will  you  tell  me  how  you  reconcile  these  two  great  and 
important  truths."  "  Doctor,"  said  he,  "  there  was  once  a  mother,  who, 
while  busy  with  her  needle,  was  teaching  her  little  daughter  to  read.  The 
child  at  length  came  to  a  hard  word,  and  asked  her  mother  what  it  was. 
'  Spell  it,  m}^  child,'  said  she.  The  child  made  an  effort,  but  did  not  succeed. 
'  Mother,'  said  she,  <  I  can't  spell  it.'  '  Let  me  see  it  then.'  She  handed  her 
the  book,  and  the  mother,  after  puzzling  over  it  for  some  time,  returned  it  to 
the  child,  and  said, — <  Skip  it  then.'  "  "  Get  up,  Billy,"  said  the  Elder,  and 
drove  along,  leaving  the  Doctor  to  skip  the  word,  or  ponder  over  it,  as  he 
pleased. 

I  once  heard  him  say  in  a  sermon  that,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  he  had  not 
unfrequently  heard  preachers, — generally  young  men,  propose  to  prove  the 
sovereigntj^  of  God,  and  the  free  agency  of  man,  and  then  to  show  the  har- 
mony between  them.  "At  the  last  point,"  said  he,  "I  always  dropped  my 
head;  for,  though  they  always  did  it  to  their  own  satisfaction,  they  rarely 
satisfied  any  of  their  hearers.  And  what  is  more  remarkable, — no  two  of  them 
ever  came  out  in  the  same  place  with  their  demonstrations." 

He  said  he  had  some  ten  or  twelve  sermons  that  were  quite  distinct,  and  did 
not  run  into  each  other.  When  he  had  preached  them,  he  took  new  texts, 
relied  on  the  bad  memories  of  his  hearers,  and  got  along  in  the  best  way  he 
could.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  if  I  take  my  text  in  Genesis,  my  conclusion  carries 
me  forward  to  the  third  chapter  of  John:  if  I  start  in  Revelations,  I  must  go 
back,  and  end  my  sermon  in  the  same  third  chapter  of  John."  I  do  not  think 
I  ever  heard  him  preach  a  sermon  in  which  this  remark  was  not  illustrated 
a-nd  verified — when  the  great  truth  uttered  by  the  Saviour  to  Nicodemus,  was 
not,  in  terms,  proclaimed  to  and  enforced  upon  his  hearers. 

When  in  Virginia,  he  had  an  appointment  to  preach  at  the  house  of  a 
planter,  in  a  distant  part  of  the  State.  Not  being  able  to  reach  the  place  on 
Saturday  night,  early  on  Sunday  morning  he  rose  and  pursued  his  journey. 
Coming  to  a  plantation,  which  he  judged  to  be  near  his  destination,  he  rode 
up  to  the  door,  and  inquired  of  a  lady  how  far  it  was  to  Mr.  such  a  one's. 
"  This  is  his  plantation,"  said  she.  "  Then,"  replied  the  Elder,  "  I  have  an 
appointment  here  to-day."  "  Why,"  said  the  lady,  "  then  you  are  the  great 
Elder  Leland,  are  you?"  "Instantly,"  said  he,  "the  Devil  patted  me  on 
the  back,  and  said,  "  you  are  the  great  Leland,  are  ye  ?"  That,  he  said,  was 
the  first  time  the  idea  of  being  a  great  preacher  ever  entered  his  mind.  He 
had  always  wished  and  striven  to  be  a  powerful  and  a  useful  preacher,  but 
never  before  had  the  thought  beset  him  of  being  a  great  preacher. 

More  than  forty  years  ago,  I  heard  him  preach  one  evening  from  this  text, — 
"  I  will  now  turn  aside,  an^  see  this  great  sight,  why  the  bush  is  not  burned." 
It  was  a  discourse  of  great  power  and  impressiveness.  Nearly  every  word 
was  made  a  distinct  head.  /—Religion  is  a  personal  matter.  Will — The 
will  is  involved,  and  must  be  active  and  decided.  I^^ow — Its  importance 
demands  immediate  attention,  and  precedence  of  all  things  else.  Tur7i 
aside — The  business  and  cares  of  life  must  be  laid  by,  and  the  whole  atten- 
tion, for  the  time,  be  given  to  the  one  thing  needful,  ^nd  see — It  demands 
inquiry  and  investigation — consequences  of  vast  importance  depend  on  a  right 
decision.  This  great  sight,  why  the  bush  is  not  burnt — The  burning,  yet 
unconsumed,  bush,  represented  the  union  of  the  Divine  and  human  natures  in 
the  person  of  the  Saviour;  and  the  great  fact  of  the   incarnation  involving 


JOHN  LELAND.  ],g3 

the  destiny  of  the  soul,  and  of  the  race,  demands  the  profoundest  investiga- 
tion of  man.  lie  spoke  an  hour  and  three-quarters;  but  there  was  no  flag- 
ging of  interest  in  the  hearers,  and  their  silent  and  breathless  attention  con- 
tinued till  the  sound  of  the  last  word  died  upon  his  lips.  He  preached  some 
of  his  most  interesting  discourses,  when,  as  he  said,  he  took  an  Old  Testament 
text,  and  preached  a  New  Testament  Sermon.  This  was  emphatically  one  of 
that  class. 

His  preaching  had  none  of  the  charms  either  of  a  refined  oratory  or  a 
cultivated  rhetoric;  but  there  were  times  when,  his  great  Christian  heart 
being  filled  with  his  all-inspiring  theme,  I  have  heard  him  appeal  to  an  audi- 
ence with  a  pathos  and  power  that  I  have  never  known  to  be  exceeded  in  the 
desk.  He  had  a  gesture  of  great  significance  and  effect,  when  he  was  deeply 
interested.  It  was  that  of  sw"inging  his  hand,  half  closed,  from  his  mouth 
the  whole  length  of  his  arm;  and  it  had  the  appearance  of  throwing  his 
words  broadcast  over  the  congregation.  I  have  rarely  heard  a  person  speak 
of  hearing  him  preach,  who  has  not  alluded  to  that  remarkable  and  impress- 
ive gesture.  He  used  no  swelling  or  high-sounding  words,  but  spoke  plain, 
good,  John  Bunyan  Saxon.  His  prayers  were  all  and  always  prayers, — 
direct,  earnest  and  short.  Sometimes,  after  a  sermon  in  which  he  had  been 
greatly  moved  himself,  he  literally  agonized  in  prayer. 

Many  years  ago,  I  heard  him  preach  in  Pittsfield,  to  a  large  congregation, 
when  his  text  was  from  that  chapter  of  the  Acts  in  which  the  history  of 
Philip  and  the  Eunuch  is  given.  His  subject  included  that  narrative,  and 
involved  the  question  of  Baptism.  He  read  on  till  he  came  to  the  question, 
put  by  the  Eunuch  to  Philip, — "  See  here  is  water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to 
be  baptized.  And  Philip  said,  "  if  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou 
mayest."  And  then  read,  "  Philip  and  the  Eunuch  went  up  the  broad  alley 
of  the  meeting-house,  and  Philip  put  his  hand  in  a  basin  of  water,  and  laid 
it  on  the  Eunuch's  head,  and  baptized  him,  and  they  came  out  of  the  meeting- 
house, and  the  Eunuch  went  on  his  way  rejoicing."  "Stop,  Leland,"  said 
he,  "  you  don't  read  right;"  and  beginning  again, — "And  they  went  down 
both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  Eunuch.  Ah,  that's  it,"  and  went 
on  with  the  narrative;  and  he  finished  his  sermon  with  no  other  allusion  to 
the  subject. 

On  another  occasion,  he  gave  an  account  of  his  own  Baptism,  when  he  was 
a  child.  The  minister  came  to  his  father's  house  to  baptize  him.  When  he 
learned  the  fact,  he  fled,  and  resolved  not  to  be  taken  back.  But  the  hired 
girl  pursued,  overtook,  and  recaptured  him.  He,  however,  had  fallen  on  his 
face,  and  his  nose  bled,  so  that  it  was  some  time  before  he  was  in  a  condition 
to  receive  the  baptismal  water;  and  he  reluctantly  submitted  at  last.  And  to 
show  that  children  had  no  voluntary  part  in  their  Baptism,  he  said  he  believed 
the  little  saints  very  generally  showed  all  the  resistance  in  their  power.  In 
the  course  of  about  thirty  of  the  last  years  of  his  life,  I  heard  him  preach  a 
great  many  times,  and  I  believe  these  were  the  only  two  occasions,  except  at 
Baptisms,  where  it  was  his  custom  to  repeat  appropriate  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, when  going  into  and  coming  out  of  the  water,  that  I  ever  heard  him 
speak  about  the  subjects  or  mode  of  Baptism.  In  the  pulpit  he  declared  his 
own  doctrines  and  opinions  boldly  and  fearlessly,  and  sustained  them  with 
ability;  but  he  never  denounced  those  who  differed  from  him,  or  treated  their 
opinions  with  disrespect.  Quite  early  in  life,  he  eschewed  polemic  discussions 
with  those  who  differed  with  him  on  the  doctrines  of  religion,  as  being  alto- 
gether unprofitable. 

He  had  a  pleasant  and  often  amusing  humour,  sometimes  highly  satirical, 
but  never  acrid. 


184  BAPTIST. 

In  his  person,  Elder  Leland  was  tall,  muscular  and  commanding.  Age  had 
slightly  bent  him,  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  but  that  added  to  his  patri- 
archal venerableness.  He  had  a  noble  head;  a  high,  expanded  and  slightly 
I'etreating  forehead ;  a  nose  a  little  aquiline,  and  a  bright,  beautiful,  sparkling 
blue  eye,  which  eighty-seven  years  had  not  dimmed.  The  expression  of  his 
eye,  especially  in  the  pulpit,  was  electrical. 

In  his  manners  and  personal  intercourse  he  was  plain,  courteous  and  digni- 
lied.  "Without  the  outward  polish  and  veneering  of  the  artificial,  he  had  all 
the  elements  and  bearing  of  the  real,  gentleman.  He  was  bland  and  kind  to 
all.     No  man  could  approach  him  with  a  rude  familiarity. 

Politically,  he  belonged  to  the  old  Republican  party.  And  when  this  party, 
in  1824,  split  into  four  parts,  each  supporting  its  own  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, he  fell  in  with  the  Jackson  party.  Many  thought  he  intermeddled  too 
much  in  politics  for  a  clergyman;  though  it  is  probable  that  that  opinion  pre- 
vailed most  among  those  who  .did  not  belong  to  the  same  party  with  himself. 
That  he  was  a  real  friend  to  the  religious  and  political  rights  of  man,  I  am 
sure,  no  one  who  ever  knew  him,  can  doubt  for  a  moment.  It  is  a  fact  in 
respect  to  him  worthy  of  record,  that  he  discouraged  the  efforts  of  his 
friends  to  secure  his  political  advancement,  or  invest  him,  in  any  way,  with 
civil  authority.  Once  indeed,  in  1811,  he  consented  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Legislature,  from  the  town  of  Cheshire,  but  it  was  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
be  instrumental  in  securing  their  legitimate  rights  to  the  religious  sects  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, who  did  not  belong  to  what  was  then  called  <<  the  Standing  Order  " 
in  the  State.  He  hoped  to  abate  the  rigour  of  existing  laws,  and  lived  to  see 
the  great  principle  of  what  Roger  Williams  aptly  called  "Soul  Liberty," 
firmly  and  forever  established  in  the  CommouAvealth  which  gave  him  birth. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  in  November,  1840,  a  few  days  after  the  elec- 
tion of  General  Harrison  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  I  drove  up 
to  the  public  house  in  Cheshire,  just  as  he  had  entered  his  carriage  to  drive 
away.  After  the  compliments  of  the  day,  he  said  jjleasantly,  "Well,  you 
have  beat  us  in  the  Presidential  election — General  Harrison  is  chosen  by  the 
people.  I  yield  to  the  will  of  the  majority  constitutionally  expressed.  It  is 
the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  do  so.  I  hope  his  administration  will  be  a 
good  one,  and  that  it  will  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  We  are 
all  alike  interested  to  have  it  so."  He  then  bid  me  good  bye,  and  I  looked 
upon  his  venerable  person  for  the  last  time.  His  last  words  to  me  were  those 
of  a  true  patriot.     Such  he  was. 

Respectfully  yours, 

G.  N.  BRIGGS. 


FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  December  G,  1855. 
Dear  Sir:  I  knew  the  celebrated  John  Leland  intimately,  from  the  com- 
mencement of  my  ministry  in  Albany;  and  the  first,  and  last,  and  every  inter- 
vening, time  that  I  met  him^-he  impressed  me  greatly  by  his  eccentricity.  On 
his  first  visit  to  my  house,  I  introduced  him  to  my  wife,  and,  as  he  took  her 
hand  and  shook  it  with  great  apparent  cordiality,  his  first  salutation  was, — 
"  Well,  Madam,  that  is  a  sort  of  hand  that  I  like — it  is  a  good,  honest,  indus- 
trious hand — I  know  from  the  feeling  of  it,  that  it  is  well  acquainted  with 
domestic  duties."  After  this,  he  became  very  familiar  in  my  family,  and 
would,  sometimes,  when  he  came,  make  his  way  first  into  the  kitchen,  light 
his  pipe,  and,  after  taking  a  whiff  or  two,  without  having  spoken  a  word, 
would  say, — "And  how  is  the  familj'^?"  And  then  he  would  go  on  talking 
with  great  fluency,  and  in  his  usual  eccentric  manner. 


JOHN  LELAND.  135 

John  Leland's  personal  appearance  was  decidedly  imposing.  He  had  an  un- 
commonly fine  foce,  a  prominent  Roman  nose,  a  piercing  eye,  well-formed  and 
expressive  mouth,  and  altogether  he  was  a  model  of  a  fine  commanding  person. 
And  his  intellectual  developments  corresponded  well  with  his  personal  appear- 
ance. With  all  his  eccentricities,  which  were  almost  boundless,  and  some  of  them 
very  undesirable,  he  possessed  some  very  noble  traits.  lie  was  blunt,  often 
beyond  measure,  and  yet  he  had  a  kind  and  warm  heart.  His  shre^vdness 
was  proverbial;  and  he  often  exhibited  it,  in  public  as  well  as  in  private,  in  a 
way  that  would  not  only  provoke  a  smile,  but  occasion  great  amusement.  The 
world  is  full  of  anecdotes  concerning  him;  and  one  or  two  of  them,  the 
authenticity  of  which,  I  believe,  is  unquestionable,  I  will  give  you,  as  furnish- 
ing the  best  illustration  of  his  character. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  as  you  are  aware,  the  Congregation- 
alists  were  the  "  Standing  Order  "  in  New  England, — the  privileged  denomina- 
tion, to  the  support  of  which  all,  unless  availing  themselves  of  a  special 
provision  to  the  contrary,  were  obliged  to  contribute.  Of  course  the  Baptists, 
in  common  with  some  other  denominations,  looked  upon  this  as  a  somewhat 
oppressive  exaction.  John  Leland,  in  travelling  about  on  his  preaching  excur- 
sions, was  accustomed,  occasionally,  to  preach  to  a  small  congregation  of 
Baptists,  who,  for  want  of  a  better  place  of  worship,  occupied  a  school-house. 
One  of  the  Congregational  brethren  in  the  neighbourhood  told  one  of  the  Bap- 
tist brethren  that  Mr.  Leland  did  not  preach  extempore,  but  wrote  his  ser- 
mons, and  committed  them  to  memory, — which  the  Baptist  of  course  denied. 
The  Congregationalist  then  proposed  to  him  that  if  Mr.  L.  would  preach  on  a 
text  that  should  be  given  to  him  at  the  commencement  of  the  service,  he  would 
secure  for  his  use  the  Congregational  meeting-house;  and  the  Baptist,  after 
consulting  Mr.  L.,  assured  him  that  the  requisition  should  be  complied  with. 
Accordingly,  the  meeting-house  was  opened,  and,  as  Mr.  L.  was  about  to 
ascend  the  pulpit  stairs,  a  little  piece  of  j^aper  was  put  into  his  hands,  indica- 
ting the  place  where  the  text  that  he  was  to  preach  upon  was  to  be  found.  He 
did  not  open  the  paper  until  he  rose  to  begin  his  sermon;  then  he  opened  it 
leisurely,  stating  that  he  did  not  know  what  the  text  was,  but  that  they 
should  quicklj' see;  and,  on  turning  to  it  in  the  Bible,  he  found  it  to  read 
thus — "And  Balaam  saddled  his  ass," — and,  as  he  announced  it,  he  said  that 
if  he  had  searched  the  Bible  through,  he  could  not  have  found  a  text  more  appro- 
priate. "  It  brings  to  our  view,"  said  he,  "  three  things, — a  prophet,  an  ass, 
and  a  saddle.  Balaam,  the  prophet,  who  loved  the  wages  of  unrighteousness, — 
and  he  well  represents  the  class  who  oppress  their  fellow-men  (otherwise  the 
Congregationalists);  the  ass,  a  patient  bearer  of  grievous  burdens,  represents 
those  who  are  oppressed  by  them;  and  the  saddle  is  the  unrighteous  exaction 
that  is  made  of  these  down-trodden  denominations;  "  and  the  result  was  that 
he  preached  a  sermon  that  even  those  who  liked  the  doctrine  the  least,  were 
obliged  to  acknowledge,  furnished  evidence  of  his  remarkable  promptness, 
shrewdness,  and  pungency. 

On  another  of  his  circuits,  he  happened  to  be  in  a  place  where  the  minister 
had  not  long  before  lost  his  wife,  and  had  married  another,  as  his  people, 
especially  the  ladies,  generally  thought,  a  little  prematurely;  and  it  was  agreed 
to  refer  the  matter  to  Mr.  Leland's  judgment.  After  having  heard  a  full  state- 
ment of  the  facts  and  the  complaints  in  the  case,  he  said  very  calmly, — "  It  is 
evident  from  the  rule  which  the  Apostle  has  laid  down  in  the  seventh  chapter 
of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  that  the  husband  is  '  free  '  to  marry 
as  soon  as  his  wife  dies;  but,  as  a  matter  of  decency,  perhaps  he  had  better 
wait  at  least  till  she  is  buried." 

That  which,  probably,  interfered  more  than  any  thing  else  with  his  useful- 
ness as  a  minister,  was  his  almost  mad  devotion  to  politics.     lie  was  a  very 

Vol.  VI.  24 


186  BAPTIST. 

prince  .imong  the  democrats  of  his  day;  and  some  would  douhtless  say  that  he 
magnified  his  office  as  a  politician  at  the  exj^ense  of  lowering  it  as  a  Christian 
minister.  On  one  occasion,  when  he  preached  in  my  pulpit,  he  took  for  his 
text  that  expression  of  the  Saviour, — "  The  cup  that  my  Father  hath  given 
me,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?  " — and  he  went  on  through  the  greater  part  of  his 
discourse  in  such  a  tone  of  spirituality  and  evangelical  fervour,  as  led  me  to 
think  it  was  impossible  that  he  should  descend  from  such  a  height  to  any 
thing  so  low  as  party  politics.  But  I  was  disappointed  after  all.  By  some 
association  that  occurred  to  him,  he  was  carried,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
from  the  scenes  of  Calvary  to  the  War  of  1812;  and,  though  he  afterwards 
tried  to  recover  himself,  by  closing  in  an  evangelical  strain,  the  audience  had 
experienced  too  severe  a  shock  to  have  the  effect  of  it  only  momentary.  His 
sermons  always  showed  the  workings  of  a  vigorous  and  original  mind,  which, 
with  more  of  culture  and  less  of  eccentricit}^,  might  have  left  a  bold  mark  in 
any  of  the  walks  of  professional  or  public  usefulness.  I  do  not  mean,  how- 
ever, that  his  mind  was  uncultivated;  for  I  remember  that  he  seemed  familiar 
with  the  British  poets,  and  with  some  of  the  classics  in  the  English  transla- 
tions, and  sometimes  he  made  striking  allusions  to  them  in  his  sermons;  but 
I  suppose  he  never  had  more  than  the  common  advantages  of  education. 

In  his  prayers,  I  do  not  recollect  any  thing  of  eccentricity — on  the  contrary, 
he  seemed  to  be  deeply  serious  and  devout  in  all  his  approaches  to,  a  Throne 
of  Grace.  And  I  always  found  him  ready  to  converse  on  religious  subjects, 
and  especially  on  matters  of  Christian  experience;  and  I  feel  bound  to  say 
that,  while  there  was  much  about  him  that  I  could  not  but  regret,  he  left 
upon  my  mind  a  strong  impression  that  he  was  a  truly  devout  and  godly  man. 

Yours  sincerely, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


JOSEPH  COOK.^ 

1776—1790. 

Joseph  Cook  was  born  of  pious  parents  in  the  city  of  Bath,  England, 
and  was  hopefully  converted,  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  under  the 
preaching  of  Whitefield,  at  the  Chapel  of  the  late  Countess  of  Hunting- 
don, in  his  native  city.  Whitefield's  attention  seems  to  have  been  particu- 
larly drawn  to  him  as  a  youth  of  much  promise,  and  he  sometimes  asked 
him  to  ride  with  him,  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  him  on  religious  subjects.  Lady  Huntingdon  also  became  specially 
interested  in  him  ;  and,  when  he  was  in  his  nineteenth  year,  she  sent  him 
to  her  College,  at  Trevecka,  in  Bi'ecknockshire,  in  South  Wales.  Here  he 
was  a  diligent  and  successTul  student  ;  and,  by  his  kind  and  gentle  spirit 
as  well  as  his  pious  and  exemplary  walk,  he  endeared  himself  greatly  to 
both  his  Tutors  and  fellow-students.  While  pursuing  his  studies,  he  occa- 
sionally went  forth  into  the  neighbouring  villages  to  exercise  his  gifts  in 
preaching  the  Grospel ;  and  his  labours  in  this  way  were  always  Inglily 
acceptable. 

In  September,  1771,  Lady  Huntingdon  received  an  anonymous  letter, 
requesting  her  to   send  a  minister  to  Margate,  in  the  Island  of  Thanet, 

*  Rippon's  Register. — Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.,  II. 


JOSEPH  COOK.  187 

which  was  represented  to  be  a  very  Jissolute  place.  She,  accordingly, 
selected  for  the  mission  Mr.  William  Aldridge,  one  of  her  senior  students, 
and  gave  him  liberty  to  associate  with  himself  any  other  student  whom  he 
might  think  best  suited  to  such  a  work.  He  fixed  upon  Mr.  Cook,  who 
readily  consented  to  accompany  him.  After  making  the  requisite  prepara- 
tion, they  proceeded  to  the  place  designated  as  their  field  of  labour  ;  and, 
as  they  were  entire  strangers,  they  commenced  preaching  in  the  open  air. 
Not  a  small  number  came  to  hear  them,  and  several  were  supposed  to  be  sav- 
ingly benefitted  ;  while  they  gradually  extended  their  labours  to  other 
places  on  the  Island. 

About  this  time,  many  persons  in  Dover,  having  become  dissatisfied  with 
Mr.  Wesley's  doctrine  and  ministers,  and  left  his  meeting,  applied  to  these 
two  young  itinerants  to  come  and  labour  among  them.  They  accepted  the 
invitation  ;  and  Aldridge  preached  there,  for  the  first  time,  on  Sabbath  day, 
in  the  market  place,  but  met  with  great  opposition.  The  persons  who  had 
invited  them,  then  procured  the  use  of  a  Presbyterian  house  of  worship, 
which,  for  some  time,  had  not  been  occupied  ;  and  there  the  two  continued 
to  preach  as  long  as  they  remained  in  Dover.  It  was  now  arranged  that 
they  should  supply  Margate  and  Dover,  preaching  alternately  in  both  places. 
Mr.  Cook's  first  sermon  at  Dover  awakened  great  interest,  not  merely  from 
its  earnest,  evangelical  tone,  but  from  its  being  delivered  extempore, — a 
mode  of  preaching  to  which  the  people  there  had  never  been  accustomed. 
The  two  continued  to  supply  for  some  time  at  Dover,  and  occasionally  also 
at  Deal  and  Falkstone  ,  and,  at  the  latter  place  particularly,  their  preach- 
ing was  attended  with  a  signal  blessing. 

Two  years  after,  Lady  Huntingdon,  having  been  informed  that  there 
were  many  favourable  openings  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  North 
America,  resolved  on  forming  a  mission  for  that  part  of  the  world;  and, 
with  this  view,  called  in  the  students  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  the 
College  of  Wales,  spread  the  case  before  them,  and  requested  that  they 
would  seek  the  Divine  guidance  in  respect  to  it,  and  that  as  many  as  thought 
it  their  duty  to  embark  in  the  enterprise,  would  signify  it.  Mr.  Cook  and 
several  others  off"ered  themselves  for  this  service,  and  shortly  after  went  to 
London,  and,  in  the  presence  of  many  thousands,  in  the  Tabernacle,  Tot- 
tenham Court  Road  Chapel,  and  elsewhere,  made  a  statement  of  their  views 
of  the  proposed  work,  which  was  printed.  After  taking  an  affecting  fare- 
well of  their  friends,  they  embarked  for  America  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  Percy;  but,  as  the  ship  was  detained  in  the  Downs  by  a  con- 
trary wind,  Mr.  Cook  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  pay  a  farewell 
visit  to  his  friends  at  Dover;  and,  the  next  Sabbath,  several  of  his  fellow- 
students  also,  who  were  coming  with  him  to  America,  went  thither  to  preach. 
A  sudden  and  favourable  change  of  the  wind  having  taken  place  at  night, 
the  ship  sailed,  and  they  were  all  left  behind.  Two  of  them  now  wholly 
gave  up  the  idea  of  coming  ;  but  Mr.  Cook,  with  the  rest,  resolved  to  per- 
severe, and  aciually  came  by  the  first  opportunity. 

On  their  arrival  in  this  country,  they  considered  themselves  authorized 
to  preach,  on  their  general  plan,  as  they  had  done  in  England  ;  and  hence 
they  travelled  about,  preaching  among  different  denominations,  as  they  found 
opportunity.     Though  they  seem  to  have  been  generally  regarded  as  belong- 


188  BAPTIST. 

ing  to  the  EpiscoiDal  ClmrcL,  and  were  themselves  apparently  not  unwilling 
to  keep  up  that  idea,  yet  it  soon  became  manifest  that  their  sympathies 
were  increasingly  with  the  Baptists  ;  and  it  came  out  at  length  that  they 
had  received  a  leaning  in  that  direction  from  the  influence  of  a  young  man 
who  had  embraced  those  views  in  Lady  Huntingdon's  Seminary,  Mr. 
Cook,  however,  seemed  less  disposed  than  the  rest  to  mingle  with  the  Bap. 
tists,  though  he  ultimately  became  a  Baptist,  while  they,  with  a  single 
exception,  joined  other  denominations. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  Mr.  Cook  was  married  to  Elizabeth 
Bullein,  of  Baptist  parents  then  deceased,  at  the  village  of  Dorchester 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Charleston,  Here,  probably  in  consequence  of 
this  connection,  he  determined  to  settle.  The  congregation  to  which  he 
preached  was  of  a  very  mixed  character — the  greater  part  of  them  were 
professedly  Episcopalians  ;  a  number  were  the  children  of  the  members 
of  a  Baptist  Church,  then  extinct,  which  had  once  flourished  under  the 
ministry  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Chanler;  and  the  rest  were  the  remnants  of  an 
Independent  congregation.  With  the  latter  Mr,  Cook  seems  to  have 
formed  his  closest  connection,  preaching,  ordinarily,  in  the  place  of  wor- 
ship they  had  been  accustomed  to  occupy. 

Though  the  Church  of  England,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution, 
was  the  Established  Church  in  South  Carolina,  some  of  the  other  denomi- 
natians  began  to  associate  with  the  idea  of  civil  independence  the  kindred 
idea  of  equal  religious  rights  ;  and  hence,  early  in  1776,  an  invitation  was 
given  to  ministers  and  churches  of  various  denominations, — originating,  it 
is  understood,  with  the  Baptists, — to  meet  at  the  High  Hills  of  Santee,  at 
the  seat  of  the  Baptist  Church  there,  to  consult  in  regard  to  their  general 
interests.  To  this  meeting  Mr,  Cook  came  ;  and,  the  business  being  con- 
cluded, he  remained  till  the  next  week.  As  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  to  be  celebrated  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  religious  services 
were  held,  according  to  the  usage  of  that  period,  on  ,  the  two  preceding 
days  ;  and  on  Saturday  Mr,  Cook  was  invited  to  preach.  Just  before  the 
service  was  to  commence,  he  took  aside  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart  of  Charleston, 
who  had  staid  to  assist  in  the  solemnity,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.) 
Furman,  then  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Santee,  and  very  young  in  the 
ministry,  and  acknowledged  to  them  that  he  had  for  some  time  had  increas- 
ing convictions  in  favour  of  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists,  but  had 
resisted  them  at  the  expense  of  his  own  peace  of  mind  ;  that  he  had  then 
recently  examined  the  whole  subject  with  great  care,  resolved  to  accept  and 
submit  to  whatever  might  appear  to  be  the  truth  and  the  will  of  God  ;  and 
that,  as  the  result  of  this  examination,  the  previous  tendencies  of  his  mind 
had  been  fully  confirmed.  -JHe  stated  that  the  address  of  Ananias  to  Paul, 
• — "  And  now,  why  tarriest  thou  ?  arise  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy 
sins,  calling  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  had  been  brought  home  to  his 
mind  with  great  power,  and  suggested  to  him  the  importance  of  being  bap- 
tized without  delay,  especially  as  a  favourable  opportunity  then  offered. 
"  I  have  only  to  add,  Gentlemen,"  continued  he,  "that  I  should  be  glad 
of  your  advice,  whether  to  embrace  the  ordinance  immediately,  or  defer  it 
to  be  administered  among  the  people  where  I  live  ;  and  if  I  submit  to  it 
immediately,    seeing   my   sentiments    and   intention    have   been    hitherto 


JOSEPH  COOK.  139 

unknown  to  tlie  puLlic,  whether  it  would  be  proper  to  make  Ananias' 
address  to  St.  Paul,  just  now  mentioned,  and  from  which  I  have  felt  so 
much  conviction,  the  subject  of  the  discourse  I  am  about  to  deliver,  and 
just  in  the  light  I  now  behold  it,  as  it  applies  to  myself.  This  I  confess 
is  the  dictate  of  my  own  mind;  but  I  would  not  wish  to  act  unadvisedly." 

Having  heard  his  statements,  the  ministers  were  both  of  opinion  that 
there  was  no  reason  why  the  ordinance  should  not  be  administered  to  him 
at  once,  and  that  it  was  highly  proper  that  he  should  preach  on  the  subject 
which  he  had  proposed.  He,  accordingly,  did  preach  upon  it ;  and,  the 
next  day,  after  having  satisfied  the  church  of  his  acquaintance  with  experi- 
mental religion,  he  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Furman,  the  Pastor.  They  then 
began  immediately  to  contemplate  his  ordination  ;  and,  within  a  few  days, 
he  was  actually  ordained  by  Mr.  Hart  and  Mr.  Furman. 

The  Church  in  Euhaw,  having  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
Francis  Pelot,  invited  Mr.  Cook  to  become  their  Pastor.  He  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  preached  there  without  interruption  for  some  time  ;  but,  in 
consequence  of  the  invasion  of  the  State,  the  imminent  danger  incident  to 
his  situation,  near  the  sea-coast,  and  the  distress  and  losses  to  which  he 
had  already  been  subjected,  he  removed  into  the  interior,  and  remained 
there  till  the  close  of  the  War.  He  did  not,  however,  find  a  place  of 
safety ;  for  he  suffered  severely  in  the  ravages  of  the  State  by  the  troops 
under  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  other  commanders  ;  so  that,  when  he  returned 
to  his  residence  at  Euhaw,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Peace,  he  was 
actually  reduced  to  poverty.  Previous  to  his  leaving  Euhaw,  he  had  lost 
his  first  wife,  and  married  a  second.  There  v/ere  some  circumstances 
attending  this  marriage,  which  gave  pain  to  his  friends,  and  which  subse- 
quently occasioned  him  much  regret. 

The  church  of  which  Mr.  Cook  was  Pastor  had  become  considerably 
reduced  before  he  took  charge  of  it  ;  and  when  he  returned  to  it,  after  the 
suspension  of  his  labours  occasioned  by  the  War,  it  had  become  almost 
extinct.  But,  on  resuming  his  ministry  there,  he  seems  to  have  been 
greatly  quickened,  and  proportionally  blessed  in  his  work.  The  Church 
gradually  increased  in  numbers,  spirituality,  and  influence  ;  and,  during 
the  last  five  years  of  his  life,  he  admitted,  by  Baptism,  seventy-eight  new 
members,  some  of  whom  were  persons  of  great  respectability. 

In  September,  1790,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Dr.  Kippon,  of  London, 
in  which,  after  giving  an  account  of  the  Baptist  Negro  Church  in  Savan- 
nah, he  writes  as  follows: — 

"  My  sphere  of  action  is  great,  having  two  congregations  to  regard,  at  a  considera- 
ble distance  from  each  other,  exclusive  of  this  where  I  reside;  as,  also,  friendly  visits 
to  pay  to  sister  Churches  and  Societies  of  other  denominations,  who  are  destitute  of 
ministers,  frequently  riding  under  a  scorching  sun,  with  a  fever,  twenty  miles  in  a 
morning,  and  then  preach  afterwards.  Our  brethren  in  England  have  scarcely  an 
idea  of  what  hardships  we  struggle  with,  who  travel  to  propagate  the  Gosi)el.  I  have; 
been  in  a  very  poor  state  of  health  for  two  months;  but  it  has  not  prevented  an  atten- 
tion to  the  duties  ofmy  station.  O,  what  a  blessing  is  health!  We  cannot  be  too 
thankful  for  it." 

But  Mr.  Cook  had   now  almost  reached   the   end   of  his  journey.     The 

feeble  state  of  health  to  which  he  refers,  as  having  been   of  two  months' 

standing,  had  commenced  with  a  dry  cough,  a  stricture  of  the   breast,  and 

great  lassitude,    immediately  after   preaching,  on  a  very  sultry  day,  to  a 


190  BAPTIST. 

congregation  about  twenty  miles  from  his  residence.  About  two  weeks 
before  his  death,  he  preached  his  last  sermon  from  Eph.  i.  6,  when  he 
was  so  feeble  that  serious  apprehensions  were  entertained  that  he  would 
not  be  able  to  go  through  the  service.  It  was  delivered  under  the  full 
impression  that  it  was  the  last  sermon  his  people  would  ever  hear  from 
him  ;  and  he  distinctly  stated  this,  and  concluded  a  very  pathetic  train  of 
remark  hy  bidding  them  a  solemn  and  affectionate  farewell.  On  the  Tues- 
day following,  his  symptoms  became  more  decidedly  alarming ;  and,  from 
this  time,  both  himself  and  his  friends  were  convinced  that  the  hour  of 
his  departure  was  near  at  hand.  He  evinced  great  tranquillity  of  spirit, 
during  his  remaining  days,  though  he  said  that  he  had  not  those  intense 
joys  which  he  had  sometimes  experienced.  He  died  on  the  next  Sabbath, 
September  26,  1790,  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age,  and  his  remains 
were  interred  the  same  evening,  immediately  after  the  administration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  when  a  very  tender  Address  was  delivered,  at  the  grave, 
to  a  deeply  affected  audience,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Holcombe.  The  Funeral 
Sermon  was  preached,  some  time  afterwards,  by  the  Hev.  Dr.  Furman  of 
Charleston,  from  II.  Timothy  i.  12; — a  text  which  Mr.  Cook  had  himself 
designated  for  the  occasion. 

Mr.  Cook  left  a  widow,  and  one  son  by  his  first  marriage, — then  about 
fifteen  years  of  age.  His  widow  survived  him  but  a  few  weeks,  being  cut 
off  by  a  short  and  severe  illness.  The  son,  Joseph  B.,  was  graduated  at 
Brown  University  in  1797,  became  a  Baptist  minister,  and  succeeded  Dr. 
Holcombe  in  the  same  church  of  which  his  father  had  been  Pastor.  Here 
he  continued  until  1804,  when  the  Euhaw  Church  was  divided,  and  the 
Beaufort  Church  was  formed  from  it,  with  the  pastoral  care  of  which  Mr. 
Cook  was  immediately  invested. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written   by  an   intimate  friend 

of  Mr.  Cook,  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rippon,  shortly  after  his  decease: — 

"  Mr.  Cook  was  of  a  middle  stature,  and  slender  make,  but  had  acquired  a  degree 
of  corpulency  a  few  years  before  his  death.  His  mental  powers  were  good,  and  had 
received  improvement  by  an  acquaintance  with  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  though 
his  education  had  not  been  completed.  His  conversation  was  free  and  engaging.  _As 
a  preacher,  he  was  zealous,  orthodox  and  experimental.  He  spoke  with  animation 
and  much  fervour,  though  his  talent  lay  so  much  in  the  persuasive,  that,  at  the  end 
of  his  sermon,  he  frequently  left  the  audience  in  tears.  He  was  taken  from  his  labours 
at  a  time  when  his  character  had  arisen  to  considerable  eminence,  and  a  spacious  field 
of  usefulness  was  opening  all  around  him,  and  at  a  time  when  he  was  greatly  endeared 
to  his  people." 


BENJAMIN  FOSTER.  191 


BENJAMIN  FOSTER,  D.  D  ^ 

1776—1798. 

Benjamin  Foster  was  born  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  on  the  12th  of  June, 
1750.  His  parents  were  respectable  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  From  early  childhood,  he  exhibited  a  remarkably  tender  and 
conscientious  spirit,  though  it  was  not  till  he  had  nearly  reached  man- 
hood, that  he  gained  evidence,  satisfactory  to  himself,  of  his  having  been 
renewed  in  the  temper  of  his  mind.  While  a  mere  youth,  his  temptations 
to  utter  blasphemous  expressions  were  sometimes  so  strong,  as  he  related  to 
some  Christian  friends,  that  he  actually  held  his  lips  with  his  hand  to  keep 
himself  from  falling  into  so  terrible  a  sin. 

He  spent  his  early  years  at  the  public  school  in  his  native  town  ;  and,  at 
the  age  of  about  twenty,  became  a  member  of  Yale  College.  Here  he 
distinguished  himself  no  less  by  his  exemplary  life,  than  by  his  diligence 
and  success  in  the  various  branches  of  study.  He  took  his  first  degree  in 
the  year  1774.  Shortly  before  this,  several  tracts  relative  to  the  Proper 
Subjects  of  Baptism,  and  also  to  the  Scriptural  Mode  of  administering  the 
ordinance,  having  made  their  appearance,  and  excited  considerable  atten- 
tion, this  was  selected  as  a  subject  for  discussion  at  one  of  the  exercises 
in  the  College.  Mr.  Foster  was  appointed  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  the 
Pedobaptists ;  and,  in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  the  discussion,  he  went 
into  an  extended  and  thorough  examination  of  the  whole  subject.  The 
result'disappointed  both  himself  and  others ;  for,  when  the  day  for  discus- 
sion arrived,  he  avowed  himself  a  decided  convert  to  the  doctrine  that 
those  only  who  profess  faith  in  Christ  are  legitimate  subjects  for  Baptism, 
and  that  immersion  is  the  only  valid  mode  of  administering  the  ordinance. 
In  short,  he  had  become  a  thorough  Baptist,  and  so  he  continued  till  the 
close  of  his  life. 

Shortly  after  his  graduation,  he  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in  Boston, 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman,  who  also  directed  his  studies  in 
Theology.  On  the  23d  of  October,  1776,  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Leicester,  Mass.,  then  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Glreen.t  During  his  residence  here,  he  published  a  tract,  entitled 
"The  Washing  of  Regeneration,  or  the  Divine  Right  of  Immersion,"  in 
answer  to  a  Treatise  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Fish. 
And,  soon  after,  he  published  another  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Primitive  Bap- 
tism defined  in  a  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Cleveland."  Both  these 
publications  were  marked  by  a  vigorous  intellect  and  a  Christian  spirit. 
He  continued  at  Leicester  until  1782,  when  he  was  induced  to  ask  a  dis- 

*  Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.,  I.— Mass.  Bapt.  Miss.  Mag.,  III.— Worcester  Hist.  Mag.  II.  _ 
t  Thomas  Green  was  a  native  of  Maiden,  Mass.,  and  was  an  early  settler  of  the  plantation, 
called  by  the  natives  Toxrtaid,  and  by  the  English  Strawberry-bank,  now  Leicester.  His  first 
dwelling  was  formed  nnder  a  shelving  rook,  which  stretched,  a  natural  roof,  over  his  cabin.  By 
communicating  ^yith  the  Indians,  he  acquired  their  knowledge  of  roots  and  herbs;  and  this, 
together  with  the  science  he  derived  from  a  few  books,  and  the  action  of  a  vigorous  mind,  made 
him  a  skilful  physician.  He  became  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Leicester,  on  its  first 
formation,  and  continued,  highly  respected  and  eminently  useful,  in  this  relation,  until  his 
death,  which  took  place,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1778,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 


192  BAPTIST. 

mission  from  his  people,  for  want  of  an  adequate  support ;  after  which,  he 
preached  about  two  years  in  his  native  place.  In  January,  1785,  he  com- 
menced preaching  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  and,  on 
the  5th  of  June  following,  was  installed  as  their  Pastor.  Here  he  had  the 
satisfaction  to  find  that  his  sphere  of  usefulness  was  much  enlarged,  and 
his  means  of  improvement  greatly  increased. 

In  the  year  1788,  he  paid  a  visit  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  Ijy  their  request ;  and,  after  preaching  to  them  a  short  time, 
received  a  unanimous  call  to  become  their  Pastor.  On  his  return  to 
Newport,  he  laid  the  matter  before  his  church,  and,  while  they  were 
desirous  of  retaining  him.  and  expressed  a  high  appreciation  of  his  services, 
they  were  unwilling  to  oppose  any  obstacle  to  his  leaving  them,  if  he 
thought  the  proposed  change  would  be  the  means  of  extending  his  useful- 
ness. Accordingly,  he  accepted  the  call,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year, 
removed  to  New  York,  and  took  charge  of  that  church,  and  remained  in 
connection  with  it  as  long  as  he  lived. 

In  1792,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  College 
of  Rhode  Island.  He  is  said  to  have  had  this  honour  conferred  upon  him, 
in  consideration  of  the  talent  and  learning  which  he  had  evinced  in  a  work 
entitled  "A  Dissertation  on  the  Seventy  Weeks  of  Daniel;  the  particular 
and  exact  fulfilment  of  which  Prophecy  is  considered  and  proved,"  This 
work  was  published  in  1787,  during  his  residence  at  Newport. 

Dr.  Foster,  from  the  commencement  of  his  career  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  was  distinguished  for  diligence  and  zeal  in  his  work.  Nor  did 
these  qualities  decline  as  he  advanced  in  life  ;  for,  during  his  last  twelve  or 
fourteen  years,  he  was  accustomed  to  preach  from  four  to  six  sernltons  a 
week.  But  the  Yellow  Fever,  which  accomplished  such  a  woi'k  of  desola- 
tion in  NcAV  York,  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1798,  put  an  end  to  his 
ministry  and  his  life.  The  fearful  malady  had  made  its  appearance,  and 
several  of  his  friends  had  been  numbered  among  its  victims.  He  was 
frequent  and  faithful  in  his  visits  to  them,  and,  while  almost  all  around 
him  were  panic-struck,  he.  feai*ed  no  danger,  as  long  as  he  met  it  in  the 
path  of  duty.  The  disease,  however,  at  length,  attacked  him  with  great 
virulence,  and,  after  sufi"ering  a  few  days,  he  expired  on  the  26th  of 
August,  1798,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Foster  was  twice  married,  and,  in  each  case,  was  blessed  with  a 
pious  and  excellent  companion.  His  first  wife,  who  was  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Green,  of  Leicester,  died,  August  19,  1793;  and  his 
second,  who  was  Martha,  daughter  of  James  Bingham,  of  New  York, 
died  July  27,  1798, — one  day  less  than  a  month  previous  to  his  own  death. 

Dr.  Benedict,  in  his  History  of  the  Baptists,  says, — 

"  Dr.  Foster,  as  a  Scholar,  particularly  in  the  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Chaldean 
languages,  has  left  few  superiors.  As  a  Divine,  ho  was  strictly  Calvinistic.  and  full  on 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  free  grace.  As  a  Preacher,  he  was  indefatigable.  In 
l)rivate  life,  he  was  innocent  as  a  child,  and  harmless  as  a  dove,  fulfilling  all  the  duties 
of  life  witli  the  greatest  punctuality.  Tiie  following  inscription  on  a  handsome  marble 
over  his  grave,  in  the  Baptist  buryiug-ground  in  New  York,  written  by  an  eminent 
Presbyterian  clergyman  of  that  city,  is  an  encomium  justly  due  to  his  memory: — "As 
a  Scholar  and  Divine,  he  excelled;  as  a  Preacher,  he  was  eminent;  as  a  Christian,  he 
shone  conspicuously;  in  his  Piety  ho  was  fervent;  the  Church  was  comforted  by  his 
life,  and  it  now  laments  his  death." 


CALEB  BLOOD.  ]^93 

CALEB  BLOOD  * 

177G— 1S14. 

Caleb  Blood  was  born  in  Charlton,  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  on  the 
18th  of  August,  1754.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  became  hopefully 
pious,  having,  as  it  is  said,  received  his  first  serious  impressions  amidst  the 
gaieties  of  the  ball-room.  Shortly  after  this,  becoming  deeply  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  wants  of  the  world,  he  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  the  ministry ;  and,  in  about  eighteen  months  from  the 
time  of  his  hopeful  conversion,  he  commenced  preaching, — having  been 
licensed,  as  is  believed,  by  the  Church  at  Charlton,  then  under  the  pas- 
toral care  of  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Green. 

Mr.  Blood,  after  preaching  in  a  number  of  places,  visited  Marlow,-N. 
H.,  in  the  autumn  of  1777,  where  he  received  ordination,  probably  as  an 
Evangelist.  He  remained  here  about  two  years,  and  then  removed  to 
Weston,  Mass.,  and  supplied  a  Baptist  Church  in  that  place  a  year  and  a 
half.  At  this  time,  there  was  an  extensive  revival  of  religion  in  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Newton,  and  a  considerable  number  of  its  subjects 
were  baptized  by  immersion.  In  the  summer  of  1780,  a  Baptist  church 
was  constituted  there,  which,  in  the  space  of  fourteen  months,  increased 
to  seventy  members.  Of  this  infant  church  Mr.  Blood  became  the 
Pastor  in  1781  ;  and  here  he  continued  labouring  with  great  fidelity  for 
more  than  seven  years. 

In  January,  1788,  notwithstanding  the  strong  attachment  that  existed 
between  him  and  his  church  at  Newton,  he  felt  constrained  to  yield  to  the 
request  of  several  brethren  from  Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  to  take  charge  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  that  town.  He,  accordingly,  removed  thither,  and  was 
eminently  useful,  not  only  in  the  place  in  which  he  lived,  but  in  the  whole 
.surrounding  country.  Several  revivals  of  religion  took  place  under  his 
ministry ;  and  one  especially  of  great  power,  in  the  winter  of  1798-99, 
which  resulted  in  the  addition  of  about  a  hundred  and  seventy-five  to  his 
church,  among  whom  were  several  of  his  own  children.  The  church,  when 
he  took  charge  of  it,  consisted  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  members — 
when  he  left  it,  of  three  hundred  and  fifty-five. 

When  the  University  of  Vermont  was  established,  in  1791,  Mr  Blood 
was  appointed  one  of  the  Trustees,  and  he  held  the  office  as  long  as  he 
remained  in  the  State.  In  1792,  by  appointment  of  the  Legislature,  he 
preached  the  Annual  Election  Sermon. 

Besides  a  great  amount  of  labour,  which  Mr.  Blood  volunteered  to  per- 
form, in  the  destitute  region  in  which  he  lived,  in  the  autumn  of  1804  he 
performed  a  missionary  tour  of  three  months,  under  an  appointment  of  the 
Shaftsbury  Association,  into  the  Northwesterly  parts  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  the  adjacent  Province  of  Upper  Canada.  His  labours  are 
said  to  have  been  highly  useful,  in  many  places,  in  "  setting  in  order  the 
things  that  were  wanting,"  and  in  "  strengthening  others  that  were  ready 
to  die." 

•Mass.  Miss.  Mag.,  1814. — Benedicfs  Hist.  Bapt.,  I. — Maine  Bapt. — Hist.  Shaftsb.  Assoc. 
Vol.  VI.  25 


194  BAPTIST. 

During  his  connection  with  the  Shaffcsbury  Association,  he  was  regarded 
as  one  of  its  most  able  and  influential  members.  He  wrote  the  Circular 
Letter  of  the  Association  in  1789,  and  in  1796  ;  the  former  of  which  was 
considered  by  his  brethren  as  exhibiting  a  very  clear  and  comprehensive 
view  of  the  great  principles  of  Church  Government.  He  had  also  an 
important  agency  in  framing  the  Constitution  or  Plan  of  the  Association, 
both  in  1789  and  1806.  In  the  early  discussion  of  the  subject  of  Free- 
masonry in  this  Body,  he  took  a  very  decided  stand  against  the  institution, 
in  which  he  found  vigorous  coadjutors  in  Messrs.  Barber,*  Webb,t  and 
others  of  his  brethren  of  the  Association. 

In  2\.pril,  1807,  after  having  spent  nearly  twenty  of  the  best  years  of 
his  life  iu  Vermont,  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge,  and  accepted  a  call 
to  the  Third  Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  Here  he  laboured  v/ith  good 
acceptance  for  nearly  three  years — from  September,  1807  till  June,  1810. 
During  this  period,  he  experienced  some  vei-y  severe  afflictions.  A  blow 
which  he  accidentally  received  in  the  face,  so  affected  his  whole  system 
that,  though  the  wound  seemed  trifling,  it  often  occasioned  him  great  pain; 
and,  at  one  time,  in  consequence  of  taking  cold  in  the  part  affected,  a 
fever  ensU'ed,  which  had  well-nigh  proved  fatal.  This,  with  some  other 
trials,  served  greatly  to  depress  his  spirits. 

After  resigning  his  cliarge  in  Boston  in  1810,  he  accepted  a  call  from 
the  First  Church  and  Society  in  Portland,  Me.,  where  he  continued  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  Though  he  had  now  begun  to  feel  the  infirmities 
of  age,  he  laboured  in  this  new  field  witli  much  acceptance,  and  not  with- 
out a  good   degree  of  success.      His   labours  had   never  been   more   highly 

*  Edwaud  Barbeh  was  born  in  Exeter,  R.  I.,  on  the  23d  of  September,  1768.  lie  maile  a 
profession  of  religion  at  the  age  of  eigliteon,  and  soon  began  to  '•  improve  his  gift ''  in  public 
speaking.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  (church  in  iScrlin,  N.  Y.,  under  the  care  of  the 
Kev.  Justus  lIuUj  and  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  ths  Bottskill  Baptist  Church,  at  Union  Vil- 
lage, in  the  same  State,  on  the  26th  of  September,  1704, — the  sermon  on  tiie  occasion  being 
preached  by  the  ilev.  Caleb  Blood.  Previous  to  his  settlement,  the  church  had  been  greatly 
distracted,  by  reason  of  the  unworthy  conduct,  and  consequent  exclusion  from  the  ministry,  of 
his  predecessor;  but  it  revived  at  once  under  his  ministrations,  and  one  hundred  were  added  to 
it  during  the  first  six  years  of  his  Pastorate.  His  ministry  continued  forty  years,  and  was  an 
eminently  prosperous  one,  as  was  indicated  by  the  fact  that  his  church,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
numbered  upwards  of  five  hundred  members.  He  died  of  apoplexy,  at  his  residence  in  Green- 
wicli,  on  the  1st  of  July,  1834,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  distinguished  as  a 
Preacher,  a  Pastor,  and  a  Counsellor. 

Justus  Hull,  above  mentioned,  was  born  in  Reading,  Conn.,  July  2!),  1755,  but,  when  quite 
young,  removed  with  his  parents  into  the  region  which,  in  after  life,  was  to  be  the  field  of  his 
ministerial  labours.  His  mind  was  directed  to  the  subject  of  religion  as  early  as  177;i  or  1774; 
but  it  is  supposed  that  he  did  not  make  a  public  ])rofession  until  1778,  and  that  he  commenced 
preaching  the  same  year.  He  rendered  some  service  in  the  army,  at  the  taking  of  Burgoyne, 
in  1777;  and  the  tradition  is  that,  but  for  his  having  commenced  preaching  the  next  year,  he 
would  have  had  the  command  of  a  brigade  of  militia.  For  several  years,  he  preached  as  an 
itinerant,  travelling,  not  only  in  New  England,  but  as  far  South  as  Virginia.  He  was  ordained 
Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Berlin,  or  Little  Hoosick,  on  the  2.'^d  of  February,  1785.  After  a 
faithful  and  fruitful  ministry,  oT  more  than  fifty-rive  years,  he  died  on  the  29th  of  May,  1833, 
in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He  had  enjoyed  but  small  advantages  for  education,  but 
had  naturally  a  strong  mind,  and  was  a  devout  and  earnest  Christian. 

f  Isaac  Webb  commenced  his  ministerial  career  at  Brandon,  Vt.,  where  he  was  ordained  on 
the  24th  of  September,  1789.  In  1793,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  I'irst  Baptist  Church  in 
Pittstown,  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.  Here  he  remained  till  1802,  though  his  Pastorate  seems 
to  have  continued'  only  till  1799.  From  1803  to  1811,  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Troy; 
and  from  1812  to  18!('),  of  the  Church  in  Albany.  In  1817,  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Hoosick.  Though  he  was  engaged  during  a  great  part  of  his  life  in  mercantile  pursuits,  he  con- 
tinued to  preach  occasionally  till  he  was  disabled  by  the  infirmitiiisof  age.  He  died  at  Lansing- 
lourgh,  N.  Y.,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1842.  He  was  a  very  active  and  useful  member  of  the 
Shaftsbury  Association. 


CALEB   BLOOD.  295 

appreciated  by  his  people,  than  wlieii  they  were  forced  to  tlie  conviction 
that  they  must  soon  be  deprived  of  them. 

For  nearly  two  months  before  his  death,  Mr.  Blood  was  unable  to  walk 
to  the  meeting-house,  though  it  was  but  a  very  short  distance  from  his 
dwelling.  But  his  zeal  for  the  honour  of  his  Master  and  the  salvation  of 
his  people  suiFered  no  abatement  ;  and  he  not  only  continued  to  preach, 
but  his  preaching  grew  in  earnestness  and  interest  ^ith  his  bodily  infirmi- 
ties and  sufi'erings.  On  the  19th  of  February,  1814,  he  was  attacked 
more  violently,  and  from  that  time  he  continued  to  sink  until  the  6th  of 
March,  when  he  peacefully  finished  his  course.  During  his  last  days,  his 
mind  was  completely  absorbed  in  spiritual  contemplations,  and  he  seemed 
to  forget  every  thing  in  the  one  great  desire  that  ministers  might  be  faith- 
ful, souls  saved,  and  his  Master  glorified.  His  Funeral  was  attended  by  a 
large  concourse  of  people,  of  all  denominations,  and  an  appropriate  and 
impressive  Sermon,  from  Job  v,  17,  was  delivered  on  the  occasion,  by 
the  Kev.  Sylvanus  Boardman,  of  North  Yarmouth. 

Mr.  Blood  left  behind  him  a  widow  and  two  children. 

Mr.  Blood  published  Historical  Facts,  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  Youth. 
Reprinted,  1822. 

FROM  THE  HON.  HEMAN  LINCOLN. 

Boston,  June  21,  1858. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  have  endeavoured  to 
revive  some  of  my  impressions  of  the  person  and  character  of  the  Rev.  Caleb 
Blood,  regretting  only  that,  owing  to  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  unfaithfulness 
of  my  memory,  they  are  not  as  full  and  particular  as  I  could  wish. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Blood  commenced  in  1807,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
settlement  in  Boston  as  Pastor  of  the  Charles  Street  Baptist  Church,  then 
lately  constituted.  He  was  its  first  Pastor.  I  remember  him  as  a  man  of 
grave  and  dignified  demeanour,  well  becoming  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  but  never  degenerating  into  an  unpleasant  stiffness  of  manners. 

In  the  pulpit  he  was  direct,  plain  and  forcible.  His  conceptions  of  truth 
were  distinct,  earnestly  held,  and  earnestly  put  forth.  He  was  ever  accus- 
tomed to  give  special  prominence  to  the  great  doctrine  of  Salvation  by  Grace — 
"  Christ  and  Him  crucified  "  was  the  theme  on  which  he  delighted  to  dwell. 
He  was  eminently  a  Biblical  preacher.  Naturall}^  of  strong  intellectual  pow- 
ers, he  had  devoted  them  to  the  acquisition  of  Bible  truth.  The  Bible  had 
been  the  study  of  his  life.  He  was  in  truth  an  able  expositor,  to  whom  might 
worthily  be  applied  that  high  commendation, — "  Mighty  in  the  Scriptures." 
His  expositions  were  a  rich  spiritual  repast. 

In  doctrine  he  was  decidedly  and  strongly  Calvinistic — indeed  he  was 
inclined  to  favour  some  of  the  distinctive  views  of  the  celebrated  Baptist 
divine.  Dr.  Gill.  He  was  still  ready,  however,  to  assert  his  independence, 
if  occasion  called  for  it,  pleasantly  apostrophizing, — "  Well,  Father  Gill,  I 
am  glad  I  am  not  obliged  to  believe  with  you  in  every  thing." 

As  a  Pastor,  he  was  both  affectionate  and  faithful,  and  was  revered  and 
loved  by  all  who  consorted  with  him,  but  especiall}^  by  his  more  spiritual 
church-members.  He  was  always  seeking  to  maintain  proper  discipline  in  the- 
church.  He  was  decidedly  averse  to  disorder  and  noisy  excitement.  He 
■would  sometimes  revert  pleasantly  to  an  incident  that  occurred  in  the  earlier 
part  of  his  ministry.  Attending  a  meeting  marked  with  excitement  and  zeal, 
but,  as   he  thought,  "  not  according   to  knowledge,"   a  good  woman,  at  the- 


196  BAPTIST. 

close,  came  to  him,  with  uplifted  hands,  exclaiming, — «<  0,  Mr.  Blood,  did  you 
ever  see  such  a  meeting  before?"  "  No,"  he  promptly  replied,  "  and  I  hope  I 
never  shall  again."  In  common  personal  intercourse  he  had  the  tact  to  make 
himself  both  agreeable  and  instructive.  Although  favoured  with  but  very 
limited  advantages  of  education  in  early  life,  yet,  from  long  and  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  men  and  things,  he  had  treasured  up  much  and  varied  informa- 
tion, which  he  was  not  backward  to  communicate  to  others. 

He  died  not  far  from  the  age  of  sixty,  having  accomplished  much  in  the 
Master's  service,  and,  as  I  doubt  not,  had  many  souls  given  to  him  as  the 
fruit  of  his  toils. 

The  foregoing  is  a  very  brief  and  imperfect  sketch   of  some  of  the  marked 
features  in  the  character  of  a  good  minister  of  former  times. 
I  am,  Reverend  and  dear  Sir, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

HEMAN  LINCOLN. 


JOHN  PITMAN.* 

1777—1822. 

John  Pitman,  the  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Blower)  Pitman,  was 
born  in  Boston,  April  26,  1751.  When  he  was  about  thirteen  years  of 
ago,  his  father  removed  to  Beaufort,  S.  C,  where  he  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  and  for  nearly  a  year  had  this  son  for  a  clerk.  His 
parents  had  taught  him  to  reverence  the  Bible,  and  attend  church  on  the 
Sabbath ;  though  it  does  not  appear  that  any  very  decisive  religious 
impressions  were  made  upon  his  mind  at  that  period.  While  he  was  in 
Carolina,  he  was,  on  some  occasion,  exposed  to  imminent  danger,  and  was 
the  subject  of  a  remarkable  deliverance ;  and,  though  his  conscience  was 
at  that  time  somewhat  awakened,  he  quickly  relapsed  into  his  accustomed 
lethargy. 

In  1765,  he  returned  to  Boston,  and,  his  mother  being  now  a  widow, 
with  several  young  children,  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  business  of  a 
rope-maker.  Here  he  cast  off  all  the  restraints  of  his  early  education, 
became  dissolute  and  profane,  and  was  even  marked  for  his  rapid  progress 
in  vice,  during  a  period  of  about  four  years.  Sometime  in  the  year  1769, 
he  was  brought  to  serious  reflection,  and  resolved  to  change  his  course  and 
turn  to  the  Lord.  But,  not  being  enlightened  in  regard  to  the  gracious 
provisions  of  the  Grospel,  he  set  himself  upon  a  course  of  self-righteous 
effort,  by  means  of  which  lie  hoped  to  merit  the  Divine  favour.  He  prayed 
three  times  a  day,  strictly  observed  the  Sabbath,  and  fasted  from  Saturday 
till  Sunday  night ;  but,  amidst  all  his  pharisaical  observances,  his  pride 
kept  him  from  revealing  the  state  of  his  mind  to  any  individual.  Some- 
times he  would  yield  to  the  temptation  to  sinful  indulgence,  and  then 
would  think  to  atone  for  it  by  increasing  his  measure  of  self-denial ;  but 
he  at  length  became  convinced  that  he  had  found  no  true  peace  to  his  con- 
science.    Under   these  circumstances,  he  addi'essed   a  letter   to  Dr.  Still- 

•Amer.  Bapt.  Mag,  1822. — MS.  from  Hon.  John  Pitman. 


JOHN  PITMAN. 


197 


man,  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  informing  him  of 

the  state  of  his  mind,  and   requesting  from  him   appropriate   counsel  and 

instruction — to  which  the  Doctor  returned  the  following  answer : — 

"  I  have  just  received  joiirs  and  read  it.  I  liave  not  the  pleasure  of  being 
acquainted  with  you,  but  shall  be  glad  if  it  will  suit  you  to  come  to  ray  house  to-mor- 
row after  tlie  afternoon  service,  when  I  shall  be  ready  to  converse  with  you  upon  those 
things  which  are  of  infinite  importance.  Believe  me  to  be  your  real  friend  and  soul's 
well  wisher,  "Samuel  Stillman." 

He,  accordingly,  visited  Dr.  Stillman  the  next  day,  and  opened  to  him 
the  secret  history  of  his  mind  during  a  period  of  nearly  two  years,  and 
was  much  assisted  and  relieved  by  the  Doctor's  evangelical  instructions. 
He  continued  to  visit  him  frequently,  and,  after  about  two  months,  expe- 
rienced a  delightful  change  in  his  feelings,  which  he  was  encouraged  to 
believe  marked  the  transition  from  an  unregenerate  to  a  regenerate  state. 
Having  informed  Dr.  S.  that  his  views  of  the  subject  of  Baptism  were  in 
harmony  with  his  own,  he  soon  after  appeared  before  the  church,  and  gave 
a  relation  of  his  Christian  experience,  which  they  approved.  On  the  24th 
of  February,  1771,  he  was  baptized,  and  on  the  7th  of  March  following 
was  received  as  a  member  of  the  church.  Subsequently  to  this,  he  was 
the  subject  of  sore  temptation,  and  Avas  greatly  oppressed  with  spiritual 
gloom  ;  but  meditation  upon  the  sufferings  of  Christ  melted  him  into  a 
state  of  godly  sorrow,  which  was  followed  by  the  return  of  peace  and  joy. 
It  was  a  considerable  time  before  his  mind  settled  into  a  state  of  uniform 
tranquillity. 

Mr.  Pitman's  hopeful  conversion  took  place  but  a  short  time  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Though  he  gave  the  most 
satisfactory  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  his  Christian  hope,  he  felt  it 
his  duty,  afterwards,  as  he  had  done  before,  to  maintain  and  defend  the 
rights  of  his  country.  When  the  British  soldiers  fired  on  the  citizens  of 
Boston,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1770,  he  was  not  far  from  one  of  the  persons 
who  was  shot,  and  was  one  of  those  who  mounted  guard  on  that  memorable 
night.  He  remained  in  Boston  till  the  passage  of  the  "  Boston  Port  Bill," 
1774,  which,  occasioning  a  general  suspension  of  business,  led  to  his 
removal  to  Philadelphia.  In  1776,  he  joined  a  volunteer  company,  con- 
sisting principally  of  Quakers  belonging  to  Philadelphia,  commanded  by 
Captain  Joseph  Copperthwait,  which  formed  a  part  of  the  first  battalion 
of  Pennsylvania  Militia,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Dickinson.  They 
marched  for  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  on  the  10th  of  July,  and  arrived  on 
the  18th;  and,  the  next  day,  at  Elizabethtown  Point,  relieved  the  Jersey 
Militia,  the  enemy  being  in  sight  on  Staten  Island.  During  this  tour, 
and  on  other  occasions,  he  evinced  great  natural  as  well  as  Christian 
firmness,  and  showed  that  his  patriotism  was  tempered  and  directed  by  his 
piety. 

From  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Philadelphia  until  1777, — about  three 
years — Mr.  Pitman  was  engaged  in  his  secular  business.  The  precise  time 
when  he  began  to  preach  is  not  known ;  but  it  is  known  that  he  preached 
at  different  places  in  New  Jersey  as  early  as  April,  1777.  The  presump- 
tion is  that,  after  he  left  Dr.  Stillman's  church,  he  united  with  some 
church  in  Philadelphia,  by  which  he  was  approved  as  a  preacher  of  the 
Grospel. 


298  BAPTIST. 

On  tlie  12tli  of  October,  1777,  lie  received  a  call  from  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Upper  Freehold,  N.  J.,  which  he  accepted.  On  the  21st  of 
September,  1778,  he  was  married  to  llebecca,  daughter  of  Richard  Cox, 
of  that  place.  He  continued  to  preach  to  this  church  till  April  10,  1780, 
when  he  removed  near  to  Allentown,  N.  J.  From  this  time  he  preached 
occasionally  in  the  towns  of  Craubury,  Jacobstown,  Hopewell,  Peuepek, 
Upper  Freehold,  and  Bordentown,  until  the  next  spring,  when  he  returned 
to  Philadelphia.  His  labours  in  these  several  places  are  said  to  have  been 
highly  acceptable  to  the  people,  and  apparently  attended  with  the  Divine 
blessing. 

On  his  removal  to  Philadelphia,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1781,  he  found  it 
necessar}',  for  the  support  of  his  family,  to  return  to  his  former  business. 
The  First  Baptist  Church  was,  about  this  time,  not  a  little  distracted,  in 
consequence  of  the  avowal  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Winchester,  its  Pastor,  and  the  exclusion  from  church  fellowship 
of  all  who  had  embraced  his  views.  After  Mr.  W.'s  removal,  Mr.  Pitman 
acted  as  Pastor  to  this  church  from  September  till  January  followiiig, 
(1782.)  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ustick,  from  New  England,  succeeded  to  the 
Pastorate. '  Mr.  P.  remained  in  Philailelphia,  at  this  time,  for  about  three 
years,  and,  in  connection  with  his  secular  business,  exercised  his  ministry, 
as  he  found  occasion  or  opportunity,  in  Philadelphia  and  its  vicinity,  and 
sometimes  also  among  his  friends  in  New  Jersey. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1784,  he  left  Philadelphia,  and  arrived  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  on  the  28th.  From  the  church  then  called  Penepek,  he  was 
dismissed  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Providence,  and  joined  it  in  July  fol- 
lowing. Here  he  was  received  with  much  favour  ;  and,  though  he  was 
engaged  with  his  brother  in  different  kinds  of  secular  business,  he  preached 
occasionally,  and  devoted  no  small  part  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  Theol- 
ogy. In  September,  1785,  he  was  appointed  Steward  of  the  College  of 
Rhode  Island,  and  held  the  place  one  year,  during  the  greater  part  of 
which  he  supplied  the  Congregational  Church  in  Attleborough,  Mass.  In 
October,  1786,  he  was  invited  by  the  Baptist  Church  in  Warren,  R.  I.,  to 
become  their  Pastor  ;  and,  after  resigning  his  office  in  the  College,  he 
removed  thither,  and  commenced  his  labours  among  them.  Here  he  con- 
tinued till  July,  1790,  when  he  returned  to  Providence,  and  re-united  with 
the  Baptist  Church  there.  His  preaching  in  Warren  was  greatly  blessed, 
and  the  utmost  harmony  subsisted  between  him  and  the  church.  During 
his  residence  there,  he  received  a  call  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Salem, 
Pa.,  to  settle  among  them, — which,  however,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to 
decline.  He  continued  to  supply  the  Warren  pulpit  frequently,  after  his 
removal  to  Providence,  until  the  20th  of  March,  1791,  when  he  accepted  a 
call  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Pawtuxet,  R.  I. 

In  the  year  1792,  Mr.  Pitman  suffered  severe  affliction.  His  wife,  after 
a  short  but  severe  illness,  died  early  in  the  month  of  Februar}'.  Her 
infant  daughter  had  died  a  few  days  previous  ;  and  a  servant  girl  in  his 
family,  about  the  same  time,  having  gone  into  the  cellar  for  some  water, 
fell  into  the  well,  and  was  drowned.  Their  corpses  were  carried  to  the 
Baptist  meeting-house,  where,  after  an  appropriate  sermon  by  Dr.  Maxoy, 
from  Romans  xiii.  11,  they  were  interred   in  one  grave.     Though  he  felt 


JOHN   PITMAN.  199 

the  stroke  most  deeply,  he  behaved  uniler  it  with  the  most  exemphary 
Christian  fortitude.  Owing  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  family, 
he  thought  it  his  duty  to  form  another  matrimonial  connection  at  an  early 
day ;  and,  accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  September  following,  he  was  married 
to  Mrs.  Susannah  Greene,  of  Providence. 

Mr.  Pitman  continued  to  reside  at  Providence, — preaching  regularly  on 
the  Sabbath  at  Pawtuxet,  until  the  30th  of  April,  1797,  when  he  com- 
menced preaching  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  (First  Pre- 
cinct.) Here  he  continued  his  labours,  with  a  slight  interruption,  till  the 
close  of  his  life.  The  church  gradually  increased  under  his  ministry;  and, 
in  the  year  1820,  thirty-seven  were  added  as  the  fruit  of  a  revival. 

In  April,  1815,  Mr.  Pitman,  in  consequence  of  embarrassment  in  his 
worldly  circumstances,  and  the  inability  of  the  people  to  whom  he  minis- 
tered to  provide  for  his  support,  removed  to  Salem,  Mass.,  and  thence  suc- 
cessively to  Maiden  and  Medford.  In  each  of  the  two  latter  places  he 
undertook  to  resume  his  former  secular  business,  but  without  much  success. 
In  consequence  of  some  favourable  change  in  his  former  concerns,  he 
removed  back  to  Eehoboth,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1816,  and  again  officiated  as 
Pastor  of  that  Church. 

From  this  period  he  laboured  on,  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  accustomed 
health,  and  with  great  zeal  and  fidelity,  till  near  the  close  of  life.  On  the 
Sabbath  immediately  preceding  his  death,  he  preached  with  so  much  fer- 
vour and  impressiveness  that  one  of  his  audience  expressed  the  opinion 
that  it  was  well  worthy  to  be  his  last  effort  in  the  pulpit.  On  the  evening 
of  the  22d  of  July,  1822,  he  was  attacked  with  apoplexy,  of  which  he  died 
two  days  after,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age.  A  few  minutes  after 
he  was  taken,  he  remarked, — "  I  shall  die  and  not  live  ;  "  and,  immediately 
after,  sunk  into  a  lethargy  from  which  he  never  awoke.  An  appropriate 
Discourse  was  delivered  at  his  Funeral  by  the  Rev.  William  Ptogers,  D.  D., 
of  Philadelphia,  from  II.  Cor.  v.  1. 

Mr.  Pitman  had  six  children, — one  son  and  five  daughters, — all  by  the 
first  marriage.  The  son,  the  Hon.  John  Pitman,  of  Providence,  has  long 
been  distinguished  in  civil  life,  being  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
United  States  for  the  District  of  Pthode  Island.  The  second  Mrs.  Pitman 
survived  her  husband  several  years. 

Judge  Pitman,  in  reply  to  certain  inquiries  which  I  addressed  to  him 
concerning  his  father,  pays  the  following  tribute  to  his  memory : 

"  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  firmness,  and  of  great  courage,  physical 
and  moral.  As  a  father  and  husband,  he  was  most  affectionate  and  indul- 
gent. In  all  his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men,  he  evinced  the  strictest 
integrity.  As  a  Christian,  he  was  most  exemplary  and  devout,  discharging 
his  various  duties  with  conscientious  exactness.  His  preaching  was  addressed 
more  to  the  understanding  than  the  passions — he  was  much  in  the  habit  of 
expounding  Divine  truth,  by  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture  ;  and  I 
remember  to  have  heard  a  gentleman  of  much  intelligence  and  learning  say 
that  he  was  the  best  expounder  of  the  Bible  to  whom  he  had  ever  listened. 
But  he  still  often  appealed  successfully  to  the  feelings,  especially  on  such 
themes  as  the  love  of  Grod  in  the  gift  of  his  Son,  and  the  grace  and  conde- 
scension of  the  Saviour.     He  did  not  '  shun  to  declare  the  whole  counsel 


200  BAPTIST. 

of  Grod,'  and,  'knowing  the  terror  of  the  Lord,'  he  endeavoured  to  'per- 
suade men.' 

"  For  the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  he  was  entirely  devoted  to  the  study 
and  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Church  in  Seekonk,  and  I  have  heard 
him  say,  during  this  latter  period,  that  it  was  the  happiest  portion  of  his 
life.  He  had  saved  enough  from  the  wreck  of  his  property  to  enable  him 
to  live,  with  some  assistance  derived  from  his  people,  so  that  he  was  deliv- 
ered frou)  nearly  all  secular  cares,  and  was  free  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  the  discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties,  and  to  his  immediate  preparation 
for  Heaven." 

In  my  early  life,  I  used  occasionally  to  hear  Mr.  Pitman  preach  "  in  an 
upper  room"  in  my  native  place,  and,  after  half  a  century,  I  still  retain  a 
vivid  impression  of  his  appearance  and  manner.  I  recollect  that  his  deliv- 
ery was  calm  and  solemn,  and,  though  I  was  not  capable  of  forming  a 
judgment  of  the  matter  of  his  discourse,  my  impression  is  that  he  was  most 
acceptable  to  the  most  intelligent  and  serious  portion  of  his  audience. 
Other  Baptist  ministers  often  preached  in  the  neighbourhood,  but  I  think 
the  announcement  of  Mr.  Pitman  secured  the  best,  if  not  the  largest, 
audience. 

FROM  THE  REV.  BENJAMIN  H.  PITMAN. 

Albany,  April  19,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  suppose  the  Rev.  Johu  Pitman,  of  Providence,  and  myself 
were  remotely  connected,  but  the  relationship  was  so  distant  that  we  never 
recognised  it;  though,  as  my  native  place  was  Newport,  and  my  early  relig- 
ious connection  was  with  the  Baptist  denomination,  I  had  a  pretty  good  oppor- 
tunity of  forming  a  correct  judgment  of  his  character.  He  was  certainly  a 
man  of  great  worth  and  dignity,  and,  in  my  opinion,  justly  entitled  to  a  place 
among  the  more  distinguished  Baptist  ministers  of  his  day. 

Mr.  Pitman  was  not  quite  of  the  medium  height,  but  was  firmly  built,  and 
had  rather  more  than  the  ordinary  degree  of  flesh.  His  face  was  round,  his 
expression  calm  and  dignified,  his  hair,  as  far  back  as  I  remember  him,  white, 
and  his  whole  appearance  singularly  impressive.  His  original  powers  of  mind 
were,  I  think,  considerably  above  the  medium;  though  it  was  for  solid  rather 
than  brilliant  qualities  that  he  was  distinguished.  His  excellent  judgment 
rendered  him  a  wise  counsellor;  and  this,  combined  with  his  kindly  disposi- 
tion, eminently  fitted  him  for  a  peace-maker.  While  he  always  maintained  a 
gravity  suitable  to  his  character  as  a  minister,  he  was  as  far  as  possible  from 
any  thing  austere  or  forbidding,  and  ever  showed  an  interest  in  the  happiness 
of  those  around  him.  He  was  one  of  the  most  hospitable  of  men,  and  who- 
ever visited  him,  whether  friends  or  strangers,  were  sure  to  feel  that  they 
were  welcome  guests.  He  had  a  large  heart  and  an  open  hand;  and  I  have 
heard  that  his  rule  in  giving-^^as  always  to  take  counsel  of  his  first  generous 
impulse,  and  not  wait  for  the  more  sober  calculations  of  interest  and  pru- 
dence. Acting  upon  this  principle,  it  was  acknowledged,  on  all  hands,  that 
he  gave,  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability. 

Mr.  Pitman  had  always  so  much  to  do  with  secular  business  that  he  could 
not  have  been  a  very  close  student;  and  yet  his  preaching  was  always  charac- 
terized by  well-digested  and  well-arranged  thought,  expressed  in  a  simple  and 
perspicuous  manner.  He  had  a  good  voice  for  public  speaking, — sufficiently 
loud  to  fill  a  large  house,  and  yet  bland  and  agreeable.  His  manner  was  not 
particularly  impassioned,  but  it  was  dignified  and  solemn,  and  natural  withal. 


JOUN  PITMAN.  201 

and  made  you  feel  that  he  possessed  the  true  spirit  of  an  ambassador  of  God. 
His  views  of  Divine  truth  were  nearly  of  the  same  type  with  those  of  Dr. 
Qin_some  might  say,  verging  a  little  towards  xVntinomianism;  and  yet  I  do 
not  think  there  was 'any  thing  in  his  preaching  to  relax  the  sense  of  moral 
obligation.  He  loved  to  feel  himself  a  debtor  to  Divine  grace,  and  he  strove 
to  make  the  same  impression  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  hearers. 

He  always  impressed  me  as  an  eminently  devout  and  godly  man.  1  remem- 
ber once  standing  with  him  before  the  door  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Provi- 
dence, when  a  blind  man,  who  was  passing,  asked  him  how  he  was.  He  said, 
in  reply,  "  I  thank  God,  I  am  well;  I  have  peace  of  conscience,  and,  I  trust, 
a  good  hope  of  a  better  life."  It  was  said  in  all  simplicity,  and  without  the 
semblance  of  any  thing  like  boasting;  and  I  think  it  might  be  taken  as  a 
faithful  index  to  his  Christian  character. 

Truly  yours, 

BENJAMIN  n.  PITMAN. 


LEWIS  RICHARDS. 

1777—1832. 

FROM  THE  REV.  GEORGE  F.  ADAMS. 

Baltimore,  March  29,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  send  you  the  foUowiug  brief 
sketch  of  the  life  and  character  of  the  late  Rev.  Lewis  Ricliards.  For  the 
facts  stated,  I  am  indebted  in  part  to  Benedict's  History  of  the  Baptists, 
also  to  the  Records  of  the  Church  of  which  he  was  so  long  Pastor,  and  to 
the  personal  recollections  of  a  number  of  his  old  friends  still  living  in  this 
city,  with  whom  I  have  conversed  freely  in  respect  to  him. 

Lewis  Richards  was  born  in  the  year  1752,  in  the  parish  of  Llan- 
bardarn  vowr,  Cardiganshire,  South  Wales.  He  made  a  public  profession 
of  religion  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  joined  a  Society  of  Independents, 
and  shortly  after  became  acquainted  with  Lady  Huntingdon,  and  studied 
for  a  short  time  at  the  College  which  she  had  endowed.  He  then  embarked 
for  America,  with  several  of  his  fellow-students,  with  a  view  to  prosecute 
his  studies  at  the  famous  Orphan  House  in  Georgia.  He  was  baptized  j)y 
the  Rev.  Richard  Furman,  at  the  High  Hills  of  Santee,  S.  C,  in  1777, 
and  was  ordained,  the  same  year,  in  Charleston,  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Oliver 
Hart  and  Joseph  Cook.  After  travelling  about  a  year  in  different  parts 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  he  removed  to  Northampton  County,  Va., 
on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  From  that  place  he  removed 
to  this  city  in  1784,  and  became  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Baltimore,  immediately  after  it  was  constituted. 

Mr.  Richards  continued  alone  in  the  Pastorship  till  1815,  when  the  Rev. 
E.  J.  Reis  was  elected  Co-pastor.  In  1818,  he  resigned  his  pastoral 
charge,  but  continued  his  connection  as  a  member  of  the  church  till  the 
close  of  his  life.  He  died  on  the  1st  of  February,  18.32,  in  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age. 

Vol.  VI.  26 


202  BAPTIST. 

Physically,  Mr.  Richards  was  a  well-made  man, — about  five  feet,  four 
inches  in  heiglit,  and  of  prepossessing  appearance.  He  was  not  distin- 
gul>-hcd  either  for  learning  or  eloquence,  but  he  possessed,  iu  an  eminent 
degree,  the  respect  and  affection,  not  only  of  the  members  of  his  church, 
but  of  his  fellow-citizens  generally,  for  his  meekness  of  spirit,  his  unaffected 
piety,  and  his  untiring  devotion  to  his  Master's  service.  His  charity  was 
literally  that  "which  seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thiukeih 
no  evil."  During  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  he  not  only  filled  his  own 
pulpit  with  credit  to  himself,  and  acceptance  to  his  people,  but  he  travelled 
and  preached  much  in  places  at  considerable  distance  from  home.  The 
churches  at  Frederick  and  Taney  Town  especially  were  often  favoured  with 
his  labours.  To  this  division  of  his  ministrations  may  probably  be 
ascribed  the  fact  that  he  was  not  more  eminently  successful  in  his  own 
congregation.  The  statistics  of  the  church  show  that,  during  his  thirty 
years  Pastorate,  the  number  of  members  increased  from  eleven  to  only  a 
hundred  and  sixty-four.  His  doctrinal  sentiments  were  decidedly  Calvin- 
istic,  without,  however,  the  least  approach  to  Antinomianism.  He  was 
eminently  practical  both  in  his  preaching  and  his  living.  Of  him  it  may 
be  said  as, emphatically  as  of  almost  any  man  with  whose  history  I  have 
been  acquainted, — "  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the 
end  of  that  man  is  peace." 

Mr.  Pvichards  was  twice  married.  His  first  marriage,  which  took  place 
shortly  after  his  settlement  in  Baltimore,  was  to  Miss  Ann  Mathews,  of 
Accomac  County,  Va.  She  was  related  to  the  Custis  family,  so  well  known 
and  highly  honoured  in  that  patriotic  State.  By  this  marriage,  he  had  six 
or  seven  children,  of  whom  five, — three  sons  and  two  daughters,  reached 
maturity,  and  were  married.  One  of  his  sons,  John  Cvstis,  "  used  the 
oifice  of  Deacon  well,"  ("being  found  blameless,")  for  many  years,  in  the 
church  of  which  his  father  had  been  Pastor.  Mrs.  Richards  died  on  the 
21st  of  May,  1797.  His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1806, 
was  Angelica  Collins,  of  Jefferson  County,  Va.  She  died  on  the  2d  of 
June,  1815.     By  this  marriage  there  were  no  children. 

Very  truly  yours, 

G.  F.ADAMS. 


AMBROSE  DUDLEY. 

1778—1823. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  E.  WELCH. 

Hickory  Grove,  Warren  County,  Mo.,  > 
December  13,  1853.      ) 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  I  am  happy  to  say  that  my  knowledge  of  the  life 
and  character  of  the  Rev.  Ambrose  Dudley  is  such  that  I  am  able  to  fur- 
nish you  a  sketch  of  him,  which  I  believe  you  may  rely  on  as  entirely 
authentic.  He  baptized  both  my  parents,  at  Bryan's  Station,  in  1789.  My 
recollections  of  him,  though  it  is  many  years  since  he  has  passed  away, 
are  still  perfectly  distinct,  and  I  have  little  fear  that  I  shall  mistake  in 
describing  him  to  you. 


AMBROSE  DUDLEY.  203 

Ambrose  Dudley  was  "born  not  far  from  Fredericksburg  in  Spott- 
sylvania  County,  Va.,  in  1750;  and,  of  course,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  llevolutionary  War,  was  in  the  vigour  of  early  manhood.  Possessed, 
as  he  was,  of  an  ardent  love  of  freedom,  he  engaged  with  all  the  zeal  of 
'76,  for  the  emancipation  of  his  down-trodden  country. 

Being  a  man  fall  six  feet  high  ;  of  fine  personal  appearance  ;  unusually 
active,  intelligent  and  decided,  he  was  reailily  commissioned  as  a  Captain 
in  the  Continental  army.  When  he  left  home  to  engage  in  the  service  of 
his  country,  he  had  never  made  the  great  truths  of  the  Bible  a  subject  of 
candid  and  prayerful  examination.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  scenes 
of  carnage  and  death  through  which  he  passed,  first  gave  a  serious  direction 
to  his  thoughts  ;  and  from  becoming  deeply  impressed  with  the  uncertainty 
of  life,  he  became  yet  more  deeply  impressed  with  his  ruined  condition  as 
a  sinner,  being  brought  to  feel  that  he  had  been  all  his  life  in  an  attitude 
of  rebellion  against  an  infinitely  higher  power  than  the  King  of  ]^]ngland, — 
even  the  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords. 

This  conviction  of  his  sinfulness  was  succeeded  by  a  truly  penitent  and 
contrite  spirit,  associated  with  joy  and  peace  in  believing.  He  was,  at  this 
time,  in  command  of  his  company,  and  stationed  at  Williamsburg;  and, 
notwithstanding  his  circumstances  seemed  most  adverse  both  to  the  culture 
of  religion,  and  to  a  public  profession  of  it,  he  had  too  much  firmness  of 
purpose  to  yield  to  the  influence  of  circumstances  in  so  momentous  a 
concern.  I~Ie  therefore  publicly  declared  himself  on  the  Lord's  side,  by 
being  baptized  at  Williamsburg-  ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  it  was  done  in 
the  presence  of  the  company  he  commanded,  and  of  some  of  his  fellow 
officers  of  tlie  army. 

While  devout  Cornelius  was  praying  to  God,  the  Disposer  of  events  was 
preparing  Peter  to  "  preach  among  the  Grentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ  :"  so,  while  the  churcli  in  his  native  county  was  earnestly  beseech- 
ing the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  that  He  would  remember  them  in  their 
destitvite  condition,  and  send  them  a  Pastor,  Ambrose  Dudley  was  con- 
verted in  camp,  was  baptized,  and  shortly  after  left  the  army  and  returned 
home.  When,  however,  he  "  essayed  to  join  himself  to  the  disciples,'' 
those  who  had  known  him  from  early  life  could  scared}'  "believe  that  he 
was  a  disciple  ;"  for  when  he  left  home  he  was  not  ordy  openly  immoral, 
but  it  was  understood  that  he  v/as  inclined  to  infidel  opinions.  He,  how- 
ever, soon  convinced  them  that  he  had  indeed  passed  from  death  unto  life. 
Sliortly  after,  he  united  with  the  church,  and  at  the  same  time  intimated  to 
them  his  ardent  desire  to  devote  himself  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  They 
received  him  with  open  arms,  regarding  him  as  a  special  gift  from  God  in 
answer  to  their  prayers.  Nor  were  they  disappointed  ;  for  his  earliest 
efforts  gave  promise  of  that  high  degree  of  usefulness  which  attended  and 
crowned  his  whole  ministry. 

After  labouring  in  the  Gospel,  for  sevei'al  years,  with  great  acceptance, 
in  his  native  State,  he  removed  to  Kentucky  in  1785,  and  settled  near 
Bryan's  Station,  in  the  vicinity  of  Lexington  ;  nor  did  he  change  his  place  of 
residence,  after  that,  till  he  was  taken  to  the  "  house  appointed  for  all  living." 

Few  men  liave  ever  laboured  in  the  West  with  greater  success  than  he. 
The  Church  at  Bryan's   Station,  which   was  organized  und.er  his  ministry 


204      .  BAPTIST. 

in  1786,  had  two  hundred  and  nineteen  members  in  1793.  In  the  great 
revival,  which  swept  over  that  part  of  the  State  in  1803,  I  saw  him  bap- 
tize, on  one  occasion,  fifty-eight  persons  at  David's  Fork  ;  and  the  following 
Sabbath  he  baptized  sixty-eight  at  Bryan's  Station,  only  six  miles  distant. 

He  was  domestic  in  his  habits,  and  very  fond  of  his  family,  and  his 
home  ;  and  hence  never  travelled  extensively.  His  labours  Averc  princi- 
pally within  the  bounds  of  the  Elkhorn  Association  ;  and  I  think  I  may 
safely  say,  without  disparaging  other  excellent  men,  that  there  never  was, 
in  that  large  and  intelligent  Body,  one  whose  influence  was  wider  and  more 
powerful  than  was  that  of  Ambrose  Dudley.  He  was  their  presiding 
ofiicer  for  many  years,  and  the  first  man  in  all  that  region  who  had 
moral  courage  enough  to  tell  the  churches  plainly  from  the  pulpit  that 
God  hath  "  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the 
Gospel."  As  a  preacher,  he  was  zealous,  dignified  and  solemn.  No  one 
who  heard  him  could  doubt  that  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  truths 
which  he  delivered,  and  that  the  great  object  at  which  he  constantly  aimed, 
was  not  to  gain  the  applause  of  his  hearers,  but  to  save  their  souls. 

His  manners  and  general  habits  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was  born  to 
exercise  authority.  The  very  glance  of  his  piercing  eye  was  often  enough 
to  awe  into  silence.  In  his  personal  appearance  he  was  unusually  erect 
and  neat,  so  that  when  a  stranger  in  Lexington  asked  where  he  might  be 
found,  he  was  told  to  walk  down  the  street,  and  the  first  man  he  met  hav- 
ing on  a  superfine  black  coat,  without  a  single  mote  upon  it,  would  be 
Ambrose  Dudley.  And  but  few  men  have  ever  lived  and  died  in  the  minis- 
try, who  "kept  their  garments  more  unspotted  from  the  world."  He  was, 
in  his  religious  views,  a  thorough  Calvinist ;  and,  whenever  he  thought  truth 
or  duty  was  involved,  he  showed  the  most  unbending  firmness.  He  was 
remarkably  punctual  to  his  engagements,  and  never  failed  of  fulfilling  one, 
unless  he  was  prevented  by  sickness,  or  some  other  cause  beyond  his  con- 
trol. Whenever  it  was  known  that  he  had  made  an  appointment  to  preach, 
the  common  saying  was,   "  Rain  or  shine.  Brother  Dudley  will  be  there." 

In  family  discipline  he  was  very  decided.  He  never  spoke  but  once. 
In  political  matters  he  took  but  little  interest,  nor  had  he  much  to  do  with 
the  afi"airs  of  the  world  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  plantation. 

He  was  a  man  of  God,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  churches  throughout 
the  region  in  which  he  lived.  He  "  died,  at  the  horns  of  the  altar,"  in  the 
year  1823. 

Believe  me  your  brother  in  Christ, 

JAMES  E.  WELCH. 


ISAAC  CASE.  205 

ISAAC  CASE.^ 
1780—1852. 

Isaac  Case  was  born  at  Rehoboth,  Bristol  County,  Mass.,  on  the  25th 
of  February,  1761.  Though  his  early  religious  advantages  were  few,  his 
thoughts  seem  to  have  been  seriously  directed  to  the  concerns  of  his  soul, 
while  he  was  yet  a  mere  child.  When  he  was  about  nine  years  old,  a  pro- 
fane and  wicked  boy,  with  whom  he  had  been  associated,  was  suddenly  killed. 
He  could  not  but  inquire  what  had  become  of  the  soul  of  that  bad  boy  ; 
for  he  had  read  in  the  Bible  that  "  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless 
that  taketh  his  name  in  vain  ;"  and  this  led  him  to  ask  what  would  have 
probably  been  his  own  condition,  if  he  had  been  taken  away  in  a  similar 
manner.  The  result  was  that  his  mind  became  burdened  with  anxiety  in 
regard  to  his  salvation ;  and  this  continued,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  till 
he  was  about  eighteen  years  old.  At  this  time  his  solicitude  became  much 
more  intense,  and  for  three  weeks  he  was  well-nigh  ready  to  despair  of  the 
mercy  of  God.  At  length,  in  listening  to  a  sermon,  the  tumult  of  his 
mind  subsided  into  a  state  of  unwonted  tranquillity,  which  he  at  first  mis- 
took for  evidence  of  the  departure  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  his  soul  ;  bat, 
after  a  short  time,  the  happy  change  in  his  views  and  feelings  led  him  to  hope 
that  the  Spirit  had  actually  performed  an  effectual  work  upon  his  heart.  All 
his  hopes  of  salvation  now  centered  in  the  Cross  of  Christ.  This  was  in  the 
year  1779.  In  the  course  of  this  year,  he  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith, 
and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Dighton. 

Soon  after  this  change  in  Mr.  Case's  views  and  feelings,  he  began  to  feel 
a  strong  desire  to  do  what  he  could  to  bring  about  a  similar  change  in 
others  ;  and  here  originated  the  thought,  which  was  quickly  matured  into  a 
purpose,  of  becoming  a  minister  of  the  Grospel.  Accordingly,  in  1780, 
when  he  was  about  nineteen,  he  received  the  approbation  of  the  church  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  to  go  forth  as  a  candidate  for  the  Christian  minis- 
try. In  1783,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  and,  in  October  of  that 
year,  went  to  Maine,  and  entered  upon  his  work  there,  without  expecting 
any  pecuniary  compensation. 

His  first  preaching  was  at  Brunswick.  Here  he  found  not  only  a  pre- 
vailing indifference  to  religion,  but  not  a  little  prejudice  against  those  doc- 
trines which  he  regarded  as  fundamental  in  the  Christian  system,  and 
which  he  felt  constrained  to  make  most  prominent  in  his  preaching  ;  and 
the  state  of  things  altogether  was  such  as  to  give  little  promise  of  success 
to  his  labours.  After  remaining  there  a  short  time,  hearing  that  there  was 
an  unusual  interest  in  religion  on  the  Island  of  Sabasdegan,  belonging  to 
Harps  well,  he  repaired  thither  ;  and  the  first  sermon  that  he  preached  pro- 
duced a  visible  and  powerful  effect.  Numbers  were  hopefully  converted, 
and  among  them  two  brothers,  who  became  useful  ministers  in  Baptist 
Churches.  A  revival  of  great  power  here  took  place  in  connection  with 
his  labours,  and  the  great  concern  of  salvation  bacame  the  all-engrossing 
theme  in  almost  every  family.  Having  laboured  about  three  months  in 
that  region,  and  preached  in  nearly  all  the  settlements,  and  administered 
'  Hist.  Maine  Bapt.— Dr.  Thurston's  Fun.  Serm.— MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  A.  'Wilson. 


206  BAPTiST. 

Baptism  to  many  of  the  converts,  be  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he 
ought  to  go  still  farther  East.  This  impression  was  much  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that,  on  his  way  to  Thomaston,  he  met  two  perscns  going  from  tliat 
place  to  the  place  of  his  then  recent  sojourn,  to  request  him  to  "come 
over  and  help  "  them.  On  arriving  at  Thomaston,  he  w?s  further  encour- 
aged by  finding  that  a  few  pious  persons  were  spending  the  day  in  i'asting 
and  prayer,  in  the  prospect  of  his  visit.  Several  were  awakened  under  his 
first  sermon  ;  and  this  proved  the  beginning  of  a  very  extensive  and  pow- 
erful revival.  In  the  space  of  a  few  months,  he  baptized  seventy-eight 
persons.  In  May,  1784,  a  church  was  organized, — the  first  ever  estab- 
lished in  the  place,  and  he  became  its  Pastor,  and  continued  in  that  rela- 
tion eight  years.  He  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  establishing  the  Baptist 
churches  in  Bowdoinham,  East  Brunswick,  and  several  other  places. 
Indeed  his  labours  were  widely  extended  in  that  part  of  Maine,  and  in 
almost  every  place  in  which  he  preached,  some  were  hopefully  converted 
through  his  instrumentality. 

In  1792,  he  gathered  the  Baptists  in  what  is  now  called  East  Winthrop 
and  Beadfield  into  a  church,  which  was  then  known  as  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Winthrop  ;  and  which  was  subsequently  enlarged  by  accessions  from  the 
Western  parts  of  Augusta  and  Hallowell.  In  1793,  they  erected  a  house 
of  w^orship  in  the  Southeastern  part  of  Beadfield,  as  the  place  which  would 
accommodate  the  greater  number  of  the  members,  and  changed  the  name 
to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Beadfield.  He  resigned  his  charge  of  the  Church 
at  Thomaston  to  become  the  Pastor  of  this ;  and  here  he  laboured  with 
comfort  and  usefulness  for  about  eight  years. 

In  ISOO,  Mr.  Case  again  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  with  a  view  to  being 
employed  as  a  missionary.  And  in  this  capacity  he  was  employed,  wuth 
unwearied  diligence  and  great  efficiency,  until  the  infirmities  of  age  ren- 
dered him  incapable  of  continued  exertion.  There  are  comparatively  few 
towns,  especially  in  the  Eastern  part  of  Maine,  that  have  not  enjoyed  the 
benefit  of  his  labours.  Of  the  number  of  churches  he  was  instrumental 
in  establishing,  and  the  number  of  converts  to  whom  he  administered  the 
ordinance  of  Baptism,  he  kept  no  account ;  but  he  supposed  the  latter  to 
have  been  more  than  a  thousand.  He  made  several  visits  also  to  the  Pro- 
vinces of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  laboured  with  his 
accustomed  diligence,  and  not  without  visible  tokens  of  .success.  At  length, 
however,  he  began  to  feel  the  palsying  hand  of  age,  and  was  obliged  gradually 
to  withdraw  from  active  service.  But  his  interest  in  the  cause  to  which  he 
had  been  so  long  devoted,  survived  his  ability  to  labour  for  it,  and  con- 
tinued to  call  forth  his  earnest  prayers,  as  long  as  the  power  of  thought 
and  utterance  remained  to  him.  He  died  at  Beadfield,  November  3,  1852, 
in  the  ninety-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the  seventy-second  of  his  ministry. 
His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Bev.  David  Thurston,  D.  D., 
late  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Winthrop,  Me. 

Mr.  Case  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the  Bev.  Elisha  Snow,*  of  Thomas- 
ton.    They  had  several  children,  and  one  of  the  sons  became  a  physician. 

•  Elisha  Snow  coraraenced  preaching  at  Thomaston  in  1784;  was  ordained,  as  an  Evange- 
list, at  Ilarpswell,  in  1790;  and  was  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Thomaston  from  1794  to  1821. 
He  travel k(l  much  and  aided  many  destitute  churches.  lie  had  the  reputation  of  being  a 
strong-minded  man,  and  a  very  strong  Calvinist. 


ISAAC  CASE.  207 


FROM  THE  REV.  ADAM  WILSOX,  D.  D. 

Pari.?,  Me...  March  10, 1857. 

Dear  Sir :  ^ly  fir.st  attendance  at  a  Baptist  Association  was  forty  years  ago 
last  September.  The  people,  their  customs,  and  the  preaching,  were  all  new 
to  me — the  ministers  were  all  strangers.  Among  the  ministers  I  noticed  a 
markul  n.an.  He  was  not  distinguished  by  any  thing  i-n  his  physical  appear- 
ancj.  He  was  of  about  a  medium  size,  and  in  all  his  physical  developments 
much  like  other  men.  But  his  countenance  wore  the  marks  of  habitual  devo- 
tion. YcL  it  was  a  devotion  without  gloom.  He  appeared  to  c/ijoi/  religion. 
Progress,  and  praise,  and  love  to  Christ,  and  defence  of  the  Gospel,  .seemed  to 
be  the  happy  elements  of  his  every  day  life.  He  was  sparing  in  his  words, 
and  never  .•<poke  but  that  he  seemed  to  have  an  object  to  accomplish.  His 
general  mien  and  bearing  bespoke  the  reign  of  peace  within.  That  man  was 
the  Rev.  Isaac  Case,  of  Keadticld. 

He  was  not,  I  think,  at  that  time,  the  Pastor  of  any  church;  but  was 
known,  loved  and  honoured  in  all  our  churches  within  the  territory  that  now 
constitutes  the  State  of  Elaine.  More  than  thirty  years  before  that  time,  he 
had  aided  in  the  organization  of  several  of  the  first  of  our  churches,  in  all  that 
part  of  the  State,  East  of  the  Saco  River.  He  was  Clerk  of  the  first  Associa- 
tion in  the  State,  in  1787.  The  Minutes  of  the  Association  were  never  printed. 
The  manuscript  remained  long  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Case,  as  a  relic  of 
antiquity. 

"When  he  came  to  Elaine,  he  Avas  a  young  man,  only  about  twenty  years  old, 
and  without  a  family.  He  gave  his  time  and  all  his  energies  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  without  any  salary  from  any  quarter,  and  wherever  Providence 
opened  a  door.  Afterwards,  when  he  became  the  head  of  a  fiimilj',  he  was  a 
missionary  in  the  employ  of  a  Missionarj'  Society,  whose  head-quarters  were 
in  Boston,  and  Avhose  officers  were  such  men  as  Stillman,  Baldwin,  and  Sharp. 
He  was  careful  and  economical  in  the  management  of  his  worldly  alfairs;  and 
this  led  some  prejudiced  observers  to  accuse  him  of  worldliness.  But  I  never 
heard  that  the  most  prejudiced  ever  suspected  him  of  dishonesty.  What 
might  appear  to  superficial  observers  as  evidence  of  a  worldlj'-  spirit,  appeared 
to  more  discerning  men  as  nothing  more  than  a  careful  observance  of  that 
scriptural  precept, — "Provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men."  Even 
among  good  men  there  are  few  who  so  fully  acknowledge  God  in  all  their  tem- 
poral ati'airs.  In  him  the  words  of  our  Lord  were  both  illustrated  and  veri- 
fied— "  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  [the  things 
right  in  his  sight,]  and  all  these  things  [all  needful  temporal  things]  ."^hall  be 
added  unto  you."  He  was  never  rich,  but  was  always  blessed  with  a  compe- 
tence. Paul  could  scarcely  with  more  confidence  proclaim  himself  "  willing 
to  live  honestly." 

Among  a  portion  of  the  community.  Christian  ministers  are  often  suspected 
of  insincerity.  Those  men  who  have  only  a  vague  and  very  inoperative  belief 
in  the  reality  of  <«  things  not  seen,"  appear  to  find  it  difficult  to  comprehend 
the  power  of  such  motives  as  come  up  from  a  living  faith  in  the  unseen  things 
of  the  Gospel.  They  are  slow  to  understand  how  any  minister  can  be  actu- 
ated by  other  than  .sclfi.sh  motives.  ]\Ir.  Case  succeeded,  beyond  most  men,  in 
overcoming  this  prejudice.  The  following  anecdote  will  show  something  of 
the  extent  to  which  even  scoffers  were  convinced  of  his  sincerity. 

In  one  of  his  missionary  tours,  his  road  led  through  a  forest  of  .some  twenty 
miles,  with  only  one  opening  about  midway  that  distance.  Here  were  two 
farm  houses  on  opposite  sides  of  the  road.  Mr.  Case  reached  this  opening 
about  sunset,  and  sought  and  found  entertainment  for  the  night.     He  applied 


208  BAPTIST. 

for  accommodations  simj^ly  as  a  traveller,  and  not  as  a  minister.  But  he  was 
not  the  man  whose  ministerial  character  could  be  hid.  His  host  guessed  he 
was  a  minister,  and  communicated  his  conjecture  to  his  neighbour,  who  was  a 
scoffer  at  religion,  and  of  course  a  bitter  enemy  of  what  he  ignorantly  termed 
the  Christian  Priesthood.  This  man,  prompted  partly  by  his  enmity  to  the 
Gospel,  and  partly  by  his  Yankee  curiosity,  quickened  by  a  residence  in  a 
forest,  hastened  into  the  presence  of  the  traveller,  to  try  him  with  all  manner 
of  questions.  Here  was  just  the  opportunity  he  desired.  He  did  not  know 
that  this  stranger  was  a  minister,  and  so  could  excuse  himself  from  an  inten- 
tion of  personal  rudeness,  while  he  poured  all  sorts  of  abuse  and  sarcasm  on 
the  ministry. 

At  length,  wearied  in  the  greatness  of  his  way,  he  paused  as  if  some  new 
idea  had  just  found  its  way  into  his  mind,  and  said  that  there  was  one  minis- 
ter that  he  had  often  heard  of,  though  he  had  never  seen  him,  who,  he  thought 
was  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  From  all  that  he  could  learn,  he 
thought  that  man  was  sincere.  His  name  was  Isaac  Case.  In  relating  this 
anecdote,  Mr.  Case  said  that  up  to  that  moment  he  had  remained  quiet  in  his 
own  mind;  but  then  he  was  troubled.  He  could  bear  censure,  but  could  not 
endure  flattery. 

Mr.  Case  was  always  the  devoted  minister  of  Christ,  whether  in  public  or  in 
private.  I  have  travelled  in  his  company  in  strange  places,  and,  however  far 
removed  from  home  influence,  or  secluded  from  the  public  eye,  he  was  uni- 
formly the  same  devout  and  God-fearing  man. 

With  little  of  the  learning  of  the  schools,  and  without  any  unusual  natural 
endowment,  by  his  earnest  piety  and  good  common  sense  he  made  himself 
agreeable  to  the  most  learned  of  his  brethren.  His  example  shows  what  these 
two  qualities  will  do,  in  making  one  both  acceptable  and  useful.  Everywhere, 
among  our  churches,  his  memory  is  blessed.  «<  He  was  a  good  man,  and  full 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  much  people  were  added  to  the  Lord." 

Yours  respectfully, 

ADAM  WILSON. 


THOMAS  BALDWIN,  D.  D.=^ 

1782—1826. 

Thomas  Baldwin,  the  only  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Baldwin,  was 
born  in  Bozrah,  Conn.,  December  23,  1753.  His  father  was  attached  to 
the  military  service,  and  rose  to  some  distinction  in  the  then  Colonial 
army.  His  mother's  family  was  distinguished  for  talent ;  and  she  herself 
possessed  not  only  a  vigojM3us  intellect,  but  an  elevated  piety.  He  was 
remarkable  in  childhood  for  serenity  of  temper,  love  of  justice,  and  a  taste 
for  reading.  His  leisure  was  all  sacredly  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  his 
mind;  and  while  he  was  yet  quite  a  youth,  he  had  acquired  a  considerable 
stock  of  valuable,  though  miscellaneous,  information. 

When  he  was  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  his  father  having  died  some 
time  before,  his  mother  was  married,  a  second  time,  to  a  Mr.  Eames,  and 
removed  to  Canaan,  N.  H.  He  removed  with  the  family,  and  lived  there 
several  years. 

•  Memoir  by  Rev.  Daniel  Chessman. — Mass.  Bapt.  Miss.  Mag.,  V. 


THOMAS  BALDAVIN.  209 

On  the  22d  of  September,  1775,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Ruth  Huntington,  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  with  whom  he  lived  most 
happily  till  her  death, — February  11,  1812.  They  had  six  children,  only 
one  of  whom  survived  the  father.  He  was  subsequently  married  to  Mar- 
garet Duncan,  of  Haverhill,  Ma.-ss.,  who  survived  him  many  years. 

Before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  town 
of  Canaan  in  the  State  Legislature  ;  and,  as  he  was  repeatedly  re-elected 
to  this  office,  it  is  presumed  that  he  discharged  its  duties  in  a  manner  to 
satisfy  his  constituents. 

Though  never  chargeable  with  open  vice,  he  was,  during  his  youth,  fond 
of  amusement  and  gaiety,  and  little  disposed  to  admit  any  serious  thoughts 
concerning  the  future.  In  the  autumn  of  1777,  he  lost  his  first-born  child 
under  circumstances  peculiarly  afflictive ;  and  the  effect  of  this  was  to 
induce  the  resolution  that  he  would  make  religion  his  grand  concern.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  the  year  1780  that  he  was  brought,  as  he  believed, 
to  understand  and  acquiesce  in  the  gracious  constitution  of  tlie  Gospel ; 
and  the  change  which  he  then  experienced  he  referred,  immediately,  to  the 
instrumentality  of  two  Baptist  preachers,  who  came  to  labour  temporarily 
in  the  neighbourhood  in  which  he  lived. 

He  had  been  educated  among  Pedobaptists ;  but  his  mind  became,  about 
this  time,  not  a  little  agitated  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  and  he  finally 
reached  a  result  very  different  from  what  he  had  expected,  and  even  hoped, — 
namely,  a  conviction  that  the  views  in  which  he  had  been  trained  were 
unscriptural,  and  that,  if  he  would  follow  his  Lord  fully,  he  must  follow 
Him  into  the  water.  He  knew  that  this  would  be  most  unwelcome  intelli- 
gence to  many  of  his  friends,  as  indeed  it  proved  to  be ;  but  he  determined 
that  no  earthly  consideration  should  prevent  him  from  carrying  out  his 
conscientious  convictions  ;  and,  accordingly,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1781,  he  was  baptized  by  immersion,  by  the  Rev.  Elisha  Ransom,*  then 
of  Woodstock,  Vt. 

Previous  to  the  change  in  his  feelings  on  the  subject  of  religion,  he  had 
determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  legal  profession,  and  had  actually  com- 
menced his  studies  with  reference  to  it ;  but  his  mind  now  took  a  different 
direction,  and  he  came  soon  to  abandon  the  purpose  altogether.  He  began 
first  to  exhort  in  public  meetings  ;  and  in  August,  1782,  he  became,  in  the 
technical  sense,  a  preacher.  In  the  spring  of  1783,  the  church  (for  a 
Baptist  church  was  now  established  in  Canaan)  proposed  to  him  to  receive 
ordination :  he  consented  to  the  proposal,  but  declined  being  installed  over 
that  particular  church,  though  it  was  understood  that  he  would  perform  the 
duties  of  a  Pastor  as  long  as  he  might  find  it  convenient  to  remain  with 
them.  A  Council  was  accordingly  convened  in  Canaan,  on  the  11th  of 
June,  1783,  when  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  an  Evangelist,  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  occasion  being  preached  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Shepard,  of  Brent- 
wood, N.  H. 

Here  he  continued  to  labour  seven  years.  He  had  no  stipulated  salary, 
and   all  that   he  received  did  not  average  more  than  forty  dollars  a  year. 

•  Rev.  Eltsha  Ransom  planted  the  Church  in  Woodstock,  in  1780,  having  removed  thither 
a  little  before  from  Sutton,  Mass.  He  remained  there  about  twenty  years,  and  the  church 
increased  greiitlj'  under  his  ministry. 

Vol.  Vr.  27 


210  BAPTIST. 

Though  he  was  generally  at  home  on  the  Sabbath,  he  spent  a  considerable 
part  of  almost  every  week  in  travelling  and  preaching  in  destitute  places. 
Sometimes  he  made  journeys  of  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  that,  too, 
through  a  wilderness,  and  in  midwinter,  and  depending  almost  entirely  on 
the  charit}'-  of  those  among  whom  he  might  happen  to  fall ;  but  so  great 
was  his  zeal  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor,  that  he  accounted  no  sacrifice 
great  by  means  of  which  he  might  accomplish  his  end. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  winter  of  1789-90,  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Sturbridge,  Mass.,  understanding  that  Mr.  Baldwin  had  never  been  form- 
ally settled  as  Pastor  of  the  church  in  Canaan,  applied  to  him  to  visit  them 
as  a  candidate  for  settlement.  About  the  same  time,  he  received  a  similar 
request  from  the  church  in  Hampton,  Conn.  He  determined  that  it  was 
his  duty  at  least  to  visit  these  places ;  and,  after  he  had  set  out  on  his 
journe}',  early  in  the  next  summer,  he  was  met  by  a  similar  invitation  from 
the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  After  stopping  a  little  at  Sturbridge 
and  Hampton,  and  receiving  from  both  churches  a  unanimous  call  to  become 
their  Pastor,  he  proceeded  to  Boston,  and,  by  request  of  the  church  there, 
preached  to  them  his  first  sermon,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1790.  He  continued 
to  supply  the  pulpit  a  few  Sabbaths  ;  and,  as  the  effect  of  his  labours,  there 
was  very  soon  a  greatly  increased  attention  to  religion,  especially  among 
the  young.  On  the  22d  of  August,  the  Church  and  Society  voted  him  a 
unanimous  call  to  settle  among  them  ;  and,  on  the  18th  of  September,  he 
returned  an  affirmative  answer. 

He  was  installed  on  the  11th  of  November  following,  the  services  being 
performed  in  the  meeting-house  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eliot,  (Congregational,) 
which  was  kindly  offered  for  the  purpose.  The  Sermon  was  preached  by 
the  llev.  Dr.  Stillman,  from  II.  Cor.  iv.  7. 

Mr.  Baldwin  proved  himself  fully  adequate  to  the  important  field  into 
which  he  was  now  introduced.  The  revival,  which  was  in  progress  at  the 
time  of  his  settlement,  continued  about  two  years,  and,  in  the  year  1791, 
about  seventy  were  added  to  the  church.  In  1797,  the  congregation  had 
so  much  increased  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  enlarge  their  place  of 
worship  ;  and  though  the  additional  accommodations  thus  secured,  were 
very  considerable,  they  were  almost  immediately  taken  up,  so  that  the 
house  was  as  full  as  before  the  enlargement  was  made.  In  the  spring  of 
1808,  another  revival  of  great  power  commenced  in  the  church,  which  con- 
tinued nearly  two  years  and  a  half,  during  which  the  number  received  to 
communion  was  two  hundred  and  twelve. 

In  1794,  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Brown  Uni- 
versity ;  and,  in  1803,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Union 
College. 

In  September,  1803,  Dr.  Baldwin,  by  appointment  of  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  Massachusetts,  became  the  editor  of  a  periodical  work, 
under  the  title  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine.  Until 
the  year  1817,  he  continued  its  sole  editor;  from  that  time  till  his  death, 
he  was  its  senior  editor.  This  work  was,  for  many  years,  the  only  religious 
periodical  in  the  Baptist  denomination  in  this  country ;  and  it  was 
undoubtedly  a  most  efficient  auxiliary  to  the  prosperity  of  the  denomi- 
nation. 


THOMAS  BALDWIN.  211 

Dr.  Baldwin  acquired  no  small  degree  of  reputation  as  a  controversial 
writer  on  Baptism  and  Communion.  His  first  work,  in  connection  with 
this  controversy,  entitled  "Open  Communion  examined,"  was  published  in 
1789,  at  the  request  of  the  Woodstock  Association,  while  he  resided  in 
New  Hampshire.  The  second  was  published  in  1794,  and  was  an  answer 
to  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  A  Friendly  Letter,"  addressed  to  the  author.  In 
180G,  these  were  republished  in  a  volume,  with  an  Appendix,  containing  a 
Reply  to  Peter  Edwards'  "  Candid  Reasons,"  &c.,  together  with  additional 
remarks  on  some  tracts  and  sermons  which  had  then  lately  appeared  on  the 
subject.  In  1810,  he  published  what  has  been  considered  his  most  im- 
portant work,  entitled  "A  series  of  Letters,  in  which  the  distinguishing 
sentiments  of  the  Baptists  are  explained  and  vindicated,  in  answer  to  a  late 
publication  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Worcester,  A.  M.,  addressed  to  the 
author,  entitled  Serious  and  Candid  Letters."  This  is  a  volume  of  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pages.  The  celebrated  Andrew  Fuller  is  said  to 
have  pronounced  it  the  ablest  discussion  of  the  question  he  had  ever  met 
with.  The  last  of  his  works  on  this  subject  was  a  short  Essay  on  John's 
Baptism,  published  in  1820. 

In  1802,  he   delivered  the  Annual  Sermon  on  the  day  of  the   General 
.  Election.     It  was  received  with  much   more  than  common  favour,  as  was 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  it  passed  through  three  editions. 

About  seven  years  before  his  death,  he  had  a  slight  attack  of  paralysis; 
from  which,  however,  his  physical  system  soon  recovered,  though  he  always 
believed  that  his  mind  had  received  an  injury  from  it  that  was  not  to  be 
repaired.  As  early  as  1822,  it  became  manifest  to  his  friends  that  his 
intellectual  vigour  was  rapidly  declining,  though  the  strength  and  fervour  of 
his  devout  affections  continued  unabated.  During  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  the  change  became  still  more  marked,  and  he  was  himself  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  his  end  was  near.  Towards  the  close  of 
August,  1826,  he  left  Boston  to  attend  the  Commencement  at  Waterville 
College,  Me.  On  his  way,  he  passed  the  Sabbath  at  Hallowell,  and 
preached  twice,  apparently  under  the  full  impression  that  he  was  just 
finishing  his  earthly  labours.  The  next  .lay  (29th  of  August)  he  proceeded 
to  Waterville,  and  spent  the  afternoon  in  walking  over  the  College  grounds, 
and  examining  the  condition  of  the  institution.  He  retired  to  rest  about 
nine  o'clock,  apparently  slept  well  for  an  hour,  then  heaved  a  deep  groan, 
and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  was  dead.  His  remains  were  taken  to 
Boston,  and  a  Sermon  at  his  interment  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Sharp,  from  Acts  xi.  24.     "  He  was  a  good  man." 

Dr.  Baldwin  received  various  testimonies  of  public  respect  and  confi- 
dence. He  was  chosen  a  Trustee  of  Brown  University  in  1807,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  decease  had  been  for  several  years  the  Senior  Fellow.  Of 
Waterville  College  he  was  a  Trustee  from  its  first  organization.  Of  most 
of  the  benevolent  institutions  of  Boston  he  was  an  active  Manager,  and  of 
.several  of  them  a  Presiding  ofiicer.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was 
President  of  the  Baptist  Board  of  Managers  for  Foreign  Missions,  and 
one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Columbian  College,  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
He  was  a  member  of  the    Convention  for  amending  the   Constitution   of 


212  BAPTIST. 

Massachusetts,  in  1821,  and  took  part  in  many  of  the  discussions,  acquit- 
ting himself  with  great  credit. 

Beside  the  several  works  already  noticed,  Dr.  Baldwin  published  the 
following: — A  Tract  entitled  "The  Backslider."  A  Catechism.  This  had 
passed  through  six  editions  in  1826.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  Bridgewater 
at  the  Ordination  of  the  Ilev,  David  A.  Leonard,  1794.  A  Thanksgiving 
Sermon,  1795.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  a  Quarterly  Meeting  of  several 
Churches  for  Special  Prayer,  1799.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  Boston  at  the 
Ordination  of  the  Bev.  William  Collier,  1799.  A  Sermon  on  the  Death 
of  Washington,  1799.  An  Approved  Workman  in  the  Gospel  Ministry: 
a  Sermon  delivered  at  Templeton  at  the  Installation  of  the  Ilev.  Elisha 
Andrews,  1800.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Interment  of  Lieut.  Governor 
Samuel  Phillips,  1802.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  Barnstable  at  the  Installa- 
tion of  the  Rev.  John  Peak,*  1802.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Dedication 
of  the  new  Meeting  House  in  Bellingham,  1802.  A  Sermon  delivered  at 
the  Installation  of  the  Bev.  Elisha  Williams,  Beverly,  1803.  The  Eternal 
Purpose  of  God  the  Foundation  of  ElTectual  Calling :  A  Sermon  delivered 
before  the  First  Baptist  Society  in  Boston,  180-1.  A  Sermon  delivered  in 
the  Baptist  Meeting  House,  Gold  Street,  New  York,  at  the  Ordination  of 
the  Bev.  Jeremiah  Chaplain,  1801.  A  Sermon  delivered  before  the  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society  of  Massachusetts,  1804.  The  Happiness  of  a 
People  illustrated :  A  Sermon  delivered  before  the  Second  Baptist  Society 
in  Boston,  on  the  day  of  Annual  Thanksgiving,  1804.  A  Sermon  delivered 
at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Merrill,  at  Sedgwick,  Me.,  1805. 
A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Boston  Female  Asylum  on  their  Sixth 
Anniversary,  1806.  The  Peaceful  Reflections  and  Glorious  Prospects  of 
the  Departing  Saint :  A  Discourse  delivered  at  the  Interment  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Stillman,  D.  D.,  1807.  A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Ancient 
and  Honourable  Company  in  Boston,  being  the  Anniversary  of  their  Elec- 
tion of  Officers,  1807.  The  Dangerous  Influence  of  Vicious  Example: 
A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Second  Baptist  Meeting  House  in  Boston,  1809. 
A  Discourse  delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  new  Meeting  House  belonging 
to  the  Second  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in  Boston,  1811.  The  Supreme 
Deity  of  Christ  illustrated :  A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  and  Congregation  in  Boston,  with  an  Appendix,  containing 
Remarks  on  the  terms  "  Only  Begotten  Son  of  God,"  &c.,  1812.  The 
Knowledge  of  the  Lord  filling  the  Earth  :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  Boston, 
before  the  Massachusetts  Bible  Society,  1812.  Heirs  of  Grace  :  A  Sermon 
delivered  at  Charlestown,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Abigail  Collier, 

•John  Peak  was  born  in  Wal|iole,  N.  H.,  September  26,  1761.  When  he  was  three  years 
old,  his  parents  removed  to  Claremont,  where,  as  the  country  was  new,  there  was  no  school, 
though  the  deficiency  was  well  supplied  in  respect  to  himself  by  the  watchful  and  faithful  care 
of  his  mother.  In  consequence  of  repeated  attacks  of  rheumatic  fever  that  settled  in  one  of 
his  hips,  he  early  became  a  cripple,  and,  being  thus  rendered  unable  to  labour  on  the  farm,  he 
was,  in  1778,  apprenticed  to  a  tailor,  in  the  summer  of  1785,  he  was  hopefully  converted 
under  the  preaching  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  by  whom  also  he  was  baptized  in  iSeptembcr  following. 
In  1787,  he  removed  to  Woodstock,  and  was  shortly  after  licensed  by  the  church  in  that  place 
as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.  On  the  18th  of  .luue,  1788,  he  was  ordained  first  Pastor  of 
the  Church  in  ^Vindsor,  Vt.  lie  was  subsequently  the  Pastor  of  various  other  churches,  as 
Deerfield  and  Newtown,  in  New  Hampshire;  Woburn,  Barnstable,  and  Newbnryport,  in  Massa- 
chusttts;  and,  during  his  ministry,  he  baptized  more  than  a  thousand  persons.  In  the  spring 
of  1828,  he  retired  from  the  work  of  a  Pastor,  and  soon  after  removed  to  Boston,  where  he 
resided  until  his  aeath,  which  occurred  on  the  9th  of  April,  1842.  He  was  distinguished  for 
good  sense,  an  amiable  and  cheerful  disposition,  and  an  unswerving  Christian  integrity. 


THOMAS  JJALDWIN.  213 

wife  of  tlie  Eov.  William  Coirur,  l*astor  uf  the  ]5:ipti.st  ClmrL-li  in  suid 
town,  1813.  The  Chi-istian  Ministry:  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  First 
Baptist  Meeting  House  in  Boston,  at  the  Installation  of  the  Kev.  James 
M.  Winchell,  1814.  Missionary  Exertions  encouraged :  A  Sermon  deliv- 
ered in  Sansom  Street  Meeting  House,  Philadelphia,  before  the  Greneral 
Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  United  States,  1817.  A 
Sermon  delivered  at  Cambridge,  at  the  Opening  of  a  new  IMeetiiig- House, 
and  the  Constitution  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  that  place,  1817.  The  Danger 
of  living  without  the  Fear  of  God  :  A  Discourse  on  Robbery,  I'iracy,  and 
Murder,  in  which  Duelling  and  Suicide  are  })articularly  considered  :  De- 
livered in  Boston,  the  Lord's  Day  following  the  Execution  of  the  Pirates, 
1810.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Funeral  of  the  llev.  James  M.  ^Vin- 
chell,  A.  M.,  late  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  lioston,  1820. 
The  Duty  of  Parents  to  Children  :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Meeting- 
House  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in  Boston,  1822.  A 
Discourse  delivered  in  the  Second  Baptist  Mecting-IIouse  in  Boston  ;  with 
an  Ajipendix,  containing  Historical  Sketches  of  the  Church  and  Society, 
from  their  Commencement  to  the  Present  Time,  1824. 

FROM  THE  REV.  FRANCIS  WAYLAND,  D.  D. 

PKESIDKNT    OF    BROWN    UNIVERSITY. 

Providence,  September  20,  1850. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  for  some  notices  of  the 
character  of  my  venerated  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Baldwin,  though,  in  doing  so, 
I  must  avail  myself  of  some  sketches  that  I  wrote  shortly  after  his  death, 
when  my  recollections  of  his  peculiar  traits  were  far  more  vivid  than  they  are 
now.  I  had  a  good  opportunit)^  of  knowing  him,  having  lived  in  the  same 
house  with  him  eighteen  months,  and  had  him  for  a  neighbour  from  the  time 
of  my  settlement  in  Boston  till  his  death;  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  do  any 
thing  I  can  in  aid  of  an  etfort  to  honour  his  memory. 

The  history  of  a  man's  life  is  the  only  sure  evidence  of  his  ability.  What 
a  man  has  done  we  hold  to  be  proof  positive  of  his  power.  Judged  by  ;his 
standard.  Dr.  Baldwin  will  be  ranked  among  the  eminent  men  of  his  profession 
in  this  country.  To  say  nothing  of  his  publications,  some  of  which  are  cer- 
tainly of  a  high  order,  it  is  evident  that  no  man,  not  highly  gifted  of  nature, 
could  ever,  under  his  circumstances,  have  acquired  so  extensive  an  influence, 
and  retained  it  to  the  last,  entire  and  undiminished.  Men  do  not  conflde  their 
interests  into  the  hands  of  another,  unless  he  be  abler  than  themselves.  And 
he  who,  for  so  long  a  time,  united  the  suffrages  of  all,  could  only  have 
retained  them  by  giving  repeated  proofs  of  undoubted  native  pre-eminence. 

And  this  consideration  will  be  more  striking,  if  we  recollect  the  circum- 
stances under  which  Dr.  Baldwin  entered  the  ministry  in  Boston.  His  oppor- 
tunities for  improvement,  either  by  reading  or  intellectual  association,  had 
been  limited.  He  had  read  little;  he  had  seen  little;  but  God  had  given  him 
the  ability  to  think.  He  was  of  an  age  at  which  the  intellectual  habits  of 
most  men  are  formed.  They  are  too  wise  to  learn,  and  too  much  attached  to 
the  habits  of  their  early  education  to  mend  them.  Hence,  too,  frequently,  to 
men  of  this  age,  a  change  of  location  is  the  end  of  usefulness.  But  not  so 
with  my  venerable  friend.  The  change  was  a  great  one,  but  he  was  equal  to 
it.  He  looked  upon  the  relations  of  society  in  the  light  of  common  sense  and 
truth.  He  perceived  what  was  required  in  the  situation  Avhich  he  had  entered. 
He  saw  Avhat  he  wanted;  and,  in  the  strength  of  a  mind  competent  to  dictate 


214  BAPTIST. 

terms  to  itself,  he  resolved  to  supjily  it.  lie  threw  aside  what  was  unsuitable 
to  his  present  station.  He  performed  M'ith  liis  full  abilitj^  what  that  station 
required;  and  soon  found  what  he  who  honestly  does  his  duty  will  always 
find,  that  he  was  competent  to  the  work  which  Providence  had  assigned  him. 

The  prominent  trait  in  Dr.  Baldwin's  intellectual  character  Avas  vigorous 
and  manly  discrimination.  His  imagination  was  not  luxuriant,  nor  had  his 
taste  acquired  that  accuracy,  which  is  only  the  result  of  an  early  acquaintance 
with  the  classics.  Ileuce  he  succeeded  best  in  a  train  of  ratiocination,  espe- 
cially if  it  were  one  which  led  to  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  conscience.  Hence 
his  style  is  remarkable  more  for  perspicuity  than  grace.  It  is  clear  and  for- 
cible, but  not  ornate;  and  it  gains  nothing  Avhen  the  author  attempts  to  adorn 
it.  When  relying  on  his  reasoning  power,  he  is  strong;  but  when  attempting 
to  indulge  his  imagination,  the  critic  might  sometimes  say,  in  good  nature, 
JBonus  Ilomcrus  durmitat. 

In  public  life,  Dr.  Baldwin  combined,  in  a  rare  degree,  unbending  rectitude 
with  unsophisticated  kindness  of  heart.  In  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  he 
never  knew  fear.  He  was  naturally  above  anything  like  timidity;  and 
religious  principle  had  still  more  effectually  taught  him  to  do  right,  "  uncar- 
ing consequences."  And  yet  no  man  could  have  more  carefully  avoided 
unnecessarily  injuring  the  feelings  of  the  most  insignificant  human  being.  He 
rigidly  obeyed  the  command,—"  Speak  evil  of  no  man."  In  company  or  at 
home,  he  either  spoke  kindly  or  was  silent.  Whilst  true  to  a  hair's  breadth 
to  the  principles  which  he  believed,  he  gave  full  credit  to  the  honesty  and  the 
rectitude  of  those  from  whom  he  differed.  Hence  was  it  that  he  so  often 
obtained  the  blessing  of  a  peace-maker.  Hence  he  retained  to  the  last  the 
entire  confidence  of  men  of  the  most  conllicting  opinions,  and  even  came  oif 
from  the  arena  of  theological  controversy,  rich  in  the  esteem  of  those  whom 
his  argument  failed  to  convince. 

But  it  was  in  the  retirement  of  domestic  life,  as  the  husband,  the  father, 
and  the  friend,  that  you  beheld  him  clothed  in  the  most  endearing  attril)utes. 
It  was  here  that  he  shed  around  him  the  bland  and  attractive  lustre  of 
finished  moral  excellence.  His  disposition  was,  in  a  pre-eminent  degree, 
charitable,  kind  and  benevolent.  To  know  him  at  home  was  to  venerate  and 
love  him.  Always  self-possessed  and  always  dignified,  yet  always  instructing 
and  always  cheerful,  no  one  could  long  be  unhappy  beneath  his  hospitable 
roof.  I  can  truly  say  that,  during  the  four  3'ears  in  which  I  was  in  the  habit 
of  seeing  him  daily,  I  cannot  remember  a  single  instance  in  which  he  betrayed 
a  temper  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profession. 

The  character  of  his  piety  corresponded,  as  might  be  expected,  with  the 
type  of  his  mind.  It  was  visible  in  the  firm  adherence  to  truth,  and  the  con- 
scientious practice  of  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty.  This  M'as,  at  the  same 
time,  blended  with  fervent  charity  and  ardent  love  for  souls.  He  was  a  sin- 
cere believer  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  and  his  daily  life  was  con- 
formed to  a  high  standard  of  Christian  virtue.  If  any  feature  of  his  piety 
was  more  prominent  than^  another,  it  was  meek,  child-like  humility.  This 
was  seen  in  every  walk  of  life,  and  everywhere  did  it  add  a  new  charm  to  his 
other  excellent  endowments. 

As  a  preacher,  he  stood  among  the  most  eminent  of  his  time,  in  the  denomi- 
nation of  which  he  was  so  long  the  distinguished  ornament.  He  published 
more  than  thirty  sermons,  preached  on  particular  occasions,  and  all  of  them 
arc  worthy  of  attentive  perusal.  In  all  of  them  maybe  discovered  the  traces 
of  strong  and  accurate  refiection,  or  of  fervent  and  deeply  affecting  piety. 
Sometimes  they  are  remarkable  for  acute  and  original  argument,  and  at  others 
for  tender  and  overflowing  feeling.  Whatever  was  his  subject,  he  always  left 
upon  his  audience  the  conviction  of  his  own  sincere  and  earnest  solicitude  foi 


THOMAS  BALDWIN.  215 

their  everlasting  good.  Ilis  expostulations  with  the  young  were,  in  a  remarka- 
ble degree,  affectionate,  parental  and  pathetic.  Very  frequently,  on  .such 
occasions,  he  was  melted  even  to  tears. 

His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  dignified,  simple  and  unaffected.  He  rarely 
wrote  his  sermons  in  lull;  and  not  generally,  at  least  in  the  better  part  of  his 
life,  did  he  even  furnish  himself  with  a  copious  skeleton.  His  preparation 
most  commonly  consisted  in  studious  reilection  upon  his  subject,  and  writing 
merely  the  leading  divisions.  To  this  method  he  had  been  earliest  accustomed, 
and  in  this  he  was  probabl}^  more  generally  successful.  Some  of  his  ablest 
printed  sermons  were  preached  in  this  manner,  and  never  written  till  after 
their  delivery.  Though  far  from  being  prejudiced  against  the  use  of  notes,  he 
was  fully,  and  doubtless  very  truly,  aware  that,  in  New  England  at  least, 
there  is  as  much  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  too  great  a  reliance  on  writ- 
ing, as  there  is  from  not  writing  at  all. 

In  person  Dr.  Baldwin  was  rather  above  the  usual  size,  firmly  and  strongly 
built,  and,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  slightly  inclined  to  corpulency.  His 
countenance  was  dignified,  mild  and  engaging,  and  his  hair,  in  his  latter  years 
perfectly  white,  rendered  his  whole  appearance  in  the  highest  degree  venerable. 
His  habits  were  temperate  and  regular,  without  being  formal  or  ascetic. 
Hence  it  will  l)e  readily  imagined  that  he  uniformly  left  upon  every  one  the 
impression  of  old  age  in  its  loveliest  and  most  interesting  aspect,  and  Chris- 
tianity in  its  mildest  and  most  attractive  exhibition. 
I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  truly, 

FRANCIS  WAYLAND. 


HENRY  HOLCOMBE,  D.  D  * 

1784—1824. 

Henry  Holcombe,  son  of  Grimes  and  ElizalDeth  Holcorabe,  was  born 
in  Prince  Edward  County,  Va.,  September  22,  1762.  While  he  was  yet 
a  child,  his  father  removed  with  his  family  to  South  Carolina.  His  oppor- 
tunities for  early  improvement  were  exceedingly  limited,  and  "  at  eleven 
years  of  age,"  (to  use  his  own  words,)  "he  completed  all  the  education  he 
ever  received  from  a  living  preceptor."  His  mind,  however,  was  of  an  inqui- 
sitive turn,  panting  for  knowledge  of  every  kind  ;  and  there  was  nothing  on 
which  he  dwelt  with  such  intense  admiration  as  the  number  and  grandeur 
of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

He  was  a  mere  stripling  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  ;  but  he  was  not  too  young  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
wrong  done  to  his  country,  or  to  feel  the  stirrings  of  a  lofty  patriotism. 
Accordingly,  when  he  had  yet  scarcely  emerged  from  boyhood,  he  entered 
the  army,  and  so  much  of  both  courage  and  discretion  did  he  evince,  that 
he  was  quickly  raised  to  an  important  post  of  authority.  It  was  during 
the  period  of  his  connection  with  the  army  that  his  mind  became  first 
ileeply  impressed  with  religious  truth.  Here,  amidst  the  temptations  of  a 
camp,  and  the  intense  excitement  incident  to  a  contest  for  liberty,  he 
•  Baptist  Chronicle. — Georg.  Bapt.— MS.  from  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Hoff. 


216  BAPTIST. 

renounced  the  world  as  a  supreme  portion,  and  entered  with  vigour  and 
resolution  upon  the  service  of  a  new  Master.  He  was  in  his  twenty-second 
year  when  he  made  a  public  profession  of  religion.  His  own  account  of  it 
i.s  as  follows : — 

"  In  conversing  with  my  fatliei',  he  informed  me  that  I  was  baptized  in  my  infancy, 
and  said  I  was  a  Presbyterian.  Asking  on  what  passages  of  Scriptnre  the  peculiar 
tenets  of  that  denomination  were  founded,  lie  took  u\)  the  Bible,  and  kindly  endeav- 
oured to  satisfy  me  on  those  points.  But,  to  his  painful  disappointment,  we  could 
find  nothing  that  seemed  to  me  in  favour  of  baptizing  infants,  nor  for  governing  a  Gos- 
pel Church,  otherwise  than  by  the  sutfi-ages  of  its  members.  To  pass  softly  over  this 
tender  gr(jund,  the  result  of  my  serious  and  reiterated  inquiries  into  the  materials, 
ordinances,  and  government  of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  was  the  full  conviction  that, 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  my  conscience,  I  must  be  a  Baptistj  and,  not  conferring  with 
flesh  and  blood.  1  rode  near  twenty  miles  to  propose  myself  as  a  candidate  for  admis- 
sion into  a  Baptist  church." 

Immediately  after  his  Baptism,  he  received  a  license  to  preach  according 
to  the  forms  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  forthwith  commenced  his 
work  with  great  energy  and  fervour.  The  Church  at  Pike  Creek,  S.  C, 
soon  invited  him  to  become  their  Pastor ;  and,  accordingly,  on  the  11th 
of  September,  1785,  he  was  duly  placed  over  them  in  the  Lord.  His 
labours,  for  some  time,  seem  to  have  been  attended  with  an  uncommon 
blessing,  and  not  a  few  were  hopefully  converted  to  God  through  hi.« 
instrumentality. 

In  April,  1786,  he  was  married  to  Frances,  youngest  daughter  of  Ptobert 
Tanner,  of  North  Carolina;  and,  in  the  following  June,  she,  together  with 
her  brother  and  mother,  were  among  twenty-six  persons  to  whom  he 
administered  Baptism.  In  August  of  the  same  year,  he  baptized  seven- 
teen more,  among  whom  was  his  own  father,  who  had  proved  more  docile 
under  the  teacliings  of  the  son  than  the  son  did  under  those  of  the  father. 
Up  to  this  time  his  clerical  services  were  rendered  without  any  pecuniary 
compensation. 

It  was  no  small  testimony  of  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens  that 
they  appointed  him  to  represent  them  in  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina, 
held  in  Charleston,  for  ratifying  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Not  long  after  this,  he  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  the  Baptist  Church 
at  Euhaw  ;  and,  having  accepted  their  invitation,  he  removed  thither  in 
February  1791.  He  preached  statedly  at  tliis  place.  May  River,  and  St. 
Helena.  As  the  climate  here  proved  unfavourable  to  the  health  of  his 
family,  he  removed  hence,  in  1795,  to  Beaufort,  still,  however,  retaining 
his  previous  pastoral  relations.  At  Beaufort  the  state  of  religion  was,  at 
that  time,  exceedingly  low,  and  the  Baptist  denomination  had  few,  if  any, 
representatives  there.  By  his  unwearied  efforts,  a  commodious  Baptist 
meeting-house  was  erected^ and  not  a  few,  both  men  and  women,  made  a 
profession  of  their  faith,  and  received  the  ordinance  of  Baptism  at  his 
hands. 

In  1795,  a  few  Baptists  in  Savannah  undertook  to  erect  a  house  of  wor- 
ship ;  but,  the  next  year,  while  it  was  yet  in  an  unfinished  state,  they 
rented  it  to  the  Presbyterians,  whose  church  edifice  had  recently  been 
destroyed  by  fire.  In  1799,  a  little  before  the  expiration  of  the  term  for 
which  it  was  rented,  the  pew-holders  in  this  building  invited  Mr.  Holcombe 
to  come  and    dispense  to  them  the  Gospel,  upon  an   annual   salary  of  two 


HENRY  HOLCOMBE.  217 

thousand  dollars  ;  and  he  accepted  their  invitation.  He  had  a  congrega- 
tion composed  partly  of  Baptists  and  partly  of  Presbyterians,  and  his 
labours  seem  to  have  been  equally  aeceptablo  to  both.  This  state  of 
things,  however,  continued  but  a  short  time,  as  the  Baptists,  early  in 
1800,  conceived  it  to  be  their  duty  to  have  a  distinct  organization  of  their 
own ;  and,  accordingly,  Mr.  Holconibe,  with  his  wife  and  ten  others, 
entered  into  a  covenant  that  they  would  "  endeavour  to  keep  house  for 
the  Lord,  as  soon  as  the  necessary  arrangements  could  be  made."  The 
church  was  regularly  constituted,  on  tlie  26th  of  November,  1800. 

During  3Ir.  Holcombe's  residence  in  Savannah,  his  labours  were  various 
and  abundant.  He  was  far  from  being  satisfied  with  the  ordinary  routine 
of  pastoral  service.  In  1801,  he  had  the  chief  agency  in  establishing  the 
Savannah  Female  Asylum, — an  institution  which  has  since  united  the 
energies  and  charities  of  Christians  of  different  communions,  and  has 
diffused  an  immense  amount  of  blessing  among  the  wretched  and  destitute. 
He  conducted  a  Magazine  devoted  to  literature  and  religion,  entitled  the 
"  Georgia  Analytical  Repository."  He  published  an  earnest  Address  to 
the  friends  of  religion  in  Georgia,  designed  to  convince  them  that  a 
Christian  profession  does  not  in  any  degree  interfere  with  the  obligations 
of  the  citizen.  He  directed  public  attention  to  the  extreme  severity  of  the 
penal  code,  as  it  then  existed  in  Georgia, — taking  occasion  to  do  this  from 
the  fact  that  a  man  was  executed  for  the  crime  of  stealing  a  gun  ;  and  the 
State  Penitentiary  is  said  to  have  originated,  in  a  measure,  in  his  philan- 
thropic efforts. 

Mr.  Holcombe's  vigorous  opposition  to  infidelity,  theatrical  amusements, 
and  other  things  which  he  regarded  of  evil  tendency,  rendered  him  any 
thing  but  a  favourite  with  the  profligate  and  profane  ;  and  it  was  seve- 
ral times  the  occasion  of  his  life's  being  in  imminent  jeopardy.  Two 
instances  of  cowardly  attack,  and  somewhat  remarkable  providential  deliver- 
ance, are  thus  related  by  himself : — 

"A  well  dressed  fellow,  who  assumed  the  style  and  manner  of  a  gentleman,  endea- 
voured to  get  me  out  of  my  house,  after  midnight,  under  the  pretence  of  wanting  me 
to  perform  a  marriage  ceremony.  And  had  I  not  happened  to  hear  the  clock  strike 
twelve  just  hcfore  the  knock  at  my  door,  I  might  have  helieved  him  in  the  assertion 
that  it  was  hnt  a  little  past  ten  o'clock,  and  been  led  into  the  snare  of  my  adversaries. 
He  said  his  name  was  Clarke;  that  tlie  parties  to  be  married  were  respectable  stran- 
gers, had  been  disappointed  in  not  obtaining  their  marriage  license  sooner,  had  to  sail 
next  morning,  were  very  desirous  of  being  married  by  nn',  and  that  lie  would  give  me 
immediately  a  fee  of  fifty  dollars.  But,  on  peremptorily  refusing  from  an  upper  win- 
dow to  come  down  stairs,  on  any  consideration,  at  so  unseasonable  an  hour,  this  Judas. 
who  had  before  expressed  himself  with  the  greatest  politeness,  overwhelmed  me  with 
a  torrent  of  the  bitterest  curses;  and  swore  by  liis  God  that  if  I  opened  my  mouth  to 
call  the  guard,  he  would  break  every  window  in  my  house.  From  tliis  unsuccessful 
stratagem  they  had  recourse  to  violence.  Keturinng.  according  to  my  well  known  cus- 
tom, about  nine  o'clock  in  tlie  evening,  from  the  meeting  of  a  Society  of  whieh  I  was  a 
member,  witli  a  small  son  at  each  of  my  hands,  a  musket  was  snapped  at  my  breast, 
and  the  fire  rolled  so  near  me  that,  in  throwing  out  my  hand  in  the  dark,  I  laid  hold 
on  a  bayonet.  But  God  being  pleased,  at  this  critical  moment,  to  make  my  heart  like 
adamant.  I  exerted  a  loud  authoritative  voice  in  a  few  interrogations,  wliicii  so  alarmed 
the  two  cowardly  assassins,  wliom  I  perceived  before  me  with  fixed  bayonets,  that  they 
sneaked  away,  as  if  expecting  every  moment  to  be  seized,  begging  tai  thousand  par- 
dons, and  with  tremulous  voices  apologizing  for  their  dastardly  attempt  on  my  life." 

Mr.  Holcombe  was  in  the  conference  of  Baptist  ministers,  which  resolved 
to  found  the  Mount  Enon  Academy,  in  1804,  and  which  adopted  a  consti- 
tution, as  a  Missionary  Society,  in  1806.     In  both  these  objects  he  took  a 

Vol.  VI.  28 


218  BAPTIST. 

deep  interest,  and  he   laboured   for  Loth  with  no  inconsiderable  zeal  and 
success. 

While  on  a  preaching  tour  in  the  up-country,  he  allowed  himself,  on  a 
very  warm  day,  immediately  after  preaching,  to  drink  freely  of  cold  water. 
The  effect  of  this  had  well-nigh  been  instantaneous  death.  He,  however, 
so  far  recovered  as  to  proceed  on  his  journey  homeward ;  and  at  Mount 
Enon  he  attempted  to  preach,  but  fainted  in  the  pulpit.  On  his  return  to 
Savannah,  he  resumed  his  accustomed  labours,  but  was  quickly  prostrated 
by  a  violent  fever,  which  kept  him  confined  about  two  months.  In  1808, 
he  again  attended  a  meeting  of  the  General  Committee  at  Mount  Enon,  and, 
in  1809,  went  to  Augusta,  and  assisted  in  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  William  T.  Brantly.  In  1810,  owing  probably  to  an  excess  of 
labour,  he  experienced  another  severe  and  protracted  illness  ;  and,  while 
he  had  yet  only  pnrtially  recovered,  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  at 
Savannah,  and  retired  to  Mount  Enon,  to  give  himself  an  opportunity  to 
recruit  his  debilitated  system. 

In  1810,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from 
Brown  University. 

As  soon  as  it  became  known  that  Dr.  Holcombe  was  without  charge, 
attempts  were  made  in  different  quarters  to  secure  his  ministerial  services. 
He  was  recalled  to  Beaufort,  shortly  after  invited  to  Boston  with  a  view  to 
settlement,  and  then  called  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia. 
To  this  latter  call  he  returned  an  affirmative  answer. 

Dr.  Holcombe  reached  his  new  field  of  labour,  after  a  stormy  and  peril- 
ous passage  by  sea,  in  January,  1812.  Here,  as  in  other  places,  he 
laboured  with  exemplary  diligence.  His  views  differed  from  those  of  some 
of  his  brethren  in  respect  to  the  prosecution  of  the  missionary  enterprize, 
and  his  life  was  not  altogether  undisturbed  by  controversy.  He  died  on 
the  22d  of  May,  1824,  after  an  illness  of  only  a  week,  in  the  sixty-second 
year  of  his  age.     His  last  words  told  of  the  peace  and  triumph  of  his  spirit. 

Dr.  Holcombe  was  the  father  of  ten  children, — seven  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Three  of  his  sons  died'in  infancy,  and  four  sons  with  the  three 
daughters  survived  him.  His  elder  sons  were  engaged  in  commercial  pur- 
suits, and  the  youngest  was  a  practising  physician.  Mrs.  Holcombe  died  at 
Philadelphia,  October  20,  1827. 

The  following  are  Dr.  Holcombe's  publications : — A  Discourse  on  the 
Sovereignty  and  Unchangeableness  of  the  Deity,  1790.  A  Sermon  on 
Isaiah  liii.  1 ;  containing  a  Brief  Illustration  and  Defence  of  the  Doctrines 
commonly  called  Calvinistic.  Preached  before  the  Charleston  Association 
of  Baptist  Churches,  1791.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  Mr. 
Charles  Bealer,  who  cheerfully  resigned  his  soul  to  God,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  1793.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  Lieutenant 
General  George  Washington,  late  President  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica, who  was  born  February  11,  1732,  in  Virginia,  and  died  December  14, 
1799,  on  Mount  Vernon,  his  favourite  seat,  in  his  native  country.  First 
delivered  in  tlie  Baptist  Church,  Savannah,  Ga.,  and  now  published  at  the 
request  of  the  Honourable  City  Council,  1800.  The  First  Fruits,  in  a 
series  of  Lettei:s,  1812.  The  whole  Truth  relating  to  the  Controversy 
betwixt  the  American  Baptists,  1820. 


HENRY  HOLCOMBE.  219 


FROM  THE  HON.  JOSEPH  R.  CHANDLER. 

PuiLADKLPHiA,  January  2o,  1849. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  Dr.  Holcombe  is  one  of  the  friends  of  my  earHer  days, 
whose  memory  I  still  cherish  with  an  allectionatc  and  reverential  regard.  It 
gives  mc  pleasure,  therefore,  to  comply  with  your  request,  in  giving  you  my 
impressions  of  his  character. 

lie  was  in  a  high  degree  a  positive  man:  he  had  fixed  views,  and  could  not 
relinquish  thcni  from  motives  of  mere  expediency.  He  had  the  ability  to 
enforce  these  views,  and,  as  there  was  nothing  selfish  in  the  composition  of  his 
mind,  it  was  not  strange  that  a  vast  number  sliould  follow  his  teaching.  Of 
course,  many  who  stood  upon  the  general  platform  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
dissented  from  him;  but  such  a  man,  whether  his  sphere  be  politics  or  religion, 
is  sure  to  be  surrounded  by  hearty,  devoted  friends.  And  Dr.  Holcombe, 
while  he  had  the  respect  of  all  Christians  who  knew  him,  either  personally  or 
by  his  writings,  was  cherished  by  a  verj'  large  congregation  of  admiring 
hearers,  with  an  affection  which  no  man  of  yielding  or  negative  character  can 
ever  hope  to  enjoy. 

Dr.  Holcombe's  earnestness  in  whatever  he  deemed  right  in  itself  and  profit- 
able to  others,  manifested  itself  in  his  professional  relations  with  his  congre- 
gation, to  whom  he  preached  with  exceeding  plainness;  shunning  not  to  declare 
what  he  considered  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  whatever  might  be  the  effect  of 
that  truth  upon  himself  or  others. 

His  style  of  address,  thougli  plain,  Avas  impressive;  and  his  discourses, 
without  being  marked  by  evidence  of  art,  or  of  that  labour  which  is  apparent 
in  the  sermons  of  many,  showed  a  clear  understanding  of  the  subject  he  dis- 
cussed. Thej^  were  intended  to  be  eminently  practical:  he  loved  especially  to 
show  how  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  affected,  restrained  and  influenced  the 
practice  of  Christians.  And  he  was  careful,  while  he  persuaded  men  to  virtue, 
to  present  to  them  those  great  vital  principles  upon  which  virtue,  to  be  stable, 
must  be  based. 

Dr.  Holcombe  did  not  seek  controversy.  The  relations  in  which  ho  stood  to 
some  of  the  public  efforts  of  his  own  denomination,  brought  him  into  occa- 
sional collision ;  and  he  used  his  pen  and  the  press  in  the  defence  of  what 
seemed  to  him  right,  and  the  exposure  of  what  he  considered  wrong,  in  such 
cases,  with  the  same  zeal  and  efficiency  that  alwa3's  distinguished  the  exercise 
of  his  powers  whenever  they  were  called  into  action.  He  was  a  forceful, 
pungent  writer,  seizing  upon  the  strong  points  of  the  question  at  issue,  and 
presenting  them  in  the  clearest  light.  Of  course  a  Christian  divine,  like  Dr. 
Holcombe,  would  not  violate  gentlemanly  proprieties  in  any  discussion;  but 
if  his  assailants  did,  they  and  others  Avere  soon  made  sensible  of  the  error. 

In  1822,  Dr.  Holcombe  openly  proclaimed  from  his  pulpit  the  belief  to  which 
he  had  attained,  that  War  is  inconsistent  with  the  doctrines  and  requirements 
of  Christianity,  and  that  it  was  time  for  Christian  Men,  Christian  Associa- 
tions, and  Christian  Nations,  to  proclaim  such  a  principle,  and  illustrate  it  by 
their  example. 

This  was  a  startling  subject,  and  for  a  time  it  created  some  uneasiness  among 
the  members  of  his  church,  many  of  whom  had,  like  himself,  shared  in  the  toils 
and  sacrifices  of  a  military  life  in  defending  the  Declaration  of  the  Nation's 
Independence.  And,  at  that  juncture,  the  peculiar  aspect  of  the  Presidential 
canvass  rendered  the  new  Peace  doctrines  not  altogether  palatable  to  a  portion 
of  the  community.  Dr.  H.,  however,  preached  openly  what  he  considered  the 
truth.  But  he  paused  on  the  truth.  lie  did  not  denounce  those  who  could 
not  see  as  he  saw.     He  persuaded  a  large  proportion  of  the  church,  and  many 


220  BAPTIST. 

of  the  congregation,  to  become  members  of  a  Peace  Society;  but  he  never 
allowed  a  (lifferencc  of  opinion  on  that  subject  to  work  between  him  and  his 
people  any  diminution  of  affection  or  intercourse. 

Dr.  llolcombe  was  a  Christian  patriot.  In  his  early  life  he  presented  to  liis 
country  tliose  services  which  she  most  needed,  and  which  he  then  believed  it 
his  duty  to  otfer.  In  later  years,  with  maturer  intellect,  he  thouj;,ht  it  his 
duty  to  serve  his  country  by  hastening  the  fullilmcnt  of  the  Gospel  promises  of 
Peace  on  earth.  And  however  men  may  have  differed  from  him  in  these  views, 
there  was  none  to  impeach  his  motives,  to  doubt  his  sincerity,  or  to  suspect 
that  his  advocacy  of  Peace  was  less  the  effect  of  a  well  conducted  inquiry  than 
the  love  of  quiet  which  age  begets.  Those  who  knew  him  knew  well  that  tlie 
wonted  fire  of  youth  animated  his  latest  years,  and  that  he  was  as  impulsive 
for  good  at  sixty  as  at  twenty-one.  Not  a  feeling  influenced  his  patriotism  in 
the  Revolutionary  army,  that  was  not  acknowledged  in  his  latest  ministry. 
He  loved  his  country,  and  always  sought  and  prayed  for  her  honour.  One 
anecdote  will  illustrate  both  his  feelings  and  his  judgment. 

While  sitting  with  some  friends,  chiefly  officers  with  himself  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Peace  Society,  a  gentleman  came  into  the  parlour,  who,  in  answer  to 
an  inquiry  of  "  What  is  the  news  " — mentioned  a  report  that  a  Spanish  sloop- 
of-war  had  met  one  of  the  smaller  vessels  of  the  United  States'  Nav}',  and, 
after  the  Spanish  officer  had  used  some  indecorous  language,  he  fired  into  the 
American  vessel.  "  Ah,"  exclaimed  Dr.  Holcombe,  with  great  earnestness, 
<«  and  what  did  the  American  Commander  do  ?"  "  The  papers  say,"  answered 
the  informant,  "  that  the  American  Commander,  seeing  that  his  vessel  was 
much  smaller  than  the  assailant,  sent  word  to  the  Spanish  Captain  that  ho 
should  consider  himself  a  prisoner  of  war."  "  Did  he  ?"  asked  Dr.  II.  with 
a  look  of  contempt,  mingled  with  a  little  anger, — "  did  an  American  do  that  ?" 
And  he  rose  from  his  chair, — his  almost  gigantic  form  dilating  with  the  idea 
of  insult  to  his  country, — "  Did  he  do  that  ?  I  would  have  sunk  the  Spaniard 
to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  That  is,"  continued  the  good  man,  as  he  looked 
round  and  saw  a  little  surprise  settle  on  the  faces  of  a  part  of  his  auditors,  or 
as  the  impulse  of  the  Patriot  gave  way  to  the  judgment  of  the  Christian, — 
<<  that  is,  [  would,  if  I  were  not  a  man  of  Peace." 

Wliile  Dr.  Holcombe  lived,  he  illustrated  the  beauty  of  every  doctrine  he 
professed  and  preached.  His  life  was  one  great  self-denial, — that  is,  it  was  a 
self-denial,  unless  it  were  his  pleasure  to  give  all  he  obtained,  and  to  give  up  all 
he  might  have  obtained,  for  the  benefit  of  others.  And  when  he  closed  his 
labours  with  his  life,  then  first  his  friends  knew  how  much  of  self  he  devoted 
to  others. 

To  give  abundantly  from  a  great  abundance  is  good,  and  the  blessings  of 
those  who  arc  the  recipients  must  reward  the  charity.  But  that  charity 
which  deprives  the  giver  of  the  means  of  many  comforts,  which  bestows  all 
to-day  upon  the  needy,  and  looks  that  to-morrow  shall  bring  its  own  sup- 
ply,— that  charity  is  indeed  an  illustration  of  the  doctrines  of  the  great  Master 
of  Christianity,  and  denotes  a  faith  in  the  promises  of  his  Cospel. 

With  assurances  of  hearTy  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness,  I  am, 
Rev.  Sir, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

JOSEPH  R.  CHANDLER. 


JOSEPn  GRAFTON.  221 

JOSEPH  GRAFTON  * 

1784— 183G. 

Joseph  Grafton  was  l)orn  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  June  9,  17.'^7.  His 
parents  were  natives  of  Salem,  Mass.,  and  were  honest  and  industrious 
people.  His  father,  William  Grafton,  was  a  mariner,  and,  for  several 
years,  commanded  a  vessel  in  the  West  India  trade.  At  the  age  of  about 
fifty,  he  relinquished  the  sea,  removed  to  Providence,  and  devoted  himself 
to  the  business  of  sail-making.  His  son  Joseph  was,  at  this  time,  about 
ten  years  old. 

The  advantages  for  education  in  Providence  were  then  quite  limited  ;  atid 
the  father  of  young  Grafton,  with  his  moderate  means,  was  able  to  keep  his 
son  at  school  only  till  he  was  about  fourteen.  Having  been  taught  only 
the  elementary  branches,  he  was  now  initiated  into  his  father's  business  ; 
and,  as  this  occupation  brought  him  into  frequent  contact  with  sailors,  he 
soon  began  to  show  himself  an  imitator  of  their  vices.  His  mother,  who 
was  a  serious  woman,  often  catechized  and  instructed  her  children  ;  but 
her  efforts  seem  not  to  have  permanently  impressed  his  mind.  Though 
he  sometimes  had  momentary  apprehensions  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  a  sin- 
ful life,  he  continued  in  the  main  indifferent  to  religion  until  he  had  reached 
his  eighteenth  year. 

About  this  time, — in  the  latter  part  of  1774  and  the  beginning  of  1775, 
an  extensive  revival  of  religion  prevailed  in  Providence,  chiefly  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  llev.  Joseph  Snow,  and 
in  the  Baptist  Church,  then  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  James 
Manning.  The  former  of  these  churches,  Mr.  Grafton,  with  his  parents, 
usually  attended.  When  the  revival  had  been  in  progress  some  months, 
he  was  aroused  to  a  deep  sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  his  need  of  an 
interest  in  the  great  salvation ;  and,  after  two  or  three  weeks  of  extreme 
anxiety  and  distress,  his  mind  became  not  only  tranquil  but  joyful,  and  he 
found  himself  adoring  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  in  every  thing 
around  him,  even  before  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  had  been  the  subject 
of  any  spiritual  change.  Having  given  himself  sufficient  time  to  test  the 
character  of  his  own  feelings,  he  united  with  the  Congregational  Church  in 
Providence,  which  was  of  a  somewhat  mixed  character,  many  of  the  mem- 
bers, being,  to  a  great  extent,  Baptist  in  their  opinions,  but  choosing  this 
church  on  account  of  not  being  prepared  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of 
Strict  Communion,  liefore  taking  this  step,  however,  he  examined  the 
Scriptures  in  respect  to  Baptism,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  imnu-r- 
sion  is  the  only  mode,  and  believers  the  only  legitimate  subjects,  of  that 
ordinance.     And  thus  he  was  baptized. 

It  became  now  a  serious  question  with  Mr.  Grafton  in  what  way  he  could 
best  serve  the  Master  to  whose  honour  he  had  consecrated  himself.  The 
War  of  the  Revolution  was  just  commencing,  and  most  of  the  young  men 
around  him  became  connected  with  the  array  ;  but  he  only  performed  his 
quota  of  military  duty,  when    called    upon.     By  this    means  he    was  pre- 

•  Mem.  by  Dr.  Smith. — Fun.  Scrm.  by  Dr.  Sharp. 


222  BAPTIST. 

served  from  man}'  temptations  to  which  he  would  otherwise  have  been 
exposed,  and  which  might  possibly  have  given  a  different  ultimate  direction 
to  his  life.  Amidst  all  the  excitement  of  the  times,  the  great  question 
that  was  constantly  urging  itself  upon  his  conscience,  was,  what  the  Lord 
would  have  him  to  do  ;  and  when  the  thought  occurred  to  him  that  'possihly 
it  might  be  his  duty,  at  some  future  time,  to  preach  the  Gospel,  he  felt 
entirely  disinclined  to  it,  on  the  ground  that  neither  his  abilities  nor  acqui- 
sitions were  adequate  to  so  responsible  an  office.  Still,  however,  his  mind 
was  not  at  rest ;  and  he  became  at  length  so  deeply  impressed  with  the 
idea  that  it  was  his  duty  to  enter  the  ministry,  that  he  was  actually  medi- 
tating the  incipient  steps  for  qualifying  himself;  but,  as  unexpected  ol^sta- 
cles  were  now  thrown  in  his  way,  he  regarded  this,  for  the  time,  as  a  deci- 
sive indication  of  Providence  that  his  duty  lay  in  a  different  direction. 
The  consequence  of  this,  in  connection  with  the  unpropitious  state  of  things 
that  existed  around  him,  was,  that  his  mind  seemed  to  lose,  in  a  great 
degree,  its  spiritual  sensibility,  and  to  settle  too  much  upon  the  objects  and 
interests  of  the  world. 

Under  these  circumstances,  he  was  married,  on  the  12th  of  December, 
1779,  to  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Barnard  Eddy,  who  died  while  he  was  on  his 
way  to  join  the  Northern  army,  in  the  year  1776.  This  event  seemed  to 
have  fixed  his  lot  in  a  private  station  for  life.  But,  shortly  after  this,  the 
subject  of  his  entering  the  ministry  was  again  urged  upon  his  consideration 
by  the  Deacons  of  the  church  with  which  he  was  connected,  and  they 
finally  induced  him  to  consent  to  the  appointment  of  a  meeting  of  the 
church,  that  he  might  preach  before  them,  and  give  them  an  opportunity 
to  judge  of  his  qualifications.  The  result  of  this  effort  was  that  the 
church  decided  at  once  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach,  and  gave  him  their 
approbation  in  so  doing.  He  was,  however,  reluctant  to  yield  to  their 
judgment,  and  compounded  the  matter  by  preaching  occasionally,  and  at 
the  same  time  attending  to  his  secular  business. 

While  he  was  in  this  indecisive  state  of  mind,  he  was  overtaken  with  a 
succession  of  severe  afHictions.  In  May,  1783,  he  lost  the  eldest  of  his 
two  children,  and,  a  few  weeks  after,  the  other  followed  ;  and  both  were 
followed  by  their  mother,  a  person  of  great  excellence,  within  less  than  a 
year  afterwards.  Even  these  events  do  not  seem  to  have  roused  hini  from 
the  state  of  spiritual  languor  into  which  he  had  previously  fallen  ;  and 
God  had  still  further  trials  in  store  for  him.  In  July,  1784,  he  was 
seized  with  bleeding  at  the  lungs  ;  and  such  was  the  violence  of  the  attack 
as  to  leave  but  little  hope  of  his  recovery.  In  this  state  he  severely 
reproached  himself  for  having  been  so  unwilling  to  listen  to  the  Provi- 
dence of  God,  calling  him,  as  he  then  believed,  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry.  Contrary  to  his  own  expectations  and  those  of  his  friends,  he 
gradually  recovered  his  health,  and  immediately  surrendered  himself  to  the 
claims  which  he  believed  the  Church,  and  the  Head  of  the  Church,  made 
upon  him. 

Having  now  received  from  the  church  to  which  he  belonged  a  full 
license  to  preach,  he  devoted  himself,  thenceforth,  entirely  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry.  He  laboured  at  first,  for  some  time,  at  a  place  called  lleho- 
both  Neck.     Afterwards,  he  preached  by  invitation  at  Plainfield,  Conn., 


JOSEPH  GRAFTON.  223 

to  a  congregation  of  Separates,  where  he  continued  fifteen  months. 
During  his  residence  with  this  churth,  liis  mind  became  exercised  on  the 
terms  of  eoinmuniun  ;  and  tlie  result  of  his  in((uiries  was  a  full  conviction 
that  he  had  liithcrto  stood  on  unscriptural  ground.  In  the  year  1787,  he 
asked  a  dismission  from  the  church  with  which,  for  twelve  years,  he  had 
been  connected,  and  joined  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence. 

Having  thus  changed  his  ecclesiastical  relations,  he  immediatcdy  received 
an  invitation  to  preach  to  the  Baptist  church  in  Hampton,  Conn.,  where  he 
laboured  several  months.  During  his  stay,  there  existed  a  more  than  ordinary 
attention  to  religion  among  the  people,  and  they  twice  formally  invited  him 
to  settle  over  them ;  but  he  thought  proper  to  decline  the  invitation. 

The  Baptist  Church  in  Newton,  Mass.,  being  rendered  vacant  by  the 
removal  of  the  Rev.  Caleb  Blood,  solicited  Mr.  Grafton  to  preach  to  them 
as  a  candidate  ;  and,  after  hearing  him  a  suitable  time,  they  invited  him 
to  become  their  Pastor.  He  accepted  their  call,  and  was  ordained  on  the 
18th  of  June,  1788, — the  sermon  on  the  occasion  being  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Stanford  of  Providence.  He  addressed  himself  now,  with 
great  vigour,  not  only  to  his  public  labours  but  to  his  private  studies ;  and 
he  was  not  a  little  facilitated  in  the  hitter  by  having  access  to  two  or  three 
excellent  libraries  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Here  Mr.  Grafton  continued  to  labour  with  untiring  zeal,  and  with 
encouraging  success,  for  nearl}'  half  a  century.  The  church  was  favoured 
with  frequent  revivals  of  religion  during  his  ministry,  and  seems  to  have 
had  a  sound  and  vigorous  growth.  The  whole  number  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion during  the  period  of  his  Pastorship  was  five  hundred  and  fifty-four. 
Mr.  Grafton  received  numerous  testimonies  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  his  brethren  and  the  public  at  large.  He  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  from  1815  to 
1825,  and,  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  President.  He  was  appointed 
on  the  Committee  of  the  Evangelical  Tract  Society,  in  1817,  and  was 
Trustee  of  the  same  from  1823  to  1829.  In  the  early  history  of  the 
Baptist  General  Convention  for  Foreign  Missions,  he  was  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee for  the  Northern  section  of  the  Union  to  examine  candidates  for 
missionary  labour.  He  was  Vice-President  of  the  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  for  Boston  and  vicinity,  being  elected  several  tin)es,  suc- 
cessively, for  the  space  of  three  years  each,  from  the  year  1819.  In  1826, 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Newton  Theo- 
logical Institution.  He  was  President,  successively,  of  the  Norfolk  County 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  of  the  Middlesex  and  Norfolk  County 
Missionary  Society.  He  preached  the  Annual  Sermon  of  the  Warren 
Association  at  Middlcborough  in  1799,  and  of  the  Boston  Association  in 
1815,  and  was  Moderator  of  the  latter  in  1822  and  1826. 

Mr.  Grafton  was  thrice  married.  He  was  married  to  his  second  wife, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Sally  Robinson,  not  far  from  the  time  of  his 
settlement  at  Newton.  She  had  seven  children,  and  died  on  the  15th  of 
June,  1804,  aged  forty-one.  His  third  wife — Hannah  Parker — died  on 
the  26th  of  January,  1835,* aged  seventy-three. 

Mr.  Grafton  was,  for  many  years  previous  to  his  death,  subject  to  severe 
nervous  attacks,  which,  in  connection  with  the  growing  infirmities  of  age, 


224  BAPTIST. 

led  him  often  to  look  forward  to  the  close  of  his  labours.  In  July,  1835, 
he  requested  his  church  to  release  him  from  the  responsibilities  of  the 
pastoral  office,  that  they  might  avail  themselves  of  the  labours  of  a  young 
and  vigorous  minister,  who  might  more  eflfectually  serve  their  spiritual 
interests.  This  proposed  arrangement,  accordingly,  took  effect ;  and 
another  minister  was  soon  after  settled,  though  Mr.  Grafton's  occasional 
services  were  always  thankfully  accepted.  During  the  winter  of  1835-36, 
he  was  confined  to  his  chamber  by  illness ;  but  he  recovered  with  the  open- 
ing of  summer,  so  as  to  be  able  to  visit  his  friends,  both  in  and  out  of  his 
congregation.  The  Church  and  Society  had  been  engaged  in  building  a 
new  house  of  worship ;  and,  as  it  was  nearly  ready  for  occupancy,  it  was 
arranged  that,  on  the  third  Sabbath  in  December,  they  should  take  their 
leave  of  the  old  house,  and  that  their  venerable  Pastor  should  preach  on 
the  occasion.  But  it  turned  out  that  the  last  public  service  in  the  house 
was  the  Funeral  service  of  the  Pastor  himself.  He  had,  for  some  time, 
been  uncommonly  vigorous  in  both  mind  and  body.  The  first  two  Sab- 
baths in  December  he  spent  in  Roxbury,  preaching  twice  on  each  Sabbath. 
He  was  not  as  well  as  usual  when  he  left  Pioxbury,  and,  on  reaching 
home,  became  seriously  ill,  though  he  seems  not  at  once  to  have  appre- 
hended a  fatal  issue.  He  lingered  about  two  days,  partly  in  an  uncon- 
scious state,  and  partly  in  the  exercise  of  an  intelligent  and  serene 
confidence  in  his  Redeemer,  and  died  on  the  16th  of  December,  1836,  aged 
seventy-nine  years.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Hev.  Dr. 
Sharp  of  Boston,  and  was  afterwards  published,  in  connection  with  a 
Memoir  of  Mr.  Grafton's  life. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Grafton's  publications : — A  Sermon  occa- 
sioned by  the  Death  of  Jonathan  Shepard,  James  Ward,  and  Michael 
Bright,  who  died  of  small-pox,  1792.  A  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  his 
(laugliter,  Miss  Sally  Grafton,  1802.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Richardson,  1804.  A  Sermon  exhibiting  the  Origin, 
Progress,  and  Present  State  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in  Newton, 
1830. 

Besides  the  above,  Mr.  Grafton  printed  a  few  shorter  pieces,  as  Let- 
ters, Brief  Addresses,  &c. 

FROM   PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  GAMMELL, 

OF    BROWN    UNIVERSITY. 

Providence,  .Taniiary  20,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  From  the  year  1811  to   1828,  my  father,    the   Rev.  William 

Gammell,*  was  settled  aa^  Baptist  minister  in  the  town  of  Medfield,  Mass. 

The  clergymen  of  his  denomination  who  were  settled  nearest  to  him, — though 

at  distances  which   seemed  by  no  means  inconsiderable, — with  whose  names 

*AViLLi AM  Gammell  was  born  in  Boston,  .Tanuary  9,  1786.  His  parents  wcro  Unitarians, 
and  were  connected  with  the  Federal  Street  Congregational  Chnreh.  In  1805,  be  was  baptized 
by  Dr.  Stillnian,  and  united  with  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  His  acadeniiciil  educa- 
tion was  at  the  Boston  schools,  and  his  theological  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  William  Wil- 
liams, of  AVrenthani.  His  first  engagement  for  supplying  a  pulpit  was  at  Bellingham,  Mass.. 
where  he  was  ordained  in  1809.  The  next  year,  he  removed  to  Medfield,  where  he  continued 
the  Pastor  of  a  prosperous  church,  gathered  from  sc\cral  adjoining  towns,  till  Augnst,  182.% 
when  he  removed  to  Newport,  K.  I.,  and  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in 
that  town.  Here  he  continued,  growing  in  reputation  and  usefulness,  until  the  ;',l)th  of  May, 
1827,  when  he  died,  suddenly,  of  apoplexy,  in  his  forty-second  year.     In  1817,  he  received  the 


JOSEril  GRAFTON.  225 

and  persons  my  boyhood  was  most  familiar,  were  Rev.  William  Williams  of 
Wrcntham,  Rev.  Abial  rishor  of  r>ollinghain,  Rev.  Charles  Train  of  Fram- 
ingham,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Crafton  of  Newton.  I  recall  them  all  as  they 
appeared  at  my  Aither's  house — the  outlines  of  their  persons  and  manners 
still  lina;er  with  singular  vividness  in  my  imagination.  They  were  all  pious 
and  intelligent  men,  who,  in  an  humble  sphere,  laboured  with  unremitting  zeal 
in  the  ministry  of  the  (!ospcl.  Two  of  them  at  least  had  been  educated  at 
(JoUegc — Mr.  Train  having  graduated  at  Cambridge,  in  1805,  and  Mr.  Williams 
at  the  College  of  Rhode  Island,  in  17G9, — the  ilrst  class  that  appears  on  the 
College  Catalogue.  They  were  all  earnest  friends  of  a  high  education,  uncom- 
promising advocates  of  entire  religious  freedom,  and,  according  to  their  abil- 
ity, in  their  respective  spheres,  they  were  zealous  promoters  of  every  interest 
of  society  and  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  period  in  question  was  that  in 
which  the  Societies  of  the  Baptist  denomination  for  promoting  Domestic  and 
Foreign  ^lissions,  and  Ministerial  Education,  had  their  origin.  Most  of  the 
meetings  of  these  neighbouring  clergymen  with  which  I  was  familiar  in  boy- 
hood, were  probably  designed  to  advance  these  interests  of  their  humble  com- 
munion. They  were  occasions  of  unusual  interest  to  the  younger  members  of 
the  minister's  family,  to  whom  these  well  known  and  respected  visiters 
appeared  to  stand  in  the  familiar  relation  of  grandsires  and  uncles,  according 
to  their  several  ages.  I  well  remember  the  warm  personal  regard,  and  the 
reciprocal  sympathy  in  each  others'  fortunes,  which  they  always  manifested, 
and  also  how  much  their  conversation,  to  which  1  Avas  often  an  eager  listener, 
turned  upon  the  trials  which  they  experienced  in  con.sequence  of  the  unfriendly 
public  sentiment  which  existed  around  them. 

From  this  little  circle  of  excellent  Christian  ministers,  no  single  form,  after 
that  of  my  own  father,  comes  back  to  my  memory  with  a  distinctness  so 
marked  and  life-like  as  that  of  my  father's  venerated  friend,  Rev.  Joseph 
Crafton,  of  Newton.  He  was,  I  think,  next  to  Mr.  Williams,  the  oldest  of 
them  all;  but  he  was  also,  without  exception,  the  sprightliest  and  wittiest  in 
his  conversation,  and  on  this  account,  the  most  interesting  family  visiter  in 
the  estimation  of  the  children.  In  dress  he  Avas  extremely  neat,  and  in  person 
perhaps  somewhat  below  the  average  stature;  but  of  a  tirm,  compact  frame, 
and  unusually  flexible,  easv  and  quick  in  all  his  movements.  He  had  long 
resided  at  Newton,  near  Boston,  and  had  there  a  larger  acquaintance  and  a 
freer  intcrcour.-^e  with  both  ministers  and  laymen  of  other  denominations  than 
would  have  been  practicable  even  for  his  social  and  genial  nature  in  the  severer 
and  less  intelligent  neighbourhood  of  Medlield  and  its  border  towns.  His  eye 
was  dark  and  unusually  expressive,  and  in  its  quick  flashes,  whether  in  the 
pulpit  or  at  the  fireside,  there  beamed  forth  a  deep,  spiritual  intelligence  and 
sincerity;  while  the  tones  of  his  musical  and  Avell  modulated  voice  did  not 
fail  to  enlist  the  attention  of  all  who  heard  him  speak,  whether  in  public  or 
in  private.  His  conversation,  though  I  think  not  copious,  abounded  in  anec- 
dote, as  I  presume  his  preaching  did  also.  I  doubt  not  those  who  knew  him 
well  could  relate  many  an  interesting  incident,  touching  his  method  of  playing 
with  words  and  thoughts,  and  of  illustrating  the  peculiarities  of  individual 
character,  or  embodying  the  maxims  of  wisdom  and  the  doctrines  of  religion. 
His  education  must  have  been  limited,  but  his  experience  in  the  world  had 
given  him  a  large  acquaintance  with  human  nature,  and  taught  him  how  to 
interpret  its  mysteries,  conciliate  its  prejudices,  and  display  its  motives  in  the 
light  of  religious   truth.     His  reading,  too,  though   not  extensive,  must  have 

honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Brown  University,  and  in  1820  was  elected  to  ita 
Board  of  Trustees.  He  published  a  .Sermon  delivered  on  the  death  of  a  parishioner,  and  con- 
tributed largely  to  some  of  the  periodicals  of  his  day.  lie  was  a  highly  acceptalile  preacher, 
and  an  earnest  friend  of  every  object  connected  with  the  extension  of  Christianity. 

Vol.  VI.  20 


226  BAPTIST. 

been  among  good  books;  for  bis  language  was  pure  and  without  pretension, 
and  his  general  style  of  discourse  such  as  could  seldom  be  secured  by  an 
acquaintance  only  with  the  theological  standards  of  that  day.  How  he  would 
now  be  ranked  as  a  preacher  or  as  an  intellectual  man  I  am  wholly  unable  to 
form  an  opinion.  I  recall  him  only  as  he  appeared  at  a  period  of  my  life,  when 
my  judgments  of  men  were  immature,  and  my  standards  of  character  Avholly 
unformed.  I  associate  his  image  with  that  of  my  father,  as  one  of  the  most 
venerable  in  the  circle  of  his  clerical  brethren  and  friends,  and  one  whose 
sympathies  he  largely  shared,  and  whose  counsels  he  often  sought.  I  seldom 
saw  him  after  my  own  childhood  had  passed  awaj'';  but  he  remains  most  dis- 
tinctly in  my  memory,  as  one  of  those  who  gave  me  my  earliest  conception 
of  the  character  of  a  Christian  minister,  in  which  were  gracefully  blended 
good  breeding  without  worldliness,  wit  without  levity,  sincere  piety  without 
austerity^         I  remain,  my  dear  Sir,  with  much  regard. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

WILLIAM  GAMMELL. 

FROM  THE  KEY,  SAMUEL  F.  SMITH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Centre,  Mass.,  April  10,  1855. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  About  five  years  subsequent  to  the  death  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Grafton,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Newton,  I  came  to  the 
Pastorate  of  the  same  church,  and  continued  to  fulfil  its  duties  for  twelve  and 
a  half  years.  From  my  earliest  intercourse  with  the  people,  I  found  that  the 
memory  of  the  revered  old  man,  who  had  led  parents,  and  children,  and 
children's  children,  to  Heaven,  was  exceedingly  fragrant.  Scarcely  a  day 
passed  in  my  parochial  visits,  on  which  I  did  not  hear  some  agreeable  recol- 
lection of  him.  The  aged  <lclighted  to  live  over  again  the  scenes  of  his  early 
ministry,  and  their  early  Christian  experience,  and  gave  me,  from  day  to  day, 
accounts  of  the  methods  of  his  preaching  and  his  pastoral  labours,  or  anec- 
dotes illustrative  of  his  character  and  spirit.  The  fathers  and  the  mothers 
spoke,  as  eye  and  ear  had  witnessed;  and  the  children  narrated  what  they 
had  heard  and  loved  to  hear  of  the  venerated  friend  of  his  people,  from  their 
cradles  upward.  Manj-  anecdotes,  which  exhibit  the  good  man  in  the  unem- 
barrassed freeness  of  an  afiectionate  and  cheerful  life,  I  have  heard  from  seve- 
ral independent  sources,  but  always  substantially  the  same.  These  anecdotes 
I  prized  as  indices  of  the  social  and  intellectual  character  of  the  man,  in  some 
respects  superior  to  any  set  discourse,  weighing  and  registering  his  mental 
power  and  friendlj^  spirit.  I  do  not  think  that  I  can  better  fall  in  with  the 
spirit  of  your  request  than  by  detailing  a  few  of  these  anecdotes,  illustrative 
of  different  points  of  Mr.  Grafton's  character. 

His  preaching  was  often  characterized  by  great  aptness,  and  sometimes  by 
expressions  that  would  excite  a  smile.  He  once  preached  the  Annual  Sermon 
before  the  old  Massachusetts  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  and  took  for  his 
text,  Matthew  xvii.  2G,_27.  At  the  close  of  his  sermon,  as  there  was  to  be  a 
collection  in  aid  of  tbe  funds  of  the  Society,  he  said, — <<  And  now  let  every 
gentleman  feel  in  his  pocket,  and  every  lady  in  her  purse,  and  see  if  there  be 
not  there  a  piece  of  money,  as  there  was  in  the  mouth  of  Peter's  fish."  The 
archness  and  naivet6  M'ith  wbich  this  was  said,  produced  general  gratifica- 
tion, and  secured  a  handsome  donation  to  the  funds  of  the  Society. 

In  preaching  a  Charity  Sermon,  he  once  remarked  that  some  persons  are 
always  ready  to  give  wbcn  the}-  arc  asked;  but  they  are  governed  by  impure 
motives,  hoping  for  some  sort  of  recompense.  He  said  they  were  willing  to 
cast  their  bread  upon  tbe  waters,  but  they  were  careful  to  have  a  string  tied 
to  it,  that  they  might  be  secure  of  drawing  it  back. 


JOSEPH  GRAFTON.  227 

He  spent  little  time  in  his  stiul}-,  but  a  great  deal  in  pastoral  visitation. 
There  was  scarcely  a  day  when  he  did  not  ride  abroad  to  see  some  of  his 
parishioners.  Much  of  his  preparation  for  the  pulpit  was  conducted  in  his 
chaise.  Sometimes,  when  riding  with  a  familiar  friend,  he  has  been  ol)served 
not  only  talking  out  the  plans  of  his  sermons,  but  actually  gesticulating,  as  if 
preaching  them  in  his  pulpit. 

In  the  old  meeting-house,  the  ancient  square  pews  were  generally  furnished 
with  one  or  two  chairs,  besides  the  permanent  seats  around  the  sides.  On  the 
Sabbath  noon, — most  of  the  families  remaining  during  the  intermission,  and 
bringing  their  lunch  with  them, — the  box  of  provisions  was  placed  in  a  chair 
in  the  middle,  and  all  the  family  helped  themselves.  Father  G.  uniformly 
remained  also,  but  brought  no  refreshment  with  him.  He  went  round,  how- 
ever, from  pew  to  pew,  taking  a  piece  of  pie  here,  and  of  cake  there,  and  an  apple 
from  another  place,  and  going  on,  eating  and  conversing  with  his  parishioners, 
like  another  Oberlin,  among  his  Alpine  flock.  At  a  suitable  opportunity,  all 
having  had  time  enough,  he  used  to  say, — "  Come,  friends,  it  is  time  to  go  to 
the  prayer-meeting;"  and  thus,  in  this  simple  and  primitive  way,  the  good 
old  man  went  in  and  out  among  his  people,  as  a  good  shepherd,  knowing  his 
sheep  and  known  of  them. 

He  was  very  social  in  his  disposition,  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  companion- 
ship of  friends.  On  Saturday  evening  he  had  been  conversing  with  a  number 
in  his  parlour,  until  eight  o'clock,  when  he  pleasantly  remarked,  alluding 
to  the  members  of  the  Theological  Institution,  that  he  had  now  a  learned  con- 
gregation to  preach  to,  and  must  withdraw  to  his  study  to  prepare  for  the 
Sabbath.  He  was  absent  only  about  twenty  minutes,  when,  yielding  to  the 
strong  temptation  below,  he  came  running  down  again,  and  spent  the  residue 
of  the  evening  in  friendly  chat. 

On  a  certain  occasion,  an  exchange  of  pulpits  had  been  arranged  by  him 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sharp;  but,  at  the  last  moment,  the  plan  was  unavoidably 
broken  up.  When  Mr.  Grafton  appeared  before  his  congregation,  he  explained 
the  circumstances  as  an  apology  for  his  want  of  preparation,  adding, — "  In 
music,  every  tune  is  either  a  sharp  or  a  flat;  a^nd  I  am  afraid  jon  will  have  a 
flat  to-day;" — playing  upon  the  name  of  Dr.  Sharp.  After  this  he  proceeded 
with  his  sermon. 

He  seemed  to  delight,  by  an  innocent  pleasantry,  to  awaken  expectations 
which  he  designed,  by  some  artful  turn  of  expression,  to  disappoint.  Thus, 
in  preaching  upon  Paul's  "thorn  in  the  flesh,"  he  stated  at  considerable 
length  the  opinion  of  several  commentators  as  to  the  question  what  the  thorn 
might  be.  To  close  up  all,  he  added, — "  And  now,  my  hearers,  you  may  per- 
haps wish  to  know  what  is  the  opinion  of  your  minister;  and  I  will  tell  you — 
when  Paul  tells  me." 

He  was  a  great  friend  to  singing-schools,  promoting  them,  when  they  were 
established  in  his  parish,  by  all  his  influence,  often  going  into  the  school  and 
showing  his  interest  by  some  kind  remarks.  One  winter,  Avhen  a  dancing 
school  in  the  place  drew  away  the  attention  of  the  young  people,  he  pleasantly 
imputed  the  prevention  of  the  singing-school  by  such  means  to  Satanic  agency, 
and  remarked  that   "  John,  the  Baptist,  lost  his  head  by  dancing." 

On  one  occasion  the  Rev.  ISIr.  B ,  the  Junior  Pastor  of  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church,  was  called  upon  to  immerse  three  candidates,  who  could  not 
be  satisfied  with  any  other  Baptism.  After  the  Baptism  of  the  first,  Fatlier 
(Jrafton  stepped  down  to  the  administrator,  and  "  instructed  him  in  the  way 
of  the  Lord  more  perfectly."  At  the  close  of  the  ceremony,  the  assembly 
were  beginning  to  disperse,  without  singing,  praying,  or  parting  blessing. 
Father  Grafton,  with  his  characteristic  aptness,  took  off  his  hat  and 
exclaimed,  in  allusioii  to  the  ordinance  just  witnessed,  and  expressing  his  joy 


228  BAPTIST. 

in  the  event, — <'  Lord,  it  is  done  as   thou  hast  commanded,  and  yet  there  is 
room;" — after  which  he  pronounced  the  Ajiostolic  benediction. 

He  had  a  deep  sense  of  un worthiness,  and  keenly  felt  the  little  kindnesses 
which  were  shown  to  him.  Being  once  at  the  house  of  a  friend  in  cold  weather, 
and  afire  having  been  kindled  in  his  chamber  for  his  comfort, — on  entering  the 
room,  he  walked  across  it  several  times  with  evident  emotion,  and  then,  speak- 
ing of  the  fire,  remarked, — "  I  am  not  deserving  of  this." 

The  late  Dr.  Benjamin  Shurtleff  of  Boston  was  informed  by  a  friend  that 
probablj"^  Father  Grafton,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  in  needy  circum- 
stances, and  that  a  benefaction  would  prove  very  acceptable  to  him.  Dr. 
Shurtleff,  soon  after,  meeting  the  venerable  minister  in  Washington  Street, 
Boston,  called  to  him,  inviting  him  to  his  chaise,  where  they  conversed  for  a 
considerable  time.  At  parting,  Dr.  S.  put  into  the  hand  of  Mr.  Grafton  a  roll 
of  bank-notes,  saying, — "  Perhaps  you  may  find  a  use  for  them."  Father  G., 
looking  up  with  one  of  his  arch  smiles,  replied  in  a  way  expressing  at  the  same 
time  his  gratitude  and  true  wit, — "  When  I  get  home  I  shall  tell  my  Master." 

Being  once  at  a  public  dinner,  where  he  was  much  annoyed  by  a  young 
gentleman  opposite  him,  who  scarcely  uttered  a  sentence  without  some 
profane  oath  attached  to  it,  he  rose  in  his  place,  and  exclaimed, — "  Mr.  Presi- 
dent." When  the  President  had  rapped  upon  the  table  with  his  knife,  pro- 
ducing silence,  and  calling  the  attention  of  the  guests,  Mr.  Grafton  said, — "  Sir, 
I  move  you  that  no  person  at  the  table  have  permission  to  utter  a  profane  oath, 
except  my  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Homer."  Such  was  the  mutual  intimacj^  of 
the  two  clergj^men,  and  so  well  established  was  the  character  of  Dr.  Homer 
for  piety,  that  no  offence  was  taken,  and  the  well  merited  reproof  had  its 
designed  effect. 

Within  the  circle  of  his  knowledge  was  a  person  distinguished  by  a  penuri- 
ous spirit.  He  was  gaining  wealth  by  degrees,  and  seemed  resolved  to  let 
nothing  go  out  of  his  hands,  particularly  for  any  charitable  or  religious  use. 
On  a  certain  time,  the  store  of  this  person  was  broken  open  and  robbed  of  a 
considerable  amount.  The  next  day,  Father  Grafton  called  to  condole  with 
the  man  in  regard  to  his  loss,  and,  in  his  witty  method,  remarked, — <'  What 
the  Lord  did'nt  get,  the  devil  did." 

A  clergyman  of  another  denomination,  for  a  long  time,  manifested  a  great 
curiosity  to  know  what  salary  Father  Grafton  received  from  his  people;  but 
the  old  gentleman  had  his  own  reasons  for  refusing  to  gratify  him.  On  one 
occasion,  he  took  the  liberty  to  a.sk  him  thfe  question  directly;  to  Avhich  he 
answered,  regarding  at  the  same  time  the  good  name  of  his  people,  and 
alluding  to  the  scantiness  of  his  support, — "  JMy  people  give  me  all  the}^  are 
able,  and  I  take  all  I  can  get." 

When  he  came  to  the  decline  of  life,  he  was  not  unconscious  of  the  ravages 
of  time  upon  him.  Even  in  those  respects  in  which  persons  are  not  so  readily 
sensible  of  their  own  decay,  he  felt  that  what  he  miglit  not  perceive  himself 
was  perceptible  by  others.  Dr.  Homer  once  asked  him  pleasantly, — '<  Brother 
Grafton,  what  is  the  reas^jn  that  there  are  now  no  old  people,  as  there  used 
to  be?  Where  are  the  old  people?"  Mr.  G.  perceived  the  hallucination  of  his 
venerable  friend,  and  replied, — "  Brother  Homer,  ask  the  young  people;  they 
will  tell  you." 

But  there  is  no  end  to  the  anecdotes  which  I  might  relate  concerning  Father 
Grafton.     The  above  probably  are  sufficient  for  your  purpose. 

With  best  wishes  for  your  success  in  perpetuating,  among  this  and  later 
generations,  the  memory  of  those  whom  God  honoured  in  earlier  days,  as  the 
means  of  adding  stars  to  Christ's  crown,  I  remain,  my  dear  Sir, 

Very  affectionately  yours, 

S.  F.  SMITH. 


STEPHEN    GANO.  229 

STEPHEN  GANO.=»^ 

178G— 1828. 

Stephen  Gano  was  the  third  son  of  the  llev.  John  and  Sarah  (Slitos) 
Gano,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  New-York,  on  the  25th  of  Deccniljer, 
1762, — his  father  being  at  that  time  Pastor  of  the  Gold  Street  liaptist 
Church.  His  early  advantages  for  education  were  the  be^twhicli  Iiis  fathor 
was  able  to  conimand.  It  was  fully  intended  that  he  should  take  the  regu- 
lar course  at  the  College  of  Rhode  Island,  of  which  his  uncle,  the  llev. 
Dr.  Manning,  was  then  President;  but,  in  consequence  of  the  troubles 
which  the  llevolutionary  War  brought  with  it,  his  father  found  it  impossi- 
ble to  carry  out  this  purpose  ;  and,  as  the  best  thing  he  could  do  for  his 
son,  then  thirteen  years  of  age,  placed  him  under  the  care  of  his  maternal 
uncle.  Dr.  Stites,  to  be  educated  for  the  medical  profession,  while  lie  hi  in- 
self  entered  the  army  as  a  Chaplain.  The  son,  having  at  length  made 
honourable  proficiency  in  his  studies,  and  being  also  very  anxious  to  enter 
the  public  service,  received  the  appointment  of  Surgeon.  His  mother,  who 
had  been  the  principal  agent  in  procuring  the  appointment  for  him,  having 
buckled  on  his  regimentals,  .said  to  him,  as  they  parte^I,  (concealing  her 
tears,)  "  My  son,  may  God  preserve  your  life  and  your  patriotism — tiie  one 
may  be  sacrificed  in  retaking  and  preserving  the  home  of  your  childhood  : 
but  never  let  me  hear  that  you  liave  forfeited  the  birth  right  of  a  freeman." 

Young  Gano  was  at  that  time  nineteen  years  old.  He  continued  in  the 
service  of  his  country  about  two  years,  and  then  retired  to  settle  as  a  I'liy- 
sician  in  Tappan,  now  Orangetown,  Rockland  County,  N,  Y., — having 
been  married,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1782,  to  Cornelia,  daughter  of  C;ipt. 
Josiah  Vavasor,  an  officer  in  the  English  Navy,  then  a  resident  of  New 
York  city.  In  1783,  one  year  after  ids  marriage,  he  became  hopefully 
pious,  and  soon  after  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  On  the  2d  of  August,  1786,  he  was  ordained  in  the 
Gold  Street  Church,  by  his  father,  Dr.  Manning,  and  some  other  clergymen. 
His  first  ministerial  labours  he  performed  in  the  character  of  a  missionary 
on  the  Hudson  ;  and  wherever  he  went,  his  preaching  awakened  a  deep 
interest.  He  was,  successively,  for  some  time,  the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  at  Hillsdale  and  at  Hudson.  At  the  latter  place  he  lost  his  wife 
by  death,  after  she  had  become  the  mother  of  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 
On  the  4th  of  August,  1789,  he  was  married  at  Stamford,  Conn.,  to  Polly, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Tallmailge,  father  of  the  late  Colonel  James  Tall- 
madge  of  the  city  of  New  York.  By  this  marriage  there  were  tlirec 
daughters  and  one  son. 

In  1702,  Dr.  Gano  received  a  unanimous  invitation  to  the  Pastorate  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence,  R.  I., — the  oldest  Baptist  Cliurch 
in  America.  This  call  he  accepted,  and  here,  in  the  faithful  and  acccplal)le 
discharge  of  his  ministerial  duties,  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
church   was    one  of  the    largest  in  the  countr}-,  and   few  enjoyed  more  fre- 

•  Memoir  in  connection  with  the  list  of  members  of  the  First  naptist  Church  in  Providence. — 
Dr.  Sharp  s  Fun.  Serm. — MS.  from  Rev.  Henry  Jiukson,  1>.  D. 


230  BAPTIST. 

(luciit  or  powerful  revivals.  The  years  which  were  signalized  by  the  largest 
additions  to  its  communion,  were  1793  and  '94,  1801,  '05,  '06,  '08,  '12, 
'16,  and  '20.  In  this  last  year,  the  number  added  by  Baptism  was  one 
hundred  and  forty-seven,  making  the  whole  number  of  communicants  six 
hundred  and  forty-eight. 

In  1797,  Dr.  Gi-ano  was  again  affiicted  by  the  death  of  his  wife.  On  the 
18th  of  July,  1799,  he  was  marrried  a  third  time  to  Mary,  daughter  of 
Professor  Joseph  Brown,  of  Brown  University.  She  was  spared  to  him  but 
a  very  short  time,  and  died,  leaving  one  daughter.  On  the  8th  of  October, 
1801,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Joanna  Latting,  of  Hillsdale,  N.  Y.,  who 
survived  him  many  years.  In  each  of  his  wives  he  found  a  companion 
eminently  suited  to  his  tastes,  and  an  efiicient  auxiliary  to  his  usefulness. 
At  his  death,  he  left  six  daughters,  four  of  whom  have  married  clergymen  : 
namely,  the  lie  v.  John  Ilolroyd,*  the  Bev.  Peter  Ludlow,  the  Rev.  David 
Benedict,   D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Jackson,   D.  D. 

Dr.  Gano  was  an  invalid  during  several  of  his  last  years  ;  but  he  con- 
tinued to  preach  until  within  about  three  months  of  his  death.  His  disease 
proved  to  be  a  dropsy  of  the  chest,  and  was  attended  with  the  most  acute 
physical  suffering.  But  his  confidence  in  his  Redeemer  was  so  strong  as  to 
disarm  death  of  terror,  and  to  enable  him  to  even  greet  its  approach  with 
a  joyful  welcome.  On  the  18th  of  August,  1828,  just  after  he  had  stated 
that  his  sky  was  without  a  cloud,  he  passed  gently  away,  with  a  cheerful 
smile  upon  his  countenance,  which  lingered  after  the  spirit  was  gone.  The 
event  was  immediately  made  known  by  the  tolling  of  the  city  bells,  and  the 
children  who  had  just  assembled  in  the  several  schools,  were  permitted,  out 
of  respect  to  his  memory,  to  retire.  His  Funeral  was  attended  on  the 
third  day  after,  by  an  immense  concourse,  and  with  every  demonstration  of 
affectionate  respect.  A  Sermon  appropriate  to  the  occasion  was  preached 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sharp  of  Boston. 

Dr.  Gano  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Brown 
University,  in  1800.  Though  he  usually  bore  the  title  of  Doctor,  it  was 
only  in  reference  to  his  having  been  in  the  medical  profession.  He  was 
one  of  the  Overseers  of  Brown  University  from  1794  till  his  death. 

Dr.  Gano  published  a  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Washington,  1800  ;  a 
'•Sermon  at  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Joshua  Bradley,  Newport,  ISOI  ;  a 
Sermon  at  the  Funeral  of  the  Rev.  Gardiner  Thurston,  Newport,  1802;  a 
Sermon  entitled  "  The  Christian  Crowned,"  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Snow,  Congregational  minister  of  Providence  ;  a  Sermon  at 
the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Peter  Ludlow,  delivered  in  the  Second  Baptist 
Church  in  Providence,  1823  ;  and  a  Sermon  on  the  Divinity  of  Christ, 
1827. 

•.ToHN  TIoLROvn  was  bom  in  ProvidcncR,  Ti.  T,,  in  May,  1783.  Tie  was  gradiiatcrl  at,  Brown 
University  in  18112.  Ho  was  cducateil  for  the  legal  profession,  but  in  1830  became  a  clergyman, 
and  was  ordaineii  I'astor  of  the  IJaptist  Cliurch  in  Chcraw,  S.  C,  in  .March  of  that  year.  In 
August,  I8:!l,  lie  was  installed  I'astor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  nnd  continued 
in  tiiis  relation  till  his  death,  whicii  <)ccurre<l  on  the  8th  of  November,  1837,  while  on  a  visit  to 
his  friends  in  rrovi.lcnce.  lie  was  an  accomplishod  Scholar,  an  earnest  Christian,  and  a  highly 
acceptable  and  useful  Preacher. 


STEPHEN  GANG.  231 


FROM  THE  REV.  HENRY  JACKSON,  D.D. 

Newport,  R.  I..  April  7,  1856. 
My  dear  Sir:  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  concerning  my  venerable 
father-in-laM-,  the  late  Dr.  (iano,  I  will  cheerfully  give  you  the  impressions  of 
his  character  which  T  derived  from  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  him. 
Dr.  Ciano  officiated  at  my  father's  marriage  in  1794.  From  that  period 
until  his  death,  our  family  mansion  was  situated  in  close  proximity  to  the 
spacious  and  venerable  edilice  in  which  he  preached.  My  own  birth  occurring 
in  17'JS,  and  my  education  having  been  obtained  at  our  own  schools  and  Uni- 
versity in  Providence,  and  our  family  always  worshipping  under  his  ministry, 
and  in  due  time  becoming  connected,  as  I  did,  with  his  family  by  marriage, 
you  will  easily  understand  how  his  memory  is  intertwined  with  the  most 
cherished  recollections  of  my  childhood,  youth,  and  early  manhood.  Let  me 
say  tlien  that  my  whole  impression  of  Dr.  Gano,  as  a  Man,  a  Christian,  and 
a  Minister,  has  been,  from  the  time  that  I  was  capable  of  appreciating  him, 
most  favourable;  and  had  I  no  other  evidence  than  his  character  furnished  of 
the  truth  and  power  of  Christianity,  I  could  never  question  it. 

AVhile  yet  a  child,  I  was  often  so  deeply  moved  in  my  feelings,  under  his 
preaching,  that  I  was  unable  to  maintain  my  accustomed  composure;  and 
again  and  again  was  almost  persuaded  to  become  a  Christian.  What  Henry 
Clay  once  said  to  me  of  his  emotions  under  the  ministry  of  the  elder 
(jano,  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  I  can  affirm  of  my  own,  under  that  of  the  son  at 
Providence: — «'  He  was,"  said  he,  <'  a  remarkably  fervent  preacher,  and  dis- 
tinguished for  a  simple  and  effective  manner.  And  of  all  the  preachers  I  ever 
listened  to,  he  made  me  feel  the  most  that  religion  was  a  Divine  reality.  I 
never  felt  so  religious  under  any  one's  preaching  as  under  his." 

Dr.  Gano  certainly  possessed  many  qualities  to  render  his  preaching  both 
attractive  and  impressive.  He  had  a  fine  commanding  figure,  being  more  than 
six  feet  in  stature,  and  every  way  well  proportioned.  His  voice  w^as  full, 
sonorous,  and  altogether  agreeable.  His  manner  was  perfectly  artless  and 
unstudied.  He  had  great  command  of  language,  and  could  speak  with  fluency 
and  appropriateness,  with  little  or  no  premeditation.  His  di.scourses  were 
eminently  experimental,  and  were  adapted  to  edify  Christians,  while  they 
abounded  in  direct  and  earnest  appeals  to  the  careless  and  ungodly.  He 
always  preached  from  a  plan,  but  seldom  had  a  written  sermon  in  the  pulpit. 
Once,  during  a  religious  controversy,  in  1820,  that  deeply  affected  his  as  well 
as  other  churches,  I  was  present  when,  in  his  prayer,  he  besought  the  Lord 
that  he  would  give  him  strength  to  read  what  he  had  written  for  that  occa- 
sion. He  was  so  accustomed  to  the  other  style  of  address  that  he  seemed  to 
consider  it  almost  sacrilege  to  occupy  the  hour  in  any  other  manner. 

Dr.  Gano  combined  a  sound  practical  judgment,  a  power  of  discriminating 
character,  and  a  uniform  self-command,  which  gave  great  weight  to  his  coun- 
sels, and  rendered  him  a  most  useful  member  of  various  ecclesiastical  bodies. 
During  nineteen  consecutive  years,  he  presided  at  the  meetings  of  the  "Warren 
Association.  And  the  "  impression  of  his  character,"  as  a  friend  has  written, 
"  upon  the  younger  ministry  around  him  was  indeed  a  most  happy  one;  for 
they  saw  in  him  the  rare  combination  of  strict  integrity  in  maintaining  his 
own  opinions  with  great  enlargedness  of  heart  regarding  those  who  differed 
from  him.  He  was  always  courteous  without  compromising  truth,  and 
zealous  without  bigotry.  Of  the  liberality  which  arises  from  indifference  to 
religious  sentiment  he  knew  nothing;  of  that  which  springs  from  Christian 
love,  which  embraces  in  spiritual  friendship  '  all  who  hold  the  Head,  even 
Christ,'  he  possessed  an  ample  measure.     Dignified  without  affectation,  and 


232  BAPTIST. 

manly  without  sternness,  his  meekness  most  distinguished  liim,  and  Ids  gen- 
tleness made  him  great.  His  fortitude  and  firmness  were  equal  to  his  strength; 
and  liis  unceremonious  encounter  of  all  that  is  laborious  and  fatiguing  in  a 
minister's  travels  and  official  pursuits,  was  an  admirable  example  for  the 
younger  and  often  over-cautious  sons  of  the  ministry.  Punctuality  and  dis- 
patch were  among  the  first  lessons  of  his  business  creed,  and  nothing  but 
insurmountable  impediments  occasioned  any  hindrance  or  delay."  1  may 
add  that  he  was  remarkable  for  Christian  sociability  and  hospitality.  Never 
did  tlie  i)Oor  of  the  flock,  or  of  the  ministry,  meet  a  more  cordial  welcome 
than  he  uniformly  gave  them.  The  influence  of  his  philanthropy  was  felt  in 
every  direction.     He  was  never  weary  in  serving  his  generation. 

I  remember  many  incidents  illustrative  of  Dr.  Gano's  character,  a  few  of 
which  I  will  detail,  being  able  personally  to  vouch  for  their  authenticity.  I 
have  heard  him  allude  to  "  a  peculiarity  of  his  nature,"  as  he  termed  it, — 
his  utter  abhorrence  of  all  ardent  spirits  from  his  birth.  When,  at  the  age 
of  four  years,  he  was  suffering  severely  from  small  pox,  milk  punch  was 
recommended;  and,  when  he  was  urged  by  his  mother  to  take  it  lest  he 
should  die,  he  said  that  his  mother  afterwards  told  him  that  his  answer  Avas, — 
<'  Then  I  will  die."  And  he  added, — "  Amidst  all  the  trials,  liardships,  and 
perils  of  my  changing  life,  since  that  time,  I  have  retained  that  same  dislike 
of  all  ardent  spirits;  and,  when  I  consider  how  many  able  and  learned  men 
have  bowed  with  disgrace,  and  in  ruin,  to  this  vice,  I  bless  God  for  having 
given  me  such  a  repugnance." 

I  remember  his  alluding  to  an  incident  of  his  youth,  as  having  been  partly 
instrumental  of  his  conversion;  and,  in  connection  with  it,  he  observed  that 
we  should  mark  and  ponder  such  occurrences  for  our  spiritual  advantage. 
"Being  on  my  way,"  said  he,  "to  my  new  home,  my  uncle's  residence, — 
my  father  accompanying  me, — we  called  on  my  father's  mother,  who  was 
eminently  pious,  and  had  reached  more  tlian  fourscore  years;  and,  on  her 
first  seeing  me,  she  bade  me  kneel  beside  her,  and  then  gently  placing  her 
aged  hand  on  my  youthful  head,  she  prayed  fervently  for  my  salvation.  And 
directly  after,  looking  upon  me,  she  said,  '  Stephen,  the  Lord  designs  thee  for 
a  minister  of  the  everlasting  Gospel:  be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  IIo  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

He  had  great  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  used  to  refer  most  gratefulh' 
to  some  signal  instances  of  it  in  his  own  experience.  On  one  occasion,  during 
a  very  severe  drought,  he  prayed  in  such  a  manner  that  some  of  the  younger 
portion  of  his  audience,  on  leaving  the  church,  remarked  one  to  another, — 
"  We  must  hasten  home;  for,  after  such  a  prayer,  the  rain  will  overtake  us." 
And  so  it  came  to  pass — the  rain  came  pouring  down  in  less  than  an  hour. 

In  an  early  part  of  his  ministry  at  Providence,  an  influential  member  of  the 
church  had  become  stronglj^  opposed  to  his  continuance  there.  This  had 
occasioned  Dr.  Gano  great  anxiety.  One  night  the  gentleman  found  himself 
unable  to  rest;  and  early  in  the  morning  hastened  to  his  minister  to  make  known 
to  him  his  feelings;  and,  o«  reaching  the  house,  the  outer  door  being  open, 
he  entered,  passed  through  the  liall,  and  proceeded  to  the  inner  room,  where 
he  beheld  the  family  at  prayer.  The  Doctor  said  afterwards  that  his  mind 
was  unusually  drawn  out  in  supplication  that  the  Lord  would  either  subdue 
'the  opposition,  or  make  his  way  clear  to  depart.  And  so  fervent  and  child- 
like was  he  in  his  petitions,  that  the  mind  of  his  visiter  was  most  tenderly 
affected,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  prayer,  he  went  immediately  up  to  the 
Doctor,  grasped  his  hand  most  aflectionately,  assured  him  of  his  friendly 
feelings,  and  said, — '<  I'll  go  heart  and  hand  for  you  as  my  Pastor."  And 
for  years  after  that,  the  Pastor  and  his  family,  by  a  cordial  and  urgent  invi- 
tation, dined  at  that  gentleman's  house  every  Tuesday. 


STEPHEN  GANO.  233 

Two  children  in  his  house  liad  been  at  variance.  The  father,  m  ho  had 
watched  tlie  scene  with  a  painful  interest,  brought  the  case  of  tliesc  little 
ones  before  tlie  Lord  in  family  prayer;  and  the  result  was  that,  at  the  close, 
they  rushed  into  each  others'  arms,  each  having  no  longer  any  disposition  to 
quarrel  with  the  other. 

His  manner  of  treating  hopeful  converts  was  peculiarly  kind  and  encourag- 
ing. 1  shall  never  forget  the  Monday  prior  to  the  commencement  of  my 
Junior  year  in  College,  when,  having  taken  a  walk  to  the  hills  that  overlook 
the  city  from  the  East,  that  I  might  enjoy  the  splendid  scenery,  and  especially 
the  going  down  of  the  sun,  I  met  this  venerable  man  and  thus  addressed 
him: — "  These  heavens,  and  these  objects  of  nature  around  me  all  seem  to  be 
in  harmony  with  their  Maker's  will;  and  I  trust  that  I,  too,  am  reconciled  to 
God  through  Christ;"  and,  as  he  looked  upon  me  with  the  deepest  interest. — 
speaking  evidently  out  of  the  fulness  of  a  father's  heart,  he  said, — >'  I  bid 
you  a  hearty  welcome,  my  son,  into  the  Kingdom  of  God."  On  another 
occasion,  when  two  of  his  own  children,  while  on  a  visit  to  a  ncighljouring 
town,  had  hopefully  experienced  God's  grace  in  their  conversion,  and  he  had 
gone  thither  to  rejoice  with  them,  he  preached  in  the  evening  to  a  large  con- 
gregation from  these  words: — "  Go  home  to  thy  friends,  and  tell  them  how 
great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee,  and  hath  had  compassion  on  thee." 

His  decision  never  failed  him,  when  he  was  confident  of  being  right.  The 
question  of  laying  on  of  hands  upon  members  when  received  into  the  Church 
being  agitated,  and  he  believing  that  this  was  an  Ordination,  rather  than  a 
Church  act,  utterly  refused  to  yield  to  the  opposition,  though  his  resolute 
persistence  had  almost  occasioned  his  removal.  His  advice  to  a  minister,  who 
was  anxious  to  change  his  location,  is  well  worthy  of  being  preserved: — 
'<  You  ma}-  knock,"  said  he,  "  at  a  door,  and  if  it  opens,  you  may  enter  it; 
but  do  not  lean  against  it  with  such  pressure  that  it  opens  by  your  strength; 
for  in  such  a  case  j'ou  may  go  out  like  Abraham,  not  knowing  whither,  but, 
unlike  him,  without  the  hand  that  leads  us,  in  the  right  way,  to  the  city  of 
habitation."  In  his  letters  to  his  friends,  however  brief,  he  vv^as  sure  to 
embody  some  testimony  in  honour  of  his  Chaster;  so  that  even  his  letters  and 
notes  of  business  witnessed  to  the  upward  tendency  of  his  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings. He  regarded  the  office  of  a  minister  as  peculiarly  sacred,  and  always 
regretted  to  see  its  influence  in  any  degree  neutralized  by  an  unnecessar)'' 
devotion  to  secular  engagements.  Early  one  morning  he  was,  with  one  of 
his  children,  passing  the  door  of  a  minister,  who  had  for  years  made  the 
ministr}'  subordinate  and  subservient  to  his  secular  business,  and  who  was 
then  sitting  by  his  shop  window,  watching  the  Doctor's  motion.  As  the 
Doctor  turned  his  carriage,  as  if  intending  to  stop  at  his  house,  the  other, 
evidently  feeling  that  some  apology  was  necessary  for  his  course,  said, — 
<'  Well,  Doctor,  we  read  that  in  old  time  they  sat  at  the  receipt  of  custom." 
<<Ycs,  yes,"  was  the  reply,  "and  we  also  read, — '  They  arose  and  left  all 
and  followed  Him,'  "  and  then  proceeded  on  his  way. 

Such  are  my  recollections  and  impressions  of  this  eminent  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  I  am  sure  there  are  many  still  living  who  would  fully  endorse  my 
estimate  of  his  character  and  usefulness,  and  in  whose  hearts  his  memory  is 
most  gratefully  embalmed. 

I  remain,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Your  friend  and  brother  in  Christ  Jesus, 

HENRT  JACKSON. 

Vol.  VI.  30 


234  BAPTIST. 

FROM  THE  HON.  JAMES  TALLMADGE,  LL.  D. 

Clinton  Point,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  ) 
September  27",  1848.      S 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  I  was  well  acquainted  with  Dr.  Stephen  Gano  from  my 
boyhood  till  his  decease.  During  the  four  years  of  my  collegiate  term  in 
Brown  University,  I  resided  in  his  family;  and  my  intercourse  with  him  was 
always  of  the  most  intimate  and  agreeable  kind. 

Dr.  Gano  vvas  admitted,  on  all  hands,  to  hold  a  high  rank  among  the  min- 
isters of  his  denomination.  He  devoted  himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the. 
duties  of  his  profession.  Wednesday  and  Saturday  he  gave  scrupulously  to 
the  work  of  preparation  for  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath  and  other  appointed 
services.  It  was  his  custom,  in  preparing  his  sermon,  to  note,  on  a  small 
piece  of  paper,  his  text  and  the  general  divisions  of  his  discourse,  with  refer- 
ences to  passages  of  Scripture  and  other  illustrations  of  his  subject.  This 
memorandum,  placed  in  the  book  before  him,  was  a  sufficient  guide  to  his 
thoughts;  and  it  enabled  him  to  speak  with  great  promptness  and  fluency. 

His  personal  appearance  was  prepossessing,  his  voice  manlj^,  his  articula- 
tion distinct,  and  his  diction  clear  and  impressive.  Ilis  preaching  was  in  turn 
doctrinal,  practical,  and  experimental.  His  exhortations  were  often  exceed- 
ingly earnest  and  pathetic,  and,  in  the  application  of  his  discourse,  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  a  portion  of  his  audience  to  be  melted  into  tears. 

The  administration  of  the  ordinance  of  Baptism  b}""  immersion,  in  connection 
with  the  singing  of  a  hymn  at  the  water,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church,  attbrded  a  line  opportunity  for  an  effective  display  of  his  powers. 
His  eloquence  on  these  occasions  was  often  greatly  admired. 

Dr.  Gano  was  very  diligent  and  faithful  in  the  performance  of  his  pastoral 
duties.  He  had  a  talent  that  qualified  him  peculiarly  for  that  kind  of  inter- 
course; and  this,  together  with  his  acknowledged  sterling  integrity, — could 
not  fail  to  secure  to  him,  in  a  high  degree,  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his 
people. 

In  private  life,  he  was  amiable,  cheerful,  social,  and  generous  beyond  his 
means.  He  was  a  most  agreeable  companion,  and  would  often,  in  the  freedom 
of  familiar  intercourse,  relate  many  interesting  incidents  of  his  early  years. 
He  was  a  favourite  among  his  friends,  and  had  a  high  standing,  both  as  a  man 
and  a  minister,  in  the  estimation  of  the  public. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  yours  truly, 

JAMES  TALLMADGE. 

FROM  THE   REV.  DANIEL  WALDO. 

Syracuse,  March  1,  1858. 

My  dear  Friend:  I  had  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Gano,  of  Providence,  during  a  period  of  about  five  years — from  1815  to  1820. 
I  was  residing  at  that  time  in  Greenwich,  R.  I.;  and,  as  some  of  his  friends, 
who,  I  belie vo,  were  also  members  of  his  church,  lived  there,  he  occasionally 
came  to  visit  them,  and  it  Avas  my  privilege  to  share  his  visits.  I  also  fre- 
quently visited  him  at  his  own  house  in  Providence,  and  met  him  on  various 
public  and  private  occasions,  and  once  or  twice,  during  mj'  stay  in  Greenwich, 
we  exchanged  pulpits.  It  would  perhaps  be  too  much  to  say  that  I  was 
in  very  intimate  relations  with  him,  and  yet  I  think  I  knew  him  well  enougli 
to  express  an  opinion  of  his  general  character,  without  much  danger  of 
mistake. 

I  should  not  suppose  that  he  was  distinguished  for  what  is  commonly  called 
genius,  or  for  any  extraordinary  intellectual  culture;  and  yet  his  mind  seemed 


STEPHEN   GANG.  2o5 

to  be  one  remarkaMy  well  atlajjlcd  to  active  usefulness.  The  members  of  his 
church,  which  was  one  of  the  larjjest  and  most  llourishin}^  ]5a[)tist  churciies 
in  the  land,  and  withal  embodied  a  great  degree  of  intelligence  and  iniluence, 
were,  1  believe,  well  satisfied  with  his  ministrations,  and  when  he  died,  sin- 
cerely' mourned  the  loss  of  them.  His  heart  was  evidently  deeply  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  the  (iospel,  and  he  determined  to  know  nothing,  as  a  Christian 
minister,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucilied.  Though  he  was  honestly  and 
strongly  attached  to  the  peculiarities  of  tlie  liaptist  denomination,  he  was  far 
from  identifying  Christianity  with  those  peculiarities,  and  wherever  he  recog- 
nized the  image  of  the  Saviour,  there  he  acknowledged  the  claim  upon  his  sym- 
pathy and  brotherly  alFection.  His  reliance  for  success  in  his  labours  was  not 
upon  liis  own  might  or  power,  but  upon  the  Truth  and  Spirit  of  God;  and 
while  he  was  diligent  in  his  work,  he  never  failed  to  render  due  honour  to 
that  Divine  agency  in  which,  after  all,  is  the  main  spring  of  all  ministerial 
success. 

Dr.  Gano  was  considerably  above  the  common  size,  and  his  personal  appear- 
ance was  altogether  commanding.  He  was  amiable  and  sociable  in  his  private 
intercourse,  and  was,  I  believe,  generally'  a  favourite  among  those  who  knew 
him  well.  I  remember  he  used  to  amuse  himself  with  lisliing  on  his  visits  at 
Greenwich,  and,  if  1  mistake  not,  he  was  more  than  ordinarily  expert  in  the 
use  of  the  hook.  I  think  I  never  heard  him  preach  more  tiian  once,  and  the 
impression  which  both  his  matter  and  manner  left  upon  my  mind  has  nearly 
faded  from  it,  except  that  1  well  remember  that  he  spoke  with  one  of  the 
most  Stentorian  voices  to  which  I  ever  listened.  On  the  whole,  it  may  safely 
be  said  that  he  ranked  among  the  leading  Baptist  ministers  of  this  country, 
during  the  period  of  his  ministry. 

Affectionately  yours, 

DANIEL  WALDO. 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT  * 

178G— 1830. 

William  Elliot,  the  second  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Elliot,  was  born 
in  Bradford,  Mas.-.,  December  1,  (0.  S.)  1748  ;  tliough  his  father  removed 
with  his  family  to  JIason,  N.  H.,  as  early  as  170G.  His  parents  were 
members  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and,  through  the  influence  of  his 
mother  especially,  his  mind  took  a  serious  direction,  when  he  was  not  more 
than  eight  or  nine  years  old,  though  he  did  not  find  the  joy  and  peace  in 
believing  until  he  had  arrived  at  his  majority.  The  following  is  his  own 
record  of  his  experience,  at  the  time  when  he  believed  the  radical  change 
passed  upon  him  : — 

"  Oh  the  joy,  the  sweet  consolation  that  filled  my  soul !  I  thought  I 
could  never  praise  God  enough.  When  morning  came,  I  arose,  and  went 
out  to  see  the  glory  of  God  in  his  handiwork.  As  I  viewed  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  with  delight,  I  thought  I  never  saw  such  a  morning  before. 
But,  on  a  sudden,  these  words  suggested  themselves  to  me — '  Can  God  be 
just,  and  you  out  of  hell  ?  '  The  question  appeared  hard  to  answer  ;  for  I 
had  seen,  the  night   before,  the  justice  of  God  most  clearly  in  my  eternal 

•  MS.  Autobiography. — MSS.  from  bis  son,— Rev.  Jcsso  Elliot,  and  Rev.  Benjamin  S.  Lane. 


23G  BAPTIST. 

ruin.  Soon  iiis  justice  appeared  exceedingly  clear,  and  these  words  drop- 
ped into  my  heart  with  power — '  I  am  satisfied  with  Christ ; '  and  this 
turned  my  mind  into  the  New  Testament.  Then  was  brought  to  view  a 
new  scene.  Oh  the  love  of  God  in  the  gift  of  his  Son  !  The  love  of  Jesus 
in  undertaldng  the  great  work  of  Mediator  !  flis  life,  death,  and  resurrec- 
tion so  filled  my  mind  and  increased  my  joy  that  such  a  day  I  never  had 
before.  I  now  saw  that  salvation  was  of  the  Lord,  and  grace  might  reign, 
through  righteousness,  unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  I  was 
brought  to  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  Election ;  for  I  saw  that  God  would 
not  work  without  pnrposing  or  designing  to  work.  I  saw  that  this  was  all 
of  God,  and  fidt  willing  that  He  should  have  all  the  glory.  I  longed  that 
others  might  taste  and  see  the  goodness  and  grace  of  God." 

Soon  after  he  experienced  this  change,  he  united  with  the  Congregatio!!L\l 
Church  in  Mason.  N.  H.,  but  subsequently  removed  his  relation  to  the 
Church  in  New  Ipswich,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Stephen 
Farrar,*  and  continued  his  membership  here  until  he  united  with  the 
Baptists. 

In  September,  1772,  he  was  married  to  Dorothy,  daughter  of  the  H  'V. 
Nathaniel,  Merrill,!  of  Nottingham  West,  N.  11.;  by  whom  he  had  six 
children,  all  of  whom,  to  use  his  own  language,  were  "christened,"  befjre 
he  renounced  Infant  Baptism. 

Mr.  Elliot,  when  he  was  approaching  the  age  of  forty,  began  to  have 
doubts  on  t]>e  subject  of  Infant  Baptism  ;  and  those  doubts  were  finally 
matured  into  a  full  conviction  that  it  was  not  warranted  by  the  Word  of 
God.  lie  now  left  the  Congregational  Church  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
was  baptized  by  immersion,  and  shortly  after  commenced  preaching  the 
Gospel  in  the  Baptist  connection.  Through  his  instrumentality,  the  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Mason,  N.  H.,  was  organized,  of  seven  members,  in  17S(3  ; 
and  he  was  ordained  as  its  Pastor  in  1788, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Grafton,  of  New- 
ton, Mass.,  and  two  other  ministers  taking  part  in  his  ordination.  Not 
only  did  that  church  increase  rapidly  under  his  ministr}'.  but  the  Baptist 
churches  in  New  Ipswich,  JafFrey,  Wilton,  Milford,  and  Ilollis,  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  Townscnd  in  Massachusetts,  owe  their  origin  and  earlj- 
growth,  in  a  great  measure,  to  his  vigorous  and  persevering  efforts.  The 
compensation  which  he  received  for  his  labours,  as  a  minister,  was  very 
slight,  and  it  was  only  by  training  his  children  to  the  severest  industry  and 
economy,  that  he  was  able  to  maintain  his  numerous  family,  and  devote 
his  whole  time  to  the  appropriate  duties  of  the  ministry. 

His  wife  died  in  June,  1785,  and,  in  ]March,  1787,  he  was  married  to 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  Oliver  Hildreth  of  Townsend,  I^Iass., — by  whom  he 
had  twelve  children, — eight  sons  and  four  daughters.  After  having  been 
a  true  helper  to  him  in  the  Gospel  for  upwards  of  forty  years,  she  died  on 
the  18th  of  October,  1828. 

Mr.  Elliot  survived  his  second  wife  less  than  two  years,  and  died  in  the 
triumpli  of  faith,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1830.     He  had  been  confined  to  his 

♦  Stui'Hkn  Fahuau  was  born  at  Lincoln,  Mass.,  October  22,  1738;  was  graduated  at  Har- 
vard CoIleg(' in  ITft.i;  was  ordained  Pnstor  of  tbo  Congregational  Cburcb  in  New  Tpswicb,  N. 
H.,  October  23,  1700;  and  died  June  23.  1809. 

t  Nathanmrt,  Mkriiili,  was  born  at  >Jewbnry.  Mass.,  in  1713;  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1732;  was  ordnincd  Pa.stor  nf  the  Congregational  Church  in  Nottingham  West, 
November  23,  1737;  and  died  in  17y6,  aged  eighty-three. 


WILLIAM  i:lliot.  237 

room,  and,  most  of  the  time,  to  liis  bed,  for  about  five  years.  During  this 
long  season  of  decline,  he  evinced  the  most  serene  submission  to  the  Divine 
will,  and,  by  his  faithful  conversations  and  fervent  prayers,  in  his  sick 
chamber,  was  instrumental  of  strengthening  the  faith  of  believers,  and 
brinjrin"-  some  who  had  been  noiflcctful  of  their  salvation  to  reflection  and 

CO  o 

repentance. 

Mr.  Elliot  died  on  tlio  same  farm  to  whi(di  his  father's  family  lonioved 
when  they  left  Bradford.  In  his  early  niaidiood,  he  held  an  honourabh; 
position  in  society,  and  was  elected  by  the  town  in  which  he  lived  to  seve- 
ral different  civil  offices.  But,  after  he  entered  the  ministry,  he  aban- 
doned all  participation  in  civil  matters,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to 
the  interests  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 

In  IS'iO,  he  was  chosen  to  preside  at  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration  ;  but, 
on  learning  that  toasts  were  to  be  drank,  and  guns  fired,  he  politely  declined 
the  proffered  honour.  lie  never  wore  badges  of  mourning  for  deceased 
friends.  When  it  was  customary  to  use  spirituous  liquors  at  Funerals,  he 
refused  to  sanction  the  practice.  He  sympathized  strongly  in  some  respects 
with  the  Friends,  notwithstanding  he  differed  widely  from  them  in  doctri- 
nal views. 

In  the  autumn  before  his  death,  when  confined  by  si(dcnoss,  one  of  his 
sons  preached  in  his  presence  from  the  words, — "  Behold  what  manner  of 
love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons 
of  God."  The  tone  of  the  sermon  was  strongly  evangelical ;  and,  after 
the  congregation  had  retired,  the  venerable  man  called  his  son  to  him  and 
said, — "  My  son,  I  charge  you,  rather  than  relinquish  the  doctrine  which 
you  have  now  preached,  to  die  at  the  stake." 

Two  of  Mr.  Elliot's  sons  have  become  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Joseph 
studied  medicine  for  some  time  ;  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  from  the  University  of  Vermont,  in  1813  ;  entered  the  ministry 
at  an  early  age,  and  was  ordained  in  Hinsdale,  N.  H.,  in  May,  1809.  He 
has  united  with  the  office  of  a  minister  that  of  a  teacher  of  youth;  but  is 
now  (1858)  laid  aside  from  labour  by  bodily  infirmity.  Jesse  is  now 
Pastor  of  a  church  in  Stockton,  Chautauque  County,  N.  Y.  hrael  was 
graduated  at  the  University  of  Vermont  in  1813,  was  Principal  of  an 
Academy  in  Cavendish,  Vt.,  one  year,  and  in  Chester,  Vt..  for  about  the 
same  time,  being  engaged  meanwhile  in  the  study  of  the  Law,  and  died  in 
August,  1815. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JOHN  PARKUURST. 

Chelmsford.  Mass.,  March  25.  1858. 

Dear  Sir:  You  ask  mc  for  some  personal  recollections,  illustrative  of  the 
character  of  the  Rev.  William  Elliot.  I  can  saj' a  few  things  of  him,  as  I  lived 
near  him  several  years,  sometimes  heard  him  preach,  was  often  at  his  house, 
and  occasionally  with  him  on  journeys. 

When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him,  which  was  about  forty-five  years 
ago,  he  was  not  far  from  sixty-iive  j-ears  of  age.  He  was  of  medium  height, 
florid  complexion,  and  his  gray  locks,  hanging  in  natural  curls  upon  the  collar 
of  his  coat,  gave  him  an  appearance  exceedingly  venerable.  His  countenance, 
which  was  often  lighted  up  with  a  benignant  smile,  was  indicative  of  a  calm 
temperament,  of  a  love  of  riglit,  and  of  a   fixed  determination   to  do  right  in 


238  BAPTIST. 

nil  things.  Christians  loved  him  because  he  loved  the  truth:  the  world 
respected  him  for  the  consistency  of  his  daily  walk.  I  think  I  never  knew  a 
man  so  evangelical  in  his  sentiments,  and  so  clear  and  decided  in  exliibiting 
them,  who,  at  the  same  time,  enjoyed,  in  so  high  a  degree,  a  good  report  among 
them  that  are  without. 

Although  he  was  not  talkative,  he  was  sociable.  He  could  converse  sensi- 
bly ui)on  agricultural,  mechanical  and  national  affairs;  but  his  chosen  theme 
was  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  From  whatever  point  he  surve^'cd  it,  it 
awakened  his  admiration,  thanksgiving,  and  jo^^  Ilis  countenance  seemed  to 
shine,  like  that  of  Moses,  with  a  Heavenly  radiance,  while  he  talked  about 
the  glories  of  Immanuel  and  the  blessings  of  his  people. 

His  sermons,  if  I  may  judge  from  the  few  I  heard,  were  original,  interest- 
ing, and  highly  instructive.  He  adopted,  as  we  should  say  in  these  days,  not 
the  topical,  but  the  textual,  method.  He  seldom,  if  ever,  made  out  a  dis- 
course on  a  single  virtue,  or  a  single  doctrine,  but  mingled  doctrine  with  Chris- 
tian exercises,  and  urged  obedience  froHi  evangelical  motives.  He  delighted  in 
unfolding  the  types  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  expounding  the  parables  of 
the  New.  In  his  manner  he  was  solemn  and  affectionate,  and  no  one  who 
lieard  him  could  resist  the  conviction  that  his  inmost  soul  went  along  with 
every  word  that  he  uttered.  His  views  of  doctrine  were  obtained  from  a 
prayerful  and  diligent  study  of  the  Bible;  and  perhaps  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  they  harmonized  with  those  of  the  late  Andrew  Fuller.  I  remember  dis- 
tinctly that  he  once  said,  when  we  were  conversing  about  that  able  divine, 
that  <'  he  never  read  after  a  man  " — to  use  his  own  expression — "  whose  writ- 
ings he  liked  so  well."  The  doctrine  of  Election  was  a  theme  on  which  he 
delighted  to  dwell,  both  in  preaching  and  in  conversation;  yet  he  held  it  in  con- 
nection with  the  sentiment  that  the  sinner  is  accountable  to  God,  and  justly 
condemned  for  his  impenitence.  He  had  no  fellowship  with  the  doctrine  that 
the  man  who  does  not  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  so  much  of  a  machine  as 
not  to  be  blameworthy.  He  was  a  man  of  great  conscientiousness.  At  the 
time  he  obtained  his  hope  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  he  was  paying 
the  customary  attentions  of  his  day  to  the  young  woman  whom  he  subse- 
quently married.  She  remained  in  a  state  of  impenitence.  And  now  a  severe 
conflict  arose  in  his  mind.  To  marry  an  unbeliever  seemed  evidently  wrong; 
and  yet,  inasmuch  as  he  was  virtually  i)lcdged  to  her  before  his  own  conver- 
sion, he  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to  take  her  and  leave  the  event  with  God. 
And  it  may  be  interesting  to  add  that  she  subsequently  found  peace  in  believ- 
ing, and  became  no  small  help  to  him  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord. 

His  first  religious  connection  was  with  the  Pedobaptists.  But,  as  he  read 
the  Bible,  he  became  satisfied  that  Christians,  and  Christians  only,  are  the 
seed  of  Abraliam;  and  the  peace  of  his  soul  was  greatly  disturbed  until  he 
was  baptized  on  the  profession  of  his  own  faith.  At  this  time  it  was  his 
expectation  to  continue  in  the  Pedobaptist  Church.  But,  after  the  lap.se  of  a 
few  months,  the  text  in  Galatians  ii.  18 — "  If  I  build  again  the  things  that  I 
destroyed,  I  make  myself-_ii  transgressor" — so  affected  his  mind  that  he  felt 
constrained  to  withdraw  from  the  church  with  which  he  had  been  connected, 
and  join  the  Baptist  communion. 

When  he  first  began  to  preach,  there  was  a  certain  Br.  G.  in  his  neighbour- 
hood, who  would  not  allow  that  lie  was  called  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
seeing  he  was  a  num  of  limited  education,  unless  he  could  preach  from  a  text 
given  him  at  the  very  hour  at  wliich  his  meeting  was  appointed.  Mr.  Elliot, 
who  had  entered  the  ministry  Avith  great  diffidence,  and  who  was  willing  to 
get  rid  of  the  responsibility  of  the  sacred  office,  if  he  could  honestly  do  so, 
consented  to  submit  his  call  to  the  test  proposed  by  Dr.  G.  A  meeting  was 
appointed  in  the  week  time.     Information  was  spread  in  relation  to  it.     The 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT.  239 

hour  airivotl;  the  people  came  together;  and  tlic  text  was  given  him,— wliich 
was  "  A  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  a  golden  bell  and  a  pomegranate,  upon 
the  hem  of  the  robe  round  about."  Exodus  xxviii.  34.  lie  looked  at  it 
awhile,  and  could  see  nothing  in  it.  He  read  the  opening  hymn,  and  while 
the  people  were  singing,  he  looked  at  it  again;  but,  not  discovering  a  single  idea 
which  he  could  hold  up  before  the  assembly,  he  began  to  think  he  must  con- 
fess that  he  had  no  call  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  However,  he  thouglit 
he  would  go  as  far  as  lie  could.  So,  when  the  hymn  was  sung,  he  said  "  Let 
us  pray."  In  this  exercise  he  enjoyed,  in  an  unusual  degree,  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  During  the  singing  of  the  second  hymn,  he  was  constantly 
revolving  his  text  in  his  mind,  but  no  ray  of  light  seemed  to  fall  upon  it.  In 
this  state  of  embarrassment,  he  saw  nothing  before  him  but  the  announcement, 
so  mortifying  to  his  friends,  and  so  gratifying  to  the  Doctor,  that  he  had  been 
deceived  in  the  notion  that  he  was  called  to  preach.  But  he  had  been  assisted 
thus  far  in  the  meeting,  and  it  still  seemed  right  and  proper  that  he  should 
go  as  far  as  he  could — so  he  would  read  the  text;  and  then  if  he  had  nothing 
to  say  from  it,  he  would  make  his  confession.  He  read  the  passage — impene- 
trable darkness  still  rested  upon  it;  but  it  was  not  time  to  stop  until,  accord- 
ing to  custom,  he  had  read  it  a  second  time.  And  now,  suddenly,  light  bursts 
upon  his  soul.  The  text  seems  full  of  the  Gospel.  The  golden  bell  suggests 
its  precious  sound  among  the  people,  awakening,  directing,  comforting  the 
souls  of  men.  The  pomegranate  suggests  the  fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
High  Priest's  robe  points  to  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  lie  finds  enough  to 
say.  He  preaches  an  evangelical  discourse — he  preaches  with  an  unwonted 
fluency;  and  the  question  seems  to  be  settled  in  every  mind  that  he  is  called 
of  God  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

When  he  was  about  the  age  of  five  and  thirty,  he  was  called  to  part  with 
his  first  wife.  As  she  lay  dying,  he  was  walking  the  room  in  great  anguish 
of  spirit.  His  six  children  were  losing  one  of  the  best  of  mothers.  He  wrung 
his  hands  in  sorrow — his  tears  flowed  freely.  At  length  a  friend,  standing 
by  her  bed,  said,  "  She  is  gone."  He  was  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  the 
affliction.  But  he  told  me  that  in  about  two  minutes  he  heard  distinctly 
what  seemed  like  the  flapping  of  Avings  over  him,  and  the  ascending  sound 
grew  fainter  and  fainter  till  it  was  lost  in  the  distance.  In  a  moment,  the 
current  of  his  grief  was  checked;  his  mind  became  calm;  and  he  could  cheer- 
fully resign  the  companion  of  his  bosom  to  the  charge  of  angels  to  be  borne 
to  the  Heavenly  Paradise. 

Confined  to  his  bed  for  a  long  season  in  his  last  sickness,  he  Avas  manifestly 
sustained  by  Heavenly  consolations.  I  remember  particularly  what  joy  was 
depicted  in  his  countenance  when  he  told  me  of  the  meditations  he  had  had 
on  the  attributes  of  the  Most  High.  His  holiness,  his  grace,  his  wisdom,  and 
his  power  were  sustaining  and  enrapturing  themes.  One  of  his  acquaintance 
who  called  on  him  in  those  days,  and  who  had  heard  of  the  sweet  serenity  of 
his  spirit,  said  to  him,  as  he  approached  his  bed, — "  You  enjoy  yourself  voy 
well,  don't  you  .'"'  <'  Oh  no,"  was  his  reply,  <'  I  don't  enjoy  mijsplf  at  all, 
but  I  never  enjoyed  the  Lord  so  well  in  my  life."  One  of  his  Deacons  told 
me  that  he  called  on  him,  I  think  on  the  day  of  his  death,  when  his  lips  gave 
utterance  to  these  striking  words, — "  Oh  the  joy  of  my  soul!" 

Yours  with  respect, 

JOHN   PARKHURST. 


240  BAPTIST. 


AARON  LELAND. 

1786—1833. 

FROM  THE  KEY.  IRA  PEARSON. 

Ludlow,  Vt.,  November  11,  1857. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  The  result  of  my  inquiries  in  respect  to  the  liiatory 
of  the  late  llev.  Aaron  Leland,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, I  am  happy  to  contribute  in  aid  of  your  work,  commemorative  of 
the  worthies  who  liave  gone  before  us.  The  materials  for  my  sketch  have 
been  gathered  from  different  sources,  but  I  believe  you  may  rely  on  their 
perfect  authenticity. 

Aaron  Leland,  a  descendant  from  Henry  Leland,  the  Pilgrim  father 
of  the  Leland  family  in  America,  was  born  in  Holliston,  Mass.,  on  the  2SLh 
of  May,  17G1.  He  possessed  no  greater  advantages  of  education,  than 
were  furnished  by  the  common  schools  in  iMassachusetts,  before  the  Revo- 
lution ;  but,  being  of  a  naturally  vigorous  and  inquisitive  mind,  he  availed 
himself  of  all  the  means  of  self-culture  within  his  reach,  and  thus  grew 
up  with  much  more  than  an  ordinary'  share  of  intelligence.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  1785,  and,  shortly  after,  received  license 
to  preach  from  the  church  in  Bellingham.  About  this  time,  he  received  a 
letter  from  fifteen  persons,  living  in  Chester,  Vt.,  none  of  whom  were 
communicants  in  the  Baptist  Church,  requesting  him  to  come  and  labour 
among  them  as  a  minister.  In  compliance  with  this  request,  he  took  a 
journey  thither,  after  a  few  months  ;  but  he  found  every  thing  so  unpromis- 
ing for  both  comfort  and  usefulness  that  he  could  not  easily  reconcile  him- 
>ioU  to  the  idea  of  continuing  among  them.  But,  after  some  time,  he 
found  his  mind  deeply  impressed  with  this  passage  of  Scripture, — "  The 
Lord  hath  much  people  in  this  city:"  and,  under  the  influence  of  reflec- 
tions induced  by  tliese  words,  he  soon  made  up  his  mind  to  remain  there. 
After  a  few  weeks'  sojourn  among  tliem,  he  returned  to  his  friends  in 
Massachusetts  :  and  not  many  months  after  went  back  to  Chester  with  a 
view  to  make  it  his  permanent  residence, — having  previously  been  ordained 
by  the  Church  in  Bellingham. 

In  1789,  ho  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  a  small  church  gathered,  which 
consisted  of  only  ten  members,  including  himself.  This  little  body  travel- 
led on  in  great  harmony,  experiencing  a  gradual  increase,  but  no  remarka- 
ble revival,  for  ten  years.  But,  in  1790,  a  revival  of  great  power 
commenced,  which  not  only  spread  throughout  Chester,  but  extended  to 
several  of  the  neighbouring  town.s.  At  the  close  of  this  work,  the  church 
had  become  so  numerous  that  it  was  thought  proper  that  it  should  be 
divided;  and,  accordingly,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1803,  four  churches 
were  set  off  from  the  original  body,  which  were  situated  respectively  in 
Andover,  Grafton,  Weather.sfield,  and  Cavendish. 

At  an  early  period  in  his  ministry,  Mr.  Leland  went  to  Jamaica, — a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles,  by  marked  trees,  and  administered  the  ordinance  of 
Baptism  to  such  as  were  prepared  to  receive  it,  and  afterwards  made  fre- 


AARON  LELAND.  241 

quont  visits  (here,  ami  oiganizccl  a  churcli,  of  wliicli  Calvin  Iluward, 
fatlier  of  the  Rev.  Lolaiid  Ilowanl.  of  llutland,  Vt.,  became  the  first 
Deacon.  Through  his  instrumoutality,  other  Churches  in  that  neighbour- 
hood also  were  formed,  and  the  process  went  on  until  the  Baptists  had  a 
permanent  footing  throughout  the  whole  surrounding  country.  It  was  not 
uncommon  fur  him,  during  the  early  years  of  his  ministry,  to  go  from 
fourteen  to  twenty  miles  through  the  wilderness  to  attend  a  Funeral. 

When  Mr.  Leland  commenced  his  ministr}',  few  of  his  parishioners  were 
in  any  better  worldly  circumstances  than  himself ;  and  it  would  not  have 
been  easy,  even  if  it  had  been  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  day,  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  to  have  raised  for  him  a  competent  support.  He 
commenced,  therefore,  without  any  stated  salary,  and  continued  in  the 
same  way  till  the  close  of  life.  All  that  he  received  for  his  services  was 
contributed  voluntarily.  His  parishioners  occasionally  laboured  fur  him  on 
his  farm,  and  contributed  something  to  assist  him  to  hire  a  constant 
labourer;  but  lie  was  obliged,  after  all,  to  depend  for  the  support  of  his 
family  chiefly  on  his  own  exertions. 

Mr.  Leland  did  not  scruple  to  take  an  active  part  in  civil  life.  In  his 
politics  he  was  of  the  Jefferson  school,  and  his  opinions  were  deliberately 
and  maturely  formed,  and  held  with  great  firmness.  Besides  being  fre- 
quently elected  to  different  offices  in  the  town,  he  was  chosen,  in  18U1,  to 
represent  the  town  in  the  Legislature,  and  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office 
for  nine  successive  years.  During  three  years,  he  was  Speaker  of  the 
House  ;  four  years,  he  was  a  Councillor ;  five  years,  he  was  chosen  Lieuten- 
ant Governor  by  the  people  ;  and  eighteen  years,  he  was  one  of  the  Assist- 
ant Justices  of  the  County  Court.  In  1828,  he  was  proposed  as  a  candidate; 
for  Governor ;  but,  as  the  claims  of  that  high  station  seemed  to  him  incom- 
patible with  the  duties  of  the  Christian  ministry,  and  as  he  considered  the 
obligations  which  he  owed  to  his  Master  as  a  minister,  paramount  to  all 
considerations  of  political  interest,  he  caused  his  name  to  be  withdrawn 
from  the  canvass. 

But,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Leland  had  so  much  to  do  with  civil  affairs, 
he  laboured  much  and  very  successfully  in  his  appropriate  calling  as  u 
Christian  minister ;  as  was  evinced,  not  only  by  the  prosperity  of  his  own 
church,  but  by  the  number  of  flourishing  churches  which  he  was  instru- 
mental in  establishing.  He  had  high  qualifications  for  a  popular  and  effect- 
ive preacher.  He  had  a  noble  figure ;  a  mind  of  a  powerful  cast,  that 
perceived  quickly  and  compared  easily ;  a  voice  of  vast  compass,  but 
smooth  and  mellow  ;  great  facility  at  utterance,  and  great  fervour  of  spirit ; 
clear  but  impassioned,  he  would  carry  with  him  the  multitude  irresistibly. 
He  possessed  great  tenderness  of  spirit, — often  melting  down  in  his  prayers 
and  sermons,  and  usually  melting  his  congregation  with  him.  He  spoke 
extempore  without  any  apparent  effort,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  during  his 
whole  ministry,  never  made  use  of  written  discourses.  He  was  often  put  in 
requisition  for  lectures  on  public  occasions,  and,  I  believe,  never  failed  to 
acquit  himself  most  creditably.  He  had  great  influence  among  his  breth- 
ren, and  commanded  their  high  respect,  as  was  evident  from  their  almost 
uniformly  making  him  the  Moderator  of  their  meetings.  lie  was  a  wise 
and  safe  counsellor,  always  bringing  to  his   aid  the  best   light   he  was  able 

Vol.  Vr.  31 


242  BAPTIST. 

to  conimaiul,  and  foriiiing  his  judgment  witli  a  discreet  reference  to  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  He  was  a  man  of  decidedly  liberal  views — his 
heart,  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  his  hand  also,  was  in  every  project  or 
enterprise  designed  to  bless  either  the  Church  or  the  world.  When  the 
cause  of  Temperance  came  up,  he  enlisted  in  it  most  vigorously,  giving  not 
only  his  example,  but  his  name,  and  the  whole  weight  of  his  influence,  to 
the  cause  of  Total  Abstinence.  He  was  also  an  earnest  friend  to  the  cause 
of  Ministerial  Education  :  though  he  believed  that  the  first  qualification 
for  the  ministry  was  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  was  also  deeply 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  proper  degree  of  intellectual  culture, 
iu  order  to  the  most  successful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  sacred  office ; 
and  he  was  ever  ready  to  lend  his  countenance  and  aid  to  an}'^  judicious 
measures  for  the  furtherance  of  that  cause.  Indeed,  I  may  say,  in  gene- 
ral, that  he  was  distinguished  for  a  large  measure  of  Christian  public- 
spirit. 

In  his  private  intercourse,  he  was  a  most  agreeable  companion,  highly 
instructive,  often  amusing,  and  capable,  at  a  proper  time,  of  relishing  or 
relating  a  humorous  anecdote.  I  remember  one  that  used  to  excite  no 
little  merriment,  of  which  he  was  partly  the  subject, — the  other  party  con- 
cerned being  a  neighbour  of  his,  by  the  name  of  Hugh  Henry,  who  was 
also  far  from  having  any  aversion  to  a  joke.  On  a  Saturday,  evening,  a 
young  man,  who  was  entirely  penniless,  called  at  Mr.  Leland's  house,  and 
asked  for  supper  and  lodging.  It  being  inconvenient,  for  some  reason,  to 
the  Parson  to  accommodate  him,  he  sent  him  to  his  neighbour  Henry, 
assuring  him  that  lie  would  take  good  care  of  him  ;  "  though,"  said  he,  "  he 
will  refuse  you  at  first;  but  you  must  stick  to  him,  and  you  will  certainly 
succeed."  The  young  man  called,  agreeably  to  the  direction,  and  was 
refused.  "  I  was  told,"  said  he,  "  that  you  would  refuse  to  keep  me,  unless 
I  stuck  to  you;  and  that  I  am  resolved  to  do."  "  Who  told  you  that?  " 
said  Mr.  Henry.  "A  large  man,"  answered  he,  "  living  over  there," — 
pointing  to  the  house  from  which  he  had  just  come.  "Well,"  said  Henry, 
"  if  Parson  Leland  sent  you  here,  you  must  stay,  I  suppose ;  and  what 
would  you  like  for  your  supper  ?  "  "  Oh,  any  tiling  that  is  convenient,  for 
I  have  no  money  to  pay  for  it."  '•  But  what  would  you  choose,  if  you  had 
money?"  "Well,  to  be  honest,  I  should  like  a  good  warm  supper,  if  I 
had  the  means  of  paying  for  it;  for  I  have  taken  but  little  food  to-day." 
A  warm  supper  was,  accordingly,  provided,  to  which  the  young  man  paid 
his  best  respects ;  nor  was  he  allowed  to  leave  the  next  morning,  till  he  had 
done  justice  to  a  good  breakfast.  The  young  fellow  was  going  to  try  his 
fortune  in  the  Western  wilderness.  He  had  a  small  dog  with  him  ;  and 
just  before  he  was  realty  to  start, — it  being  near  meeting  time, — Mr.  Henry 
suggested  to  his  guest  that  his  dog  was  not  a  proper  one  to  go  into  the 
wilderness  with,  and  that  he  had  a  neighbour  who  had  a  large  dog,  which 
would  make  great  havoc  among  the  wild  animals  in  the  woods,  and  which 
he  ought,  by  all  means,  to  sccTire.  *'  He  would  like,"  said  he,  '•  to  exchange 
him  for  a  small  one  ;  but  he  will  probably  refuse  at  first,  and  perhaps  rudely 
tell  you  to  go  about  your  business,  and  that  he  does  not  swap  dogs  on  Sun- 
day, and  the  like  ;  but,  if  you  stick  to  him,  you  will  get  the  dog."  The 
young  man  called  at  the  Parson's  house,  just  as  he  was  starting  for  meet- 


AARON  LELAND.  243 

ing,  and  informed  liiin  that  he  had  eomc  to  swap  dogs.  And  the  answer 
which  he  received  was  an  almost  literal  fulfilment  of  Mr.  Henry's  predic- 
tion. "  Well  I  was  told,"  said  the  fellow,  "that  you  would  make  such 
excuses ;  but  T  was  also  told  that  if  I  stuck  to  you,  I  should  get  your  dog  ; 
and  that,  Sir,  you  may  rest  assured  I  shall  do;  "  and  he  actually  accom- 
panied the  Parson  till  he  got  to  the  door  steps  of  the  meeting-house.  As 
it  was  now  evident  that  he  was  determined  to  make  good  his  word,  there 
seemed  to  be  no  alternative  for  Mr.  Leland  but  to  yield  to  his  importunity, 
or  to  go  into  the  house  of  worship,  disputing  about  a  dog ;  and  he,  finally, 
as  the  only  way  of  making  his  escape,  said  to  him, — "  Go  and  take  the  dog, 
and  be  off  in  a  hurry,  and  never  trouble  me  again  in  this  way."  Mr.  Henry 
outlived  Mr.  Leland  a  few  years  ;  but  they  both  lie  buried  in  the  same 
grave-yard  in  Chester,  and  their  graves  are  not  far  from  each  other. 

Mr.  Leland's  useful  and  eventful  life  was  terminated  just  at  the  close 
of  a  very  interesting  revival  of  religion  in  his  congregation.  For  many 
months  preceding  his  death,  he  had  been  labouring  in  that  revival  with  all 
the  energies  of  his  body  and  mind,  and  had  been  privileged  to  witness 
results  which  occasioned  him  unspeakable  joy.  The  last  time  he  adminis- 
tered the  ordinance  of  Baptism,  was  about  four  weeks  previous  to  his 
death.  He  was  then  in  very  feeble  health  ;  and,  as  he  stood  on  the  bank, 
a  physician  who  was  near  observed  to  him  that  he  looked  more  fit  to  go  to 
bed  than  to  go  into  the  water.  His  answer  was, — "  I  will  go."  AVhen  he 
had  baptized  the  last  of  some  eight  or  ten  candidates,  he  came  out  of  the 
water,  and,  lifting  up  his  hands,  exclaimed, — "  0  Lord,  it  is  enough  :  '  now 
lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  sal- 
vation.'" From  this  time  he  gradually  declined,  until,  at  the  call  of 
his  Master,  he  entered  into  his  rest.  He  died  on  the  25th  of  August. 
1833. 

Mr.  Leland's  first  marriage  was  to  a  lady  in  Holliston,  who  died  after 
they  had  been  married  about  two  years.  His  second  wife  was  a  Widow 
Rockwood,  who  had  two  children  by  a  previous  marriage.  His  third  and 
last  wife  was  Miss  Sally  Wcldi,  of  Rockingham,  Yt..  who  survived  him 
several  years.      He  had  no  child  l)y  cither  marriage. 

Mr.  Leland  was  one  of  the  Fellows  of  Middlcbury  College  from  1800 
till  his  death.  He  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from 
that  College  in  1814,  and  he  received  the  same  degree  from  Brown  Univer- 
sity in  1815. 

I  am,  with  much  regard,  yours  truly, 

IRA  PEARSON. 


244  BAPTIST. 


JOHN  STANFORD,  D.  D  * 

1786— 1S34. 

John  Stanford,  the  only  son  of  William  and  Mary  Stanford,  was 
born  at  Wandsworth,  in  Surrey,  England,  October  20,  1754.  When  he  was 
in  his  tenth  year,  his  uncle.  George  Stanford,  to  whom  he  stood  heir  at 
law,  took  charge  of  his  education,  and  placed  him  at  a  respectable  school. 
Though  he  was  sadly  neglected,  and  even  harshly  treated,  by  his  teachers, 
he  made  very  respectable  progress  in  his  studies,  and,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, directed  his  attention  to  Medicine.  About  a  year  after  this,  (March, 
1772,)  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  his  father,  he  returned  home  to  live 
with  his  widowed  mother,  continuing  his  medical  studies  privately,  as  he 
had  opportunity. 

Mr.  Stanford  was  born  and  educated  in  the  bosom  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  ;  and  he  seems,  during  his  early  youth,  to  have  entertained  strong 
prejudices  against  all  who  belonged  to  any  other  communion.  He  was,  at 
this  period,  occasionally,  the  subject  of  some  serious  impressions,  and  was 
uniformly  correct  in  his  external  deportment  ;  and,  according  to  his  own 
account,  was  reposing  on  the  merit  of  his  own  good  deeds  as  the  founda- 
tion of  his  hope  of  Heaven.  Hearing  that  a  Confirmation  was  to  be  held, 
at  a  certain  time,  by  the  Bishop,  at  Lambeth,  five  miles  from  London,  he 
resolved,  with  the  consent  of  his  uncle,  who  was  not  a  religious  man,  to 
avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  be  confirmed;  and,  accordingly,  that 
rite  was  administered  to  him  ;  and,  from  that  time,  he  supposed  that, 
whatever  change  was  necessary  to  salvation,  he  had  been  the  subject  of  it. 

Some  time  after  this,  a  young  man,  by  the  name  of  Hooper,  wlio  had 
been  his  classmate,  and  had  experienced,  as  he  believed,  a  radical  change 
of  character,  under  the  ministry  of  the  celebrated  William  Romaine,  paid 
him  a  visit,  with  a  view  to  endeavour,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  to  give  a 
different  direction  to  his  thoughts  and  feelings  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
This  visit  led  to  a  very  close  intimacy,  and  to  a  correspondence,  from  wliich 
Mr.  Stanford  thought  he  derived  the  most  important  benefit.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  ministry  in  his  native  town,  he  embraced  evei'y  opportunity  to  go 
to  London,  and  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  venerable  Romaine,  by  which 
he  found  himself  greatly  edified  and  comforted.  At  length  word  was 
carried  to  Ins  uncle  that  he  had  become  "  strangely  religious,"  and  intimate 
with  Dissenters ;  which  so  exasperated  him  that,  from  that  time  till  his 
uncle's  death,  which  occurred  shortly  after,  there  was  no  intercourse  of 
any  kind  between  them.  When  his  will  came  to  be  examined,  after  his 
death,  it  was  found  that  he  had  left  his  property  to  an  indifferent  person, 
bequeathing  no  more  to  the  nephew  than  was  necessary  to  answer  the 
requisition  of  the  law. 

Scarcely  had  this  disappointment  occurred,  when  he  was  overtaken  by 
another  and  greater  afl3iction  in  the  death  of  his  mother,  just  as  she  was  on 
the  eve  of  forming  a  second  matrimonial  connection.  This  devolved  upon 
him  the  charge  of  three  young  sisters ;  and  his  trouble  did  not  end  here  ; 

•Sommers'  Biog. — MS.  from  his  son, — Thomas  N.  Stanford,  Esq. 


JOHN   STANFORD. 


245 


for  a  near  rclalivo  took  possession  of  liis  mother's  property,  nmler  pretext 
of  the  imlehteilnoss  of  his  deceased  father  to  him,  so  tliat  they  were  left 
not  only  orphans  hut  destitute.  He  was,  however,  sustained  liy  the  con- 
sciousness of  liaving  done  wliat  ho  helieved  was  right,  ami  he  had  cunfi- 
dence,  even  in  liis  darkest  liours,  tliat  tlic  Lord  would  provide.  Having 
occasion  to  go  to  London,  two  or  three  weeks  after  this,  to  setllo  his 
mother's  affairs,  Mr.  Navlnr,  tlie  attorney  whom  he  consulted,  who  was  a 
religious  man  and  manifest  oil  a  generous  sympathy  in  his  afflictions,  iiifurnied 
him  of  an  opportunity  of  taking  a  hoarding-school  in  the  ncighbouihood 
of  his  country-house,  and  engaged  to  incur  whatever  pecuniary  responsi- 
bility might  be  involved.  Mr.  Stanford  gratefully  accepted  the  offer,  and 
removed  to  Hammersmith,  where  he  found  himself  very  favourably  situated 
in  respect  to  both  comfort  and  usefulness. 

As  he  had  been  educated  in  the  Church  of  England,  he  had  never,  up 
to  this  time,  felt  any  scruple  in  regard  to  any  of  its  doctrines  or  nsnges. 
His  friend  Hooper  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  suggest  a  doubt  to  him 
on  the  subject  of  Baptism  :  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  he  was  led  into  an 
examination  which  resulted,  much  to  his  own  surprise,  in  a  full  conviction 
that  there  is  no  valid  Baptism  except  that  which  is  administeriMl  by  innner- 
sion,  and  on  a  personal  and  intelligent  profession  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
subject.  In  consequence  of  this,  he  felt  himself  called  upon  to  change  his 
ecclesiastical  relations.  Accordingly,  he  was  shortly  after  received  into 
the  communion  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  London,  of  which  the  Rev.  Benja- 
min Wallin,  a  minister  of  great  worth  and  cot:sideralile  note,  was  l^astor. 
This  step,  so  far  from  being  popular,  occasioned  great  coolness  on  the  part 
of  many  of  his  friends;  but  he  was  sustained  by  a  conscious  integrity, 
having  no  doubt  that  he  was  walking  in  the  way  of  God's  commandments. 

It  was  through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Stanford  that  a  Biqitist 
church  was  formed  in  Hammersmith  ;  and  he  was  called  to  take  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  it.  The  call  being  accepted,  he  was  regularly  ordained, — 
several  ministers  taking  part  in  the  service,  among  whom  was  the  cele- 
brated Al)raham  Booth.     This  occurred  in  the  year  1781. 

Mr.  Stanford's  «ituation  at  Hammersmith  did  not  prove  in  all  respects 
agreealde  to  him  ;  and  he,  finall}',  after  much  deliberation  and  prayer, 
resolved  to  come  to  the  United  States.  He,  accordingly,  left  England, 
January  7,  17<S0,  and,  after  a  very  tempestuous  and  protracted  voyage, 
arrive<l  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  on  the  16th  of  April,  where  he  met  a  very  hos- 
pitalile  reception,  and,  for  a  short  time,  engaged  in  teaching  the  children 
of  a  few  wealthy  families.  Having  received  an  invitation  from  some  gen- 
tlemen of  respectability  in  New  York,  to  whom  he  had  forwarded  letters 
of  introduction,  to  visit  that  city,  he  went  thither  in  November,  and,  in 
the  course  of  the  following  month,  opened  an  Academy,  which  soon  rose  to 
great  respectability,  and  enjoyed  an  extensive  patronage. 

The  next  year,  (1787,)  the  Rev.  Dr.  jNIaiming,  first  Presiilent  of  Brown 
University,  having  resigned  the  charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Provi- 
dence, ^Ir.  Stanford  was  repeatedly  invited  to  spend  a  year  with  them  ; 
and,  though  the  pecuniary  compensation  which  was  offered  him  was  much 
less  than  he  then  received,  while  the  labour  required  would  be  much  more 
than  he  performed,  in   connection  with  his  school,  he  still   thought  it  his 


246  BAPTIST. 

dut}',  after  niatuve  reflection,  to  accept  tlie  invitation.  Accordingly,  he 
removed  to  Providence,  and  entered  upon  his  pastoral  duties  with  great 
alacrity.  During  the  first  nine  months  of  his  residence  there,  part  of  his 
time  he  employed  in  writing  a  History  of  the  church  with  which  he  was 
thus  temporarily  connected, — a  church  to  which  there  is  attached  a  pecu- 
liar interest,  from  the  fact  of  its  being  the  oldest  church  in  the  State,  and 
the  oldest  Baptist  Church  in  America.  This  History  was  afterwards 
printed  in  England,  and  has  since  been  incorporated  with  Benedict's  His- 
tory of  the  Baptists. 

Mr.  Stanford  had  not  been  long  at  Providence  before  he  was  elected  a 
Trustee  of  Brown  University,  and,  at  the  Annual  Commencement  in  1788, 
he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  As  there  was  no 
Theological  department  connected  with  the  College,  and  he  was  desirous 
of  elevating  the  character  of  the  ministry  in  his  denomination,  he  received 
into  his  study  a  small  class  of  theological  students  whom  he  instructed 
gratuitously.  His  labours,  at  this  time,  were  abundant,  not  only  among 
the  people  whom  he  had  more  immediately  in  charge,  but  among  the  poor, 
for  whop,  without  respect  to  denominational  peculiarities,  he  felt  the  live- 
liest interest.  Though  his  engagement  was  only  for  a  year,  he  was 
induced,  by  the  urgent  solicitations  of  the  church,  and  of  a  numerous  circle 
of  friends,  to  continue  three  months  beyond  the  stipulated  period.  His 
sojourn  in  Providence  seems  to  have  been  equally  agreeable  to  himself  and 
the  people,  and  his  n)inistry  was  crowned  with  a  large  measure  of  suc- 
cess. 

In  November,  1789,  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  resumed  his  former 
employment  as  a  teacher  of  youth,  at  the  same  time  preaching  the  Gospel 
as  he  had  opportunity.  But  a  severe  mental  affliction,  shortly  after  this, 
overtook  him.  A  dark  cloud  settled  over  his  mind — the  tempter  assaulted 
him  with  his  impious  suggestions,  insomuch  that  he  was  left  even  to  doubt 
the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures.  For  a  considerable  time  he  rarely 
attempted  to  preach,  and  even  his  secret  devotions  seemed  to  have  become 
a  mere  formality.  On  a  certain  Sabbath,  when  his  mind  had  begun  to 
emerge  from  this  gloomy  state,  he  heard  a  discourse  from  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  M.  Mason,  on  the  text, — "  He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted ;"  which  was  the  means  of  putting  to  flight  all  his  doubts,  and 
bringing  him  to  rest  once  more,  with  joyful  confidence,  in  the  promises  of 
the  Gospel.  It  was  five  months  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  this 
season  of  spiritual  depression. 

No  sooner  was  he  relieved  from  this  overwhelming  burden,  than  his 
bodily  health,  which  Ivad  suff'ered  not  a  little,  was  materially  recruited, 
and  he  returned  to  his  duties  witli  increased  interest  and  zeal.  In  August, 
1701,  he  was  requested,  by  a  large  nunil)er  of  young  men  of  different 
denominations,  to  deliver  a  course  of  Sabbath  Evcnins;  Lectures.  He 
cheerfully  complied  with  their  request,  and  the  Introductory  Lecture,  on 
"the  Utility  of  the  Gospel  to  support  the  mind,  under  the  Sufi"erings  of 
human  life,"  was  published. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  1700,  he  Avas  married  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Abra- 
ham Ten  l']yck,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  deatli,  was  an  officer  in  the  Custom 
House,  and  a  Vestryman  of  Trinity  Church. 


JOHN  STANFORD.  247 

lu  1794,  Mr.  Stanford  purcliascd  a  lot  in  Fair  (now  Fulton)  Street,  and 
erected  upon  it  a  buildinjr,  which  he  occupied  both  as  an  Academy,  and  a 
Lecturo-rooni.  This  building  was  opened  with  an  appropriate  Discourse, 
on  the  '27th  nt'  February,  1795.  As  most  of  his  hearers  had  no  stated 
place  of  worship,  he  consented,  at  their  re({uest,  to  hold  three  services  on 
each  Sabbath;  and  the  result  was  that,  within  a  few  months,  a  number  of 
persons  who  believed  themselves  to  have  been  savingly  benefitted  by  his 
ministr}-,  were  baptized  and  formed  into  a  church  of  which  he  became  the 
Pastor.  The  next  year,  (he  newly  constituted  church  and  its  Pastor  were 
cordially  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  "  Association  of  ministers  and 
representatives  of  churches  "  assembled  at  Pleasant  Valley. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1798,  Mr.  Stanford  suffered  not  a  little 
from  bodily  indisposition,  as  well  as  mental  depression,  though  his  labours 
were  not  altogether  interrupted.  On  the  5th  of  August,  he  was  taken 
.severely  ill,  and  the  disease  was  soon  ascertained  to  be  the  Yellow  Fever. 
For  several  days,  his  life  was  despaired  of,  and,  at  one  time,  the  hearse 
.stood  two  hours  before  his  door,  waiting  for  his  body  to  become  a  corpse. 
Most  unexpectedly,  hou'ever,  the  malady  at  length  yielded,  and  he  gradu- 
ally regained  his  health.  Ilis  wife,  in  the  mean  time,  was  attacked  with 
the  disease,  and  though,  for  a  day  or  two,  she  seemed  convalescent,  yet  she 
had  a  sudden  relapse,  which  proved  the  immediate  harbinger  of  death. 
But,  amidst  all  these  afflictions,  he  was  enabled  to  sustain  himself  with 
great  fortitude  and  submission.  His  four  children  had  been  previously 
removed  to  another  part  of  the  city ;  and  he  was  himself  removed  as  soon 
as  he  had  recovered  strength  enough  to  endure  it.  He  returned  to  his 
own  house  in  the  early  part  of  October,  and  found  that  it  had  been 
invaded  and  plundered  by  thieves,  and  every  object  on  which  his  eye 
rested,  seemed  to  deepen  his  sense  of  desolation.  He  betook  himself, 
however,  to  his  covenant-keeping  God,  and  God  was  his  refuge  and  strength 
in  that  season  of  calamity.  On  the  28th  of  October,  he  re-opened 
his  place  of  worship  with  an  appropriate  Discourse,  and  on  the  1st  of 
November,  resumed  his  academical  labours,  with  only  five  scholars, 
owing  to  the  unwillingness  of  parents  to  send  their  children  into  a  part 
of  the  city  in  which  the  pestilence  had  just  been  making  its  most  terrible 
ravages. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1800,  he  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  at 
least  two  literary  institutions  in  different  States ;  but  he  thought  it 
his  duty  to  decline  both  invitations.  His  constitution  had  by  no  means 
recovered  from  the  shock  which  it  had  received  the  preceding  year;  and, 
in  the  month  of  August,  he  took  a  house  in  Greenwich,  in  the  hope  that 
his  health  would  be  benefitted  by  the  purer  air  which  he  would  there 
breathe  ;  but,  scarcely  had  a  single  month  elapsed  before  the  Yellow  Fever 
again  made  its  appearance,  and  the  inhabitants  were  flying  in  all  directions. 
As  his  own  place  of  worship  was  now  almost  entirely  deserted,  he  accepted 
an  invitation  from  a  friend  at  Mount  Pleasant  to  come  with  his  family  and 
remain  with  him  during  the  season  of  danger.  This  invitation  he  grate- 
fully accepted,  and,  during  his  visit  there,  enjoyed  the  best  opportunity  for 
study,  and  had  an  ample  field  for  usefulness.  His  labours  were  attended 
with  a  manifest  blessing,  and  so  highly  was  he  esteemed  by  the  people  at 


248  BAPTIST. 

Mount  Pleasant,   that   they   gave  him   two    invitations    to    become   their 
Pastor. 

In  tlie  month  of  August,  1801,  he  made  another  visit  to  Mount  Pleasant, 
and,  in  his  absence,  there  occurred  a  fire  which  totally  destroyed  his  place 
of  worship, — a  house  which  he  had  built  at  his  own  private  expense.  A 
very  generous  contribution  was  made  by  the  citizens  to  compensate  his  loss  ; 
and  this,  with  other  considerations  strengthened  his  determination  to  devote 
the  residue  of  his  life  to  the  moral  and  religious  benefit  of  the  city.  Mean- 
while, his  congregation  having  dispersed,  and  many  of  them  become  con- 
nected with  other  churches,  he  did  not  think  it  best  to  attempt  to  continue 
a  church  organization.  His  Academy  still  flourished,  and  his  Sabbaths 
were  generally  spent  in  rendering  aid  to  his  brethren  in  the  city  and  neigh- 
bourhood. 

In  1803,  he  suffered  greatly  from  bodily  debility  ;  but  still  he  commenced 
and  continued  two  services  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  both  of  which  were 
well  attended.  In  August,  the  Fever  again  made  its  appearance,  and  he 
found  a  refuge  once  more  for  himself  and  his  family  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
where  they  remained  till  the  latter  part  of  October.  As  soon  as  circum- 
stances would  permit,  he  re-opened  his  Academy  and  resumed  his  evening 
Lectures, 

In  the  summer  of  1800,  he  received  a  unanimous  call  to  take  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  the  Church  in  Burlington,  N.  J.  ;  but,  after  having  visited 
the  people,  and  had  their  call  under  consideration  for  about  three  months, 
he  felt  constrained  to  return  to  it  a  negative  answer.  It  seems  to  have 
been  strongly  impressed  upon  his  mind  that  there  was  still  an  important 
work  for  him  to  do  in  the  city  of  New  York  ;  and  that  lie  could  not  listen 
to  an  invitation  to  go  elsewhere  without  opposing  the  will  of  Providence. 

In  1807,  the  Bethel  Church  in  Broome  Street,  which  had  been,  for  seve- 
ral years,  in  a  declining  state,  requested  his  services  in  the  way  of  supply 
as  often  as  his  other  engagements  would  permit :  he  complied  with  their 
request,  and  his  labours  were  attended  with  a  signal  blessing.  In  March, 
1808,  he  preached,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  New  York  Alms  House,  to  an 
audience  composed  of  persons  labouring  under  almost  every  species  of 
infirmity  and  malady.  This  was  the  commencement  of  a  career  of  self- 
denying  and  beneficent  action,  which  was  to  render  his  memory  fragrant 
with  coming  generations ;  though  a  few  years  were  still  destined  to 
elapse  before  he  should  become  engrossed  in  the  prosecution  of  his  great 
mission.  In  the  early  part  of  1811,  a  regular  Sabbath  morning  service  was 
commenced  in  the  Alms  House,  and  the  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles  Ely  began  his 
labours  as  Chaplain  of  ijie  place.  In  January,  1813,  Mr.  Stanford  was 
associated  with  him  in  the  Chaplaincy  ;  both  of  them  being  employed  by 
"  the  Society  for  Preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Poor  in  the  City  Hospital  and 
Alms  House."  Mr.  Ely  resigned  the  place  in  June,  and  from  that  time 
Mr.  Stanford  held  the  office  alone.  He  now  relinquished  his  Academy, 
after  having  been  engaged  in  teaching  nearly  thirty-six  years,  that  he  might 
devote  himself  entirely  to  these  labours  of  Christian  benevolence. 

The  history  of  Mr.  Stanford's  life  from  this  time  would  be  little  else 
than  a  record  of  an  uninterru]ited  succession  of  efforts,  in  behalf  of 
degraded,  unfortunate,  or  outcast  humanity.     The  field  of  his  labours  ulti- 


JOHN   STANFORD.  249 

niatcly  embraced  the  State's  Pri.son,  IJridcwcll,  the  IMagdalLMi  lluuso,  the 
Orpluin  Asylum,  the  Debtors'  Prison,  the  Penitentiary,  the  Lunatic  Asy- 
lum, lilackwoll's  Island,  the  Marine  Hospital,  and  the  City  Hospital.  In 
eouncction  with  all  these  institutions  he  performed  a  vast  amount  of  labori- 
ous service  ;  and  to  multitudes  of  the  wretched  inmates  he  was  instruniontal 
of  dispensing  the  richest  blessings.  And  while  he  was  thus  moving  about., 
from  day  to  day,  in  circles  of  destitution  and  misery,  his  pen  was  often 
employed  in  producing  tracts  and  larger  works,  which  not  only  served  as 
important  auxiliaries  to  his  benevolent  mission,  but  contributed  to  extend 
and  perpetuate  his  good  influence. 

Mr.  Stanford  rendered  important  service  to  his  denomination  as  a  Theo- 
logical Teacher.  At  various  periods,  he  superintended  the  studies  of  young 
men  in  their  preparation  for  the  ministry,  and  in  1811  he  had  a  class  of 
eight.  His  course  of  Theological  Lectures  arc  said  to  have  been  highly 
appreciated  by  those  who  had  the  privilege  of  hearing  them. 

In  1829,  Mr.  Stanford  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  LTnion  College. 

In  1831,  his  health  perceptibly  declined,  and  his  public  services  were 
performed  not  without  much  diificulty.  And  his  ability  to  labour  from 
that  time  was  constantly  diminishing.  On  the  first  day  of  the  year  1834, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  children,  dressed  in  the  uniform  costume  of  the  New 
York  Orphan  Asylum,  under  the  direction  of  their  teachers  and  superinten- 
dant,  appeared  before  the  door  of  the  venerable  patriarch,  to  offer  him 
their  congratulations  and  good  wishes.  He  immediately  presented  himself, 
and  addressed  them  in  a  few  tender  and  appropriate  words,  that  went  to 
their  inmost  hearts.  They  then  sung  a  beautiful  liymn,  adapted  to  the 
occasion,  after  which  they  marched  up  to  him  in  order,  and  received  from 
him  the  cuslonuary  New  Year's  gift,  as  the  last  token  of  his  kindness.  The 
scene  was  one  of  the  most  touching  and  impressive  that  can  be  imagined. 

In  a  fortnight  from  this  time  he  had  gone  to  his  rest.  He  declined 
graduall}-,  but  continued  occasionally  to  use  his  pen,  till  within  about  six 
hours  of  his  death.  He  died  in  the  utmost  tranquillity,  on  the  14th  of 
January,  1834.  Two  days  after,  he  was  followed  to  the  grave  by  an 
immense  procession,  including  more  than  seventy  clergymen  of  various 
denominations,  and  headed  by  about  two  hundred  orphan  children.  The 
services  were  performed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Drownlee  of  the  Ilefurmcd  Dutch 
Church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spencer  H.  Cone  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Milnor  of  the  p]piscopal  Church. 

Dr.  Stanford  was  the  father  of  four  children,  two  of  whom  survived  him, 
and  one, —  Thomas  N.,  for  many  years  a  highly  respectable  bookseller  in 
New  York,  still  (1853)  survives. 

Dr.  Stanford  published  An  Address  on  the  Burning  of  the  Orphan 
House,  Philadelphia,  1822  ;  An  Address  on  laying  the  Corner  Stone  of  the 
Orphan  House,  Greenwich,  1823;  A  Discourse  delivered  in  tiie  New  York 
City  Hospital,  1824  ;  A  Discourse  on  Opening  the  New  House  of  Cor- 
rection for  Juvenile  Delinquents,  1826;  The  Age<l  Clnistian's  Companion, 
containing  a  variety  of  Essays,  adapted  to  the  Improvement,  Consolation, 
and  Encouragement  of  persons  advanced  in  life,  1829.  This  last  is  an 
octavo  volume,  and  has  passed  to  a  second  edition. 

Vol.  VI.  32 


250  BAPTIST. 


FROM  THE   REV.  CHARLES  G.  SOMMERS,  D.  D. 

New  York,  May  14,  1853. 

Dear  Sir:  When  I  went  to  reside  in  New  York,  ii  little  more  than  forty 
3'ears  ago,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stanford,  concerning  whom  you  inquire,  was  teaching 
a  school  in  what  is  now  Fulton  Street;  and  circumstances  very  soon  brought 
me  into  somewhat  intimate  relations  with  him.  From  that  time  to  the  close 
of  his  life,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  observing  him  much  in  his  daily  walks, 
and  of  tracing  his  signally  philanthropic  career.  Indeed,  I  used  to  feel  myself 
to  some  extent  under  his  direction;  and,  often,  at  his  bidding,  visited  the 
State's  Prison,  the  Alms  House,  and  Debtor's  Jail,  and  sometimes  attended 
criminals  to  the  gallows,  whom  he  had  followed  with  his  counsels  and  praj'ers 
up  to  the  last  scene,  parting  with  them  only  in  time  to  avoid  a  spectacle  from 
which  his  sensitive  nature  instinctively  shrank.  After  his  death,  it  devolved 
upon  me  to  write  his  biograph}',  which  was  published  in  an  octavo  volume. 

Dr.  Stanford  had  some  line  natural  qualifications  for  the  office  of  a  preacher. 
in  his  person,  he  was  not  above  the  middle  height,  but  was  firmly  and  sym- 
metrically built,  and  had  a  countenance  strongly  marked  with  dignity.  He 
had  a  fine  large  eye  that  was  expressive  of  deep  and  strong  thought.  His 
movements  were  easy  and  graceful,  and  indicated — what  was  really  the  fact — 
that  his  social  position  in  life  had  always  been  highly  respectable.  His  voice 
was  one  of  remarkable  power  and  melody :  there  is  not  an  edifice  in  America, 
I  venture  to  say,  so  large,  but  that  he  could  fill  it  Avithout  much  effort.  He 
was  accustomed  to  arrange  his  thoughts  for  the  pulpit  on  paper,  and  to  make 
himself  master  of  his  subject,  committing  the  outline,  thus  prepared,  to  memory, 
and  then  to  preach  Avithout  any  manuscript  before  him,  so  that  his  preaching 
had  the  appearance  of  being  extemporaneous.  He  spoke  deliberately,  but  was 
never  at  a  loss  for  words.  His  sermons  were  remarkable  for  sharp,  pithy 
expressions;  and,  sometimes,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  wit,  a  remark  would 
escape  him  that  would  cause  a  smile  to  pass  over  his  audience,  though  it  was 
evidently  on  his  part  entirely  undesigned.  His  theology  was  thoroughly  Cal- 
vinistic;  and  his  preaching  was  probably  more  doctrinal  than  that  of  most  of 
his  brethren.  No  matter  what  might  be  his  subject,  he  always  seemed  per- 
fectly at  home;  and  he  never  left  it  at  the  option  of  his  audience  whether  to 
listen  to  him  or  not.  His  gesture  was  not  very  abundant,  but  it  always  had 
a  meaning,  and  produced  an  effect.  His  sermons  were  short,  generally  rang- 
ing from  thii't^''  to  thirty-five  minutes;  but  within  these  limits  he  always 
contrived  to  bring  a  very  fair  and  complete  presentation  of  his  subject.  His 
prayers  were  characterized  by  an  awful  solemnity.  They  seemed  perfectly 
unstudied, — the  simple  outpouring  of  the  heart  at  the  Throne  of  infinite 
purity. 

Dr.  Stanford  was  a  most  agreeable  companion,  and  was  always  acceptable, 
as  well  in  general  as  in  Christian  society.  He  could  not  be  called  a  great 
talker,  but  he  was  eminentlj'  a  good  talker — he  alvva3's  talked  to  the  purpose; 
talked  to  enlighten  and  benefit  his  fellow-men;  and  many  of  his  remarks  were 
strikingly  original.  He  had  a  great  fund  of  good-humour,  and  he  knew  how  to 
use  it  without  abusing  it.  Without  any  attempt  to  put  himself  forward,  he 
was  the  life  of  almost  every  company  into  which  he  was  thrown.  He  was  a 
man  of  large  sympathies,  so  that  denominational  lines,  as  far  as  respected  his 
Christian  intercourse,  became  to  him  a  matter  of  little  moment.  I  once  said 
to  him, — "  Father  Stanford,  where  have  you  been  to-day?"  "  Oh,"  said  he, 
"I  have  been  spending  the  day  among  our  Episcopal  brethren."  "But," 
said  I,  <<  why  do  you  not  confine  yourself  more  to  those  of  your  own  com- 
munion.'"' "  Because,"  said  he,  "  to  tell  the  truth,  I  am  a  sort  of  universal 
lover — that  is,  1  love  to  mingle  with  all  good  men." 


JOHN   STANFORD.  251 

Dr.  Stanford  \v:is  a  man  of  great  sagacity  and  forecast — he  had  studied 
human  nature  carefully  and  to  good  purpo.se.  lie  possessed  also  the  most 
unbending  integrity — nothing  could  induce  him  to  vary  a  hair  from  his  honest 
convictions  of  what  was  true  and  rigiit;  and  lie  expected  the  same  of  others; 
and  if  he  did  not  find  it,  he  knew  how  to  administer  a  withering  rehuke.  I 
was  sometimes  unfortunate  enough  to  take  ground,  on  some  small  matters, 
which  he  thought  untenable,  and  he  was  sure  to  meet  me  with  "  Charles,  that 
will  not  do." 

As  a  member  of  a  deliberative  body,  he  was  always  prudent  and  judicious, 
and  his  opinion  was  greatly  relied  on,  though  it  was  not  very  frequently,  and 
never  unnecessarily,  expressed.  As  a  writer,  he  \vas  characterized  by  excellent 
sense,  and  force  and  directness  of  thought,  rather  than  by  the  graces  of 
composition. 

But  what  distinguished  Dr.  Stanford  far  more  than  anything  else,  was  his 
abundant,  self-denying  and  philanthropic  labours.  To  give  any  adequate  idea 
of  these  would  require  a  volume.  He  had  a  vigorous  constitution,  and  ho 
tasked  it  to  the  utmost,  in  fultllling  his  mission  as  a  Christian  minister.  I  do 
not  believe  that  "Whitefield  himself  performed  a  greater  amount  of  ministerial 
labour  than  he.  He  was  at  home  wherever  there  was  suffering  to  be  relieved, 
or  ignorance  to  be  enlightened,  or  wanderers  to  be  reclaimed  to  the  path  of 
virtue  and  holiness;  and  there  was  no  sacrifice  which  he  did  not  deem  light, 
if  it  were  necessary  to  accomplish  the  benevolent  purposes  for  which  he  lived. 
He  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  among  the  wise  and  good  during  his  life-time; 
and  fow  men  die  whose  memories  are  more  deeply  embalmed  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  their  generation. 

Very  faithfully  j'ours, 

CHARLES  G.  SOMMERS. 


ANDREW   MARSHALL.* 

17861—1856. 

FROM  THE  REV.  J.  P.  TUSTIN,  D.  D. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  January  15,  1859. 
Kev.  and  dear  Sir:  My  ecclesiastical  connection  with  Andrew  Marshall 
and  his  church  placed  me,  for  several  years,  in  constant  communication 
with  him.  Haviufr  also  to  act  as  a  legal  security  to  meet  the  municipal 
ordinances  of  .Savannah  and  the  State  of  Georgia,  with  regard  to  coloured 
preachers,  I  had  much  to  do  in  matters  of  counsel  and  discipline  in  his 
Church.  The  sources  of  information  relative  to  the  following  memoir 
have  been  often  attested  by  communication  with  the  older  members  of  the 
Georgia  Historical  Society,  and  witli  many  of  tlic  oldest  and  most  respecta- 
ble  citizens  of  that  State.     I   am    happy   to   be   able   to   give  you   these 

•  This  sketch  was  solicited  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tustin,  under  an  impression  that  Mr.  Mar- 
shall liaJ  died  previous  to  the  period  that  forms  the  liinit  to  this  worli ;  and  the  contrary  was 
not  discnered  until  afttr  the  sketch  had  been  written  and  forwarded  to  mo.  Tiie  very 
remarkable  interest  that  pertains  to  the  sketch,  will,  I  trust,  be  a  sufficient  apology  for  my 
allowing  it  to  form  an  exception  to  a  general  rule. 

._  t  Marshall,  in  a  bri.  f  autobiography,  says  that  he  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church 
in  17S5,  and  '■ona  after  was  licensed  to  preach  ;  but  nothing  further  can  be  nsccrtjined  on  the 
subjc'.t.  The  extract  from  his  autobiography  has  been  sent  to  me  by  I.  K.  Tcflft,  Esq.,  sinoe 
Dr.  Tustin  s  sketch  was  written. 


252  BAPTIST. 

memorahilia   of    one   of    the   most    remarkable    coloured   men   who   have 
appeared  i»  our  modern  times. 

Andrew  Marshall,  late  Pastor  of  the  First  African  Baptist 
Church  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  has  deservedly  become  a  celebrity  in  the 
Annals  of  the  American  Church.  During  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  his 
name  gradually  attracted  public  attention,  until  at  length  it  was  known  in 
distant  parts  of  the  country,  and  even  across  the  Atlantic. 

Several  of  the  most  lively  sketches  of  him  which  appeared,  were  given 
by  authors  whose  works  arc  current  in  various  languages.  Among  these, 
is  the  account  of  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  in  his  volumes  published  after  his 
second  scientific  tour  in  the  United  States.  Miss  Frederika  Bremer,  in 
her  American  tours,  has  presented  a  striking  portraiture  of  him.  Within 
the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  almost  every  intelligent  stranger  who  might 
be  visiting  Savannah,  was  likely  to  seek  out  or  to  hear  this  venerable 
preacher  ;  and  the  sketches  thus  frequently  produced  were  widely  circulated 
by  the  religious  press  of  various  denominations;  and  some  of  the  leading 
secular  papers  in  Northern  cities  had  occasionally  contributed  to  spread  his 
fame. 

The  most  noteworthy  fact  wdiich  made  Mr.  Marshall  so  celebrated  in  his 
later  years,  was  his  reputed  great  age.  During  his  visit  through  the 
Northern  States  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1856,  the  last  year  of  liis  life, 
the  previously  received  version  of  his  extreme  age  was  extensively 
repeated,  and  has  not  been  discredited.  Some  years  previous  to  that  time, 
I  had,  as  a  tribute  to  the  cause  of  Science,  attempted  to  collect  and  to 
sift  the  evidence  about  this  story,  which,  if  only  apocryphal,  would  mis- 
lead persons  engaged  in  ethnological  and  historical  researches.  Literar}' 
and  scientific  gentlemen  had  frequently  made  reference  to  Mr.  Marshall,  as 
an  important  physical  phenomenon. 

With  no  wish  to  detract  from  a  story  of  popular  interest,  but  neverthe- 
less with  a  strong  desire  to  arrive  at  perfect  accuracy,  I  sought  all  tlie 
sources  available  to  myself  for  testing  the  question  of  JMr.  Marshall's  age. 
Three  S(;vcral  lines  of  investigation  were  followed,  which  partly  tended  at 
first  to  fix  his  age  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  below  what  was  commonly 
assigned  to  him,  and  claimed  by  himself. 

One  of  these  lines  of  investigation  was  in  the  personal  recollections  of 
the  late  Hon.  John  IMacpherson  Berrien,  so  well  known  as  U.  S.  Senator, 
and  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States.  Judge  Berrien  was  educated 
for  the  Bar  by  Judge  Clay,  of  Bryan  County,  Ga.,  by  whom  Andrew 
Marshall  was  owned  as  a  slave,  while  Mr.  Berrien  was  a  member  of  the 
family.  Mr.  Berrien  was- born,  August  23,  1781,  and,  after  graduating  at 
Princeton,  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  Georgia  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years,  which  was  near  the  time  when  Mr.  Marshall  began  his 
eiforts  at  preaching. 

With  his  great  name  for  integrity  and  accuracy,  Judge  Berrien  would 
not  be  considered  likely  to  give  countenance  to  any  opinion  which  was 
unsupported  by  valid  evidence.  His  recollections  of  Andrew  Jlarshall's 
appearance  could  hardly  be  reconciled  with  the  account  which  must  have 
made  him  a  person  of  fifty  years  of  age  when  ]Mr.  Berrien  first  knew  him 
as  a  coachman.     But  it  was  at  most  a  matter  of  impression  with  Mr.  Ber- 


AN  DUE W  MARSHALL.  253 

rieti,  tliiit  Aiulrcw  \va3  at  that  period  not  more  than  a  midJlc-a^cd  man. 
Judge  Berrien's  impression  can  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  this 
remarliable  African  always  carried  his  age  so  remarkably  well,  even  at  a 
century. 

The  late  venerable  Mr.  Miller,  familiarly  known  in  Georgia  as  "  Cotton 
Miller,"  from  his  having  been  the  person  who  sent  the  first  bale  of  cotton 
to  Savannah  for  shipment,  was  also  of  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Marshall's  age 
should  have  been  placed  several  years  below  what  was  commonly  assigned 
to  him,  and  by  him. 

Guided  by  such  cautious  and  accurate  men,  who  thus  seemed  to  discredit 
a  popular  and  universally  received  version,  it  fell  to  my  lot,  some  years  ago, 
while  acting  as  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Georgia  Historical  Society, 
to  examine  Mr.  Marshall  more  closely  than  ever,  as  to  Iiis  personal  history, 
and  to  compare  the  results  of  these  interrogatories  with  other  collateral 
evidence.  JJeing  charged  with  tlie  duty,  in  behalf  of  the  literary  repre- 
sentative and  grandson  of  General  Nathaniel  Greene,  of  the  llcvolutionary 
army,  of  identifying  the  spot  where  that  hero  was  buried  in  Savaimah,  I 
found  Andrew  Mar-shall  to  be  a  most  useful  adviser,  on  points  which  put 
at  once  his  veracity  and  his  accuracy  of  recollection  to  the  closest  tests. 
Some  of  his  statements  as  to  his  age  at  the  time  of  General  Greene's 
death,  which  occurred  in  1786,  at  first  seemed  to  confirm  the  impressions 
of  Judge  Berrien  and  Mr.  Miller,  already  referred  to.  On  a  review, 
however,  of  that  case,  it  appears  that  these  interrogatories  were  conducted 
too  much  in  the  manner  of  a  cross-examination  by  a  special  pleader ;  and 
Mr.  Marshall's  confusion  of  mind  or  apparent  inaccuracy  as  to  dates,  could 
be  sufficiently  explained  by  his  want  of  familiarity  with  the  published 
literary  chronicles  of  the  times  in  question. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  concession  which  is  now  cheerfully  made,  that  the 
doubts  which  I  once  publislied  as  to  Mr.  Marshall's  being  truly  a  living 
centenarian,  may  not  be  justified.  No  one  who  intimately  knew  the  vene- 
rable subject  of  this  sketcli  would  suspect  him  of  wishing  to  deceive,  in 
any  important  matter.  The  only  abatement  which  any  one  would  feel, 
arises  from  the  well  known  propensity  of  coloured  people  in  all  parts  of 
the  Southern  States  to  make  themselves  older  than  they  really  are,  after 
they  reach  to  some  advanced  period.  The  deference  accorded  to  age ;  the 
freedom  from  labour  which  aged  servants  enjoy;  and  the  consideration 
received  from  those  of  their  own  race — these  are  among  the  inducements 
which  load  aged  Africans  to  over-estimate  their  years,  sometimes  by  a 
very  considerable  diiferencc. 

It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Marshall  may  have  been  deceived,  not  only  in 
regard  to  his  years,  but  also  as  to  some  other  facts  in  his  history.  And 
yet  it  is  proper  to  remember  that  his  means  of  knowing  were  better  titan 
any  others  possessed.  It  must  be  allowed  that  his  statements  were  not 
(juestioned  by  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  citizens  of  his  own  city  and 
region,  and  gentlemen  now  living  can  certify  to  more  than  fifty  year.-' 
knowledge  of  him. 

If  any  other  question  besides  his  age  should  be  raised  as  to  his  accuracy 
vT  competency  of  opinion  concerning  himself,  it  would  be  as  to  the  amount 
of  his   African    blood.      In    his   conformation   and   general  appearance,  he 


254  BAPTIST. 

would  probably  pass  for  a  true  mulatto.  But  some  scientific  geiillemeii, 
accustomed  to  the  refined  tests  which  the  hair  and  other  criteria  of  physi- 
ology seem  to  have  settled  in  ethnological  researches,  have  formed  a 
decided  opinion  that  Mr.  Marshall  was  more  of  an  African  than  would 
follow  from  a  white  father  and  a  black  mother. 

His  own  account,  so  often  repeated,  and  so  widely  known  and  believed, 
in  lower  Georgia,  will  now  be  mainly  followed.  He  always  referred  his 
birth  to  the  year  1755,  being  the  time  of  General  Braddock's  defeat  by  the 
French  and  Indians.  This  he  said,  had,  from  his  early  recollections,  deter- 
mined the  year  of  his  nativity.  As  informed  by  his  mother,  who  was  an 
unmixed  ncgress,  his  father  was  an  Englishman  acting  as  an  overseer  in 
South  Carolina,  where  Andrew  was  born.  The  father  left  for  England, 
where  he  died,  not  long  after  the  birth  of  the  child.  It  was  always 
asserted  liy  Andrew  that  he  had  been  entitled  to  his  freedom  from  his 
birth,  as  his  father  had  arranged  with  a  mulatto  person  by  the  name  of 
Pendavis,  before  going  to  England,  that  the  negro  mother  and  two  children 
which  she  had  borne  him,  were  to  be  provided  for,  and  the  children  educa- 
ted, and  that,  upon  his  return,  the  father  would  secure  their  freedom.  His 
premature  death  becoming  known,  the  mulatto  overseer  managed  to  enforce 
a  claim  against  the  estate  of  the  father,  and  the  mother  and  children  were 
seized  and  sold  as  slaves.  Andrew  was  sold  to  John  Houston,  then  Colo- 
nial Governor  of  Georgia,  who  died  when  Andrew  was  about  twenty-one 
years  of  age. 

Andrew  Marshall  was  twice  married  ;  the  first  time,  at  sixteen  years  of 
age.  By  his  two  marriages  he  had  twenty  children,  onl}'  one  of  whom  now 
survives.  He  was  separated  from  his  first  wife  after  the  death  of  Governor 
Houston,  by  whom  he  had  been  bequeathed  his  freedom  on  account  of 
having,  at  one  time,  saved  his  master's  life.  The  executors,  however,  failed 
to  carry  out  the  will,  and  Andrew  was  again  sold,  being  then  parted  from 
his  first  wife.  He  evaded  the  decision  by  running  away,  and  was  sold 
while  at  large,  becoming  then  the  property  of  Judge  Clay,  as  already  men- 
tioned. 

While  in  the  service  of  Judge  Clay,  he  accompanied  his  master,  who 
several  times  visited  the  Northern  States,  in  the  capacity  of  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  perhaps  on  some  other  occasions  also.  In  these  visits, 
Andrew's  position  as  coachman  enabled  him  frequently  to  see  General 
Washington,  of  whom  he  was  fond  of  relating  several  striking  inci. 
dents.  At  a  later  period.  General  Washington  visited  Savannah,  and 
Andrew  was  honoured  with  the  appointment  of  body  servant  to  the  Pre- 
sident. He  was  constantly  near  the  General's  person  during  his  brief 
stay  in  the  city,  acting  as  his  driver,  and  waiting  upon  him  at  a  public 
dinner.  Andrew  said  that  Washington  was  uniformly  grave  and  serious, 
and  that  he  was  never  seen  to  smile  during  his  whole  visit,  though  he  was 
always  calm  and  pleasant. 

The  congruity  of  Mr.  Marshall's  recollections  seems  to  be  verified,  espe- 
cially in  regard  to  his  age,  in  connection  with  the  opening  period  of  the 
Revolutionary  AVar.  The  embargo  having  taken  effect  at  Savannah,  fifteen 
merchants  of  that  city  agreed  to  give  him  a  purse  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars,  on  condition  that  he  should  carry  word  to  a  number  of 


ANDREW  MARSHALL.  255 

Auicvicau  vessels  lying  in  a  buy,  on  tlic  lower  sealjoarJ,  and  (lestinod  for 
Savannah.  In  this  achievement  he  was  successful.  The  vessels  were  ena- 
bled to  escape  to  Spanish  protection,  before  the  courier,  previously  sent, 
had  informed  the  fleet  of  their  danger. 

Mr.  iMarshall  was  an  eye-witness  of  many  of  the  stirring  events  which 
occurred  in  .Savannah  and  its  vicinity,  during  the  llevolutionary  War,  He 
was  a  trustworthy  servant,  especially  when  honoured  with  any  unusual  pro- 
motion and  responsibility.  Even  in  the  last  war  with  England,  he  was 
employed,  for  a  period  of  six  weeks,  by  officers  of  the  Government  or  the 
army,  on  some  important  business,  and  for  this  he  refused  any  compensa- 
tion, as  he  always  claimed  to  be  a  true  American,  and  cheerfully  shared  in 
the  toils  and  sufferings  of  the  white  population,  though  never  with  any 
unseemly  pretensions  on  his  part. 

He  had  distinct  personal  recollections  of  General  Nathaniel  Greene. 
His  account  of  that  hero's  early  death  agrees  with  the  traditions  which 
have  been  carefully  attested  by  gentlemen  familiar  with  historical  reseaches. 
General  Greene,  immediately  after  the  war,  was  rewarded  with  valuable 
grants  of  land  near  Savannah,  to  which  he  repaired  with  his  family,  in 
1785.  Owing  either  to  some  disputed  title,  or  to  rancour  and  envy  at  the 
hero's  valuable  possessions,  he  was  not  allowed  to  enjoy  them  long.  He 
was  exposed  to  so  much  personal  danger  that  he  was  obliged  to  ride  armed 
with  pistols,  in  going  to  and  from  his  plantation  near  the  city,  and  he 
could  travel  only  in  full  daytime.  Thus  exposed  in  the  midst  of  the  sum- 
mer's heat,  he  was  suddenly  smitten  with  inflammation  of  the  brain,  and 
died  on  the  19th  of  June,  17S6.  Andrew  Marshall  could  recall  all 
these  events  with  the  distinctness  of  an  eye-witness.  His  account  of  the 
hero's  Funeral,  iu  Savannah,  is  the  only  apparently  faithful  picture  which 
can  now  be  furnished,  whether  from  written  chronicles  or  from  personal  tra- 
ditions, lie  describe  1  the  surprise,  grief,  and  indignation  of  the  people  of 
the  city,  at  the  early  and  untoward  death  of  General  Greene,  and  their 
willing  mind  but  ineft'ectual  desires  to  stand  up  for  his  honour  and  defence. 
The  town  and  region  around  were  summoned  to  the  Funeral,  and  tubs  of 
punch  and  barrels  of  biscuit  were  placed  along  the  road  near  the  cemetery, 
to  refresh  the  wearied  multitude.  Andrew  declared  that  he  could  pace  off 
the  distance  from  the  gate  of  the  old  cemetery  on  South  Broad  Street,  to 
within  half  a  dozen  steps  of  the  spot  where  the  General  was  buried.  But 
his  aid  in  verifying  this  locality  had  been  too  long  deferred,  when  an  inves- 
gation  was  attempted  a  few  years  ago,  especially  as  it  was  then  established 
by  sufficient  evidence  that  the  remains  of  General  Greene  had  previously 
been  exhumed,  and  removed  to  a  spot  which   cannot  now  be  identified. 

Mr.  Marshall's  force  of  character  seemed  to  have  been  chiefly  expended 
on  worldly  interests,  until  he  was  about  fifty  years  of  age.  He  evinced, 
even  to  the  last,  a  lively  sympathy  in  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  was 
especially  careful  to  maintain  the  cause  of  law  and  order  in  the  social  rela- 
tions by  which  he  was  surrounded  in  his  own  city  and  vicinity.  Not  far 
from  the  time  of  his  conversion,  he  also  acquired  his  emancipation.  He 
was  at  that  time  owned  as  a  slave  by  Mr.  Bolton,  whose  family  name  is 
honourably  known  among  the  merchant  princes  of  Savannah.  The  father 
of  Mr.  Bolton  had  been  the  special  friend  of  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon 


256  BAPTIST. 

while  she  was  patronizing  Mr.  Whitefield's  mission  in  Savannah,  and  the 
Orphan  House  at  Bculah.  The  Bolton  name  is  associated  by  marriage 
with  the  family  of  the  late  Rev.  William  Jay,  of  Bath,  in  England.  The 
business  partner  of  Mr.  Bolton  was  the  late  venerable  Mr.  Kichard  llieh- 
ardson,  who  purchased  Andrew,  and,  with  the  view  of  effecting  his  emanci- 
pation, advanced  him  two  hundred  dollars,  in  order  to  purchase  himself. 
With  his  previous  earnings,  and  with  diligence  and  economy,  under  the 
encouragement  of  his  master,  he  saved  enough  to  pay  for  himself  and  his 
whole  family,  then  consisting  of  his  wife  and  four  children,  his  wife's 
father,  and  his  own  step-father. 

Shortly  after  his  conversion,  he  began  to  preach ;  and  in  1806  he 
became  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah,  which  was  a 
coloured  Cliurch,  in  distinction  from  the  First  or  the  White  Baptist  Church, 
then  recently  formed  by  the  distinguished  Henry  Holcombe,  D.  D.,  who 
afterwards  died  as  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia. 
About  a  thousand  coloured  members  then  belonged  to  Mr.  MarshaH's 
church ;  and  subsequently  the  number  increased  to  some  three  thousand, 
when  it  was  thought  best  to  divide  them.  Accordingly,  the  coloured 
church  was  formed,  which  sometime  afterwards  purchased  the  old  house 
of  worsliip  which  the  White  Baptist  Church  vacated  when  they  built  their 
new  brick  meeting-house,  under  the  Pastorship  of  the  late  Bev.  Henry  O. 
Wyer,*  and  which  now  forms  a  part  of  the  large  house  of  worship  known 
as  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah.  The  church  which  Mr.  Mar- 
shall thus  formed,  took  the  name  of  the  First  African  Baptist  Church,  and 
he  remained  its  Pastor  till  the  day  of  his  death. 

During  the  long  period  of  his  ministry,  Mr.  Marshall  was  careful  to 
preserve  tolerably  good  memorials  of  his  ministerial  acts.  His  mere 
recollections  seemed  nearly  as  accurate  as  if  they  had  been  written  and 
publicly  certified.  He  had  baptized  about  thirty-eight  hundred  persons  ; 
and  he  supposed  that  over  four  thousand  had  professed  to  be  converted 
under  liih  ministry.  His  personal  influence  extended  over  the  j/lantations 
througli  several  counties  around  Savannah  ;  and  the  planters  were  generally 
satisfied   with  the  beneficial   effects  of  his  labour,-,      lie  was  often  sent  f>>r 

*  Henry  <).  Wyer  was  a  native  of  Mnssaeliusetts,  was  graduated  at  the  Coluniliaii  College, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  at  the  ago  of  about  twenty-cue,  and  soon  after  reuiovid  to  Savan- 
nah, and  became  I'astor  of  the  Baptist  Cliurch  in  that  city.  Ho  was  ordained  there,  in  the 
year  182-i,  by  a  Presbytery  consisting  of  the  late  I'.cv.  Ur.  Jirantly,  then  of  Augtista,  Ca.,  and 
"the  llev.  (afterwards  I'rcsidcnt)  Shannon,  of  Liberty  t;ounty,  in  the  same  State.  The  church 
with  which  he  became  connected,  had  long  been  in  an  exceedingly  depressed  slate;  but,  under 
the  influence  of  his  faithful  and  acceptalilo  ministry,  it  began  soon  to  revive,  and,  as  the  fruit 
of  a  revival  wbieii  took  i)lace  in  1827,  it  received  to  its  communion  about  one  hundred  persons. 
He  continued  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  duties  at  Savannah  until  ISIili,  when  he  was  con'- 
pelled  by  ill  health  to  resign  hi^charge.  He  spent  two  years,  leading  the  life  of  a  valctudinii- 
rian,  preac'.iing  as  his  strength  allowed,  but  accepting  no  permanent  situation.  During  thi? 
period,  several  of  the  most  [.roniincnt  churches  in  the  denomination  wcvo.  otl'ered  to  him,  but  be 
felt  constrained  to  decline  them.  In  ISt:',  when  the  Kev.  Dr.  llinney  went  to  ]?urinah,  he 
accepted  the  call  of  the  Savannah  Ihiptiht  Church  for  one  year.  Subse(|uently,  he  took  the 
temporarv  charge  of  a  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah,  which  was  constituted  in  1847,  and 
retained  this  position  about  two  years.  JHs  health  was  too  infirm  to  admit  of  regular  labour. 
His  death  occurred  in  Alexandria,  Va.,  in  April,  18^)7,  when  ho  was  fifty-live  years  of  age. 
He  was  mariied,  in  1825,  to  a  sister  of  Lieutenant  Harstene,  the  gallant  Commander  of  the 
Arctic,  which  went  in  quest  of  Captain  K.  K.  Kane.  His  widow  survives  him.  He  left  two 
sons,  one  of  whom  is  at)  honoured  Baptist  niinistcr  in  Virginia,  the  other  is  a  practitioner  of 
medicine.  Mr.  W'.  was  an  nneonimonly  eflVetivc  preacher — though  his  feeble  health  rarely 
allowed  him  to  nuike  very  mature  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  his  fine  elocution,  and  noble 
presence,  and  warm  heart  were  always  a  pledge  of  his  being  listened  to  with  attention  and 
interest. 


ANDREW  MARSHALL.  257 

to  preach  and  to  perform  Funeral  services,  at  great  distances ;  and  such 
visits  were  often  urged  by  the  phiuters,  and  tlie  white  people  at  large,  as 
well  as  by  the  blacks. 

Whenever  he  visited  any  of  the  larger  cities,  his  appearance  in  public 
ministrations  was  greeted  by  great  nmltitudes.  He  occasionally  preached 
in  Augu-^ta,  ^lacon  and  Millcdgevillc,  as  well  as  in  Charleston,  and  even 
as  far  olf  as  in  New  Orleans.  On  some  occasions  his  audiences  were  com- 
posed, in  large  part,  of  the  most  respectable  white  people  :  and  the  Legis- 
lature of  Georgia,  at  one  time,  gave  him  a  hearing  in  an  entire  body.  The 
winter  before  he  died,  he  visited  Augusta,  and  conducted  a  protracted 
meeting,  which  resulted  in  the  addition  of  over  three  hundred  and  fifty 
persons  to  the  coloured  church  in  that  city.  With  all  these  immense 
results  to  his  ministry,  Mr.  Marshall  preserved  a  strict  and  salutary  disci- 
pline— at  least,  such  was  the  constant  effort  and  rule  of  his  proceedings. 
lie  was  jealous  of  mere  animal  excitements  ;  and  generally  unfriendly  even 
to  protracted  meetings  in  his  own  church,  or  in  others  where  he  officiated. 
lie  relied  upon  the  appointed  and  ordinary  means  of  grace;  and  in  his  own 
church,  there  were  seldom  any  efforts  used  beyond  special  prayer  and  the 
faithful  ministrations  of  the  Word.  He,  however,  was  so  deeply  interested 
in  the  Temperance  cause,  that  he  encouraged,  among  his  people,  those 
methods  of  organization  fur  this  object,  which  are  somewhat  kindred  to  the 
plan  of  the  Odd  Follows.  There  were  also  Societies  among  his  flock  for 
mutual  benefit ;  and  in  these  ways,  the  poor  and  the  infirm,  especlalh' 
among  the  free  people  of  colour,  who  had  no  legal  masters  to  care  for  them 
in  their  old  age  were  greatly  benefitted.  Mr.  Marshall  was  so  strong  in 
Ills  opposition  to  drunkenness  that  no  coloured  person  would,  by  this  in- 
dulgence, willingly  incur  his  censure.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  in  this 
respect,  he  accomplished  much  for  the  cause  of  virtue  among  the  blacks, 
and  thus  for  the  public  welfare  generally. 

The  superiority  of  Mr.  Marshall's  character  and  talents  especially  ap- 
pears in  the  methodical  manner  in  which  he  conducted  his  own  business, 
as  well  as  in  the  discipline  of  his  church.  Long  after  he  became  a 
preacher,  he  had  but  a  small  and  precarious  support  from  any  pecuniary 
rewards  for  his  ministry.  He  supported  himself  and  his  famil}^  as  a  dray- 
man ;  but  his  great  capacity  soon  asserted  itself,  even  in  respect  to  his 
material  means  of  prosperity.  He  conducted  the  portage  and  draying 
bu.sines3  on  a  considerable  scale,  at  one  period,  having  owned  a  number  of 
drays  and  teams,  and  even  the  slaves  who  drove  them.  He  owned  tho 
large  brick  dwelling  house  in  which  he  had  lived  for  many  years  previous 
to  his  death  ;  and  was  at  one  time  rated  in  property  as  high  as  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  though  this  was  probably  too  high  an  estimate.  His 
property  was  diminished  very  considerably  in  his  latter  years.  With  his 
increasing  infirniities  he  began  to  fear  that  he  might  yet  be  scarcely  saved 
from  the  necessity  of  out-door  duties  ;  and  that  he  might  have  to  give  up 
the  easy  carriage  and  horse  which  he  had  so  long  enjoyed.  He  related 
that,  on  one  occasion,  he  had  advanced  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  to  pur- 
chase a  family  of  twelve  persons,  to  prevent  their  separation,  and  that  he 
never  received  back  the  money,  except  a  mere  trifle,  which  he  had  thus  paid. 


Vol.  YI. 


258  BAPTIST. 

His  clmroh,  however,  were  abundantly  able  and  willing  to  provide  for 
him  ;  and  though  they  did  not  pay  him  a  fixed  salary,  they  made  regular 
contributions,  which  amounted  to  a  handsome  sum  annually,  and  which,  iu 
any  extremity,  could  doubtless  have  been  increased  by  several  hundred 
dollars.  Prominent  native  citizens  were  always  among  his  tried  friends  ; 
and  some  of  the  most  respectable  gentlemen  in  Savannah,  of  different 
denominations,  acted  as  Trustees  for  his  church,  to  protect  their  real  estate 
and  other  property. 

Mr.  Marshall  possessed  elements  which  would  of  necessity  have  made 
him  a  leading  character  anywhere.  His  Anglo-Saxon  temperament  made 
him  superior  to  his  African  race.  His  strength  of  character  showed  itself 
in  his  indomitable  perseverance,  his  calm  self-possession,  his  practical 
sagacity,  and  a  discretion  which  never  failed  him.  Withal,  he  had  a  genial 
and  even  humorous  temper ;  and  his  countenance  bore  the  finest  lines  of 
expression.  He  was  entirely  free  from  superstition,  and  gave  no  counte- 
nance to  marvellous  relations  of  experience,  even  in  a  work  of  grace.  Ho 
could  penetrate  beneath  disguises,  and  few  men,  white  or  black,  of  any 
age,  ceuld  surpass  him  in  reading  human  character. 

The  deference  which  he  always  showed  for  the  laws  and  institutions  of 
the  country,  was  combined  with  a  high  measure  of  self-respect,  and  fre- 
quently with  a  decision  and  inflexibility  which  might  be  taken  advantage 
of  by  unprincipled  white  persons.  There  was  a  period  of  about  two 
years, — from  1819  to  1821, — when  Mr.  Marshall  became  somewhat  unpop- 
ular with  the  white  people  of  liis  own  denomination,  on  account  of  his 
extreme  views  of  Theology,  which  at  first  bordered  on  Antinomianism,  and 
at  length  receded  to  the  ojiposite  extreme  of  Sacramentalism  in  Baptism,  as 
held  by  Alexander  Campbell.  During  that  time,  and  while  engaged  in  his 
secular  avocations,  he  had  violated  the  laws,  by  contraband  dealings  with 
negroes.  He  had  made  purchases  from  slaves  having  no  tickets  with  leave 
to  trade  and  sell ;  and,  though  many  white  people  had  laid  the  foundation 
of  large  success  in  business  before,  as  others  have  since,  by  contraband 
trade  with  blacks,  advantage  was  taken  of  Mr.  Marshall's  inadvertency, 
and  happening  together  with  his  temporary  unpopularity,  he  was  prosecuted 
and  sentenced  to  be  publicly  whipped  in  the  market-place.  The  kindness 
of  his  former  master,  Mr.  Richardson,  and  the  feelings  of  many  of  the 
best  citizens,  would  not  allow  him  to  suffer  ;  and  personal  witnesses  of  the 
scene,  yet  living,  can  attest  tliat  the  whipping  was  only  a  semblance, — the 
constable  receiving  instructions  not  to  scratch  his  skin  or  to  draw  blood, — 
his  old  master  also  being  at  his  side  to  see  that  these  precautions  were 
faithfully  and  humanely  observed. 

While  Mr.  Mar.-hall  was  unvarying  in  his  deference  to  white  people,  and 
was  never  distrusted  for  any  disloyalty  to  the  public  peace;  and  while  he 
was  decided  in  asserting  the  necessity  and  advantages  of  the  present  insti- 
tutions in  the  South,  he  yet  never  hesitated  to  make  a  firm  and  respectful 
declaration  of  the  rights  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion.  He  some- 
times alluded  to  his  celebrated  uncle,  the  Ilev.  Andrew  Bryan,*  who  was  a 

*  Andkkw  Bryan  whs  a  slave  belonging  to  the  Hon.  Jonathan  Bryan,  a  distinguished 
patriot  of  the  llcvulution,  ivho  died  in  1788.  Andrew,  the  founder  of  the  I'irst  Coloured 
Church  in  Fivvanniih.  was  his  favourite  servant,  and  was  allowed  many  jnivileges.  He  was  at 
one  time  arrested  and  whipiied, — it  is  supposed  for  holding  religious  meetings  with  bis  members 


ANDREW  MAUSIIALL.  259 

coloured  preaclior  of  nearly  as  great  reputation  as  ever  AndrLv;  Marshall 
possessed,  and  who  died  at  au  extremely  great  age,  as  Pastor  of  the 
Coloured  Church  in  Savannah.  In  one  of  the  turbulent  outlircaks  of  reli- 
gious bigotry  among  the  baser  sort  of  people,  which  happened  before  the 
demoralizing  eflfects  of  the  Revolutionary  War  had  been  fallowed  liy  better 
morals  and  manners,  this  old  preacher,  Andrew  Bryan,  was  silenced  from 
preaching  ;  and,  upon  his  assuming  again  to  preach,  he  was  publicly  whip- 
ped. But,  after  this  flagellation,  he  declared  that  he  could  not  stop 
preaching,  even  if  at  the  cost  of  a  martyr's  sufferings.  This  old  man 
seemed  ever  to  have  been  the  model  for  a  true  preaclior,  with  Andrew 
Marshall  ;  and  when  he  died,  his  nephew  and  successor  caused  a  beautiful 
mural  tablet  to  be  raised  in  his  church,  and  another  large  tablet  of 
marble  over  his  grave,  in  which  were  recited  the  events  of  his  life,  not 
omitting  the  whipping  and  the  persecution  he  had  endured  for  righteous- 
ness' sake.  The  monument  will  probably  long  remain  in  the  coloured 
cemetery  at  Savannah. 

The  bent  and  tone  of  Mr.  Marshall'-s  mind,  was  of  the  old  Calvinistic 
order.  His  clear  intellect  was  equal  to  the  best  distinctions  in  Theology  ; 
and  though  he  was  rather  too  fond  of  sometimes  saying  in  public  that  he 
never  had  a  day's  learning  in  his  life,  yet  he  had  much  of  the  discipline 
which  every  superior  mind  acquires  and  asserts  for  itself,  by  the  very 
necessity  and  outgrowth  of  self-education  ;  for  every  mind  tliat  is  truly 
educated,  when  we  look  at  the  last  analysis,  educates  itself. 

He  owned  a  considerable  number  of  books ;  and  among  those  evidently 
the  most  used,  were  Dr.  Gill's  Commentaries.  In  his  treatment  of  a  sub- 
ject in  some  of  his  pulpit  performances,  there  was  observable  the  grasp 
of  a  mind  which  would  be  deservedly  called  great.  Very  often,  indeed,  he 
intermingled  incidents  of  his  personal  experience,  and  then  would  seem  to  ' 
run  into  a  rambling  style ;  but  even  these  discursive  qualities  served  to 
keep  alive  the  attention  of  his  simple  flock.  But  a  man  who  could  make 
some  of  the  high  mental  efforts  which  Andrew  Marshall  at  times  dis- 
played, would  be  pronounced  as  full)^  equal  to  any  subject  which  he  would 
find  occasion  to  meet,  if  allowed  opportunity  for  preparation. 

The  tones  of  his  voice  seemed  rather  to  make  his  preaching  of  the  con- 
versational order ;  while  yet  there  was  really  a  unity  of  plan  and  a  pur- 
pose, and  a  progress,  in  the  whole  deliverance.  In  his  large  house  of 
worship,  the  soft  tones  of  his  voice  would  reach  the  farthest  corner,  and 
penetrate  every  ear.  He  never  used  notes  in  preaching;  but  his  self- 
possession  never  failed  him.  His  voice  was  so  deep,  sonorous  and  tender, 
that  its  capacity  for  the  expression  of  pathos  was  unsurpassed.  In  his 
Scripture  readings,  and  in  reciting  hymns,  liis  power  was  always  felt.      His 

at  niglit, — but  his  master  interceded  for  him,  and  the  matter  being  examined  by  several  lead- 
ing citir-ens,  and  there  being  no  evidence  that  the  slaves  were  plotting  mischief  or  insurrection, 
the  result  was  that  Andrew  obtained  permission  from  the  Chief  .Jtistice  to  continue  to  preach 
during  the  day  time,  hut  not  at  night.  Jle  died  on  the  Oth  of  October,  1SI2,  in  the  ninety- 
sixth  year  of  his  age.  Several  Addresses  were  delivered  at  his  Funeral,  and  among  them  one 
by  the  Itev.  Dr.  Kollock.  The  following  is  part  of  the  inscription  upon  his  monument: — *'  He 
has  done  more  good  among  the  poor  slaves  than  ;i11  the  learned  Doctors  in  America,  lie  wag 
imprisoned  for  the  Gospel,  and,  without  any  ceremony,  whipped.  I3ut,  while  under  the  Ia«h, 
he  told  his  persecutors  he  rejoiced  not  only  to  be  whipped,  but  he  was  willing  to  suffer  death 
for  the  cause  of  Christ.  ...  He  wasan  honour  to  human  nature,  an  ornament  to  religion, 
and  friend  to  mankind.     His  memory  is  still  precious  in  the  minds  of  the  living." 


260  BAPTIST. 

favourite  hymns  and  selections  of  Scripture  were  sometimes  pronounced 
with  such  effect,  that  the  most  highly  educated  and  discriminating  persons 
would  never  forget  the  impression  of  such  readings. 

His  appearance  was  commanding,  though  he  was  neither  stout  nor  tall, 
compared  with  the  average  of  well  formed  men.  His  African  skin  and 
hair  were  compensated  by  a  face  of  intelligence  superior  to  the  limitations 
of  race.  His  hair  was  of  the  clearest  white,  aud  though  truly  African,  it 
rose  in  unwonted  profusion,  giving  him  the  presence  of  a  venerable  patri- 
arch. His  teeth  were  sound  and  beautifully  clear ;  his  sight  and  hearing 
as  good  to  the  last  as  in  middle  life  ;  and  his  lower  limbs  only  began  seri- 
ously to  fail  him  on  reaching  his  one  hundredth  year.  In  some  of  his 
glowing  pulpit  efforts,  his  face  and  whole  person  were  irradiated  with 
intelligence  ;  and  one  could  not  hear  him  at  such  times  without  feeling  him- 
self within  the  influence  of  a  superior  mind. 

In  the  last  year  of  Mr.  Marshall's  life,  it  became  an  object  of  extreme 
liesire  with  him  to  erect  a  new  and  better  house  of  worship  for  the  church 
which  he  felt  he  soon  must  leave.  The  old  house,  being  built  of  wood,  had 
become  much  dilapidated,  and  the  city  ordinance  would  not  allow  another 
wooden  building  to  be  erected  on  that  spot,  which  was  really  an  eligible 
one.  Feeling  the  importance  of  his  cause,  after  making  some  progress  in 
Savannah  and  its  vicinity,  Mr.  Marshall  resolved  upon  another  journey  to 
the  North,  which  he  had  frequently  visited  in  the  days,  and  in  the  presence, 
of  Washington.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  and  he  hoped  also  to 
receive  some  benefit  by  consulting  physicians  there,  for  his  infirmities,  whieli 
neither  nature  nor  medicine  could  much  longer  resist.  He  was  respectfully 
received  by  some  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  New  York  clerg}',  of  vari- 
ous denominations.  He  preached  with  acceptance  in  several  of  the  Baptist 
pulpits, — among  them,  in  Dr.  Cone's  and  Dr.  Magoon's — and  in  those  of 
other  denominations,  one  of  which  was  that  of  Dr.  Krebs  ;  and  very  soon 
he  received  in  that  city  about  six  hundred  dollars  for  his  object. 

But  his  race  was  run.  He  was  soon  admonished  to  return  home  at  once, 
if  he  wished  to  see  his  own  people  again,  and  to  die  among  them.  Extremely 
weak,  and  every  day  becoming  more  unwell,  he  reached  Richmond  in  his 
journey  by  land;  and  thence  he  could  proceed  no  farther.  Having  a  letter 
to  the  Rev.  B.  Manly,  Jr.,  President  of  the  Richmond  Female  College, 
he  desired  his  direction  to  some  place  where  he  could  stay.  Mr.  Manly 
promptly  and  cheerfully  provided  for  him  at  his  own  house,  where  the  old 
man  lingered  for  more  than  a  month,  evincing  the  same  gracious  affec- 
tions, and  the  same  superior  traits  of  character,  which  had  crowned  and 
graced  his  life  for  so  muny  years.  Here,  on  the  8th  of  December,  1850, 
he  breathed  his  last.  His  remains  were  carefully  conveyed  to  Savannah, 
where  his  Funeral  took  place,  on  Sabbath,  the  14th  of  the  same  month. 
The  demonstrations  of  interest,  on  this  last  solemn  occasion  of  his  earthly 
history,  were  unequalled  by  any  thing  of  the  kind  in  that  city  or  region, 
where  a  coloured  person  was  concerned.  An  immense  procession  of  about 
a  mile  long,  with  fifty-eight  carriages,  either  loaned  by  families  in  the  city 
to  their  servants  or  other  coloured  friends,  or  occupiefl,  as  in  many  instances, 
by  respectable  white  people  themselves,  followed  him  from  his  church  to  his 
grave.     His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Rambaut, 


ANDUEW  MAHSIIALL.  2G1 

Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Savannah.  Not  more  than  two  or 
three  Funerals,  whether  civil  or  military,  and  tlioscof  the  most  distinguished 
citizens  of  the  jdace,  have  witnessed  so  large  a  colk-ction  of  people,  in  the 
course  of  the  present  centur}',  in  that  city,  as  followed  to  their  last  resting 
place,  the  remains  of  the  centenarian,  Andrew  Marshall. 

Yours  respectfully, 

.r.  1'.  TUSTIN. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JOHN  M.  KREBS,  D.  D. 

X  KW  York,  .Tunc  4,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :   You  ask  me  for  my  recollections  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Marshall, 
the  Centenarian  Coloured  Pieacher,  of  Savannah. 

On  a  certain  Lord's  daj^,  in  May,  1855,  I  Avas  in  Savannah,  on  my  way  to 
the  General  Assembly.  After  preaching  in  the  morning  for  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Preston,  then  the  Pastor  of  the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  I 
attended  in  the  afternoon,  in  company  with  a  respected  Ruling  Elder  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  several  other  Christian  friends,  who  were 
lodging  at  the  same  hotel  with  me,  the  worship  in  the  African  Baptist  Church, 
Avhich  was  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr.  ^larshall,  celebrated  for  his  great 
age,  his  protracted  evangelical  lal)Ours,  and  his  genuine  Christian  eloquence. 
On  entering  the  Church,  which  Avas  a  neat  substantial  structure,  accommo- 
dating, as  I  suiiposed,  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  persons,  we  were  con- 
ducted to  the  pews  reserved  for  white  visiters,  in  the  middle  tier,  (immediately 
in  front  of  the  pulpit,)  which  were  occupied  by  some  twenty  or  twenty-iive 
white  persons.  The  house  was  crowded  in  every  part  with  coloured  people, 
whose  neat  and  appropriate  dress  and  decorous  behaviour  could  not  be  sur- 
passed by  any  congregation.  It  happened  to  be  their  Communion  service,  and 
the  exercises  were  just  beginning  v/ith  a  hymn,  which  was  nobly  read  by  the 
Pastor,  and  nobly  sung  by  the  peoi)le.  The  venerable  minister  was  seated 
under  the  pulpit,  onl}^  a  few  feet  from  us.  His  locks  were  gray  with  age  but 
his  form  was  apparently  hale  and  robu.st,  though  the  furrows  were  in  his 
cheeks.  As  he  rose  to  offer  prayer,  he  steadied  himself  upon  his  cane,  while 
gradually  he  attained  an  erect  position,  every  feature  and  every  limb  trembling, 
it  may  be  not  more  with  the  weight  of  years  than  with  powerful  emotion. 
The  prayer,  uttered  with  clear  articulation  and  with  a  strong  voice,  w"as  some- 
what long,  but  it  was  rich  with  Christian  thought  and  feeling,  appropriate  in 
expression,  and  attracting  the  sympathy  of  the  worshippers.  The  aged  man 
of  God  proceeded  with  an  address  bearing  upon  the  special  service  in  which 
we  were  engaged.  He  made  a  modest  remark  in  reference  to  his  own  illiteracy; 
but,  although  there  was  here  and  there  a  quaintness  and  homeliness  of  expres- 
sion, neither  out  of  place  nor  out  of  taste, — which,  nevertheless,  I  could  not 
here  repeat  without  exciting  a  smile,  it  was  not  for  a  moment  deficient  in  force 
or  devotion,  nor  left  anj' other  impression  than  that  of  deep  and  tender  solem- 
nity. And  if  the  preacher  modestly  estimated  his  own  ability,  it  was  clear  to 
his  hearers  that  he  was  "  a  man  of  one  book,"  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
taught  of  God.  The  subject  of  his  address  was  the  indispensable  importance 
of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  astonishing  results  which  it  accomplished. 
There  might  occasionally  seem  to  be,  to  a  ver}'  fastidious  critic,  a  sliglit  inco- 
herence or  fragmentary  observation;  but  it  was  not  so;  there  was  a  clear,  full, 
consistent  vein  of  thought  running  throughout  the  whole. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  give  more  than  a  specimen  of  his  utterance.  Referring 
to  the  ])romiseof  the  Saviour's  coming  couched  in  the  declaration, — "  As  often 
as  ye  cat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  tl»e  Lord's  death  till  He 
come,"  he  said:    "  My  beloved  brethren,  when  I  read  this  promise,  my  poor 


262  BAPTIST. 

trcraljling  heart  sometimes  sinks  witliiii  me.  The  Lord  shall  be  revealed  in  all 
the  grace  and  glory  of  the  Redeemer  and  the  King;  but  these  aged  eyes  of 
mine  will  not  continue  tlieir  sight  until  that  day.  i  am  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  these  tottering  limbs  of  mine  shall  be  laid  in  the  dust  long  ere  that  bright 
vision  shall  gladden  the  face  of  his  redeemed  people.  But  I  check  mjself  and 
rebuke  my  impatient  fear.  Do  I  not  read  in  his  sure  promise  that,  though  I 
sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  I  shall  lose  nothing  of  the  perfect  grace  that  is 
to  be  brought  to  us  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  even  because  Ili  shall 
lose  nothing  of  all  that  the  Father  hath  given  Him,  for  He  shall  raise  it  up  at 
the  last  day.  My  dead  body  shall  arise  in  the  vigour  and  immortality  wherein  it 
shall  be  fashioned  like  the  glorified  body  of  Jesus.  And  these  dull  ears  shall 
hear  the  archangel's  trump,  and  these  dim  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  his 
glorj",  as  clearly  and  to  as  good  advantage  as  any  that  shall  be  alive  and 
remain  upon  the  earth  to  hail  that  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ!"  Could  any  thing  have  been  more  inspiriting,  more 
adapted  to  rouse  ujj  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  believer? 

Again,  in  allusion  to  the  plotting  of  the  great  adversary  to  destroy  Christ, 
he  said: — "At  last  he  succeeded.  He  was  nailed  to  his  cs-oss  in  agony  and 
shame.  Satan  had  bruised  his  heel,  and  thought  that  he  had  crushed  his  head. 
The  fool!  It  was  his  own  head  that  was  broken  then,  and  he  has  been  a  fool 
ever  since;  and  the  proof  of  all  his  wicked  madness  and  folly  in  compassing 
the  death  of  Christ  became  apparent.  It  was  Christ  that  triumphed  then, 
and  spoiled  the  spoiler.  The  thief  was  rescued  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 
The  Heathen  Centurion  acknowledged  the  Son  of  God.  His  death  multiplied 
his  disciples.  The  thousands  of  Pentecost  bowed  before  the  salvation  of  the 
cross.  Mj"riads  upon  myriads,  that  no  man  can  number,  have  been  delivered 
from  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  and  translated  into  the  Kingdom  of  God's  dear 
Son.  That  great  salvation  has  made  its  way  through  the  world;  its  blessed 
fruits  are  gathered  abundantly  on  these  Western  shores.  Our  skins  are  dark, 
but  our  souls  are  washed  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  Nor  is  He  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins  only.  My  brethren,  the  time  was  in  this  city,  and 
through  this  Southern  country,  when  you  would  scarcely  ever  see  the  face  of 
our  white  masters  in  a  house  of  prayer;  but  how  is  it  now  .'  How  many  of 
those  to  whom  we  are  subject  in  the  flesh,  have  recognised  our  common  Master 
in  Heaven,  and  thty  arz  ourinastsrs  no  longer.  They  are  fellow-heirs  with  us 
of  the  grace  of  life.  They  sit  with  us  at  the  same  table  of  our  common  Lord. 
They  are  our  friends,  our  brethren,  our  guardians,  our  fathers;  and  we  are 
travelling  together  to  that  blessed  land  where  we  shall  dwell  together  in  the 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  their  Lord  and  ours." 

Who  could  but  be  affected  with  such  stirring  Gospel  eloquence  ;  and  mj-  only 
regret  was  this — when  the  old  man  was  surrounded  by  the  Deacons,  some  ten 
in  number, — a  body  of  fine  looking  men, — the  most  of  them  iutensel}^  l)lack,  to 
receive  from  him  the  elements  for  distribution,  I  felt  a  pang,  because  I  sup- 
posed the  15ai)tist  princjjde  of  Close  Communion  would  exclude  me  from  sharing 
in  that  feast  of  love.  But  this  apprehension  was  quickly  dissipated.  Before 
proceeding  to  distribute,  the  aged  servant  of  God  announced  that  that  was 
not  a  Baptist  table,  but  Christ's  table,  and  that  all  who  loved  Him  were  wel- 
come there.  And  when  the  bread  and  wine  were  handed  round,  first  to  the 
white  occupants  of  the  pews,  all  of  whom  appeared  to  be  communicants  in 
Presbyterian,  Congregationalist,  Baptist,  Dutch  Reformed,  Methodist,  and 
perhaps  Epi.scopal,  Churches,  and  then  to  the  six  hundred  coloured  communi- 
cants,— as  devout  and  tender  as  any  congregation  I  ever  saw, — T  declare  to  you 
that  never  did  I  administer  these  emblems  of  my  Saviour's  love,  nor  never 
did  I  receive  them  from  the  hands  of  other  ministers  of  Christ,  with  M'hatso- 
ever  canonical   or   apostolical   authority   ordained,   with   greater  joy  than  I 


ANDREW   MARSHALL.  2G3 

received  them,  that  day,  from  the  tremliliiig  hands  of  that  poor,  bowed  down, 
weeping  negro  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  service  continued  about  two  hours  and  a  half,  consisting  variously  of 
hymns,  prayers,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  exhortation;  and  it  was  all  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Marshall.  But  it  was  not  long,  nor  tedious,  it  was  refresh- 
ment by  the  way,  and  food  and  strength  for  many  days.  And  when,  at  the 
close,  as  the  assembly  orderly  broke  up,  yet  seeming  loth  to  part  with  each 
other,  1  went  forward  to  introduce  myself  to  this  aged  father,  1  could  rejoice, 
as  speaking  through  tears,  with  steady,  cheerful  voice  and  happy  heart,  we 
exchanged  the  mutual  prayer  that  it  might  be  ours,  witli  all  the  Israel  of  God, 
at  our  next  probable  meeting,  to  sit  down  together  with  Al)raham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  at  the  marriage  supper,  Avhcn  the  Lamb  Him- 
self shall  preside. 

This,  however,  was  not  our  last  interview.  Among  the  respectful  friends 
who  gathered  around  him,  was  the  Captain  of  a  Philadelphia  Steamer,  regu- 
larly plying  between  that  city  and  Savannah,  who  seconded  my  invitation  to 
the  venerable  man  to  visit  the  North,  by  heartily  otiering  him  a  free  passage  in 
his  ship,  both  coming  and  going.  I  encouraged  him  to  expect  some  help  in 
building  a  larger  and  more  commodious  church,  which  his  congregation  were 
then  projecting.  About  two  years  afterward,  he  made  the  visit.  He  spent 
some  months  in  this  city,  lodging  with  a  respectable,  religious  family,  of  his 
own  race,  but  freely  welcomed  to  the  tables  and  pulpits  of  the  brethren  whose 
acquaintance  he  made,  (among  whom  was  the  family  of  a  noble-hearted  and 
wealthy  Georgian,  then  residing  here,)  who  provided  for  his  support  while 
here,  and  for  his  getting  about  from  place  to  place, — for,  of  course,  he  was  too 
feeble  to  walk,  or  even  to  travel  alone  in  omnibuses.  Perhaps  the  long 
journey,  and  the  change  of  climate  and  habits,  contributed  to  bring  upon  him 
u  disorder  from  which  he  never  recovered.  He  preached  once  for  me,  to  a 
very  large  concourse  of  people,  whom  the  occasion  attracted.  The  subject  of 
his  sermon  was  the  fierce  demoniac  who  had  his  dwelling  among  the  tombs, 
out  of  whom  Christ  cast  the  unclean  spirit  by  Avhich  he  was  possessed.  Apply- 
ing it  to  his  own  history,  he  described  his  own  early  life,  as  a  careless  sinner, 
until  the  grace  of  God  visited  and  rescued  him  from  the  power  of  Satan. 
and  led  him  from  step  to  step  until  he  became  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 
He  detailed  many  interesting  incidents  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  including 
the  siege  of  Savannah,  and  his  own  career  as  a  servant,  and  his  journeys  as 
an  express-rider,  bearing  dispatches  from  ofDccrs  of  the  army  to  and  fro 
between  various  military  stations,  and  eventually  the  purchase  of  the  freedom 
of  himself  and  his  fomily,  and  his  acciuisition,  and  then  the  loss,  of  property. 
These  incidents  were  Avrought  into  his  discourse,  not  as  mere  narrative,  but  as 
illustrations  of  the  ways  of  Providence  toward  him.  The  sermon  was  richly 
evangelical  and  experimental.  But  it  had  not  the  glow  and  copiousness,  nor 
perhaps  the  stricter  connection,  which  would  have  characterized  it,  but  for  the 
evident  pressure  of  increasing  infirmity  and  unusual  disorder  of  his  bodily 
system.  The  audience,  however,  was  deeply  interested,  and  responded  to  his 
appeal  for  aid  to  rebuild  his  church,  with  a  generous  collection.  But  he  did 
not  live  to  accomplish  his  object.  Returning  homeward  by  easy  overland 
travel,  his  illness  increa.sed  upon  him,  and  he  died  on  the  way  at  Richmond. 

He  had  but  little  learning — hardly  any  beyond  the  knowledge  of  his  Bible. 
But  he  was  shrewd,  intelligent,  and  fervent  in  spirit,  unpresuming,  but  zeal- 
ous, and  useful  among  his  own  people,  and  greatly  respected  by  all.  The  fol- 
lowing account  of  his  "  trial,"  which  I  received  from  the  lips  of  Dr.  Preston, 
may  be  repeated  in  this  connection. 

Ttere  was,  and  perhaps  still  is,  a  law  of  Georgia,  which  requires  that  a 
coloured  preacher  shall   procure  a  recommendation  from  three  reputable  citi- 


2G4  BAPTIST. 

zens  of  his  own  denomination,  and,  upon  it,  obtain  a  license  from  the  County 
Court,  before  exercising  his  oflBce.  Mr.  Marshall  applied  to  Dr.  Preston  for  a 
testimonial,  which  the  Doctor  informed  him  would  be  useless,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  a  Presbyterian  and  Marshall  a  Baptist.  For  some  reason, — most  likely 
because  he  did  not  clearly  understand  the  law, — Mr.  Marshall  proceeded  to 
preach  without  the  license.  Some  officious  person  caused  him  to  be  indicted. 
When  the  day  of  trial  came,  it  appeared  that,  in  his  ignorance  of  the  method 
of  proceeding,  he  had  retained  no  counsel  for  his  defence.  Several  of  the  law- 
yers, in  their  kindness  towards  him,  solicited  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  their 
brethren,  Mr.  Macalester,  (afterwards  Judge  Macalester  of  California,)  to 
appear  for  him,  as  he  Avas  incompetent  to  plead  his  own  cause.  Mr.  Macales- 
ter immediately  undertook  the  case,  which  looked  very  hoj)eless  indeed.  The 
prosecution  proved  the  offence  fully.  At  the  proper  time  for  introducing  his 
witnesses,  Mr.  Macalester,  observing  Dr.  Preston  in  the  Court,  called  him  to 
testif}'.  On  the  Doctor's  entrance  upon  the  witnesses'  stand,  the  presiding 
Judge  interposed,  inquiring  of  the  counsel  for  the  defence  what  he  expected  to 
prove  by  Dr.  Preston  ?  The  reply  was  "  that  Andrew  Marshall  was  qualified 
to  preach  the  Gospel."  "That,"  said  the  Court,  "is  not  the  question;  the 
accused  may  be  never  so  well  qualified  theologically;  but  he  is  indicted  for 
preaching  without  the  legal  qualification  prescribed  by  the  statute."  A  little 
argument  took  place,  which  resulted,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  Judge's 
decision  to  exclude  the  witness.  Mr.  Macalester  immediately  called  another 
well-known  citizen  to  the  stand,  when  the  previous  scene  was  repeated.  The 
counsel  ottered  a  third,  equally  prominent  witness,  who  was  also  rejected  for 
irrelevancy.  Meanwhile,  the  attention  of  the  Jury  was  fastened  on  this  series 
of  overtures,  which  was  just  what  the  astute  counsel  designed.  On  "sum- 
ming up,"  he  made  an  ingenious  and  eloquent  speech  in  defence, — particularly 
and  plausibly  arguing  "the  very  embarrassing  and  disadvantageous  predica- 
ment in  Avhich  his  poor  client  was  placed  b}'  the  "  rcmarkabh  ruling  "  of  the 
Court,  which,  on  his  offering,  on  behalf  of  the  accused,  the  testimony  of  seve- 
ral of  the  most  respectable  witnesses  that  the  city  could  furnish,  had  refused 
even  to  let  them  be  sworn!"  The  prosecuting  attorney  made  a  few  brief 
comments  on  the  law  and  the  testimony,  and  clearly  established  the  guilt  of 
the  accused  preacher  in  his  breach  of  the  law  of  the  State.  The  Judge  as 
jjointedly  charged  the  Jury  against  him,  for  the  fact  was  undeniable.  The 
Jury  retired,  and  in  a  very  little  time  returned  with  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty!'' 
The  Court  gravely  received  it — the  clerk  quietly  smiled  while  he  recorded  it — 
and  the  spectators  a  little  more  audibly  tittered  in  token  of  their  satisfaction. 
The  prisoner  was  discharged,  and  the  Jury  dismissed.  As  they  came  out  of 
the  box,  some  person  present  inquired  of  one  of  them,  "  how  it  was  possible 
for  them  to  bring  in  such  a  verdict  in  the  face  of  the  law  and  the  fact,  and 
their  own  oath."  "Easily  enough,"  replied  the  juror;  "you  will  never 
catch  a  Ceorgian  Jury  convicting  any  man  of  crime  for  preaching  the  Gospel." 
Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  to  be  entertained  of  the  justification  of  the 
Jury,  it  is  evident  that  they  had  a  good  deal  more  of  the  spirit  of  toleration 
than  the  Jewi.sh  Sanhedrim,  who  scourged  Apostles  and  forbade  them  to  speak 
any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Palriotisiii  triumphed  when  Patrick  Henry 
plead  its  cause  against  the  sordid  claim  of  "  John  Hook,  hoarsely  brawling 
through  the  rejoicing  American  camp,  «  beef,  beef,  beef!' "  And  here,  like- 
wise, while  we  have  been  amused  by  some  pleasant  descriptions  of  the  ludi- 
crous practice  in  the  rural  courts  of  the  Southwest,  we  majs  perhaps,  learn 
something  from  this  example  of  a  staid,  conservative  Southern  Jur}'  going  in 
i*rongly  for  "  the  higher  law." 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  M.  KREBS. 


THOMAS  B.  MONTAXYE.  265 

THOMAS  B.  MONTANYE* 

1787—1829. 

Thomas  B.  Montanye  was  bom  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  year 
1709.  Ilis  fatlicr,  l^cnjaniin  Montanye,  was  a  respectable  and  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Ivcformcd  Dutch  Church  in  that  city.  The  son,  at  the  age  of 
about  seventeen,  to  tlie  great  grief  of  his  father,  departed  from  the  failli 
in  which  ho  had  been  educated,  so  far  as  Baptism  is  concerned,  and  JDined 
the  Bapti-t  Cliurch,  at  that  time  un<ler  the  pastoral  care  of  the  llcv.  John 
Gano.  Shortly  after,  one  of  his  sisters  followed  his  example  ;  and  thi.s 
served  greatly  to  aggravate  the  father's  grief.  But,  being  himself  led  to 
a  fresh  examination  of  the  subject,  he  ultimately  reposed  in  the  same 
views  to  which  his  children  had  led  the  way,  and  united  himself  with  the 
same  church  of  which  they  had  already  become  members. 

Sometime  after  this  change  of  his  ecclesiastical  relations,  he  (the  father) 
was  called  to  the  ministry,  and,  with  a  few  others,  originated  the  Church 
in  Oliver  Street,  New  York,  for  many  years  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Rev.  Spencer  II.  Cone,  D.  D.,  and  one  of  the  most  numerous  of  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  the  United  States.  Having  served  this  church  fur 
some  time,  he  took  charge  of  the  Church  in  Deer  Park,  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  laboured  with  great  success  till  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age. 

]Mr.  Thomas  B.  Montanye  was  ordained  in  the  year  1788,  when  he  was 
only  nineteen  years  of  age.  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Warwick,  N. 
Y.  Here  he  laboured  for  more  than  twelve  years  with  great  fidelity  and 
success.  He  extended  his  labours  also  into  the  surrounding  country' ; 
and,  wherever  he  preached,  was  listened  to  with  great  interest,  and  often 
with  deep  solemnity,  and  his  preaching  was  followed  with  many  perma- 
nentlj'  happy  results.  The  church  at  Warwick,  previous  to  his  settlement 
there,  had  been  in  a  very  depressed  state  :  not  only  had  spiritual  religion 
among  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  greatly  waned,  but  ignorance, 
profaneness  and  infidelity  seemed  to  hold  an  almost  undisputed  triumph  on 
every  side.  But  Mr,  Montanye,  nothing  discouraged  by  adverse  appear- 
ances, addressed  himself  to  his  work  with  a  degree  of  energy  and  perse- 
verance which  even  the  strongholds  of  sin  could  not  withstand.  During  one 
year  of  his  ministry  here,  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  were  added  to 
the  church,  as  the  fruit  of  his  labours. 

Mr.  Montanye's  distinguished  abilities  and  success  as  a  preacher  ren- 
dered him  an  object  of  attraction  to  distant  churches  and  Associations. 
On  a  vi>it  to  the  Philadelphia  Association,  in  the  year  1800,  he  officiated 
for  the  Church  in  Southampton,  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  then  destitute  of  a 
Pastor.  The  next  year,  he  received  and  accepted  a  call  to  the  Pastorship 
of  that  church.  On  entering  this  new  field  of  labour,  he  was  brought  into 
intimate  association  with  several  of  the  most  distinguished  Baptist  clergy- 
uieu  in  America  ;  and,  though  he  was  at  this  time  but  little  more  than 
thirty  years  of  age,   and  withal  was  very  youthful  in  his  appearance,  yet 

•  MS.  from  H.  G.  Jones,  Esq. 

Vol.  VI.  34 


266  BAPTIST. 

such  was  his  reputation  for  both  talents  and  piety,  that  the  ablest  and 
oldest  members  of  the  Association  never  failed  to  listen  to  him  with 
respect  and  deference.  His  services  soon  came  to  be  sought  at  Ordina- 
tions, distant  Associations,  Councils,  and  especially  at  Religious  Anniver- 
saries, which  were  very  numerously  attended ;  and  so  powerful  was  bin 
voice  that,  on  these  last  mentioned  occasions,  he  would  easily  make  himself 
heard  b}'  several  thousands.  During  his  connection  with  the  Philadelphia 
Association,  some  very  grave  and  perplexing  matters  of  controversy  came 
before  that  Body,  which  brought  men  of  high  talents  and  standing  in  fierce 
conflict  with  each  other.  From  the  year  1816  to  the  year  1828,  these 
matters  were  agitated,  without  much  intermission.  Mr.  Montanye  took 
and  held  his  position  with  great  firmness  and  dignity,  and,  though  con- 
strained to  oppose  many  of  his  long  cherished  friends,  he  accounted  even 
that  a  light  matter,  inasmuch  as  it  was  necessary  to  his  keeping  a  con- 
science void  of  offence. 

Mr.  Montanye  was  distinguished  for  his  patriotism ;  and,  when  the  War 
of  1812  with  Great  Britain  broke  out,  he  was  on  the  alert  for  the  defence 
of  his  country.  Having  received  a  Chaplain's  commission,  he  sallied  forth 
to  the  camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  His  clerical  labours  there 
proved  highly  acceptable  and  salutary.  On  one  occasion,  particularly,  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  his  fortitude  and  conscientiousness  in  a 
way  that  attracted  special  notice.  A  general  drill  and  review  of  the  army 
had  been  ordered  for  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  at  the  same  hour  when 
preaching  had  hitherto  been  the  "order  of  the  day."  He  told  his 
friends  that  this  military  exercise  must  not  take  place  at  the  hour  of  public 
worship.  He  then  proceeded  to  the  quarters  of  the  General  in  command, 
and  stated  to  him,  in  a  very  dignified  and  courteous  manner,  that  he  held 
a  commission  from  his  country,  and  also  from  his  God ;  that,  by  virtue  of 
his  latter  commission,  he  was  superior  in  command  on  the  Sabbath  to  any 
of  the  military  ;  that  tlie  general  order  for  a  review  would  interfere  with 
orders  from  a  higher  source  ;  and  that,  consequently,  the  review  could  not 
and  must  not  take  place.  The  General  heard  the  Chaplain  with  surprise, 
but  with  respectful  attention ;  and  the  result  was  that  "  after-orders " 
were  issued,  and  the  review  was  postponed. 

Mr.  Montanye  had  a  vigorous  constitution,  and  generally  enjoyed  firm 
health  ;  and  though  he  had  laboured  long  and  diligentl}-  in  his  Master's 
cause,  his  friends  confidently  believed,  until  his  last  illness  commenced, 
that  the  end  of  his  earthly  labours  was  still  comparatively  distant.  On 
his  return  from  a  meeting  of  the  Warwick  Association,  in  June,  1829,  he 
suffered  an  attack  of  the  jaundice.  In  July,  the  disease  rapidly  increased, 
but,  in  August,  he  obtained  some  relief,  so  that  he  was  able  to  engage 
several  limes  in  his  accustomed  public  duties.  In  September,  he  stood  in 
his  pulpit  for  the  last  time,  on  which  occasion  he  preached  a  Funeral  Ser- 
mon. From  that  day,  his  decline  was  rapid,  and  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  his  days  of  active  service  were  numbered.  To  a  brother  in  tlic  min- 
istry, who  now  visited  him,  he  expressed  the  strongest  confidence  that  he 
was  destined  tu  a  happy  immortality.  He  mentioned  three  reasons  why  it 
would  be  desirable  to  him  to  live  longer — one  was  that  he  might  do  some- 
thing more  for  the  benefit  of  his  family  ;  another,  that  the  affairs  of  others, 


TUOxMAS  B.  MONTANYE.  267 

entrusted  to  his  care,  might  be  finally  adjustetl ;  and  the  tliinl  and  most 
important,  that  ho  might  see  the  churches  around  him  .supplied  with  sound, 
pious  and  faithful  ministers.  On  this  latter  point  he  continued  tu  express 
great  anxiety  as  long  as  he  lived.  "  It  tills  me  with  gloom,"  said  he,  "to 
.see  some  of  our  juilpits  occupied  by  Sciolists,  who  offer  the  Saviour  to 
sinners  apparently  with  as  little  concern  as  a  merchant  would  offer  his 
wares  for  sale."  On  one  occasion,  when  his  disorder  seemed  to  assume  a 
more  favourable  aspect,  he  remarked  that  he  could  scarcely  calculate  on 
long  life.  "  My  course,"  he  said,  "  has  been  a  rapid  one  ;  1  was  early  in 
sin,  and  in  that  I  run  a  mad  career ;  was  called  early  to  embrace  the 
Saviour ;  commenced  my  ministerial  course  early ;  and  have  preached  per- 
haps oftcner  since  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  ministry  than  almost  any 
other  man  ;  therefore  I  may  expect  that  my  life  will  be  not  greatly  pro- 
tracted." While  conversing  with  a  friend  on  his  prospects  for  eternity,  he 
remarked, — '« My  dependance  is  not  upon  any  thing  I  have  done, — neither 
my  moral  deportment  ;  nor  my  faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  domestic 
or  relative  duties ;  nor  in  my  abundant  preaching ;  but  I  go  to  the  footstool 
of  mercy  as  a  poor,  unworthy  sinner,  resting  my  whole  salvation  on  the 
merits  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  I  feel  a  iirm  persuu:^ion  that  his 
work  in  my  soul  has  long  since  been  perfurnied."  Ilis  friend  remarked  to 
him  that  it  was  not  probable  he  would  meet  the  Philadelphia  Association, 
then  near  at  hand,  and  which  he  had  attended  twenty-eight  years  in  suc- 
cession.    After  a  moment's  reflection,  he  said, — "If  I  am  not  there,   I 

shall  be  " pointing  upwards,  as  though  he  would  have  said, — "  I  shall 

be  in  Heaven."  After  a  violent  paroxysm,  he  exclaimed, — "  Tell  me,  my 
soul,  can  this  be  death?"  On  the  day  previous  to  his  dissolution,  his 
friend)  already  referred  to,  left  him ;  and,  in  parting,  he  said, — "  Farewell 
in  Christ  Jesus  ;  you  can  fare  well  no  where  else."  He  died,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  Lord's  day,  September  27,  18'29.  In  the  full  possession  of  his 
faculties,  he  exclaimed, — "I  die,  I  die,"  and  instantly  the  vital  spark  was 
extinguished. 

On  the  ensuing  Monday,  his  remains  were  deposited  in  the  cemetery  of 
the  Baptist  Church  at  Northampton,  attended  by  twelve  ministers  of  the 
Baptist  and  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  an  immense  crowd  of  sympathiz- 
ing friends.  An  apjjropriate  discourse  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Matthias,  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  i.  21.  The  Philadelphia 
Baptist  Association  assembled  a  few  days  after  his  death,  and  testified  their 
deep  sense  of  the  excellence  of  their  departed  brother's  character,  and  of 
the  loss  which  they  had  sustained  in  his  removal.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Staugh- 
ton,  by  request  of  the  Association,  delivered  a  Commemorative  Discourse, 
from  II.  Tim.  iv.  7. 

When  Mr.  Montanye's  will  was  opened,  it  was  found  to  contain  the 
following  Epitaph,  which,  agreeably  to  his  direction,  was  inscribed  on  his 
tombstone  : 

Here  lies  interred 

Tlie  mortal  man. 

ELDER  THOMAS  B.  MONTANYE, 

Born  in  the  city  oC  Now  York,  .lanuary  '29,  1769; 

Baptized  by  Elder  .Joliti  Gano.  1786; 

Licensed  1787;  ordained  1788; 

Pastor  of  AVarwick  Church,  N.  Y.,  12  years  and  G  months. 


268  BAPTIST. 

Moved  to  Pennsylvania  1801  j 

Pastor  of  Southampton  Church  till  death, 

a  term  of  [hlank  to  be  tilled 

as  God  may  lengthen  out  my  days.] 

Whole  time  in  the  ministry 

rto  be  tilled.] 

The  chief  of  sinners  and  the  least  of  saints. 

The   following   testimony  was   rendered   concerniug   him   by   the    Kev. 

Horatio  Gates  Jones,  D.  1).,  Mr.  Montanye's  intimate  friend: — 

Under  his  ministry  "  many  were  translated  from  the  state  of  nature  to  the  state  of 
grace,  and  many  were  advanced  to  a  higher  state  of  holiness.  The  bad  were  made 
good,  and  the  good  were  made  better.  His  prayers  were  an  effusion  of  the  most  lively, 
melting  expressions  of  his  ardent  love  to  God — '  from  the  abundance  of  his  heart  his 
life  spake.'  His  soul  took  wing  for  Heaven,  and  enrapt  the  souls  of  his  audience  with 
him.  In  his  sermons  there  was  a  rare  union  of  argument  and  persuasioti  to  convince 
the  mind  and  gain  the  heart.  It  was  not  easy  to  resist  the  ])ower  of  his  discourse, 
without  abjuring  reason  and  warring  with  Divine  Kev'elation.  In  speaking,  he 
possessed  an  admirable  felicity  and  copiousness.  In  his  style  there  was  a  7ioble  negli- 
gence,— his  great  mind  not  deigning  to  stoop  to  the  afiected  eloquence  of  words.  He 
had  not  the  advantage  of  an  academical  education;  but,  by  the  Divine  blessing  on  his 
strong  mind,  and  uncommon  dexterity  and  diligence,  he  far  .surpassed  in  sacred  knov.l- 
edge  many  who  bore  the  highest  collegiate  honours.  His  voice  was  firm,  of  full  vol- 
ume, and  rather  melodious  than  otherwise — its  charm  consisted  in  the  fulness  of  its 
note,  the  ease  and  variety  of  its  inflection,  the  fine  effect  of  its  emphasis,  the  graceful 
facility  with  which  it  attuned  itself  to  every  emotion,  and  its  power  to  range  tiu'ough 
the  whole  domain  of  liuman  jjassion,  from  the  deep  and  tragic  half  whisper  of  horror 
to  the  wildest  exclamation  of  overwhelming  surprise.  In  persuasion,  it  was  soft  and 
gentle  as  the  zei)hyrs  of  spring;  while,  in  rousing  the  slumbering  simier,  the  winter's 
storm  that  roars  along  tlie  troubled  ocean,  was  not  more  awfully  sublime. 

"  If  we  view  our  distinguished  brother  in  the  social  circle,  it  must  be  granted  that 
all  who  knew  him  were  delighted  with  his  urbanity.  His  natural  abilities  and  endow- 
ments invariably  commanded  respect — his  reasoning  faculty  was  prompt  and  acute; 
his  memory  uncommonly  tenacious;  and  his  conversation  highly  agreeable.  To  place 
religion  in  a  morose  habit  of  mind  was  remote  fmui  bis  i)ractice,  his  judgment,  and  his 
temper  But  his  conversation,  even  when  taking  in  things  of  a  different  nature,  was 
yet,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  religious  tendency;  and  when  he  conversed  directly 
on  religious  subjects,  he  frequently  spake  with  such  decided  relish  as  left  it  impossible 
for  any  one  to  doubt  that  liis  utterances  were  from  the  seated  temper  and  habit  of  his 
soul." 


ELISHA  ANDREWS. 

1787—1840. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ERASTUS  ANDREWS. 

SuFFiELD.  Conn.,  29th  January,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  for  a  sketch  of  my 
venerated  father  ;  and-J  will  endeavour  to  perform  the  delicate  task  you 
have  assigned  me,  with  all  impartiality  and  fidelity. 

Elisiia  Andrews,  a  son  of  Isaac  Andrews,  was  born  at  Middletown, 
Conn.,  September  29,  1708.  When  he  was  about  twelve  years  of  age,  his 
parents  removed  to  the  State  of  Yorniont ;  and  he  accompanied  tliem. 
His  fatlier  had  previously  been  a  sea-faring  man,  but,  as  he  had  had  some- 
what more  than  a  common  education,  he  afterwards  supported  his  family 
by  teaching  a  school,  and  practising  the  art  of  Surveying.  The  fact  that 
the  father  was  so  much  engaged  in  teaching  was  favourable  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  son  ;  as  it  gave   him  the   opportunity  of  pursuing  his  studies 


ELISIIA  ANDREWS.  209 

under  his  father's  instruction,  almost  constantly,  during  several  of  liis 
early  years.  lie  acquired  knowledge  with  reuiarkaldc  facility,  in  after 
life,  without  the  aid  of  a  teacher;  and  this  is  supposed  to  have  been  owing, 
in  a  great  measure,  to  his  father's  peculiar  mode  of  instruction.  In  giving 
the  pupil  a  book,  he  would  endeavour  to  impress  him  with  the  idea  that 
it  would  even  be  disgraceful  for  him  to  ask  for  help  to  enable  him  to 
understand  the  most  difficult  part  of  it.  He  used  to  say, — "  If  you  can- 
not conquer  Pike's  Arithmetic,  how  can  you  expect  to  be  able  to  combat 
the  evils  of  life?"  Elisha,  while  yet  a  boy,  had  become  master  of  the 
art  of  Surveying,  had  dipped  a  little  into  Latin,  and  was  comjietent  to 
teach  all  that  was  required  in  the  district  schools  of  that  day  ;  and  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  he  left  home,  and  w^ent  into  the  State  of  New 
York,  where  he  spent  several  years,  partly  as  a  Teacher,  and  partly  as  a 
Surveyor.  His  home  at  this  time  was  with  an  aunt, — a  person  of  an  excel- 
lent Christian  character,  who  resided  in  Galway,  Saratoga  County,  then 
comparatively  a  new  country.  In  after  life,  he  was  heard  to  say  that  his  first 
permanent  religious  impressions  were  produced  by  some  remarks  from  this 
pious  woman,  occasioned  by  the  sudden  death  of  a  neighbour.  He  was 
now  thoroughly  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  condition  as  a  sinner,  but,  after 
a  severe  and  somewhat  protracted  inward  struggle,  he  was  brought,  as  he 
believed,  to  a  cordial  compliance  with  the  terms  of  the  Gospel.  The 
great  change  whicli  then  took  place  in  his  views  and  feelings  he  thus 
describes: — "While  walking  alone  in  the  woods  one  day,  there  seemed  to 
be  a  conversation  carried  on  between  Christ  and  my  own  soul,  in  which  I 
was  led  to  see  the  sufficiency  of  that  atonement  that  had  been  made,  and 
the  condescension  and  grace  of  that  Saviour  who  had  offered  Himself  a 
sacrifice  for  sin."  From  this  time  he  went  on  the  Christian  course  rejoic- 
ing;  and  his  path  became  brighter  until  it  terminated  in  glory.  Shor:ly 
after  his  hopeful  conversion,  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  Joseph  Cornell,* 
and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Galway. 

My  father  now  folt  an  irrepressible  desire  to  warn  others  of  the  danger 
from  which  he  had  himself  escaped ;  and  he  seems  very  soon  to  have 
formed    the    purpose  of  devoting    himself  to    the    ministry.      An    incident 

•  Joseph  Cornell,  a  ?on  of  Elislia  Cornell,  was  born  at  Swansea,  Mass.,  February  II, 
I747.  and  continual  to  live  "itli  his  fatlier  until  be  was  about  twcnt}--five  years  of  age.  Ife 
was  then  married  to  Mary  JIason,  and  roniovcd  to  Lancsborough,  Mass.,  ^^bcre  he  settled  in 
Idisiness,  and  remained  till  the  year  1780,  when  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,— 
liaving  made  a  profession  of  his  faith  and  been  baptized  some  twelve  years  before.  Immedi- 
ately after  his  ordination,  he  removed  to  Manchester,  Vt.,  then  a  frontier  settlement,  wIktc 
thire  was  a  "  Baptist  Confereijce,"'  which  hud  invited  liini  to  come  and  labour  anio:ig  tiitin. 
Shortly  after  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  a  church  wns  onstituted  there,  of  wliich  hi' 
became  the  first  Pastor.  After  remaining  at  Manchester  about  fourteen  years,  during  "hich 
many  tokens  of  the  Divine  favour  attended  liis  ministry,  lie  accepted  an  invitation,  in  1 7'-' I.  |" 
take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Second  IJaptist  Church  in  Halway.  N.  Y.,  then  recently  consti- 
tuted. Here  he  continued,  labouring  faithfully  and  successfully,  five  years,  anil  then  resigned 
ids  charge,  and  commenced  a  series  of  missionary  labours,  under  tiie  patronage  of  the  Mii-'Sa- 
chusctts  Missionary  Society,  which  he  continued  for  three  years. — ranging  through  Middle  and 
Western  New  York,  and  Upper  Canada.  In  1802,  his  health  having  become  inipiiiicil,  he  went 
to  Providence.  R.  I.,  for  the  sake  of  recruiting  it.  I'or  nbout  a  year,  he  supplied  the  Congre- 
gational Church  in  that  place,  then  vacant  bv  the  death  of  the  liev.  Mr.  Snow;  and  then  tin- 
Second  Hapfist  Church  in  I'rovidence  being  formed,  he  became  its  Pastor.  After  remaining  in 
Providence  about  ten  years,  he  returned  to  Galway  and  resumed  his  relations  witli  his  former 
charge.  Having  laboured  here  about  nine  years,  he  engaged  again  as  a  inissionnry,  under  the 
Hamilton  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  and  continued  ty7us  employed  till  his  death,  which 
occurred  at  Galway.  on  the  2i>th  of  .Ttily,  1820,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty- 
sixth  of  his  ministry.  He  dieii  without  a  moment's  warning.  He  was  distinguished  for  a  dis 
criminating  mind,  a  sound  judgment,  an  earnest  jiiety,  and  an  effective  ministry. 


270  BAPTIST. 

occurred  in  connection  with  his  beginning  to  preach  that  was  somewhat 
illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  the  times.  A  strong  prejudice  existed  at  that 
time,  among  the  Baptists,  against  ministerial  education  ;  and,  as  mj  father 
was  a  great  lover  of  books,  this  was  urged  as  an  objection  against  him, 
when  it  was  known  that  he  felt  called  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. He  had  a  cousin,  (a  Mr.  M.,)  a  young  man  about  his  own  age,  who 
did  not  love  books  well  enough  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  those  even 
who  were  the  least  tolerant  of  a  passion  for  learning,  and  who  also  thought 
it  his  duty  to  preach.  A  meeting  was  appointed  by  the  church  to  hear 
Mr.  M.  "  improve  his  gifts,"  with  a  view  to  his  being  licensed  as  a  preacher. 
After  the  usual  introductory  exercises,  Mr.  M.  named  a  text — but  that 
was  absolutely  as  far  as  he  could  go — the  attempt  proved  an  entire  failure. 
To  relieve  the  church  from  its  momentary  embarrassment,  one  of  the 
Deacons  inquired  if  Brother  Andrews  would  not  like  to  speak  to  them  on 
that  occasion.  My  father  consented  to  do  so,  took  the  text  which  had 
proved  an  overmatch  for  his  cousin,  and  delivered  what  turned  out  to  be  a 
very  acceptable  discourse.  Whereupon,  a  meeting  was  appointed  the  next 
week  for  my  father  to  preach;  but,  on  that  occasion,  he  succeeded  but 
little  better  than  his  cousin  had  done  before,  finding  himself  obliged  to 
stop  before  he  had  finished  the  introduction  of  his  sermon.  M.,  in  his 
turn,  now  took  the  stand,  and  made  a  very  successful  effort.  This  so 
balanced  the  case  as  to  leave  the  church  just  where  they  began, — in  favour 
of  licensing  M.,  and  opposed  to  my  father's  becoming  a  preacher,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  bent  upon  being  a  student.  M.  became  a  minister, 
was  useful  in  his  vocation,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  My  father,  about 
this  time,  left  Galway,  to  visit  his  parents  in  Vermont,  and  on  his  way 
called  on  a  minister  in  Granville,  Washington  County,  who,  having  heard 
his  story,  detained  him  a  few  days,  and  put  him  to  the  exercise  of  his  gifts 
among  his  people.  The  result  was  that,  when  he  was  about  leaving  the 
place  to  proceed  on  his  journey,  the  minister  said  to  him, — "Go,  and 
preach  as  you  go ;  and  I  will  see  that  your  license  is  forthcoming  in  duo 
season." 

From  this  time,  he  "improved  his  gifts  "  wherever  Providence  opened 
a  door,  but  was  still  engaged  in  teaching  and  surveying,  and  he  spent  at 
least  one  season  in  assisting  his  father  in  clearing  land,  building  a  log-house, 
and  doing  other  work  incident  to  commencing  on  a  new  farm.  Thus  his 
time  was  oceupicil  from  the  age  of  nineteen,  when  he  first  attempted  to 
preach,  until  his  ordination  as  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Fairfax,  Vt.,  which 
occurred  In  1793.  lie  was  ordained  in  the  open  air,  in  front  of  a  log- 
house,  about  two  milfis  north  of  the  spot  on  which  the  Baptist  meeting-house 
now  stands. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1792,  he  was  married  to  Wealthy  Ann  Lathrop, 
whose  parents,  like  his  own,  had  emigrated  from  Connecticut  to  Vermont, 
just  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  She  was  eminently  suited 
to  the  place  she  was  called  to  fill.  His  love  of  study,  his  frequent  absences 
from  home,  and  the  meagre  salary  of  a  Baptist  minister  at  that  day,  made 
it  quite  necessary  that  his  wife  should  assume  much  of  the  care  and  labour 
of  providing  for  the  family,  and  that  she  should  practise  the  utmost  economy 
and  industry,  both  of  which  she  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree. 


ELISIIA  ANDUE\\'S.  271 

My  fiitlier  continued  at  Fairfax  till  tlio  winter  of  1795-9G,  when  he 
removed  to  llujikinton,  N.  H.  Here  he  remained  a  year  or  more,  and  then 
transferred  his  residence  to  Nottingham  West,  (now  Hudson,)  in  the  same 
State.  Early  in  the  year  180U,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Tcmpleton,  Mass.  Here  was  the  Held  of 
his  widest  as  well  as  most  protracted  usefulness.  At  that  time,  there  were 
hut  few  liaptist  churches  iu  the  country  ;  and  the  church  of  which  he  now 
became  Pastor  was  comjtosed  of  members  residing  in  some  twelve  or  tifleeu 
different  towns.  For  a  period  of  fourteen  years,  he  met  regular  appoint- 
ments at  llohlen,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles ;  at  Barre,  a  distance  of 
twelve  or  fourteen  miles;  and  at  Athol,  a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  mile.r  ; 
seldom  passing  and  repassing  without  appointments  for  occasional  preaching 
at  intermediate  stations.  He  visited  Holden  each  mouth  for  fourteen  years, 
never  failing  but  once  on  account  of  ill  health.  In  a  few  instances  he  was 
prevented  from  reaching  his  destined  point  by  violent  storms  or  deep  snows, 
for  which  the  region  about  the  Wachusett  Mountain  is  proverbial.  Ho 
was  equally  regular  and  punctual,  though  less  frequent,  in  his  visits  to 
Barre  and  Athol.  In  mo.st  of  the  towns  in  which  the  members  of  his 
church  originally  resided.  Baptist  churches  have  since  been  formed,  and 
in  nearly  or  quite  every  case,  were  to  be  found  among  the  constituent 
members  some  who  had  received  Baptism  at  his  hands,  and  who  acknowl- 
edged him  as  the  instrument  of  their  conversion.  At  least  twelve  churches 
now  exist  on  the  ground  over  which  his  pastoral  labours  extended  during 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  residence  in  Templeton  ;  and  he  is  still  remem- 
bered in  that  whole  region  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Baptists. 

It  would  seem,  from  the  very  laborious  life  which  my  father  led,  that  he 
would  have  but  little  time  for  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  But,  with 
such  an  intense  love  of  knowledge  and  such  facility  of  acquiring  it  as  he 
possessed,  it  seemed  as  if  no  obstacle  could  essentially  impede  his  intel- 
lectual progress.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  be  seen,  while 
riding  horseback,  with  a  book,  perhaps  the  Greek  Testament,  in  his  hand, 
eagerly  devouring  its  contents.  And  when  he  found  it  necessary  to  hasten 
the  pace  of  his  steed,  he  would  pocket  the  book,  and  would  very  soon 
become  so  absorbed  in  some  sul)ject  that  was  occupying  his  thoughts,  that 
he  wouM  pass  a  familiar  friend  without  recognizing  him,  or  even  being 
aware  that  he  was  meeting  any  one. 

Before  his  settlement  in  Templeton,  he  had  acquired  so  much  knowledge 
of  the  Greek  as  to  have  no  difficulty  in  reading  or  translating  it;  though 
his  pronunciation  of  the  language,  owing  to  the  fact  of  his  being  entirely 
self-taught,  was  somewhat  defective.  Some  time  after  this,  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  3Iurdock,  then  Pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  in  Princeton,  who  kindly  offered  to  aid  him  in  the  study  of  the 
Hebrew.  As  his  duties  led  him  through  Princeton  frequently,  he  availed 
himself  of  the  proffered  assistance,  and  ultimately  became  a  very  respectable 
Hebrew  scholar.  He  acquired  so  much  knowledge  of  the  German  also  as 
to  read  it  with  great  ease.  Indeed,  his  love  of  books  seemed  to  be  without 
a  limit.  So  regardless  did  it  often  render  him  of  surrounding  circum- 
stances, that,  if,  while  he  was  making  a  pastoral  visit,  he  happened  to  meet 
with  a  book  that  interested  him,  he  would  actually  forget  that  he  was  not 


272  BAPTIST. 

in  his  own  study,  anJ  would  keep  on  reading,  ignoring  all  that  might  be 
said  to  him,  until  either  he  had  finished  the  book,  or  was  interrupted  by 
something  too  positive  and  decided  for  him  to  withstand.  It  was  always 
hard  to  draw  him  into  conversation  wlien  he  had  an  interesting  book  in 
hand,  except  by  starting  some  theological  question,  and  then  he  was  all 
ear — his  mind  was  sure  to  kindle  at  the  introduction  of  such  a  topic ;  and 
he  would  with  great  ease  hold  the  attention  of  the  company  until  he  had 
given  his  views  of  it  in  a  lucid  and  impressive  manner.  Indeed,  he  had 
great  materials  for  conversation,  and  great  facility  at  using  them.  When 
not  absorbed  in  study,  he  was  cheerful  and  social — he  had  a  large  share  of 
ready  wit,  and  his  retentive  memory  furnished  him  with  a  rich  fund  of 
anecdote,  which  he  always  knew  how  to  employ  to  the  best  advantage. 
But,  though  he  could  exercise  his  wit,  and  not  only  enjoy  but  provoke  a 
hearty  laugh  at  the  proper  time,  he  never  indulged  or  tolerated  the  least 
departure  from  a  serious  and  reverent  demeanour  in  the  pulpit.  There,  it 
was  manifest  to  all  who  heard  him  that  he  was  absorbed  by  the  great  truths 
on  which  he  dwelt,  and  that  all  his  utterances  were  from  a  heart  deeply 
impressed  with  eternal  realities. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  War  of  1812,  my  father  took  sides  with 
the  Federalists.  This  was  so  rare  a  thing  among  the  Baptists  that  it 
created  alienation  among  his  people,  and  finally  led  to  his  dismissal.  His 
Federalism,  however,  consisted  not  so  much  in  sympathy  with  the  measures 
proposed  or  the  principles  adopted  by  that  party  in  general,  as  in  a  decided 
opposition  to  war.  He  was  an  advocate  of  those  principles  afterwards 
embodied  in  the  constitution  of  the  American  Peace  Society :  and  these 
views  of  war  led  him  to  feel  that  a  better  way  of  adjusting  existing  diffi- 
culties with  Great  Britain  might  be  adopted,  and  bloodshed  avoided.  The 
Church  and  Society  were  about  equally  divided  ;  and,  as  the  excitement 
was  great,  and  the  opposition  of  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  church 
very  decided,  he  deemed  it  expedient  to  ask  for  the  dissolution  of  his  pas- 
toral relation, — wliich  was,  accordingly,  granted  on  the  17th  of  Marcli, 
1813.  F<ir  the  two  following  years,  as  tlie  church  had  no  Pastor,  and  he 
continueil  to  reside  in  tlie  place,  he  preached  lo  them  a  part  of  the  time, 
still  visiting  the  towns  in  the  neighbourhood,  as  he  had  previously  done. 
This  was  doubtless  the  most  severe  trial  of  his  life.  He  had  no  love  for 
excitement  or  contention,  but  shrunk  from  every  thing  of  the  kind,  as  far 
as  duty  would  allow  ;  though  no  man  stood  firmer  thaii  he  to  his  own  delibe- 
rate and  conscientious  convictions.  But,  notwithstanding  the  hostility 
♦i-encrated  by  this  state  of  things  was  very  intense,  no  sooner  had  the  occa- 
sion of  it  ceased  in  the  closing  of  the  War  than  the  conflicting  parties  were 
af-ain  at  peace.  IMutual  confessions  and  forgiveness  restored  the  love  of 
former  years  ;  so  that  my  father  and  liis  old  opposers  at  Templeton  died  in 
the  most  kindly  relations  with  each  other. 

In  February,  181G,  my  father  removed  his  family  to  Hinsdale,  N.  II. 
The  only  clmrch  then  in  that  town  was  a  small  Baptist  church, — a  Congrega- 
tional church,  wliich  had  previously  existed  there,  having  become  extinct. 
The  people  at  large,  without  regard  to  sect  or  party,  united  in  his  support. 
This  arrangement  continued  for  several  years, — he  occupying  the  old  Con- 
gregational meeting-bouse,  and  the  Baptist  meeting-house  in  the  North 


ELISIIA   ANDREWS.  273 

part  of  the  town,  in  proportion  as  money  was  raised  Nortli  or  South.  After 
a  few  years,  howover,  tlio  Congregational  interest  revived,  and  the  church 
was  reorganized,  and  they  needed  for  their  own  use  the  meeting-house  in 
the  South  part  of  the  town  ;  and,  as  the  Baptist  place  of  worship  was 
remote  from  his  place  of  residence, — for  these  and  other  causes,  he  ceased 
to  preach  in  Hinsdale  for  the  time,  and  commenced  travelling  and  preach- 
ing abroad.  Ho  had  at  least  three  several  appointments,  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts Baptist  INIissionary  Society,  to  travel  in  the  new  and  destitute  parts 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  Probably  many  Baptists  yet  live  who  recollect 
him  as  a  pioneer  missionary  in  all  the  region  West  of  Lake  Champlain, 
about  18-21  and  1822. 

He  spent  considerable  time,  during  the  years  1823  and  1824,  among  the 
churches  which  had  sprung  up  on  the  field  of  his  former  labours,  especially 
those  of  Princeton  and  Leominster.  In  1825,  the  church  at  Tenipleton 
gave  him  a  united  and  earnest  invitation  to  return  to  them  as  their  Pastor. 
But,  as  he  had  a  comfortable  home  at  Hinsdale,  and  was  beginning  to  feel 
the  weight  of  years,  he  declined  resuming  the  pastoral  relation  to  them, 
though  he  yielded  to  their  wishes  so  far  as  to  preach  to  them  half  or  three 
quarters  of  the  time,  until  1831.  During  this  period,  the  church  at  Teni- 
pleton was  favoured  with  an  extensive  revival  ;  and  my  father  was  instru- 
mental of  gathering  a  church  at  South  Gardiner,  which  was  a  colony  from 
the  Tcinplcton  Church. 

Several  of  the  last  years  of  his  active  life,  he  supplied  the  church  at 
Hinsdale  a  part  of  the  time.  The  portion  of  time  not  occupied  at  Teujple- 
ton  was  spent  at  Hinsdale — indeed  he  was  regarded  as  the  senior  Pastor 
of  the  Hinsdale  church  till  the  close  of  his  life.  That  people  were  greatly 
blessed  under  his  ministrations,  and  numerous  individuals  rise  up  there  to 
call  him  blessed. 

In  January,  1833,  he  was  attacked  with  paralysis,  which  deprived  him 
uf  the  use  of  his  right  hand.  This  was  a  great  affliction,  as  it  not  only  laid 
him  aside  from  preaching  for  several  months,  but  wholly  prevented  the  use 
of  his  pen,  which  he  seemed  to  regard  as  the  greatest  of  all  deprivations. 
So  deeply  did  he  feel  the  loss  of  the  privilege  of  writing,  that,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-three,  he  attempted  to  learn  to  write  with  his  left  hand,  and 
actuallj'  succeeded  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  write  legibly.  This  was,  how- 
ever, hardly  accomplished,  when,  in  June,  1834,  he  had  a  second  shock, 
which  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his  left  hand,  and  so  paralyzed  his  tongue 
as  to  make  it  hard  for  him  to  converse.  After  his  first  shock,  he  was  able 
to  preach,  as  the  spring  openc  1,  and  the  weather  became  warm,  and  actually 
did  supply  the  church  in  lloyalston  for  several  months.  When  unable  to 
get  into  or  out  of  his  carriage,  he  would  be  helped  in,  ride  sixteen  miles, 
be  helped  out,  and  up  the  pulpit  stairs,  and  would  then  preach,  as  those 
who  heard  him  thought,  as  well  as  at  any  previous  period  of  his  life.  But 
after  the  second  attack,  he  was  never  able  to  speak  very  intelligibly,  though 
his  min<l  remained  clear  till  the  last.  During  the  last  months  of  his  life, 
the  church  had  been  in  the  habit  of  holding  their  business  meetings  at  his 
house,  as  he  could  not  go  out,  and  as  their  young  Pastor  wished  for  the 
benefit  of  his  counsel.  On  the  Saturday  before  his  death,  they  hold  such 
a  meeting,  in  connection   with  a  preparatory  conference  at  his  house,  in 

Vol.  YI.  35 


274  BAPTIST. 

which  he  took  part.  On  the  Sabbatli,  they  adjourned  from  the  meeting- 
house to  his  room  to  hold  their  Sacrament.  He  assisted  in  the  breaking 
of  bread  ;  gave  out  the  hymn  ;  pitched  the  tune  ;  and  sung  with  the  church 
at  the  close.  But  his  appearance  was  such  as  to  lead  several,  when  they 
departed,  to  remark, — "  Father  Andrews  has  communed  with  us  for  the 
l:ist  time  on  earth."  During  Monday  his  health  continued  as  usual,  and 
after  tea  he  related  to  my  mother  what  he  had  read  in  the  papers  that  day, 
talked  about  the  affairs  of  the  church,  in  reference  especially  to  some  inte- 
resting questions  that  existed  among  them  at  that  time,  and  closed  by 
observing  that  his  work  was  done,  and  he  could  give  them  no  more  advice. 
He  soon  complained  of  feeling  weary,  and  laid  himself  down  upon  the  bed, 
and  within  an  hour  passed  to  his  final  rest,  without  a  struggle  or  a  groan. 
He  died  on  the  3d  of  February,  1840,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

During  his  protracted  confinement,  he  suffered  but  little  bodily  pain,  but 
he  was  so  helpless  as  to  be  quite  dependant  on  those  around  him.  His 
mind  was  always  clear — he  could  reason  as  strongly  on  any  point  of 
Theology  an  hour  before  his  death  as  ever.  His  passion  for  books  never 
abated-7-he  read  and  re-read  almost  every  thing  that  came  within  his  reach  ; 
and,  during  his  last  seven  years,  he  probably  accomplished  more  in  this 
way  than  most  clergymen  do  in  a  lifetime. 

My  father  received  the  Honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  from  Brown 
University,  in  1803. 

As  a  writer,  he  was  known  chiefly  among  those  of  his  own  denomination, 
and  as  a  defender  of  their  faith.  He  published  a  small  volume  entitled 
"  The  Moral  Tendencies  of  Universalism  ;  "  also  a  Review  of  "  Winches- 
ter's Dialogues  on  Universal  Restoration."  These  were  followed  by  a 
work  entitled  "A  Vindication  of  the  distinguishing  sentiments  of  the  Bap- 
tists, against  the  writings  of  Messrs.  Cowles,  Miller,  and  Edwards." 
These  were  all  issued  from  the  press  of  Manning  and  Loring  of  Boston,  as 
early  as  1805.  In  1810,  he  published  "A  Brief  Reply  to  James  Bicker- 
stafl''8  Short  Epistle  to  the  Baptists."  At  a  later  period,  he  put  forth  two 
other  pamphlets — one,  a  Review  of  one  of  John  Wesley's  tracts  on  Falling 
from  Grace,  in  which  he  defends  the  doctrine  of  the  Final  Perseverance  of 
the  Saints, — the  other.  Strictures  on  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brooks'  Essay  on  Terms 
of  Communion.  The  latter  was  printed  in  1823.  He  also  contributed 
many  articles  to  the  Christian  Watchman,  chiefly  on  the  Unitarian  contro- 
versy, over  the  signature  of  "  Gimel."  He  had  prepared  for  the  press  a 
"Bible  Dictionary;"  also  a  work  entitled  '' Racovicvs,  or  the  Rational 
Christian:  Dialogues  on  the  Unitarian  Controversy;"  but  these  were  not 
pu])lislicd.  -- 

My  father's  family  consisted  of  eight  children, — five  sons  and  three 
daughters.  The  eldest  son,  Eiisha,  Jr.,  entered  Brown  University  in 
1815,  but,  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  his  health,  was  obliged  to  leave 
before  the  close  of  his  Senior  year,  and  did  not  receive  his  degree  until 
1821.  Most  of  his  time  from  1819,  when  he  left  College,  till  his  death, 
was  spent  in  Louisiana,  whither  he  went  with  his  wife  to  engage  in  teach- 
ing. He  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  but  never  settled  as  a  Pastor. 
His  talents,  acquirements,  and  piety  gave  promise  of  great  usefulness  ;  but 
consumption  early  marked  him  as  a  victim.     When  he  left  New  England, 


ELISIIA  ANDREWS.  275 

no  one  expected  him  ever  to  return  ;  Init  lie  did  live  to  travel  from  Louisi- 
ana to  New  England  and  back  several  times,  and  to  accomplish  a  great 
amount  of  labour,  both  as  a  teacher  and  an  itinerant  preacher.  He  died 
at  Jackson,  La.,  November  10,  1827.  Another  son,  Thomas  L.,  went  to 
Louisiana  to  assist  his  brother  in  an  Academy  at  St.  Francisville,  in  1819, 
but  subsequently  entered  the  profession  of  the  Law,  and  continued  to  be 
engaged  in  it,  at  the  South,  for  many  years.  A  year  or  two  before  his 
death,  he  removed  to  Illinois,  that  he  might  have  the  opportunity  to  manu- 
mit several  slaves.  He  had,  in  his  boyhood,  been  thought  to  be  pious  ; 
but,  after  he  became  a  man,  he  believed  that  his  experience  had  been  delu- 
sive, and  therefore  ceased  to  walk  with  the  church.  In  the  winter  of 
1844-45,  while  attending  the  Court  in  Louisiana,  there  was  a  work  of  grace 
in  Clinton,  his  old  home,  and  he  became  a  rejoicing  convert,  and  at  once 
renewed  his  connection  with  the  church,  and  resolved  to  abandon  his  pro- 
fession and  preach  the  Go.spel.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Illinois  his  wife 
died,  and  in  August  following  he  died  himself. 

Hoping  that  the  above  outline  of  the  life  of  my  honoured  father  may 
answer  the  purpose  for  which  you  have  requested  it, 

I  am  very  fraternally  yours, 

ERASTUS  ANDREWS. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ABIAL  FISHER,  D.  D. 

West  Boylston,  Mass.,  January  27,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  The  Rev.  Elisha  Andrews  was  in  the  vigour  of  life  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  century;  and  I  may  safely  say  that  he  had  a  high 
standing  among  the  ministers  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  New  England. 
He  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health,  and  had  the  capacity  for  labour  and 
the  power  of  endurance  in  an  uncommon  degree.  He  was  of  about  the  middle 
height,  and  thick  set,  without  an}^  tiling  very  strongly  marked  in  his  personal 
appearance.  1  should  say  that  lie  might  be  called  a  grave  man,  and  yet  I 
believe  his  intimate  friends  ahvaj's  found  him  sociable  and  communicative. 

Mr.  Andrews  had  not  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education;  but  he  pos- 
sessed a  mind  of  groat  natural  vigour  and  inquisitiveness,  and  neglected  no 
opportunity  for  enlarging  the  stock  of  his  knowledge.  By  diligent  and  perse- 
vering application, — turning  every  moment  to  the  best  account,  he  made  him- 
self well  acquainted  with  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and  more  especially 
with  the  science  of  Theology.  Though  in  lahours  he  was  more  abundant  than 
almost  any  of  his  brethren,  there  were  few  of  them  who  attained  to  the  same 
measure  of  mental  culture  with  him.self.  Besides  performing,  with  great  fidelity, 
the  duties  which  he  owed  to  his  own  Hock,  he  was  in  such  repute  as  a  preacher 
that  he  was  often  called  to  officiate  on  public  occasions  abroad;  and  in  this 
way  he  became  very  widely  known,  and,  wherever  known,  was  highly 
respected.  He  was  as  far  as  possible  from  any  thing  like  self-display — not 
only  did  he  never  court  observation,  but  he  always  chose  to  avoid  it  as  far  as 
would  consist  with  his  highest  usefulness.  His  sermons  wore  framed,  not  to 
draw  forth  the  admiration,  but  to  promote  the  spiritual  growth,  the  enduring, 
substantial  benefit,  of  his  hearers.  I  heard  him  preach  for  the  first  time  at 
an  Association  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  he  managed  his  subject  with  a  ma.s- 
ter's  hand;  and,  notwithstanding  the  long  period  that  has  since  elapsed,  so 
distinct,  well  digested  and  striking  Avere  his  thoughts,  that  many  of  them 
remain  vividl}'  in  my  mind  to  this  day.  It  was  a  marked  characteristic  of  his 
preaching  that  it   supplied  a  great  deal  of  material  for  reflection.     His  dis- 


276  BAPTIST. 

courses  'R'cre  highly  logical  in  their  structure,  and  deeply  serious  and  evangel- 
ical in  their  tone;  and  neither  the  head  nor  the  heart  of  the  attentive  hearer 
could  fail  to  be  benefitted  by  them.  His  published  works  show  that  his  mind 
was  decidedly  of  a  high  order,  and  some  of  them  very  happily  evince  his  fine 
talent  for  argumentation.  lie  had  great  influence  throughout  the  whole  region 
in  which  he  lived;  and,  though  almost  twenty  years  have  passed  since  he  went 
to  his  grave,  his  memory  is  still  fragrant  in  manj'-  hearts. 

Yours  fraternally, 

ABIAL  FISHER. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JOHN  M.  GRAVES. 

Boston,  January  1,  1859. 

Dear  Sir:  My  earliest  impressions  in  relation  to  the  late  Rev.  Elisha  Andrews 
were  those  of  very  high  respect.  I  was  then  a  youth  in  my  teens — I  had  great 
regard  for  religion  and  its  ministers,  and  I  looked  upon  him  as  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  goodness  and  sanctity.  After  I  entered  the  ministry,  I  became  some- 
what familiarly  acquainted  with  him,  and  my  respect  now  ripened  into 
reverence  and  love.  He  was,  I  should  think,  at  that  time,  in  the  prime  of  life. 
He  never  seemed  to  care  much  about  his  dress,  or  personal  appearance,  or  even 
the  conventional  rules  of  social  life.  Without  any  thing  of  studied  refine- 
ment, he  had  still  a  natural  case  and  grace  that  made  him  sufficiently  at  home 
in  any  circle.  He  was  not  prodigal  of  words,  but  he  used  them  with  great 
care,  and  often  with  great  power.  Nothing  ever  escaped  his  lips  that  involved 
the  slightest  departure  from  truth,  or  justice,  or  delicacy.  He  had  the  repu- 
tation of  being  a  rigid  disciplinarian  in  his  family;  but  his  discipline  was 
administered,  not  with  harsh  words,  but  with  the  utmost  calmness  and  con- 
sideration, and  not  unfrequently  with  tears. 

Mr.  Andrews  was  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
and  was  always  ready  for  their  illustration  and  defence.  He  had  evidently  a 
great  love  for  the  pulpit,  as  he  had  excellent  natural  and  acquired  qualifica- 
tions for  it.  His  manner  was  free  from  the  least  tendency  to  extravagance — it 
was  calm  and  self-possessed,  while  yet  there  was  a  simple  earnestness  about  it 
that  left  no  one  in  doubt  that  he  Avas  speaking  from  his  inmost  convictions. 
He  aimed  to  accomplish  the  great  end  of  the  ministry,  not  so  much  by  exhor- 
tation or  pathetic  appeal  as  by  bringing  God's  truth  home  to  the  understand- 
ing and  conscience  in  all  its  life,  and  power,  and  legitimate  relations,  though  he 
sometimes  became  so  much  affected  by  the  tender  and  solemn  thoughts  which 
he  was  endeavouring  to  impress  on  others,  that  his  emotions  would  become 
well-nigh  overwhelming.  I  remember  one  instance  in  particular  when,  with 
his  usually  mild,  calm  utterance,  he  portrayed  the  sufferings  of  the  Saviour, — 
the  tears  flowing  down  his  cheeks  most  freely,  but  no  sign  of  fivltering  eitlier 
in  his  voice  or  manner.  Whenever  he  addressed  men  on  the  great  concern  of 
their  salvation,  he  seemed  to  forget  every  thing  else  in  the  all-absorbing  desire 
that  his  words  might  go  with  a  Divine  power  to  the  heart.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if 
his  thoughts  were  always  dwelling  upon  some  evangelical  theme;  and  when  he 
felt  that  he  had,  in  some  good  degree,  mastered  it,  it  was  his  highest  delight 
to  bring  it  in  contact  witli  the  minds  of  others. 

The  great  object  of  Mr.  Andrews'  ministry  evidently  was,  not  so  much  to 
excite  as  to  instruct — he  thought  it  much  more  important  to  sow  the  good  seed 
of  the  Kingdom  in  good  soil,  than  to  sway  with  his  breath  the  stocks  and  plants 
before  him.  I  have  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  seed  which  he  sowed  with  sc 
much  skill  and  fidelity,  has  sprung  up,  under  the  culture  of  others,  and  is 
now  bearing  fruit. 

I  am  truly  yours, 

JOHN  M.  GRAVES. 


JOHN  TRIPP.  277 

JOHN  TRirP.=«= 

1787—1847. 

John  Tripp  was  born  in  Partnioutb,  (now  Fairhavcn,)  Mass.,  March 
25,  17G1.  Ho  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  dc^^cciulant,  on  bis  fatlier's  aide, 
from  John  Tripp,  an  associate  of  Roger  Williams,  and  an  as.-^istant  in  the 
government  of  Rhode  Island.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Capt.  Jclhro 
Delano,  and  granddaughter  of  the  Delano  who  was  active  in  King  Philip's 
War.  When  he  was  eight  years  old,  his  parents  removed  to  Rochester, 
adjoining  Fairhavcn  ;  and,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  ho  entered  the  military 
service  for  one  month,  and  spent  the  time  at  Narragansett.  For  several 
year.-:,  ho  followed  the  coasting  trade,  in  small  vessels,  between  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut,  and  was  several  times  chased,  and  once  or  twice 
uear  being  captured,  by  British  ships  of  w.ar. 

He  early  evinced  a  love  of  learning,  amounting  almost  to  a  passion,  but 
he  had  little  opportunity  to  gratify  it.  In  the  summer  of  1782,  being  then 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  resided  for  six  weeks  in  the  family  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  West,  the  Congregational  minister  of  Dartmouth,  and,  having 
here  acquired  some  knowledge  of  English  Grammar,  he  engaged,  shortly 
after,  in  teaching  a  school  on  Martha's  Vineyard.  While  he  was  thus 
occupied,  he  divided  whatever  leisure  he  could  command  between  studying 
human  science  and  the  Scriptures.  By  his  own  efforts  and  the  assistance 
of  friends,  he  procured  some  Latin  and  Greek  books,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  those  languages. 

On  the  2d  of  September,  1784,  he  was  married  to  Jedidah,  daughter 
of  Harlock  Smith,  of  Edgarton,  with  whom  he  lived,  in  great  affection, 
upwards  of  fifty  years.      She  died  in  May,  1835. 

After  his  marriage,  he  had  better  opportunities  for  the  cultivation  of 
his  mind,  which  he  diligently  improved  by  studying  not  only  the  lan- 
guages, but  almost  every  branch  that  belongs  to  a  course  of  liberal  educa- 
tion. These  studies  he  pursued,  in  after  years,  in  connection  with  the 
labours  of  the  ministry. 

At  the  age  of  about  eleven,  he  became  deeiil}'  interested  in  the  subject 
of  religion,  as  a  personal  matter,  but  he  suffered  not  a  little  for  the  want 
of  adequate  religious  instruction.  After  struggling  with  many  difficulties 
for  some  time,  his  mind  seemed  to  repose  joyfully  in  the  provisions  of  the 
Gospel,  as  far  as  he  understood  them,  and,  two  years  after,  when  he  was 
about  thirteen,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Ijbenezer  Hinds, t  of  Middle- 
borough,  and  admitted  to  the  Church.  For  several  years  after  this,  he  seems 
to  have  had  little  Christian  enjoyment,  owing,  as  he  himself  states,  to  his 
being  too  prone  to  compromise  his  Christian  obligations  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  world.      The  celebrated  dark  day  that  occurred  in  May,  1780,  was 

•  Zion  8  Advocate,  1847. — Christian  Review,  1849. 

t  Ebknkzer  Hisns  begnn  to  preach  statedly  nt  .Aliddlcborough  in  1756,  and  became  the 
Pastor  of  the  church  there  about  a  year  after.  He  contiiiuecl  in  this  reliition  not  fur  from 
forty  years,  and  died  at  Cape  Cod  about  the  year  1812,  at  the  age  of  ninety.  He  retained  his 
mental  nnd  bodily  powers  in  a  remarkable  degree.  I'ut  two  or  three  years  before  his  diiitli,  he 
vras  accustomed  to  take  long  journeys  on  horseback,  visiting  his  friends,  and  often  preaching 
in  the  places  where  they  lived. 


278  BAPTIST. 

the  occasion  of  awakening  liini  to  a  sense  of  his  spiritual  declension,  and 
of  recovering  him  ultimately  to  the  more  faitliful  discharge  of  his  duty. 

Soon  after  he  made  a  profession  of  his  faith,  his  mind  was  much  exer- 
cised on  the  subject  of  devoting  his  life  to  tlie  preaching  of  the  Gospel ; 
but  the  purpose,  if  he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  form  it,  was  suffered  to  slum- 
ber during  the  years  of  coldness  and  wandering  that  succeeded.  But, 
after  he  had  experienced  the  quickening  already  referred  to,  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  revived  in  his  mind,  and  his  studies 
from  this  time  received  a  corresponding  direction.  While  he  resided  on 
Martha's  Vineyard,  there  was  a  Baptist  Church  there,  which  was  destitute 
of  stated  prcacliing ;  and  he  volunteered  such  efforts  as  he  was  able  to 
make  to  supply  the  deficiency.  At  length,  in  September,  1787,  he 
accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Pastor  of  the  Third  Baptist  Church  in 
Middleborough  to  preach  in  his  pulpit ;  and  here,  properly  speaking,  com- 
menced his  n)inistry. 

He  remained  on  Martha's  Vineyard  until  the  next  season  after  he  was 
licensed,  and  then  visited  a  new  Society  in  Carver,  and  in  December,  1788, 
removed  to  that  place.  The  Church  in  Carver  was  organized  in  July, 
1791,  and  he  was  ordained  as  its  Pastor  in  September  of  the  same  year. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry,  his  preaching  was  attended 
with  little  visible  success,  in  consequence  of  wliich  his  mind  was  deeply  and 
painfully  exercised.  About  179.3,  the  desire  of  his  heart  was  granted  in 
an  extensive  revival  in  connection  with  his  labours,  that  in  a  short  time 
increased  the  membership  of  his  church  from  fifteen  to  fifty. 

Daring  his  residence  at  Carver,  he  was  greatly  straitened  for  the  means 
of  support,  and  sometimes  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  even  the  necessaries 
of  life.  He  had,  in  the  mean  time,  invitations  to  several  more  eligible 
places,  but  he  declined  them  from  a  full  conviction  that  the  eliurch  of 
which  he  had  the  care  would  suffer  by  his  removal.  But  his  health  at 
length  began  to  decline  under  the  heavy  l)urdens  that  were  imposed  upon 
him,  and  he  found  it  necessary  to  intermit  his  labours.  As  there  was  no 
prospect  of  any  improvement  in  his  worldly  circumstances,  while  he 
remained  at  Carver,  he  concluded  to  remove  to  Middleborough,  where  he 
had  previously  jircached  a  part  of  the  time.  Here  he  was  somewhat  better 
cared  for,  thougli  what  he  received  was  by  no  means  adequate  to  tlie  wants 
of  a  rising  family.  Hence,  in  June,  1797,  he  journeyed  into  Maine,  partly 
to  visit  his  wife's  parents,  who  had  removed  to  New  Sharon,  and  partly  to 
look  for  a  place  of  settlement.  In  September  of  that  year,  after  he  had 
returned  from  his  journey,  he  received  an  invitation  from  the  Church  in 
Hebron,  Me.,  to  become  their  Pastor.  This  invitation  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  accept,  though  the  separation  from  his  people  was  an  occasion  of 
deep  mutual  regret.  He  left  Middleborough  on  the  27th  of  June,  1798, 
and  reached  Hebron  on  the  8d  of  the  next  month,  being  then  thirty-seven 
years  of  age. 

Mr.  Tripp's  labours  in  thi.s  new  field  were  intense  and  manifold,  and 
though  there  was  not  much  fruit  immediately  apparent,  yet,  at  no  very 
distant  period,  he  began  to  have  tlie  evidence  that  his  labours  were  not  in 
vain.  The  years  1802,  1808,  1817,  1824,  1830,  1831-32,  and  1839,  were 
specially  favoured  as  seasons  of  refreshing  among  his  people.     During  this 


JOHN  Tuipp.  279 

whole  period  ho  was,  from  time  to  time,  performing  missionary  tours,  not 
only  in  diflforent  parts  of  Maine,  but  in  New  Hampsliire  and  Vermont ; 
and  ho  performed  au  amount  of  service  in  this  way  wliich  it  is  not  easy  to 
estimate. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Tripp,  having  become  too  infirm  to  perform  all  the  duties 
of  the  Pastorate,  was  relieved  by  the  settlement  of  a  colleague.  He  con- 
tinued to  preach,  however,  one-half  or  one-fourth  of  the  time  while  he 
lived.  Indeed,  for  the  last  year  of  his  life,  he  was  the  only  Pastor. 
During  the  winter  of  184G-4T,  he  was  kept  at  home  chiefly  by  his  inability 
to  endure  the  cold,  but  in  April  he  began  to  preach  again,  and  preached 
nearly  every  Sabbath  until  July.  lie  died  on  Thursday  evening,  Septem- 
ber 10,  1847,  after  an  illness  of  two  or  three  weeks,  aged  eighty-six  and 
a  half  years.  His  end  was  eminently  peaceful.  His  Funeral  was  attended 
on  tlu!  Sabbath  following,  when  a  Discourse  appropriate  to  the  occasion 
was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adam  Wilson. 

Mr.  Tripp  published  a  Tract  on  Baptism,  a  Discourse  on  the  Inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures,  one  on  the  Perseverance  of  the  Saints,  one  on  the  Two 
Witnesses  mentioned  in  Revelation,  and  several  other  Sermons,  and  a 
small  volume  against  Universalism. 

Mr.  Tripp  was  the  father  of  eight  children, — five  sous  and  three  daugh- 
ters. Two  of  the  sons  graduated  at  Waterville  College,  and  are  Baptist 
ministers. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ADAM  WILSON,  D.  D. 

Watkrville,  March  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  could  have  wished  that  it  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  some  one 
more  competent  than  myself,  to  perform  the  service  j^ou  have  requested  of  me, 
and  yet  such  recollections  as  I  am  able  to  command  of  tlie  venerable  man  of 
whom  you  have  asked  me  to  write,  I  cheerfully  put  at  your  disposal. 

In  the  spring  of  1815,  I  became  a  student  at  Hebron  Academy,  and  an 
attendant  on  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Tripp,  who  was  then  about  tifty-four  years 
old.  AVith  a  slender  physical  constitution  and  a  feeble  voice,  he  was  still  able 
so  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  whole  community  that  no  other  meeting  was  held 
in  that  vicinity.  About  ten  years  before  that  time,  Hebron  Academy  had 
been  chartered  and  endowed  by  the  Legislature  of  Massacliusctts.  ]SIr.  Tripp 
had  been  the  firm  friend  of  the  institution  from  its  origin.  He  was  able  to 
read  the  New  Testament  in  the  original,  and  lie  had  science  enough  to  create 
a  keen  taste  for  such  studies.  He  loved  the  society  and  conversation  of  lite- 
rary men.  His  improvements  were  such  as  to  .secure  for  him,  somewhat  late 
in  life,  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  AVaterville  College. 

Mr.  Tripp  gave  his  time  and  strength  to  tlie  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
looked  to  his  people,  under  Providence,  for  his  daily  bread.  His  course  in 
this  respect  differed  from  that  of  most  Baptist  ministers  in  this  vicinity.  One 
of  his  contemporaries  and  intimate  associates  in  the  ministry,  who  had  owned 
and  cultivated  a  farm,  said,  near  the  close  of  his  life, — "  If  I  had  my  life  to 
live  over  again,  I  would  do  less  for  my  own  support,  and  would  depend  more 
upon  my  people.     Brother  Tripp,  in  this  matter,  has  taken  the  wise  course." 

A  prominent  feature  of  Mr.  Tripp's  preaching  was  care  to  give  the  true 
meaning  of  his  text.  It  was  evident  that  he  had  carefully  considered  what 
ideas  in  relation  to  his  text  Avere  already  in  the  minds  of  his  people.  When 
ho  found  occasion  to  displace  their  ideas  by  those  of  a  sounder  interpretation, 
he  proceeded  with  so  much  caution,  and  candour,  and  kindness,  that  he  sel- 


280  BAPTIST. 

dom  failed  of  accomplishing  his  object.  A  sermon  preached  in  181G  may  be 
taken  as  a  specimen  of  this  care  and  success.  The  text  was  Math.  xxi.  44 — 
"  Whosoever  shall  fall  on  this  stone,  shall  be  broken;  but,  on  whomsoever  it 
shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  powder."  Many  of  his  people  had  been 
accustomed  to  understand  the  lirst  part  of  this  text  to  mean, — <'  Whoever, 
conscious  of  his  sin  and  ruin,  shall  fall,  poor  and  helpless,  on  Christ,  shall 
be  broken  in  heart,  and  broken  oil'  from  sin,  and  so  shall  become  a  new  crea- 
ture in  Christ.  Mr.  Tripp  regarded  the  sentiment  thus  educed  from  this 
passage  as  true  and  very  important.  But  he  thought  it  was  not  taught  in 
the  text,  lie  understood  this  part  of  the  text  to  refer  to  persons  who  mistake 
their  way.  Many  are  in  criminal  darkness,  and  so  stumble  at  that  great 
"  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of  offence."  The  closing  part  of  his  text  he 
applied  to  persecutors,  admonishing  them  that  if  they  persevere  in  their  hope- 
less work,  they  will  arouse  "the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,"  and  then  "He  will 
grind  them  to  powder." 

The  effect  of  Mr.  Tripp's  preaching  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers  soon  be- 
came apparent.  When  he  iirst  came  to  Hebron,  some  of  his  people  were  inclined 
to  Dr.  Gill's  views  of  the  atonement.  Ilis  own  views  were  nearly  the  same 
with  those  of  Andrew  Fuller.  Though  he  never  disguised  or  withheld  them, 
he  uniformly  presented  them  with  so  much  prudence  and  kindness,  and 
so  fortified  them  by  the  testimonies  of  Scripture,  that  the  opposite  doctrine 
graduallj-  died  out  of  his  church;  and  even  while  it  lingered  in  the  minds  of 
a  few  of  ,the  older  members,  it  was  never  brought  out  in  any  way  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  church. 

It  was  a  remark  of  the  late  Dr.  Payson,  of  Portland,  that  the  primitive 
^preachers  of  Christianity  seem  to  have  succeeded  better  than  modern  min- 
isters in  convincing  the  world  of  their  sincerity.  In  this  respect  Mr.  Tripp 
may  be  classed  with  primitive  preachers.  Men  often  opposed  the  doctrines  he 
preached,  but  seldom  called  in  question  the  sincerity  of  the  preacher.  In  the 
whole  town  where  he  laboured  for  so  many  years,  it  might  be  difficult  to  lind 
two  men,  who  would  venture  a  doubt  as  to  his  believing  what  he  professed. 
And  what  is  still  more  remarkable, — it  was  very  much  so  while  he  was  living. 
The  careless,  the  caviller,  the  skeptic,  the  worldling,  would  all  say, — "  We  do 
not  doubt  he  is  sincere  in  his  work." 

It  is  a  remark  that  most  persons  may  verify  b}'  their  own  experience,  that 
we  sometimes  feel  an  interest  in  a  sermon  while  we  are  hearing  it,  but  when 
it  is  closed,  its  influence  soon  passes  away.  It  is  very  much  so  with  the  whole 
ministry  of  some  men.  While  they  are  living,  they  seem  to  exert  an  influence; 
but  they  leave  behind  them  no  marks  on  the  community  in  which  they  have 
laboured.  But  the  influence  of  the  first  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Hebron  was 
of  an  abiding  nature.  Perhaps  the  reason  was,  because  he  made  Christ  so 
prominent  in  his  ministry.  He  preached  Christ,  in  all  his  fulness  and  glory, 
as  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life. 

Mr.  Tripp  was  an  occasional  correspondent  of  Zion's  Advocate,  through  a 
period  of  eighteen  years.  And  his  articles  always  breathed  a  truly  benevolent 
spirit,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  was  a  friend 
to  humanity — yet  he  wasjiot  impracticable  in  his  eflbrts  to  do  good.  The 
possible,  the  attainable,  was  what  he  sought.  The  one  great  purpose  of  his 
life  was  to  serve  Christ  and  do  good  to  mankind.  In  pursuing  this  object, 
under  the  guidance  of  his  Divine  Master,  he  put  in  motion  influences  that  are 
still  in  benign  operation,  and  will  continue  to  be  so  for  generations  to  come. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ADAM  WILSON 


HENRY  SMALLET.  281 


HENRY  SMALLEY* 

1788—1839. 

Henry  Smalley  was  born  in  Piscataway,  Middlesex  County,  N.  J., 
ou  the  2od  of  October,  17G5.  Ilis  father  was  a  Baptist,  and  his  niotlier 
an  Episcopalian.  lie  was  the  subject  of  religious  impressions  in  early  life, 
and,  at  the  age  of  about  sixteen,  was  admitted  by  Baptism  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  Piscataway  Baptist  Church,  by  the  Rev.  lleune  llunyon.t 
He  resolved,  coutrar}'  to  the  prevailing  usage  of  his  denomination  at  that 
period,  to  acquire  a  collegiate  education,  with  a  view  to  entering  the  min- 
istry ;  and,  accordingly,  after  the  requisite  preparation,  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  Queen's  College,  New  Brunswick.  Subsequently,  however,  hf 
transferred  his  relation  to  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton,  where 
he  graduated  under  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  1786. 

In  1788,  having,  in  the  mean  time,  accomplished  his  immediate  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  by  the  Piscata- 
way Baptist  Chux'ch.  In  1790,  he  began  to  preach  for  the  Cohansey 
Baptist  Church,  Cumberland  County,  N.  J. ;  and,  on  the  8th  of  November 
of  the  same  year,  was  ordained  Pastor  of  that  church  by  the  liev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Jones,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  an  aged  itinerant  Baptist  minister. 
In  this  charge  he  continued  forty-nine  years, — until  he  was  removed  by 
death. 

In  1704,  Mr.  Smalley  was  married  to  Hannah  Fox, — an  amiable,  pious 
and  intelligent  person,  who  proved  herself  every  way  qualified  for  the 
station  to  which  she  was  introduced.  She  died  on  the  11th  of  Fel)ruary, 
1836 ;  and,  about  two  years  after,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Armstrong,  an  excellent  woman,  whose  tender  ministrations  soothed  his 
last  hours. 

Mr.  Smalley's  ministry  was,  on  the  whole,  a  highly  prosperous  one.  He 
baptized  five  hundred  and  thirty  persons,  who  were  admitted  to  the  com- 
munion of  his  own  Church,  besides  a  considerable  number  who  connected 
themselves  with  other  Baptist  Churches  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  were 
destitute  of  stated  Pastors.  While  the  growth  of  his  church  was,  for  the 
most  part,  gradual,  there  were  several  revivals  which  brought  considerable 
accessions  to  it,  the  largest  numbers  being  fifty-four,  fifty-five,  and  fifty- 
seven. 

The  labours  of  Mr.  Smalley  were  numerous  and  various.  Besides  his 
stated  preaching,  attending  the  weekly  prayer  meetings,  and  his  pastoral 
visitations,  he  had  frequent  catechetical  exercises  for  the  children,  youth, 

•  Bapt.  Mem.  V. 

f  Reunk  Rcnyox  was  of  French  extraction, — the  son  of  a  gentleman  of  the  same  name,  and 
was  born  at  l'i,scntaway,  March  2'.i,  1741  ;  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  church  in  his  native 
place,  in  March,  1771;  was  ordained  at  .MorrisloHn  in  March,  1772,  wlicre  he  continued  till 
April  ].■?,  1780,  and  then  returned  to  Piscataway.  In  178.'!,  he  took  the  [I'lsloriil  eharj^e  of  the 
church  there,  in  which  relation  he  continued  till  his  death,  which  occurred,  after  a  lingering 
illness,  on  the  2l?t  of  Novemhcr,  1811.  He  was  ft  highly  aceeptablc  and  useful  minister. 
Morgan  Edwards,  in  his  Materials  for  a  History  of  the  liaptists  of  New  York,  pays  him  this 
rather  equivocal  conipliincnt : — "He  is  reiniirkahle  for  doxterity  in  adininislering  ISaptism — 
On  June  v>0,  1786,  a  gentleman  held  his  watch  in  his  band,  till  he  had  baptized  thirty  in  fifty- 
eight  minutes." 

Vol.  VI.  36 


232  BAPTIST. 

and  even  persons  of  mature  years,  in  his  congregation.  For  this  purpose, 
in  addition  to  their  local  meetings,  they  assembled  once  a  quarter  in  the 
meeting-house.  But  he  had  a  vigorous  constitution,  and  his  health  con- 
tinued adequate  to  his  manifold  labours,  until  about  the  time  of  the  death 
of  his  first  wife, — an  affliction  which  he  felt  most  deeply,  and  from  the 
effect  of  which  he  never  fully  recovered. 

On  the  occasion  of  last  meeting  his  people  for  Divine  worship,  he 
stated  to  them  distinctly  that  his  voice  would  never  again  be  heard  within 
the  walls  of  their  common  earthly  sanctuary  ;  and  this  proved  a  prophetic 
announcement.  From  that  time,  his  bodily  infirmities  greatly  increased.  His 
mind,  which,  during  nearly  the  whole  of  his  Christian  life,  had  been  eminently 
clear  and  peaceful,  now  became  shrouded  in  darkness.  For  a  season,  he 
was  tempted  to  believe  that  his  Heavenly  Father  had  forsaken  him.  But, 
at  length,  deliverance  came;  and,  for  a  week  before  his  death,  he  dwelt 
constantly  upon  the  Mount.  Having  gathered  his  family  around  him,  and 
exhorted  them  to  put  their  trust  in  their  Redeemer,  he  bade  them  fare- 
well. His  death  occurred  on  the  11th  of  February,  1839,  in  the  seventy- 
fourth  year  of  his  age. 

FROM  THE  REV.  G.  S.  WEBB,  D.  D. 

New  Brunswick.  N.  J.,  April  10,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  came  into  this  State  to  labour  in  1821,  and  soon  afterwards 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smalley,  who  was  then  past  the  meri- 
dian of  life.  But,  as  we  were  a  hundred  miles  apart,  our  intercourse  was  not 
frequent,  nor  my  opportunities  of  forming  a  judgment  of  his  character  such 
as  to  render  me  a  very  competent  witness  concerning  him.  What  I  do  know 
I  cheerfully  communicate,  esjjecially  as  his  contemporaries  have  so  nearly  all 
passed  away,  that  I  should  be  at  a  loss  to  whom  to  refer  you  for  more  ample 
information. 

Mr.  Smalley  was  of  medium  height;  rather  stout,  compact,  firm,  but  not 
corpulent;  and  altogether  fitted  for  great  endurance.  His  hair  and  eyes  were 
dark,  and  his  countenance  remarkably  grave.  His  whole  appearance  was  emi- 
nently befitting  his  character  as  an  ambassador  of  God. 

I  think  I  never  heard  him  preach  but  twice.  His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was 
calm,  deliberate,  solemn;  more  in  the  style  of  the  compassionate  judge  pro- 
nouncing sentence  against  the  culprit,  than  of  the  popular  orator.  He  was 
not  one  of  that  class  of  preachers  w^ho  w^ould  be  likely  to  be  run  after  by  the 
multitude,  though  he  would  be  listened  to  with  much  interest  by  the  intelligent 
and  reflecting.  No  one  could  hear  him  without  being  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  his  heart  went  into  all  his  utterances,  and  no  one  could  hear  him  with 
attention  without  being  convinced  that  he  was  "ascribe  well  instructed," 
«'  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth." 

Mr.  Smalley  had  the  reputation  of  being  an  excellent  Pastor,  and  of  enjoy- 
ing in  a  high  degree  the  affection  and  confidence  of  his  people.  He  had  an 
admirable  facility  at  preserving  harmony  in  his  congregation,  and  of  nipping 
in  the  bud  every  thing  like  strife  or  discord.  His  influence  over  his  people  was 
so  silent  and  unostentatious  that  they  scarcely  knew  that  it  was  exerted  at  all, 
and  yet  it  was  decided  and  powerful.  And  it  was  felt,  too,  much  beyond  the 
bounds  of  his  immediate  charge.  His  excellent  judgment  and  eminently 
peace-making  spirit  were  often  put  in  requisition  to  settle  diflflculties  in  other 
congregations;  and  the  same  qualities  rendered  him  an  exceedingly  useful 
member  of  deliberative  bodies. 


HENRY   SMALLEY.  283 

I  am  inclined  to  regard  Mr.  Sniallcy  as  having  belonged  to  a  class  of  minis- 
ters, Avho  are  rarely  appreciated,  cspcciall}'^  by  their  contemporaries,  accord- 
ing to  their  deserts.  He  was  sound  in  the  faith,  in  charity,  in  patience;  a 
pattern  of  good  works;  never  in  haste,  and  yet  never  faltering,  like  the  dili- 
gent husbandman,  rising  early  and  retiring  late,  sowing  his  seed  beside  all 
waters,  and  leaving  at  the  end  of  his  days  many  broad  acres  well  cultivated, — 
a  good  inheritance  to  those  who  come  after  him. 

Your  brother  in  our  common  Lord, 

G.  S.  WEBB. 


JESSE  MERCER,  D  D.=^ 

1788—1841. 


The  paternal  great-grandfather  of  Jesse  Mercer,  emigrated  from  Scot- 
land to  Virginia,  about  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  son,  the 
grandfather  of  Jesse,  removed  from  Virginia  to  North  Carolina,  and 
thence  to  what  is  now  Wilkes  County,  Ga.  Silas,  the  father  of  Jesse, 
was  born  in  North  Carolina,  February,  1745.  He  was  educated  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  was  taught  to  regard  its  Liturgy  and  forms  with 
the  utmost  reverence  ;  but,  as  he  grew  up,  his  mind  underwent  a  gradual 
change,  and  finally  reposed  in  the  system  of  doctrine  and  discipline  held 
by  the  Baptists.  He  was  immersed  in  the  year  1775  ;  and,  before  he  left 
the  stream,  ascended  a  log,  and  delivered  an  exhortation  to  the  spectators. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  received  a  formal  license  to  preach.  When  the  Rev- 
olutionary War  came  on,  he  fled  for  safety  to  Halifax  County  in  his  native 
State  ;  and,  during  a  six  years'  residence  there,  he  preached  upon  an  average 
oftener  than  once  a  day.  At  the  close  of  the  War,  he  returned  to  his 
former  residence  in  Georgia,  where  he  continued  his  pious  and  useful 
labours  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his 
age.  Besides  several  smaller  pieces,  he  wrote  a  pamphlet  of  sixty-eight 
pages,  entitled  "  Tyranny  exposed,  and  True  Liberty  discovered." 

Jesse  Mercer  was  born  in  Halifax  County,  N.  C,  December  16,  1769, 
being  the  eldest  of  eight  children.  He  was  a  remarkably  bright,  amiable 
and  conscientious  boy  ;  and,  though  he  showed  a  good  deal  of  quiet  humour, 
and  was  very  far  from  manifesting  the  spirit  of  a  recluse,  he  had  no  relish 
for  anything  coarse,  or  boisterous,  or  irreverent.  His  early  opportunities 
for  education  were  very  limited  ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  had  ever 
been  sent  to  school,  previous  to  the  return  of  his  father  to  Georgia  from 
North  Carolina.  From  early  childhood,  he  was  the  subject  of  serious 
impressions ;  and,  from  the  age  of  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  till  he  had 
reached  his  eighteenth  year,  there  was  no  intermission  of  his  anxiety  in 
respect  to  his  salvation.  Of  the  change  which  at  length  passed  upon  him, 
he  has  left  the  following  account: — 

"  While  on  the  verge  of  despair,  I  was  walking  alone  along  a  narrow  path  in  the 
woods,  poring  over  my  helpless  case,  and  saying  to  myself— Wo  is  me  !  Wo,  wo  is  me  .' 
tor  I  am  undone  forever?  I  would  I   were  a  beast  of  the  field !    At  length,  I  found 

*  Mem.  by  Dr.  Mallary. 


284  BAPTIST. 

myself  standing,  with  my  eyes  steadfastly  fixed  on  a  small  oak  that  grew  by  tlie  path- 
side,  and  earnestly  wishing  that  I  could  be  like  the  little  oak  when  it  died  and  crumbled 
to  dust.  At  that  moment,  light  broke  into  my  soul,  and  I  believed  in  Christ  for 
myself,  and  not  another,  and  went  on  my  way  rejoicing." 

He  made  a  relation  of  his  experience  to  the  Phillips'  Mill  Church,  on 
the  7th  of  July,  1787,  and  was  immediately  after  baptized  by  his  father, 
being  then  in  his  eighteenth  year. 

Shortly  after  he  connected  himself  with  the  church,  he  began  to  feel  an 
earnest  desire  to  address  his  fellow-men  in  respect  to  their  immortal 
interests  ;  and  his  first  efforts  in  this  way,  which  were  of  an  hortatory 
kind,  were  characterized  by  so  much  judgment  and  feeling  as  to  give 
promise,  in  the  view  of  those  who  witnessed  them,  of  extensive  usefulness 
in  the  Church.  He  soon  began  to  preach,  and,  though  the  exact  time  when 
he  received  a  formal  license  cannot  now  be  ascertained,  yet  it  is  known 
that  he  preached  to  great  acceptance,  and  had  the  entire  approbation  of 
his  brethren  generally. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  1788,  being  then  in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  was 
married  to  Sabrina,  daughter  of  Joel  Chivers,  and,  at  the  time  of  their 
marriage,  step-daughter  of  Oftnial  Weaver,  of  Wilkes  County.  Though 
she  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  she  was  distinguished  for  prudence, 
industry,  and  piety,  and  was  every  way  fitted  to  be  a  helper  to  him  in 
his  work.  Such  a  helper  she  proved  to  be  during  a  period  of  nearly  forty 
years. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  1789,  he  was  solemnly  set  apart  by  ordination 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  his  father  being  one  of  the  officiating  min- 
isters;  and,  notwithstanding  his  extreme  youth,  he  received  a  call  about 
the  same  time  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church  called  Hutton's 
Fork,  (now  Sardis,)  in  Wilkes  County.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  con- 
tinued there  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  more  than  twenty 
years.  He  was  now  very  diligent  in  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  and 
availed  himself  of  an  opportunity  to  study  the  learned  languages,  under 
the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Springer,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  with 
whom  he  formed  an  intimate  and  enduring  friendship.  He  subsequently 
prosecuted  his  studies  still  further  at  an  Academy  that  was  established  in 
his  father's  neighbourhood,  whither  he  returned  after  an  absence  of  two 
years,  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  its  advantages.  His  academic  course, 
after  all,  was  rather  limited,  though  it  laid  a  foundation  for  more  extended 
improvements  in  after  life. 

In  1798,  the  field  of  Mr.  Mercer's  labours  was  enlarged  by  his  accept- 
ance of  the  Pastorship  of  the  Church  at  Indian  Creek,  (or  Bethany,)  in 
Oglethorpe  County,  to  the  vicinity  of  which  he  removed  in  the  ensuing 
winter.  But,  in  1796,  hi?"  father  having  died  in  August  of  that  year,  he 
returned  to  the  place  where  his  father  had  resided,  for  the  purpose  of 
administering  on  the  estate,  and  otherwise  assisting  the  bereaved  family. 
At  the  same  time,  he  became  the  Preceptor  of  the  Salem  Academy.  He 
also  succeeded  his  father  in  the  charge  of  the  Phillips'  Mill,  Powelton, 
and  Bethesda  Churches,  to  all  of  which  he  was  highly  acceptable.  He 
continued  at  his  father's  place  for  several  years,  until  he  had  settled  the 
business  of  the  estate  ;  and  then  removed  to  the  Fork  of  the  Little  River 
in  Green  County,  where  he  settled  on  a  small  farm,  which,  however,  he  did 


JESSE  MERCEIl.  285 

not  allow  to  interfere  with  his  ministerial  duties.  About  this  time,  he 
directed  the  studies  of  several  young  men  in  their  preparation  for  the  min- 
istry;  but  his  services  in  this  way  were  rendered  gratuitously. 

The  field  occupied  by  Mr.  Mercer  between  the  years  179G  and  1827  was 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  State  of  Georgia, — the  churches  which  he 
served  being  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  population,  and  embracing  a  conside- 
rable amount  of  intelligence  and  refinement.  The  Sardis  Church,  origi- 
nally called  Huttou's  Fork, — the  first  of  which  he  had  the  charge,  he  left 
in  1817.  With  the  Phillips'  Mill  Church  he  retained  his  connection  till 
1835 ;  with  the  church  at  Bcthesda  until  1827  ;  and  with  the  Powelton 
church  till  182G.  Of  this  latter  church  Governor  Ilabun  was,  for  many 
years,  a  distinguished  member.  In  1818,  a  church  was  constituted  in 
Eatonton,  Putnam  County,  of  which  Mr.  Mercer  took  charge  in  January, 
1820,  and  continued  its  Pastor  till  the  close  of  1826.  In  1824,  the  Bap- 
tist State  Convention  (then  denominated  the  General  Association)  held  its 
sessions  at  Eatonton,  on  which  occasion  Mr.  Mercer  preached  a  jMissionary 
Sermon,  that  was  followed  by  a  very  liberal  collection  from  the  congrega- 
tion. His  connection  with  these  several  churches  was  the  means  of  quick- 
ening them  to  a  higher  sense  of  Christian  obligation,  of  building  them  up 
in  faith  and  holiness,  and,  in  nearly  every  case,  of  adding  largely  to  their 
numbers.  In  addition  to  his  stated  labours,  he  performed  much  occasional 
service  in  other  places,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  made  a  journey,  which  he  did 
not  render  directly  subservient  to  the  general  interests  of  religion  and  the 
prosperity  of  some  particular  church.  One  means  of  usefulness  which  he 
highly  valued,  was  keeping  on  hand  an  assortment  of  religious  books,  which 
he  carried  with  him  on  his  numerous  preaching  tours,  and  disposed  of  among 
his  brethren,  as  he  had  opportunity. 

Finding  a  great  want  of  Hymn  Books  for  the  use  of  the  rapidly  increas- 
ing churches,  he  compiled  a  small  work  called  "  The  Cluster."  It  had 
passed  through  three  editions  before  1817,  and  has  been  published  several 
times  since.  It  has  had  a  wide  circulation  in  Georgia,  and  several  of  the 
adjacent  States. 

Mr.  Mercer  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  civil  afi"airs  of  the  country,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  speak,  or  write,  or  act,  in  relation  to  them,  as  he  thought 
his  duty  required  ;  though  he  never  suffered  himself  to  be  entangled  in  the 
strife  of  politics.  In  1798,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  was 
held  to  amend  the  State  Constitution.  About  the  year  1816,  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  the  office  of  Senator  in  the  State  Legislature  ;  but,  fortunately, 
(as  he  himself  afterwards  thought,)  was  unsuccessful.  In  1833,  it  was  pro- 
posed by  some  of  his  friends  that  he  should  be  brought  forward  as  a  candi- 
date for  Governor  ;  and  he  was  subsequently  named  as  a  suitable  person 
to  be  chosen  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors;  but,  in  each  case,  he  per- 
emptorily declined  the  honour.  In  the  year  last  named,  certain  amend- 
ments to  the  State  Constitution  had  been  agreed  upon  by  a  Convention 
appointed  by  the  Legislature,  and  were  submitted  to  the  people  for  appro- 
val or  rejection.  Mr.  Mercer,  being  greatly  dissatisfied  with  tlic  amend- 
ments, published  the  reasons  of  his  dissent  frona  them,  for  wliieh  he  was 
censured  with  some  degree  of  severity.  He,  however,  justified  himself  on 
the  ground  of  a  strong  conviction  of  duty ;  and  maintained  that,  though  a 


286  BAPTIST. 

minister  lias  no  right  to  meddle  with  the  every  day  politics  of  the  country, 
he  has  a  right  to  be  heard  on  great  constitutional  questions  as  truly  as  any 
other  man. 

In  1826,  Mr.  Mercer  attended  the  General  Convention  in  Philadelphia, 
and  did  not  return  till  the  month  of  September.  When  he  had  reached 
Andersonville,  Pendleton  District,  S.  C,  his  wife,  who  accompanied  him, 
was  seized  with  a  violent  fever,  and  died  after  a  few  days'  confinement,  in 
the  fifty-fifth  year  of  her  age.  Though  he  felt  the  loss  most  deeply,  he 
submitted  to  it  with  an  humble  and  trusting  resignation.  She  was  the 
mother  of  two  children. 

At  the  close  of  1826,  or  early  in  1827,  Mr.  Mercer  took  up  his  residence 
in  Washington,  Wilkes  County,  under  circumstances  highly  creditable  to 
his  disinterestedness.  When  he  had  determined  to  give  up  most  of  the 
churches  with  which  he  was  connected,  and  provide  for  himself  a  more  set- 
tled residence,  he  was  earnestly  requested,  by  a  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  to  make  his  permanent  settlement  among  the  people  at  Powel- 
ton,  and  assured  that  competent  provision  should  be  made  for  his  support. 
But,  notwithstanding  his  worldly  interest,  and  especially  his  strong  per- 
sonal attiachments,  would  have  inclined  him  to  listen  to  their  proposal,  so 
strong  was  his  conviction  that  there  was  an  important  work  which  he  was 
called  to  perform  in  Washington,  that  he  felt  constrained  to  return  a  nega- 
tive answer  to  the  Powelton  brethren,  and  to  plant  himself  in  what  seemed 
in  many  respects  the  more  unpromising  field.  He  had,  for  nearly  forty 
years,  been  in  the  habit  of  preaching  at  Washington,  generally  on  week 
days,  about  once  a  month.  There  were  a  few  scattered  Baptists  in  the  vil- 
lage and  the  surrounding  country ;  but  not  enough  to  justify  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  church,  until  1827.  At  the  close  of  that  year,  a  church  was 
constituted,  and  in  January,  1828,  Mr.  Mercer  became  its  Pastor.  He 
continued  in  this  relation  till  the  close  of  life.  The  church  grew  rapidly 
in  numbers,  liberality,  and  zeal,  under  his  ministry,  until  it  became,  in 
proportion  to  its  numerical  strength,  one  of  the  most  effective  churches  in 
the  State. 

On  the  11th  of  December,  1827,  Mr.  Mercer  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Mrs.  Nancy  Simmons,  widow  of  Capt.  A.  Simmons,  and  then  residing  in 
Washington.  By  this  marriage  he  obtained  a  considerable  addition  to  his 
worldly  property,  while  he  gained  a  companion  of  great  Christian  liberality 
and  worth,  and  every  way  suited  to  be  a  fellow-helper  in  carrying  out  the 
objects  for  which  he  lived. 

In  1833,  the  Christian  Index,  a  religious  periodical,  which  had  for  some 
years  been  edited  by  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Brantly,  at  Philadelphia,  was  trans- 
ferred to  Mr.  Mercer.  This  brought  him  into  a  new  sphere  of  labour  and 
responsibility,  and  occasioned  him  considerable  pecuniary  loss  ;  while  he 
felt  himself  less  at  home  than  in  almost  any  other  position  he  had  occupied. 
Though  his  habits  were  not  decidedly  literary,  and  he  could  scarcely  be 
considered  a  highly  accomplished  writer,  he  conducted  the  work  with  excel- 
lent judgment,  and  rendered  it  specially  useful  as  a  means  of  defending 
and  sustaining  the  benevolent  operations  of  the  day. 

In  1835,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  from 
Brown  University. 


JESSE  MERCER.  287 

For  a  long  series  of  years,  his  name  and  influence  were  identified  with 
most  of  the  prominent  operations  of  the  Georgia  Association.  He  was 
present  at  its  formation  in  1784;  shortly  after  his  connection  with  the 
Church,  he  appeared  as  its  delegate  ;  and,  from  that  time  till  1839,  when 
he  was  prevented  by  illness,  he  never  failed  to  be  present  at  its  annual 
meetings.  From  1795  till  1816,  he  generally  ofliciated  as  Clerk  of  the 
Body — at  the  session  of  the  last  named  year,  he  was  chosen  Moderator,  and 
held  the  office,  by  re-election,  till  1839. 

He  had  an  important  connection  with  another  Association  of  a  more  gene- 
ral character,  known  as  the  "  Baptist  Convention  of  the  State  of  Greorgia  ;" 
which,  from  a  small  beginning  in  1822,  gradually  grew  into  a  great  benevo- 
lent institution,  which  has  accomplished,  in  various  ways,  a  mighty  amount 
of  good.  Of  this  Convention  Dr.  Mercer  was  regularly  chosen  Modera- 
tor, till  the  session  of  1841,  when  his  impaired  health  and  domestic  afflic- 
tions prevented  his  attendance. 

Dr.  Mercer  lost  no  opportunity  of  manifesting  his  interest  in  the  cause 
of  education.  When  the  project  of  establishing  a  College  in  the  District 
of  Columbia  was  first  started,  he  was  disposed  to  give  to  it  all  his  influ- 
ence. His  name  was  enrolled  among  the  original  Trustees  of  the  institu- 
tion;  and,  amidst  its  protracted  embarrassments,  his  zeal  for  the  promotion 
of  its  interests  never  faltered.  In  1834,  he  delivered  a  Sermon  before  the 
Convention,  entitled  "  Knowledge  indispensable  to  a  minister  of  Grod," 
which  contained  a  vigorous  argument  in  favour  of  an  educated  ministry, 
and  which  was  afterwards  published  and  extensively  circulated. 

He  was  no  less  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Missions  than  of  Education.  In 
May,  1815,  when  the  "  Powelton  Baptist  Society  for  Foreign  Missions" 
was  formed,  he  became  its  President.  In  1816,  was  formed  "  The  Mission 
Board  of  the  Georgia  Association,"  of  which  Dr.  Mercer  was  always  a 
member,  and,  from  1830  to  1841,  was  uniformly  its  President.  His  pecu- 
niary contributions  to  missionary  objects  were  regulated  by  a  high  stand- 
ard of  Christian  liberality. 

Though  he  was  occasionally  the  subject  of  bodily  infirmity,  yet,  during 
his  long  ministry,  he  was  rarely  obliged  to  suspend  his  labours  for  any 
considerable  time.  But,  at  length,  neither  he  nor  his  friends  could  resist 
the  conviction  that  the  infirmities  of  age  were  gathering  upon  him.  At 
the  annual  session  of  the  Georgia  Association  in  1839,  he  was  prevented 
from  being  present  by  a  severe  illness  ;  and,  though  he  was  able,  after  a 
few  weeks,  to  resume,  in  some  degree,  his  accustomed  labours,  he  never 
afterwards  recovered  the  point  of  health  from  which  he  had  fallen.  In 
May,  1841,  he  was  afflicted  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  who  had  some  time 
before  been  stricken  down  by  palsy.  Early  in  June  following,  he  preached 
his  last  sermon,  with  uncommon  freedom  and  unction.  Towards  the  close 
of  the  month,  be  went,  in  great  feebleness,  to  Penfield,  with  a  view  of 
spending  a  few  weeks  with  his  friends,  and  attending  the  College  Com- 
mencement, and  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He 
remained  in  Penfield  till  the  beginning  of  August,  and  then  journeyed  on 
to  the  Indian  Springs  in  Butts  County,  hoping  to  derive  some  benefit  from 
the  water.  For  a  few  days,  there  seemed  to  be  some  slight  improvement  of 
his  health,  but  the  force  of  his  disease  remained  unbroken.     On  the  last 


288  BAPTIST. 

Sabbath  in  August,  he  attended  public  service  at  the  Springs,  and,  in  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  accompanied  a  friend  to  his  residence,  some  eight 
miles  distant,  with  an  intention  of  prosecuting  his  journey  as  far  as  Wal- 
ton, Monroe  County,  where  some  of  his  relatives  resided.  It  turned  out 
that  he  went  to  the  house  of  this  friend  (Mr.  Carter,  a  brother  minister) 
to  die.  He  languished  till  the  6th  of  September,  and  then,  in  a  state  of 
perfect  calmness,  and  in  full  possession  of  his  reason,  sunk  into  the  arms 
of  death.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Penfield,  and  interred  in  the  public 
burying  ground.  The  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  at  Washington,  by 
Elder  C.  F.  Sturgis,  who  had,  for  a  time,  been  associated  with  him  in  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  church.  His  death  called  forth  many  public 
demonstrations  of  affectionate  respect  and  deep  sorrow. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Mercer's  principal  writings  : — A  Circular 
Letter  of  the  Georgia  Association,  1801,  A  Circular  Letter  on  Discipline, 
1806.  A  Circular  Letter  on  the  Invalidity  of  Pedobaptist  Administration 
of  Ordinances,  1811.  A  Circular  Letter  on  Various  Christian  Duties,  1816. 
A  Discourse  on  the  Death  of  Grovernor  Kabun,  1819.  A  Circular  of  the 
(reorgia  iVssociation,  on  the  Unity  and  Dependance  of  the  Churches,  182S. 
An  Exposition  of  the  First  Seventeen  Verses  of  the  Twelfth  Chapter  of 
Jlevelation,  1825.  A  Dissertation  on  the  Prerequisites  to  Ordination, 
1829.  Scripture  Meaning  of  Ordination,  1830.  Ten  Letters  on  the 
Atonement,  1830.  A  Circular  Letter  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention, 
1831.  Resemblances  and  Differences  between  Church  Authority  and  that 
of  an  Association,  1833.  An  Essay  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  1833.  A 
Sermon  entitled  "Knowledge  indispensable  to  a  Minister  of  God,"  1834. 
A  History  of  the  Georgia  Association,  1836.  A  Review  of  a  certain 
Report  on  Church  and  Associational  DilEculties,  1837.  A  Sermon  on  the 
Importance  of  Ministerial  Union,  1838.  A  Sermon  on  the  Excellency  of 
the  Knowledge  of  Christ,  1839.  An  Essay  entitled  "  The  Cause  of 
Missionary  Societies,  the  Cause  of  God,"  1839.  An  Essay  on  Forgive- 
ness of  Sins,  18-41.  "  Hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the  Churches,"  three 
Nos.,  1841. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ADIEL  SHERWOOD,  D.  D. 

Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  June  8,  1853. 
My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Mercer  began  in  February,  1819, 
and  our  interviews,  lasting  three  and  four  days  generally  at  Associations,  meet 
ings  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Convention,  and  others  of  a  reli- 
gious character,  were  some  six  to  a  dozen  in  almost  every  year  till  1841, — a  period 
of  over  twenty  years.  We  frequently  lodged  at  the  same  house,  and  occupied 
the  same  bed.  We  also  made  long  tours  of  preaching  together,  and  in  1823 
visited  the  Mission  StatioiT  at  A^allcy  Towns,  N.  C, — absent  over  a  month. 
He  wrote  me  over  fifty  letters.  So  far  as  I  recollect,  w^e  never  disagreed  on 
the  subjects  discussed  in  our  religious  bodies,  except  that  he  regarded  me  too 
zealous  in  urging  incipient  measures  towards  the  University  which  now  bears 
his  name,  and  on  the  Temperance  question.  The  Doctors,  excellent  in  admin- 
istering calomel,  had  advised  him  to  take  a  little  brandy  for  a  chronic  com- 
plaint, and,  though  he  took  very  small  doses  occasionally,  was  so  conscientious 
that  he  would  not  subscribe  to  the  pledge,  yet  really  a  friend  to  the  cause. 
But  he  threw  their  prescriptions  overboard, — was  in  better  health,  and  estab- 
lished a  Temperance  paper. 


I  JESSE  MERCER.  289 

In  his  youth  he  was  tall,  sicndor  suul  awkward,  but  when  about  fifty  was 
moderately  corpulent,  weighing  over  two  hundred  pounds,  having,  by  much 
intercourse  with  society,  softened  the  manners  contracted  in  border  neiglibour- 
hoods  and  in  times  of  war.  There  was  something  commanding  in  his  appear- 
ance. When  in  the  pulpit:,  arguing  some  favourite  point,  he  was  truly  digni- 
fied; for  he  was  at  home,  and  seemed  like  a  king  on  his  throne.  Mingling 
with  the  people,  his  bearing  was  marked  by  kindliness  on  his  part,  and  by  great 
respect  on  that  of  those  around  him.  You  felt  that  you  were  in  the  presence 
of  a  great  man.  Some  men  of  intellect,  and  some  of  mere  wealth,  regard 
themselves  as  a  head  and  shoulders  above  all  others — not  so  Jesse  Mercer :  he 
seemed  not  aware  of  any  superiority.  He  had  no  tact  nor  taste  for  popular 
favour,  though  he  was  a  useful  member  of  the  Convention  which  revised  the 
Constitution  in  '98.  lie  was  urged  to  be  a  candidate  for  Governor,  but  would 
not  listen  to  the  proposal,  regarding  the  ministerial  office  more  honourable  than 
that  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  prominent  trait  in  his  pulpit  performances  was  originality — originating 
thoughts  of  weighty  import  in  his  own  way,  that  made  an  indelible  impres- 
sion,— an  impression  that  continues  to  this  day,  after  the  lai)se  of  so  many 
years:  not  quaint  and  odd,  but  full  of  force  and  power,  and  sometimes  with 
great  eloquence.  Ue  did  not  understand  the  Logic  of  the  Schools,  but  he  went 
behind  their  rules,  and  not  unfrequently  convinced  and  overpowered  by  his 
new  views  and  ponderous  arguments.  His  manner  was  not  graceful  but  forci- 
ble. But  j'ou  forgot  his  manner  in  the  rich  intellectual  feast  served  up  for  you, 
as  does  the  hungry  man  the  oaken  table  or  trencher  that  holds  his  meal.  In 
some  of  his  rich  discourses,  you  conceived  of  a  boy  from  an  eminence  throwing 
large  bars  of  gold  all  around,  without  much  regularity  or  order;  but  they  fell 
with  power  because  of  their  intrinsic  weight. 

lie  used  to  lament  over  his  poor  qualifications  as  a  Pastor  in  his  visits :  he 
could  not  suggest  topics  for  discourse,  and  so  carry  on  conversation  as  to  ren- 
der his  calls  agreeable  and  useful. 

There  was  great  punctuality  in  meeting  his  appointments,  and  in  his  engage- 
ments in  secular  concerns.  He  refused  to  aid  in  ordaining  men  who  were  involved 
in  debt,  regarding  it  as  an  obstacle  in  the  path  of  usefulness  and  a  stumbling- 
block.  His  honesty  and  integrity  were  above  suspicion.  The  ministry  was 
not  a  mere  profession, — it  was  his  meat  and  drink  to  proclaim  the  glad 
tidings,  whether  he  was  compensated  or  not :  necessity  was  laid  upon  him  to 
preach  the  Gospel. 

Some  regarded  him  hyper-Calvinistic  in  his  system  of  doctrine,  but  he  loved 
Fuller  more  than  Calvin,  and  followed  the  Bible  more  than  either.  His  libe- 
rality in  contributing  to  all  objects  that  were  presented,  whether  connected 
with  his  own  denomination  or  not,  Avas  proved  almost  daily  for  manj'  of  his 
later  years.  He  aided  the  Presbyterians  in  Washington  in  their  school  with 
a  princely  donation.  His  house  was  the  home  of  ministers  and  pious  persons 
of  all  denominations. 

A  public  life  of  over  half  a  century, — (for  he  was  ordained  prior  to  his 
twentieth  year,)  a  life  of  great  circumspection,  and  piety,  and  usefulness,  free 
from  stain,  with  great  and  commanding  talents,  could  not  fail  to  win  the  con- 
lidence  and  respect  of  those  to  whom  he  was  known;  and  there  was  not  a 
county  in  the  State  where  he  was  not  known  and  respected.  He  had  some 
adversaries,  it  is  true,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life;  and  some  relations  by 
marriage  interested  in  his  estate;  but  these  could  not  weaken  the  confidence 
with  which  he  held  tens  of  thousands.  Some  drew  the  sage  inference  that  his 
meek  and  quiet  spifit  were  assumed  to  gain  popularity;  but  such  reports  car- 
ried their  own  refutation.  Without  fear  of  the  charge  of  partiality,  it  may  be 
safely  said  that  there  was  no  minister  in  the  State,  who  was  more  highly 

Vol.  VI.  37 


290  BAPTIST. 

respected  by  all  Christian  persuasions,  and  none  whose  death  was  more  deeply 
deplored. 

This  feeble  tribute  to  his  memory  and  exalted  character  has  been  written 
under  peculiarly  hurried  circumstances,  and  with  a  mind  wandering  on  other 
pressing  engagements.  Justice  is  not  done  him;  but  I  will  not  longer  hold 
you  in  suspense. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

ADIEL  SHERWOOD. 


ANDREW  BROADDUS.* 

1789—1848. 

The  family  of  Broaddus  in  Virginia  is  of  Welsh  origin,  and  is  de- 
scended from  Edward  Broaddus,  who  first  settled  on  Gwyn's  Island  in  James 
River,  and  removed  in  1715  to  the  lower  end  of  Caroline  County,  Va. 
John  Broaddus,  a  son  of  Edward,  was  the  father  of  Andrew,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch.  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  intellect;  was,  by  occupation, 
first  a  teacher,  and  then  a  farmer ;  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church ;  and  was  actively  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  our  National  Inde- 
pendence. He  was  married  to  a  Miss  Pryor,  said  to  have  been  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Pocahontas. 

Andrew  Broaddus,  the  youngest  son  of  his  parents,  was  born  at  tlic 
family  residence,  in  Caroline  County,  November  4,  1770.  He  was  early 
distinguished  for  his  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  for  the  facility  with  which 
he  acquired  it ;  and  his  father  fully  intended  that  he  should  be  a  minister 
in  the  Episcopal  Church.  His  opportunities  for  early  culture  wer«:^ 
extremely  limited, — the  whole  period  in  which  he  had  the  advantages  of  a 
school  of  any  kind  being  only  nine  months.  He,  however,  contrived  to 
make  up  for  this  deficiency  by  reading  and  studying  in  private  ;  and,  as 
his  father  was  an  intelligent  man,  he  probably  received  some  assistance 
from  him. 

In  the  neighbourhood  in  which  he  lived,  the  Baptists  had  become  quite 
numerous,  and  Andrew's  elder  brother,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  father, 
had  become  one  of  them.  So  much  was  the  father  opposed  to  their 
denominational  peculiarities,  that  he  forbade  his  son's  attending  their 
meetings;  though  Andrew's  predilections  in  their  favour  were  not  at  all 
diminished  by  this  prohibition.  Whether  the  father  subsequentlj'^  yielded. 
or  the  son  felt  constrained  to  disregard  parental  authority,  does  not  appear  ; 
but,  on  the  28th  of^Iay,  1789,  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  Theodoric 
Noel,  a  very  devout  and  earnest  Baptist  minister,  and  connected  himself 
with  Upper  King  and  Queen  Church,  then  the  only  Baptist  church  in  that 
vicinity.     He  was  now  between  eighteen  and  nineteen  years  of  age. 

Shortly  after  his  Baptism,  he  was  called  upon  to  exhort  at  the  neigh- 
bouring meeting ;  and  he  obeyed  the  call.  His  first  regular  sermon  was 
preached  on  the  '24th  of  December,  1789,  at  the  house  ^of  a  BIrs.  Lowrie, 
in  Caroline  County.     Though   his  advantages  for   education  had   been  so 

•  Jeter's  Memoir. — Obituary  notices. — MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  Ryland. 


ANDIIEW  BROADDUS.  291 

vcr}'  limited,  and  he  had  no  theological  instruction  whatever,  he  liad  a 
mind  of  much  more  than  ordinary  capacity,  and  an  impressive  and  grace- 
ful elocution  ;  so  that  his  earliest  attempts  at  preaching  were  received  with 
much  more  than  common  favour.  His  youthful  appearance  also  added  not 
a  little  to  the  effect  of  his  public  services.  He  was  ordained  to  the  min- 
istry at  Upper  King  and  Queen  Meeting  House,  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1791,  by  Elders  Thcodoric  Noel  and  li.  B.  Semple. 

The  field  of  Elder  Broaddus'  ministrations  was  composed  mainly  of  the 
Counties  of  Caroline,  King  and  Queen,  and  King  William, — among  the 
oldest  and  most  respectable  counties  in  the  State.  He  first  settled  in  the 
upper  end  of  Caroline  County,  and  performed  the  duties  of  the  Pastorate 
in  Burrus'  (now  Carmel)  Church,  and  in  County  Line.  Successively,  and 
for  different  periods,  he  ministered  to  the  churches  of  Bethel,  Salem, 
Upper  King  and  Queen,  Beulah.  Mangohic,  Upper  Zion,  and  some  others. 

In  1817,  he  entertained  the  design  of  migrating  to  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky ;  and,  that  he  might  form  an  intelligent  judgment  on  the  subject, 
made  a  tour  on  horseback,  in  company  witli  a  young  relative,  through  the 
central  portions  of  that  State.  Though  he  was,  in  many  respects,  well 
pleased  with  both  the  country  and  the  people,  and  was  urged  by  his  breth- 
ren  to  settle  among  them,  and  withal  was  offered  the  Presidency  of  Hop- 
Mnsville  Academy,  then  a  flourishing  institution,  he  relinquished  the  idea 
of  changing  his  residence. 

In  1821,  Mr.  Broaddus  removed  to  Richmond,  and  became  Assistant 
Pastor  with  the  Rev.  John  Courtney,*  in  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
Here  his  ministry  was  highly  acceptable  ;  but,  owing  to  domestic  afflictions 
and  pecuniary  embarrassments,  it  continued  for  only  six  months.  Except 
for  this  brief  period,  he  never  lived  beyond  the  limits  of  his  native  county, 
and  the  adjoining  County  of  King  and  Queen. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Broaddus  was  chosen  to  supply  the  place  of  the  lamented 
Dr.  Semple,  as  Moderator  of  the  Dover  Association,  then  the  largest 
Association  of  Baptist  Churches  in  the  United  States.  This  office  he 
retained, — except  in  1839,  when  he  was  absent, — until  1841,  when,  by  his 
own  request,  he  was  excused  from  further  service. 

In  1843,  the  Trustees  of  the  Columbian  College,  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  which, 
however,  he  respectfully  declined. 

Though  not  possessed  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  Mr.  Broaddus,  owing 
no  doubt  very  much  to  his  prudent  and  abstemious  habits,  lived  to  a  good 
old  age.  Early  in  the  autumn  of  1848,  it  became  apparent  that  he  was 
gradually  wasting  under   the   influence  of  a   chronic   diarrhoea.      He   con- 

•.roHX  Courtney  was  born  in  the  County  of  King  and  Queen,  Va.,  about  the  year  1744. 
His  parents  were  members  of  the  Church  of" England,  in  which,  of  course,  he  was  liunsclf  edu- 
cated. His  father  dying  when  he  was  young,  and  the  estate,  according  to  law,  descending  to 
the  eldest  son,  John  was  bound,  as  soon  as  his  age  would  allow  it,  to  the  trade  of  a  carpenter. 
From  tliis  time  nothing  is  known  of  him  until,  having  reached  mature  years,  he  makes  his 
appearance  as  a  Baptist  preacher.  After  the  close  of  the  AVar  of  the  Revolution,  during  part 
of  which  he  served  as  a  soldier,  he  removed  to  Ilichraond,  where,  besides  labouring  "  with  his 
own  hands,"'  he  served  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  city,  either  as  sole  or  senior  I'astor,  for  a 
period  of  more  than  forty  years.  His  ministry  was  characterized  by  great  fidelity,  zeal,  and 
affection.  During  the  last  four  years  of  his  life,  such  was  his  bodily  infirmity  that  he  rarely 
attempted  to  preach,  though  he  continued  to  labour  in  private,  according  to  his  ability,  and  was 
a  bright  example  of  patience,  fortitude,  and  heayenly-mindedness.  He  died  on  the  18th  of 
December,  1824. 


292  BAPTIST. 

tinued,  however,  to  preach,  even  after  he  had  become  considerably  enfee- 
bled. His  last  sermon  was  delivered  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  in  the 
First  African  Baptist  Church  in  Richmond,  and  was  regarded  as  an  uncom- 
monly happy  eifort.  In  the  early  part  of  his  last  illness,  he  was  somewhat 
inclined  to  spiritual  despondency,  but,  as  his  end  drew  nigh,  no  cloud  inter- 
vened between  him  and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  When  asked,  as  the 
death  struggle  approached,  what  was  the  state  of  his  mind,  his  answer  was 
"  Calmly  relying  on  Christ."  On  another  occasion,  after  having  been 
engaged  in  silent  meditation,  he  characteristically  remarked, — "  The  angels 
are  instructing  me  how  to  conduct  myself  in  glory."  The  last  word  he 
was  heard  to  whisper  was  "Happy!  Happy!  Happy!"  He  died  on  the 
1st  of  December,  1848,  aged  seventy-eight  years;  and  was  buried  in  the 
grave-yard  of  the  Salem  meeting-house,  where  he  had  for  many  years 
faithfully  preached  the  Grospel. 

Few  ministers  were  more  frequently  solicited  to  settle  over  other  and 
more  important  congregations  than  Mr.  Broaddus.  He  was  either  invited 
to  accept  the  pastoral  charge,  or  was  corresponded  with  on  the  subject  of 
accepting  it,  by  the  following  Churches  : — The  First  Church  in  Boston,  in 
1811  and  1812,  to  supply  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Stillman  ;  the  First  Church  in  Philadelphia,  in  1811,  to  supply  the  place 
of  Dr.  Staughton  ;  the  First  Church  in  Baltimore,  in  1819  ;  the  New 
Market  Street  Church  in  Philadelphia,  in  1819  ;  the  Sansom  Street  Church 
in  Philadelphia,  in  1824  ;  the  First  Church  in  Philadelphia,  again  in 
1825  ;  the  Norfolk  Church,  in  1826  ;  the  First  Church  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  in  1832  ;  the  First  Church  in  Richmond,  in  1833  ;  not  to  men- 
tion several  other  places  of  minor  importance. 

Mr.  Broaddus  was  married  to  Fanny,  daughter  of  Col.  John  Temple,  of 
Caroline,  about  the  year  1793.  By  this  marriage  he  had  several  children. 
Mrs.  B.  died  in  1804  or  1805.  He  was  afterwards  married  to  Lucy, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Robert  Honeyman,  a  gentleman  of  high  intelligence  and 
respectability.  By  this  marriage  he  had  no  children.  Some  time  after 
the  death  of  his  second  wife,  he  was  married  to  her  sister,  then  Mrs.  Jane 
C.  Broaddus,  the  widow  of  his  nephew.  This  marriage  was,  on  several 
accounts,  an  occasion  of  great  trouble  to  him.  By  it  he  had  several  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom,  bearing  his  own  name,  became  a  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  proved  a  great  comfort  to  his  father  in  his  latter  days.  In  1843, 
Mr,  Broaddus  was  married  to  Caroline  W.  Boulware,  of  Newtown,  King 
and  Queen  County.  She  had  only  one  child, — a  son,  who  was  but  three 
or  four  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death. 

Mr.  Broaddus  wrote^-somewhat  extensively  for  the  press,  and  many  of 
his  productions  are  in  good  repute,  both  in  and  out  of  his  denomination. 
He  early  published  an  octavo  volume,  entitled  "  History  of  the  Bible." 
At  a  later  period,  he  issued  a  Catechism  intended  for  children,  which  has 
passed  through  many  editions,  and  been  extensively  circulated  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society.  At  the  request  of  the  Dover 
Association,  he  drew  up  a  Form  of  Church  Discipline,  which  was  printed 
and  circulated  among  its  Churches  by  that  Body.  He  also  prepared  the 
Dover  Selection  of  Hymns,  which,  after  a  short  time,  was  followed  by  the 
Virginia   Selection, — a    large   volume    containing    a   greater   variety    of 


ANDREW  BROADDUS.  293 

Hymns,  and  better  adapted  to  tlic  necessities  of  the  Churches.  Beside 
these,  he  published  many  Circular  Letters,  Essays,  Addresses,  Sermons, 
Controversial  articles,  &c.,  most  of  which  were  republished  in  1852,  in 
connection  with  a  Memoir  of  his  life. 

FROM  THE  REV.  R.  RYLAND,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  Va.,  December  29,.  1854. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:    At  your  request^  I  will  give  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
character  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Broaddus. 

I  had  known  him  for  about  thirty  years  previously  to  his  death,  as  inti- 
mately as  the  disparity  of  our  ages,  and  the  remoteness  of  our  localities,  would 
allow.  During  the  lirst  year  of  this  acquaintance,  I  was  an  inmate  of  his 
family,  and  a  participant  in  his  instructions.  At  periods  not  widely  separated, 
I  enjoyed  his  society  in  the  private  circle,  and  his  ministerial  teachings,  up  to 
the  close  of  his  life.  My  opportunities  forjudging  of  his  character,  therefore, 
have  been  ample,  while  my  relatiojis  to  him  have  not  been  so  intimate  us  to 
obscure  my  judgment,  and  tempt  mc  to  give  too  high  a  colouring  to  the 
portrait. 

As  a  Man,  Mr.  Broaddus  was  not  above  the  ordinary  stature;  slightly 
inclining  in  his  person,  but  graceful  in  his  carriage,  and  self-possessed  in  his 
bearing.  His  face  was  intellectual  rather  than  commanding  in  its  expression, 
and  from  his  soft  blue  eyes  shone  out  a  benignity  that  invited  approach  and 
disarmed  prejudice.  He  was  very  neat  in  his  dress,  and  by  many  was 
regarded  as  fastidious  in  his  tastes.  Without  any  disposition  to  satire,  he 
was  a  critical  observer  of  manners,  and  though  far  from  exacting  respect, — 
indeed,  he  was  generally  annoyed  by  formal  attentions, — Avas  yet  keenly 
alive  to  the  delicate  offices  of  friendship  that  were  cheerfully  awarded  to  him. 
In  the  social  circle  he  was  generally  expected  to  take  the  lead  in  conversation; 
but  seemed  so  unambitious  of  the  honour  as  to  require  to  be  drawn  out  before 
he  could  be  made  interesting.  Whether  it  was  owing  to  the  state  of  his 
nervous  system,  or  to  his  natural  temperament,  he  was  at  times  impatient  of 
prolonged  interviews,  became  lidgety  in  bis  manners,  and  excited  a  smile  by 
his  little  peculiarities. 

But  it  is  as  an  orator  that  the  public  mind  is  likely  to  feel  the  deepest  inte- 
rest in  him.  After  hearing  a  great  number  of  speakers,  both  on  sacred  and 
secular  subjects,  I  have  formed  the  conclusion  that  Mr.  Broaddus,  during  the 
days  of  his  meridian  strength,  and  in  his  happiest  eflForts,  was  the  most  per- 
fect orator  that  I  have  ever  known.  For  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life, 
there  was  a  manifest  decline  in  his  intellectual  efforts.  The  maturity  of  his 
knowledge,  and  his  nice  discrimination  of  truth,  added  to  his  humble  piety, 
always  rendered  him  interesting.  But  the  vivacity,  the  pathos,  the  magic 
power  of  his  eloquence,  had  mcasurablj^  departed.  Hundreds  of  persons  who 
have  heard  him  discourse  within  this  period  have  been  disappointed.  He  lias 
not  sustained  the  reputation  which  he  had  previously  establi.shed.  Even 
before  that  period,  there  was  another,  and  a  still  more  fruitful  source  of  dis- 
appointment to  his  occasional  hearers.  When  strangers  listened  to  his  exhi- 
bitions of  the  Gospel,  it  was  generally  on  some  extraordinary  occasion, — some 
anniversary  that  called  together  a  large  concourse  of  people.  Expectation  was 
raised,  curiosity  was  excited,  and  that  was  precisely  the  time  for  him  to 
falter.  His  nervous  diffidence  frequently  gained  so  complete  a  mastery  over 
him  as  to  fill  him  with  a  real  horror  of  preaching.  Often,  on  such  occasions, 
have  the  united  and  urgent  entreaties  of  his  most  cherished  friends  failed  to 
get  him  on  the  stand.  And  when,  by  such  solicitations,  lie  Avas  prevailed  on 
to  preach,  often  has  his  timidity  so  far  neutralized  his  power,  that  those  who 


294  BAPTIST. 

knew  him  well  would  not  judge  hira  })y  that  effort,  and  those  who  did  not 
know  him  formed  an  erroneous  conception  of  his  mental  ability.  When, 
however,  he  did  rise  superior  to  this  constitutional  infirmity,  and  shake  off  all 
the  trammels  of  despondency  and  fear,  those  who  hung  on  his  lips  soon  felt 
themselves  under  the  influence  of  a  master  spirit.  There  was  such  aptness 
of  illustration,  such  delicacy  and  correctness  of  taste,  such  a  flow  of  generous 
sympathy,  and  withal  so  much  transparent  simplicity,  in  his  eloquence,  that 
it  at  once  riveted  the  attention,  and  moved  the  heart. 

His  discourses  were  rich  in  instruction.  His  first  aim  evidently  was  to  be 
understood  b}^  the  feeblest  capacity.  Even  a  child  could  scarcely  fail  to  com- 
prehend his  general  trains  of  thought.  If  he  was  ever  tedious,  it  was  easy 
to  perceive  that  it  proceeded  from  an  amiable  desire  to  be  understood  by  all. 
Possessed  of  a  sprightly  imagination,  he  employed  it  to  elucidate  and  enforce 
Divine  truth,  rather  than  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  vulgar  intellect. 
His  sermons  were  not  moral  essays,  nor  were  they  stately  orations,  neither 
were  they  distinguished  by  artistic  structure  and  symmetry  of  parts.  They 
were  chiefly  expository  of  the  sacred  writings.  He  always  possessed  sufficient 
unity  of  plan  to  indicate  the  purpose,  or  to  suggest  the  title,  of  a  discourse; 
but  his  genius  hated  to  be  cramped  by  scholastic  rules.  He  explained  his  text 
in  a  most  able  manner,  and  then  deduced  from  it  such  general  doctrines  as 
would  naturally  present  themselves  to  a  cultivated  mind.  Throughout  his 
discourse,  he  introduced  passages  of  Scripture  in  such  a  manner  as  to  reflect 
new  light  on  them,  while  they  were  made  to  contribute  to  his  main  design. 
He  was  a  close  student  of  the  Bible,  and  was  uncommonly  felicitous  in  com- 
menting upon  it.  He  had  a  native  talent  for  painting  and  poetry,  and  those 
who  heard  him  could  easily  detect  it.  He  made  them  see  things  so  vividly 
that  they  often  felt  as  if  they  were  not  hearing  a  description,  but  beholding 
the  very  objects,  in  living  colours,  spread  out  before  the  eye. 

Another  trait  in  his  oratory  was  that  it  was  natural.  He  had  unquestion- 
ably a  genius  for  every  work  that  demands  refined  taste  for  its  execution;  but 
he  cultivated  that  genius  by  varied  and  long  continued  study,  and  thus 
reached  the  highest  of  all  rhetorical  attainments, — the  art  of  concealing  art. 
He  seemed  to  divest  himself  of  the  formal  air  often  assumed  in  the  pulpit; 
discoursed  in  a  conversational  tone,  as  with  a  party  of  select  friends,  awak- 
ened the  attention  even  of  those  who  were  not  especially  interested  in  the 
subject,  and  made  them  feel  that  they  were  personally  concerned.  He  looked 
into  the  eyes  of  the  assembly  with  such  an  individualizing  yet  meek  penetra- 
tion, that  each  hearer  fancied  himself  as  much  addressed  as  if  he  were  the 
entire  audience.  I  have  frequently  heard,  from  half  a  dozen  persons  who  sat 
in  different  parts  of  the  house,  the  remark,  at  the  close  of  a  meeting, — "  Mr. 
Broaddus  preached  his  whole  sermon  to  me."  And  this  insulating  effect  was 
not  owing  so  much  to  the  substance  as  to  the  manner  of  his  address.  He  was 
not  a  close,  searching,  severe,  exclusive  sort  of  preacher,  as  to  his  doctrines. 
His  tendency  was  to  encourage,  to  soothe,  to  allure.  He  sought  out  the 
sincere  but  desponding  believer,  and,  by  a  lucid  exhibition  of  the  system  of 
Divine  mercy,  and  a  nice  analysis  of  the  character  of  the  true  Christian,  gave 
him  a  basis  for  consolation.  But  it  was  his  natural  manner  that  brought  him 
into  immediate  contact  with  his  hearers,  anniliilating  all  formality.  Ha  was 
stripped  of  the  veil  of  an  artificial  delivery,  and  th^y  forgot  the  publicity  of 
the  occasion  by  reason  of  the  directness  of  the  appeal.  The  nearness  of  the 
relation  that  he  sustained  to  his  auditory  explains  in  part  his  bashfulness  in 
early  ministerial  life.  In  several  of  the  early  j^ears  of  his  public  career,  he  sat 
in  his  chair  to  preach.  Having  gathered  his  neighbours  around  him,  he  occu- 
pied the  evening  in  religious  exercises.  He  read  select  portions  of  Scripture, 
and  expounded  them  in  a  familiar  style.     As  the  congregations  increased,  and 


AJ^DUEW  BROADDUS.  295 

his  confidence  became  more  firm,  he  began  his  remarks  in  that  posture,  and 
rose  to  his  feet,  when  he  felt  the  kindlings  of  his  theme.  This  carl}'-  custom 
probably  had  some  influence  on  his  talent  for  exposition.  It  certainl}^  contri- 
buted also  to  the  conlirmation  of  the  speaker  in  the  natural  manner.  It 
must  not  be  inferred  from  this  statement  that  his  style  was  coarse,  or  that  his 
gestures  were  inelegant,  or  that  his  general  appearance  was  devoid  of  serious- 
ness. The  contrary  was  emphaticallj'^  true.  His  style  was  always  chaste, — 
sometimes  rising  to  the  beautiful.  His  gesticulation  Avas  appropriate,  easy 
and  impressive,  never  violent,  over-wrought  or  pompous.  His  manner,  though 
remote  from  sanctimoniousness,  was  anything  but  flippant.  His  voice  had 
nothing  of  the  whine, — nothing  of  the  affected  solemnity  of  tone  about  it.  It 
was  musical,  flexible  and  capacious.  His  whole  carriage  in  the  pulpit  was 
mild  and  graceful,  without  his  seeming  either  to  aim  at  it,  or  to  be  conscious 
of  it.  In  a  word,  it  was  natural — it  was  such  as  good  sense,  unaflected  piety, 
and  cultivated  taste  would  spontaneously  produce. 

Another  trait  of  his  oratory  was  his  skill  in  the  pathetic.  He  knew  well 
how  to  touch  the  delicate  chords  of  passion  in  the  human  heart,  but  he  did 
not  abuse  his  skill  by  constant  exercise.  The  main  body  of  his  discourse  was 
didactic.  He  gave  the  sense  of  the  text,  developed  the  doctrine,  enforced  the 
practical  duty.  But,  occasionally,  he  unsealed  the  fountains  of  feeling  in  the 
soul.  Often  have  I  felt  the  thrill  of  his  eloquence,  and  witnessed  its  melting 
power  on  an  audience.  It  came  unexpectedly,  without  any  parade,  and  his 
hearers  resigned  themselves  up  to  his  control.  The  most  touching  parts  of 
his  sermons  were  the  episodes.  He  seemed  to  have  just  discovered  a  new 
track  of  thought,  and  for  a  moment  to  luxuriate  in  its  freshness  and  fertility. 
His  hearers  willingly  left  the  main  road  with  him,  and  sympathized  intensely 
in  all  his  emotions.  They  knew  that  he  had  a  right  to  their  hearts,  and  that 
he  would  not  abuse  his  privilege.  His  sermons  were  not  one  uniformly  sus- 
tained appeal  to  the  passions.  He  attacked  them  obliquely.  Having  first 
convinced  the  judgment,  he  found  a  ready  avenue  to  the  affections,  and  thus 
influenced  the  will.  Hence  it  often  happened  that  a  single  sentence  produced 
a  subduing  effect.  All  that  was  said  before  was  but  a  preparation  for  that 
one  sentence.  A  moderate  charge  of  gunpowder  will  more  eflectually  cleave 
a  rock,  if,  by  deep  boring,  you  introduce  the  explosive  agent  far  into  its 
bosom,  than  ten  times  the  quantity  kindled  on  its  surface.  Mr.  Broaddus 
knew  exactly  when  to  touch  the  passions;  and,  unless  he  perceived  that  the 
mind  was  prepared,  he  was  careful  not  to  attempt  the  delicate  task.  "When 
he  did  attempt  it,  he  rarely  failed. 

An  important  question  may  here  be  propounded — Was  his  ministry  suc- 
cessful in  winning  souls  to  Christ  ?  I  am  happy  to  answer  in  the  affirmative. 
He  laboured  in  the  cause  for  more  than  half  a  century,  probably  for  sixty 
years.  His  congregations  were  always  large,  his  churches  prosperous,  and 
though  his  ministry  was  better  adapted  to  edify  than  to  awaken,  many  persons 
were  converted  through  his  instrumentality.  Still  I  am  free  to  acknowledge 
that  his  success  was  not  commensurate  with  his  talents.  Men  of  less  piety, 
of  less  learning,  and  of  less  original  acuteness,  have  often  been  more  eflective. 
And  why  ?  Because  they  possessed  more  courage  and  energy.  The  great 
interests  of  the  church  and  of  the  world  require  decision  and  perseverance. 
To  be  eminently  successful  in  any  noble  enterprise,  we  must  throw  ourselves 
into  it — body,  soul  and  spirit; — must  derive  new  motives  to  activity  from  the 
very  difliculties  that  oppose  us;  and,  confident  of  the  strength  of  our  faculties 
when  guided  by  truth  and  animated  with  love,  we  must  anticipate  and  labour 
for  large  results.  "Attempt  great  things,  expect  great  things."  This  vene- 
rable brother  yielded  too  much  to  timidity.  He  needed  some  one  to  push  him 
onward.     He  was  frequently  absent  from  the  great  Baptist  Anniversaries, 


296  BAPTIST. 

where  his  counsels  would  have  been  valuable,  and  his  labours  highly  appre- 
ciated. This  was  not  occasioned  by  an  unsocial  temper,  nor  by  indolence,  nor 
by  any  hostility  or  even  indifference  to  the  objects  that  claimed  attention,  but 
by  a  morbid  sensibility  that  shrunk  from  exposure.  Could  he  have  gone  to 
these  meetings,  and  seen  and  heard  every  thing,  while  he  himself  remained 
silent  and  invisible,  I  think  he  would  have  attended  them.  But  his  deservedly 
high  standing  always  put  him  in  requisition,  and  he  was  driven  tothe  alterna- 
tive of  either  taking  a  prominent  part,  or  resisting  the  importunities  of 
beloved  friends.  To  avoid  this,  I  doubt  not,  he  often  sought  and  found  some 
reason  for  remaining  at  home.  The  same  disposition  discovered  itself  in  his 
regular  pastoral  engagements.  He  seemed  to  court  obscurity,  to  cherish  no 
desire  to  be  a  leader.  So  depressed  in  spirit  at  times  as  to  fancy  that  any 
sort  of  a  preacher  would  be  more  acceptable  and  useful  than  himself,  he  would 
put  him  up  as  a  substitute  in  his  own  pulpit.  This  extreme  reluctance  to 
perform  the  offices  of  his  profession  was  caused,  partly  by  nervous  debility, 
and  partly  by  the  peculiar  texture  of  his  mind.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  intimate 
any  censure  against  so  excellent  a  man.  Fidelity  to  truth  only  requires  me  to 
say  that  he  would  have  been  more  effective^  had  he  possessed  either  less 
exquisiteness  of  mind,  or  more  strength  of  body.  The  union  of  fine  sensi- 
bility and  of  a  disordered  nervous  system  rendered  him  too  liable  to  be  dis- 
concerted, and  poorly  adapted  him  to  elbow  his  way  through  the  rough  world. 
As  a  disciplinarian,  he  was  deficient, — not  from  any  imperfection  in  his  own 
standard  of  rectitude,  nor  from  any  delinquency  in  his  own  conduct,  but  from 
the  want  of  authority.  He  had  not  the  heart  to  inflict  a  wound  on  the  feel- 
ings of  a  child,  or  even  to  retort  when  his  own  feelings  were  unjustly  wounded. 
His  intellectual  apparatus  was  thrown  out  of  order  by  incidents  that  ordinary 
men  would  have  scarcely  noticed.  And  when  to  this  temperament  was  added 
a  prolonged  series  of  domestic  afflictions  that  cannot  here  be  mentioned, — 
afflictions  that  would  have  appalled  the  stoutest  heart,  that  quickened  into 
acute  and  protracted  agony  his  sensitive  nature,  the  wonder  is  that  he  was 
not  overwhelmed.  Nothing  but  high  moral  principle, — a  stern  conviction  of 
duty,  and  a  noble  desire  to  please  God  and  profit  men,  could  have  so  long  and 
so  honourably  sustained  him  in  his  jjastoral  labours. 

As  an  Author,  Mr.  Broaddus  deserves  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
Christian  public.  The  works  by  which  he  is  perhaps  best  known  are  his 
Bible  History  and  two  Hymn  Books,  the  one  called  the  Dover  Selection,  the 
other  the  Virginia  Selection.  He  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  religious 
literature  of  the  da}^,  by  writing  for  the  Herald  and  other  periodicals,  articles 
that  were  always  read  with  eagerness.  His  principal  controversial  essays 
were  called  out  by  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Alexander  Campbell.  Over  the  signa- 
ture of  Paulinus,  he  wrote  several  able  Letters  on  the  subject  of  Divine  Influ- 
ence. He  afterwards  published  an  examination  of  Mr.  Campbell's  Theory  of 
Baptismal  Regeneration.  As  a  writer,  his  style  is  easy  and  accurate — as  a 
controvertist,  he  is  mild,  argumentative  and  ingenious.  He  seems  to  be  free 
from  ambition, — to  write  for  the  sake  of  truth  rather  than  of  victory,  and  to 
be  anxious  not  to  magnify  the  difference  between  the  sides  of  the  controversy. 
If  he  does  not  convince  his  opponent,  he  is  so  courteous  as  to  conciliate  his 
personal  esteem,  and  to  soften  the  asperity  of  the  contest. 

Mr.  Broaddus  was  a  close  observer  and  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  beautiful 
in  nature  and  in  art.  Deriving  much  of  his  happiness  from  such  studies,  he 
has  left,  in  the  specimens  of  painting  and  poetry  with  which  he  amused  him- 
self in  his  leisure  hours,  ample  indications  of  what  his  genius  could  have 
effected,  had  it  been  devoted  to  these  pursuits. 

Affectionately  yours, 

ROBERT  RTLAND. 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  297 


JONATHAN  MAXCY,  D.  D  * 

1790—1820. 

Jonathan  Maxcy  was  born  in  Attleborough,  Mass.,  September  2, 
1768.  His  great-grandfather,  the  earliest  of  his  ancestors  of  whom  any 
thing  is  now  known,  was  Alexander  Maxcy,  who  removed  from  Gloucester 
to  Attleborough  about  1721.  His  grandfather,  Josiah  Maxcy,  was  held  in 
great  esteem  by  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  was,  for  a  long  time, 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  the  Colony.  His  father.  Levi  Maxcy,  was 
also  a  person  of  great  worth  and  respectability  ;  and  his  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  lluth  Newell,  is  represented  as  having  been  distinguished 
alike  for  a  vigorous  intellect,  and  an  earnest,  consistent  piety. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  evinced,  in  his  early  boyhood,  an  uncommon 
intellectual  precocity,  and  especially  a  remarkable  talent  at  public  speak- 
ing ;  in  consequence  of  which,  his  parents  resolved  to  give  him  the  advan- 
tages of  a  collegiate  course.  Having  gone  through  with  his  preparatory 
studies  in  an  Academy  under  the  direction  of  the  llev.  William  Williams, 
of  Wrentham,  he  entered  Brown  University  in  1783,  at  the  ago  of  iifteen. 
His  course  as  an  undergraduate  was  marked  by  most  exemplary  deportment, 
great  diligence,  and  singular  versatility ;  but  for  nothing,  perhaps,  was  he 
so  much  distinguished  as  fine  writing.  He  had  the  highest  honour  in  his 
class,  at  his  graduation,  in  1787,  and  delivered  on  that  occasion  a  Poem, 
entitled  "  the  Prospects  of  America,"  and  the  Valedictory  Oration. 

Notwithstanding  his  extreme  youth,  the  Corporation  of  the  College 
immediately  appointed  him  a  Tutor  ;  and  in  this  office  he  continued  for  four 
years,  discharging  its  duties  with  great  ability,  and  to  universal  acceptance. 

About  this  time,  his  mind  seems  to  have  taken  a  decidedly  religious 
direction,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  then  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manning.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by 
that  church,  April  1,  1790  ;  and  Dr.  Manning  having  vacated  the  pulpit 
by  the  resignation  of  his  charge,  Mr.  Maxcy  was  invited,  in  the  mean 
time,  to  occupy  it  as  a  supply.  Having  preached  for  several  months  to 
great  acceptance,  during  which  time  he  had  gained  a  high  reputation  for 
pulpit  oratory,  the  congregation  invited  him  to  become  their  Pastor  ;  and, 
having  accepted  their  call,  he  was  set  apart  to  the  pastoral  office,  on  the 
8th  of  September,  1791.  The  Sermon  on  the  occasion  Avas  preached  by 
the  Bev.  Dr.  Stillman  of  Boston ;  and  several  other  distinguished  clergy- 
men from  a  distance  took  part  in  the  exercises.  On  the  same  day,  he  was 
elected  both  a  Trustee  and  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  College. 

In  the  new  relations  into  which  he  was  now  brought,  especially  as  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  he  quickly  proved  himself  "  a  burning  and  shining  light ;" 
and  his  fame  as  a  preacher  reached  far  and  wide.  It  was  but  a  short  time, 
however,  that  he  continued  in  this  sphere  of  labour ;  for  the  sudden  death 
of  Dr.  Manning,  which  occurred  July  24,  1791,  vacated  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  College,  and  Mr.  Maxcy  was  shortly  after  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor. He  accepted  the  appointment,  and  on  the  8th  of  September,  1792, 
•Benedict's  Hist.  Bapt.  I.— Mem.  by  Prof.  Elton. 

Vol.  VI.  38 


298  BAPTIST. 

resigned  liis  pastoral  charge,  and  ^vas  inducted  into  the  Presidential  chair. 
The  appointment  was  an  exceedingly  popular  one  ;  and,  at  the  Commence- 
ment succeeding  his  inauguration,  tliere  was  an  illumination  of  the  College, 
and  a  transparency  placed  in  the  Attic  story,  exhibiting  "  Jonathan 
Maxcy,  President,  twenty-four  years  old." 

In  this  higlily  responsible  office  he  fulfilled  the  highest  expectations  of 
the  most  sanguine  of  his  friends.  The  College,  though  without  the  advan- 
tage of  legislative  patronage,  grew  rapidly  in  public  favour,  and  the  name 
of  the  President,  as  had  been  that  of  his  distinguished  predecessor,  was 
identified  with  its  constantly  advancing  reputation.  He  was  often  called  to 
officiate  on  important  public  occasions  ;  and  his  efforts  were  always  such  as 
to  do  honour  to  himself  and  the  institution  over  which  he  presided.  Such 
was  the  appreciation  of  his  talents  and  acquirements,  that  in  1801,  when 
he  was  only  thirty-three  years  old,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Harvard  College. 

In  1802,  he  was  elected  successor  of  the  second  Jonathan  Edwards,  in 
the  Presidency  of  Union  College.  He  accepted  the  appointment,  and  held 
the  office  with  great  reputation  for  two  years  ;  though  it  may  reasonably  be 
doubted  whether,  during  this  period,  he  attained  the  same  degree  of  public 
favour  which  had  marked  his  previous  course  as  President  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity. 

In  1804,  the  South  Carolina  College,  at  Columbia,  having  been  estab- 
lished. Dr.  Maxcy  was  chosen  its  first  President ;  and,  in  the  hope  that 
a  Southern  climate  might  prove  more  congenial  to  his  delicate  constitu- 
tion, he  accepted  the  appointment.  Over  this  institution  he  continued  to 
preside,  with  almost  unprecedented  popularity,  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  June  4,  1820,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  His  brilliant  and  attractive 
powers  made  him  extensively  known,  not  only  in  tlie  State,  but  through 
the  whole  Southern  country;  and  there  are  many  still  living  in  that  region, 
who  can  never  speak  of  his  powers  of  eloquence  but  with  a  kindling  enthu- 
siasm. 

Dr.  Maxcy  was  married  to  Susan,  daughter  of  Commodore  Esek  Hop- 
kins of  Providence, — whose  name  is  intimately  associated  with  the  history 
of  the  llevolution.  The  union  was  a  most  felicitous  one.  Besides  several 
daughters,  they  had  four  sons, — all  liberally  educated.  One  of  them  was 
the  Hon.  Virgil  Maxcy,  who,  during  his  life,  occupied  several  important 
places  of  public  trust,  and  was  killed  by  the  explosion  of  a  gun,  on  board 
the  United  States'  Steam  Ship  Princeton,  February  28,  1844. 

The  following  is  a  list^of  Dr.  Maxcy's  publications: — A  Funeral  Sermon 
occasioned  l)y  the  Death  of  the  Rev.  James  Manning,  D.  D.,  President  of 
Rhode  Island  College.  Delivered  in  the  Baptist  Meeting- House  in  Provi- 
dence, 1791.  An  Address  delivered  to  the  Graduates  of  Rhode  Island 
College  at  Commencement,  1794.  An  Oration  delivered  before  the  Provi- 
dence As:sociation  of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  1795.  An  Oration 
delivered  in  the  Baptist  Meeting-Housc  in  Providence,  at  the  Celebration 
of  the  Nineteenth  Anniversary  of  American  Independence,  1795.  The 
Existence  of  God  demonstrated  from  the  Works  of  Creation  :  A  Sermon 
preached  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock's  Meeting- House  in  Providence,  1795. 
A  Sermon  preached  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Meeting-House  belonging   to 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  209 

tbc  Catholic  Baptist  Society  in  CumbcrlauLl.  A  Discourse  designed  to 
explain  the  Doctrine  of  Atonement.  In  two  parts.  Delivered  in  the 
Chapel  of  Ehodo  Ij^land  College,  1T9G.  A  Sermon  preached  in  Boston,  at 
the  Annual  Convention  of  the  Warren  Association,  in  the  lluv.  Dr.  Still- 
man's  ]Nlcetin<^-riousc,  1797.  An  Address  delivered  to  the  (Jraduates  of 
llhode  Island  College,  at  the  Anniversary  Commencement,  in  the  Baptist 
Meeting-House  in  Providence,  1798.  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Baptist 
Meeting-IIouse  at  Providence,  on  Lord's  day  afternoon,  occasionoj  by  the 
death  of  AVelcome  Arnold,  Esq.,  1798.  An  Oration  delivered  in  the  First 
Congregational    Meeting-Housc   in   Providence,   on   the    Fourth  of   July, 

1799.  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Chapel  of  Rhode  Island  College,  to  the 
Senior  Class,  on  the   Sunday  preceding   the  Anniversary  Commencement, 

1800.  Reason  of  the  Christian's  Triumph  :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the 
Baptist  Meeting-House  in  Providence,  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  Mrs. 
Mary  Gano,  Consort  of  the  Rev.  Stephen  Gano,  1800.  An  Address  deliv- 
ered to  the  Candidates  for  the  Baccalaureate  of  Rhode  Island  College,  at 
the  Anniversary  Commencement,  1801.  An  Address  delivered  to  the 
Graduates  of  Rhode  Island  College,  at  the  Public  Commencement,  1802. 
A  Sermon  preached  in  the  Baptist  Meeting-IIouse  in  Providence,  before 
the  Female  Charitable  Society,  1802.  A  Sermon  preached  at  the  High 
Hills  of  Santee,  before  the  Charleston  Baptist  Association,  at  their  Annual 
Meeting,  1812.  An  Anniversary  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Presbyterian 
Meeting-House  in  Columbia,  on  the  day  previous  to  the  Commencement  of 
the  South  Carolina  College,  181G.  An  Address  delivered  to  the  candidates 
for  the  Baccalaureate  in  the  South  Carolina  College,  1816.  An  Introduc- 
tory Lecture  to  a  Course  on  the  Philosophical  Principles  of  Rhetoric  and 
Criticism  ;  designed  for  the  Senior  Class  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  and 
delivered  in  the  Public  Chapel,  1817.  A  Funeral  Sermon  delivered  in  the 
Representatives'  Chamber,  before  both  Branches  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina,  1819.  A  Discourse  delivered  in  the  Chapel  of 
South  Carolina  College,  at  the  request  of  the  inhabitants  of  Columbia,  on 
the  Fourth  of  Jul}',  1819.  A  Funeral  Sermon,  occasioned  by  the  Death  of 
Mr.  John  Sampson  Bambo,  a  Member  of  the  Junior  Class  in  the  South 
Carolina  College,  who  was  unfortunately  drowned  in  the  Congarce  River, 
near  Columbia.     Delivered  in  the  College  Chapel,  1819. 

These  several  publications  were  gathered,  in  1844,  in  a  volume  entitled 
"  The  Literary  Remains  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Maxcy,  D.  D.  With  a 
Memoir  of  his  Life,  by  Romeo  Elton,  D.  D." 

FROM  THE  HON.  TRISTAM  BURGES, 

CHIEF    JUSTICE    OF    THE    SUPREME    COURT    OF    RHODE    ISLAND. 

"Watchemoket  Farm,  (near  Providence,)  ) 
June  8,  1818.       J 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to  produce  a  portrait  of  Jona- 
than Maxcy  which  shall  do  justice  to  the  great  original.  I  saw  him  as  an 
Instructer,  presiding  over  a  .scientific  and  literary  institution,  and  as  a  Minis- 
ter, proclaiming  the  glorious  truths  of  the  Gospel;  but  I  was  then  a  pupil, 
who,  but  a  little  before,  had  exchanged  the  use  of  the  plough  and  the  sickle 
for  books,  and  knew  little  of  what  the  high  offices  which  Dr.  Maxcy  held 
required  of  him.     If  I  could  remember  so  as  to  tell  how  his  administration 


300  BAPTIST. 

of  these  offices  affected  me,  I  should  draw  a  picture  that  would  be  character- 
ized by  surpassing  beauty  and  power;  but  it  is  so  long  since  I  sat  under  his 
instruction,  that  the  bright  vision  which  then  astonished  and  delighted  me, 
has  in  a  great  degree  faded  from  my  recollection.  Nevertheless,  I  well  remem- 
ber that  no  man  could  have  been  more  popular  in  the  College  than  President 
Maxcy.  I  never  heard  so  much  as  a  whisper  against  him.  He  was  universally 
loved  as  a  parent,  and  admired  and  revered  as  a  great  and  good  man.  Though 
he  was  less  than  the  medium  stature,  there  was  in  his  countenance  and  man- 
ners a  dignity  that  seemed  to  raise  him  above  the  ordinary  level;  and  withal 
he  had  so  much  benignity  and  affability  as  well  as  intelligence,  as  to  captivate 
every  person  with  whom  he  conversed.  Though  I  cannot  now  convey  to  you 
an  adequate  idea  of  all  his  exalted  traits  of  character,  I  can  at  least  show 
you  what,  in  the  j^ear  1796,  were  the  sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  whole  Col- 
lege respecting  him  as  President  of  that  institution. 

I  graduated  at  Providence  College  at  the  Commencement  in  September  of 
that  year;  and  it  so  happened  that  the  Valedictory  Oration  and  Addresses, 
in  the  public  exercises,  were,  by  the  authority  of  College,  assigned  to  me.  I 
shall  say  no  more  of  this  performance  than  that  it  was  so  much  in  accordance 
with  the,  views  and  feelings  of  the  whole  College,  that  I  was  unanimously 
called  upon  to  furnish  a  copy  for  the  press.  The  little  pamphlet,  containing 
the  Oration  and  Addresses,  now  lies  before  me;  and  though  that  day,  so  dear 
to  my  memory,  was  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  almost  all  those  who  bore 
a  part  in  its  exercises,  have  passed  out  of  time,  and  he  whom  I  then  addressed 
in  the  flesh  now  sleeps  far  off  in  the  warm  bosom  of  the  South  Carolina  Hills, 
yet  this  little  faithful  page  has  kept,  and  now  brings  back  to  my  eye,  and 
recalls  to  my  memory,  what  v/e  all  then  thought  and  felt  concerning  our  vene- 
rated and  beloved  President.  It  may  be  deemed  egotism  in  me  to  attempt  to 
weave  my  little  Address  into  any  biography  of  President  Maxcy;  but,  in  doing 
this,  all  may  be  assured  that  I  shall  indulge  no  mean  ambition,  or  any  other 
desire  than  merely  to  do  justice  to  the  merits  and  the  memory  of  a  scholar 
and  teacher,  so  deserving  and  distinguished. 

ADDRESS    TO    THE    PRESIDENT. 

"Reverend  Sir : 

"  We  know  that  you  are  persuaded  that  custom  alone  docs  not  give  birth  to 
this  Address.  We  claim  the  privilege  of  telling  the  world  how  we  feel  obliged. 
Gratitude  can  not  be  refused  this  small  indulgence.  On  this  occasion,  should 
we  attempt  to  narrate  the  merits  of  our  benefactor,  modesty  might  raise  a 
suspicion  of  adulation,  envy  would  deduce  our  paneg3a-ic  from  the  partiality 
of  our  hearts;,  while  the  world  would  inform  us  that  the  science,  knowledge, 
and  philanthropy  of  the  man  who  has  obliged  us,  are  now  become  themes  of 
common  conversation.  We  can,  therefore,  express  our  gratitude  only;  and 
ardently  wish  that  others,  in  pursuit  of  science,  may  have  the  same  director 
who  has  guided  our  steps^ 

"  Yes;  if  ever  our  souls,  in  the  silent  moments  of  devotion,  have  dared  to 
heave  a  wishing  sigh  to  Heaven  for  a  single  favour  on  ourselves, — often,  when 
we  behold  his  face  no  more,  often  shall  that  wish  be  repeated  for  the  health 
and  felicity  of  him  whom  generations  yet  unborn  shall  learn  to  call  their 
benefactor.  The  world  shall  join  in  our  devotion;  a  prayer  so  benevolent 
must  ascend  grateful  to  the  ear  of  Heaven;  and  the  immortal  spirit  of  the 
great  Manning,  the  immaculate  companion  of  the  LAMB,  shall,  with  a  smile 
of  gratulation,  behold  you  still  the  father  of  his  orphan  seminary." 

This  address  was  pronounced  on  the  stage,  before  a  crowded  audience,  in 
the  very  large  Baptist  meeting-house  in  Providence,  so  that  every  word  must 
have  reached  every  ear  in  that  vast  multitude;  and  I  fully  believe  that  every 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  3Q2 

heart  in  the  whole  assembly  beat  in  unison  with  that  of  the  speaker;  and 
would  have  confirmed  the  truth  and  tlie  justice  of  the  whole  Address  by  one 
loud  and  united  Amen. 

It  remains  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  Dr.  Maxcy  as  a  Minister  of  Christ. 
For  although  his  duties  in  the  College  called  for  most  of  his  time,  yet,  Avith- 
out  neglecting  them,  he  found  more  or  less  leisure  to  devote  to  the  composition 
of  discourses  for  the  pulpit. 

President  Maxcy  was  born  an  Orator;  and  though,  when  I  knew  him,  his 
native  genius  had  been  impi'oved  by  assiduous  culture,  yet,  had  he  never  sat 
at  the  feet  of  Manning,  but  continued  in  his  paternal  fields  to  follow  the 
plough  and  feed  his  cattle,  he  would  have  been  as  truly  one  of  Nature's  Ora- 
tors, as  Burns,  in  the  same  condition,  was  one  of  Nature's  Poets.  His  voice 
would  have  been  heard  in  .school-meetings,  in  church-meetings,  and  town- 
meetings;  and  those  little  republics  would  have  been  moved  by  his  eloquence 
and  directed  by  his  counsels. 

When  this  great  man  appeared  as  the  Fourth  of  July  Orator  at  Providence, 
as  he  did  on  one  occasion,  he  attracted  a  degree  of  attention  almost  unprece- 
dented, llis  theme  was  the  Principles  and  the  Events  of  the  American  Eevo- 
lution;  and  his  audience  consisted  chiefly  of  those  who  had  passed  through 
that  long  and  terrible  conflict  which  gave  to  our  nation  its  independence.  Not 
to  mention  any  other  part  of  his  Oration,  all  of  which  was  admirable,  1  will 
recall  one  out  of  many  brilliant  coruscations,  containing  the  divine  fire,  the 
heaven-born  electricity,  of  pure  eloquence.  When,  Avith  a  glow  of  patriot- 
ism, the  orator  exclaimed, — "  Should  our  enemy  again  return  to  our  shores, 
he  will  find  every  plain  a  Marathon,  every  defile  a  Thermopyla3," — it  was 
then  that  I  felt,  as  I  doubt  not  all  felt,  the  cold  shudder,  the  electric  shock, 
which  alwaj-s  reaches  one,  when  the  orator  strikes  out  the  true,  the  divine 
flash  of  eloquence. 

Enough,  however,  and  perhaps  too  much  of  this;  for  it  was  of  his  sacred 
eloquence  that  I  intended  to  say  a  few  words.  He  wrote  his  sermons,  and 
laid  his  notes  before  him  on  the  desk;  but,  in  the  delivery,  he  seemed  never 
to  use  them.  He  appeared  perfectly  at  home  in  the  pulpit,  as  if  born  only  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  He  was  not  like  the  great  Baptist  of  Gallilee, — "  the 
voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,"  yet,  like  that  Divine  precursor  of  the 
Redeemer,  he  preached  to  men  to  <<  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord;"  he 
preached  repentance  and  works  meet  for  repentance;  he  preached  love  to  God 
and  love  to  man, — the  great  moral  law  of  the  universe, — the  golden,  everlast- 
ing chain,  which  binds  each  individual  to  every  other,  and  all  to  the  Throne 
of  the  Eternal. 

He  did  not  cry  aloud.  His  voice  was  neither  loud  nor  high,  j-et  his  utter- 
ance was  so  perfectly  distinct  that  every  word  reached  every  ear  with  its 
melody,  and  he  melted  every  heart  with  his  fervid  and  overpowering  pathos. 
His  preaching  was  not  like  the  fire,  nor  like  the  earthquake,  nor  like  the 
mighty  wind  exhibited  to  the  vision  of  Elijah  on  the  summit  of  the  Mount, 
but  it  was  indeed  the  still  small  voice,  heard  from  the  Lord  by  the  Prophet, 
while  sitting  at  its  base.  He  seemed  to  be,  as  he  truly  was,  a  messenger  sent 
by  his  Divine  Master  with  glad  tidings  of  great  joy. 

Every  one  who  hears  of  a  distinguished  man,  wishes  to  knov/  something 
of  his  personal  appearance.  I  have  never  seen  a  portrait  of  Dr.  ^Maxcy;  and 
it  is  many  years  since  I  looked  upon  him;  and  yet  so  deeply  are  his  features 
and  expression  engraven  on  my  memory,  that  I  am  confident  I  could  distin- 
guish his  face  among  thousands.  His  countenance  was  grave  and  dignified, 
but  so  tempered  with  benignity  that  those  who  only  casually  saw  him  were 
constrained  to  regard  him  as  a  model  of  benevolence  and  goodness.  I  believe 
he  seldom,  if  ever,  laughed;  but  he  often  smiled;  and  his  smile  was  delight- 


302  BAPTIST. 

fill.  All  who  saw  him  wished  to  hear  him;  and  those  who  heard  him  once, 
"were  sure  to  wish  to  hear  him  again.  It  was  impossible  to  behold  his  face 
without  feeling  assured  that  a  highl}^  gifted  and  finely  regulated  soul  looked 
out  upon  the  beholders  from  those  interesting  features. 

I  have  thought,  and  now  fully  believe,  that  if  Dr.  Maxcy  had  lived  in  the  age 
and  country  of  the  great  Italian  school  of  artists,  when  and  where  the  exigen- 
ces of  the  art  required  some  one  to  sit  as  a  model  before  the  painter,  they  would 
have  selected  him  as  the  model  for  their  consecrated  portraits  of  Ilim,  Avho, 
when  on  earth,  <'  spake  as  never  man  spake;"  and  some  Raphael  or  Michael 
Angelo  would  have  placed  on  the  canvass  the  living  lineaments  of  a  minister  of 
Christ,  whose  countenance,  it  always  seemed  to  me,  was  no  unapt  represen- 
tation of  that  of  his  Divine  Master. 

I  might  have  said,  at  the  beginning  of  this  letter,  that  I  had  never  seen  a 
biography  of  Dr.  Maxcy;  but,  since  the  above  sketch  was  written,  there  has 
been  placed  in  my  hands  by  a  friend  a  copy  of  "  The  Literary  Remains  " 
of  that  eminent  man,  by  Doctor  Elton.  It  is  a  highly  meritorious  work, 
honourable  to  the  gifted  author,  and  a  rich  contribution  to  American  litera- 
ture. Nevertheless,  I  rejoice  that  I  had  finished  my  own  sketch  before  I  saw 
this  book;  because  I  now  know  that  all  I  have  written  concerning  this  extra- 
ordinary man  is  drawn  from  my  own  remembered  perceptions  of  his  excellence, 
and,  like  tlie  faithful  testimony  of  an  eye-M-itness  to  some  great  collection  of 
splendid  events,  carries  with  it  more  evidence  of  correctness  than  can  be  found 
in  any  of  the  most  careful  and  exact  accounts,  drawn  from  mere  tradition. 
Professor  Elton  has  done  well,  eminently  well;  but  how  much  higher  must 
have  been  the  inspiration  he  would  have  felt,  had  he  seen,  as  others  saw,  and 
heard  as  others  heard,  Jonathan  Maxcy. 

I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  with  the  highest  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

TRISTAM  SURGES. 

FROM  THE  REV.  GARDINER  B.  PERRY,  D.  D. 

East  Bradford,  Mass.,  July  18,  1848. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  am  happy  to  comply  with  your  request,  for  some  recollec- 
tions of  the  late  President  Maxcy.  Several  considerations,  beside  a  great 
willingness  to  meet  your  wishes,  conspire  to  render  this  a  pleasant  service  to 
me.  1  know  not  how  far  what  I  may  write  will  suit  the  object  you  have  in 
view,  but  I  will  endeavour  to  record  those  circumstances  which  seem  to  me 
best  adapted  to  illustrate  the  character  of  that  great  and  venerable  man. 

The  place  of  Dr.  Maxcy 's  birth  was  but  a  few  miles  from  the  residence  of 
my  father.  Our  families  were  somewhat  acquainted.  From  early  life  I  had 
Bome  knowledge  of  his  history,  and  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
literary  and  religious  world.  My  own  personal  acquaintance  with  him  com- 
menced when  1  became  a^member  of  Brown  University,  in  1800;  and  it  became 
more  intimate,  perhaps  I  should  say  familiar,  when  he  removed  to  Union 
College.  At  that  time,  my  father  yielded  to  his  wishes  to  have  me  accompany 
him,  and  T  was  put  under  his  special  care,  and  became  virtually  a  member  of 
his  family.  In  person,  he  was  below  the  middle  size,  and  rather  thin  in  flesh. 
But  his  face  was  lighted  up  with  a  fine  intellectual  expression,  which  chiefly 
occupied  the  eye  and  engrossed  the  attention  of  those  about  him.  The  mind 
emphatically  made  the  man.  The  principle  involved  in  that  expression,  so 
far  as  it  concerned  the  outward  person,  was,  with  the  exception  of  the  late 
Aaron  Burr,  more  fully  illustrated  in  him  than  in  any  other  individual  whom 
I  ever  met.  lie  was  well  proportioned  in  his  form,  dignified  in  his  appearance, 
and   impressive   in  his  manners.     A  remarkable  harmony  prevailed  between 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  303 

the  movements  of  his  person  and  the  workings  of  his  miiiu  ami  h<  art.  Every 
motion  without  seemed  but  an  expression  of  what  was  working  within.  lie 
wore  a  three-cornered  cocked  hat,  and  on  all  public  occasions  appeared  in  a 
silk  cassock  and  bands.  His  complexion  was  light  and  somewhat  sallow; 
though  a  slight  freshness  never  failed  to  dilfuse  itself  over  his  cheek,  when  he 
was  moved  by  any  of  the  gentler  feelings.  His  forehead  was  liigh  and  open; 
his  eye  a  mellow  pleasant  blue;  and  the  whole  contour  of  his  head  and  face, 
though  not  altogether  tilling  up  the  idea  of  physical  beauty,  certainly  allbrdcd 
a  striking  image  of  mental  power  and  high  moral  feeling. 

Dr.  !Ma.\cy  was  rather  uncommonly  domestic  in  his  feelings;  and  no  man 
took  a  livelier  interest  than  he  in  whatever  concerned  the  welfare  of  his 
family.  His  children,  at  the  time  I  was  most  with  him,  were  young, — the 
oldest  probably  not  exceeding  ten  or  twelve  years.  These  he  encouraged  to 
visit  him  morning  and  evening  in  his  study,  where  he  cultivated  the  most 
delightful  fiimiliarity  with  them,  and  expressed  the  deepest  interest  in  every 
indication  of  intellectual  or  moral  improvement.  I  noticed  that,  in  con- 
versing with  them,  he  ordinarily  used  the  same  forms  of  expression  as  when 
speaking  with  persons  of  mature  age;  and  his  reason  for  doing  so  was  that 
he  supposed  that,  by  this  means,  they  would  sooner  become  acquainted  with 
the  language  of  books,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  advance  more  rapidly  in 
their  studies. 

Dr.  Maxcy  was  exclusivclj-  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  to  his 
studies.  He  was  never,  so  far  as  I  know,  involved  in  any  secular  business 
beyond  the  common  concerns  of  his  family.  He  was  remarkable  for  diligent 
and  persevering  labour.  His  habit,  in  respect  to  any  science  with  which  bo 
wished  to  become  acquainted,  was  to  select  the  best  system  within  his  reach, 
and  study  it  thoroughly  till  it  had  become  firmly  fixed  in  his  mind,  and  then, 
as  he  wished  to  extend  his  investigations,  to  read  other  authors  on  those  par- 
ticular parts  which  seemed  to  him  worthy  of  further  attention.  Few  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  could  be  named  into  which  he  did  not  extend  his 
inquiries,  and  with  which  he  had  not  becoirie  so  familiar  as  to  enable  him  to 
hold  an  instructive  conversation.  Two  distinguished  lawyers,  of  one  of  the 
Middle  States,  after  having  incidentally  held  a  protracted  discussion  with  him 
on  the  law  of  entail,  (he  being  entirely  unknown  to  them,)  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  was  probably  a  Judge  in  one  of  the  higher  Courts  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Dr.  Maxcy  supposed  that,  with  a  proper  training  of  the  mind, 
most  books  might  be  gone  through  in  a  much  shorter  time  than  is  usually 
devoted  to  them,  and  so  a  much  greater  amount  of  knowledge  be  obtained  in  a 
given  period.  His  sermons  were  composed  with  the  utmost  rapidity,  and  yet 
when  composed,  they  seemed  to  be  graven  on  the  tablet  of  his  memory,  as 
with  a  pen  of  iron  and  the  point  of  a  diamond.  If  he  had  occasion,  as  he 
sometimes  had,  to  write  out  a  discourse  after  he  had  delivered  it,  there  would 
be  found  not  only  the  same  arrangement  and  the  same  general  train  of  thought, 
but  nearly  all  the  same  language. 

Wliile  Dr.  Maxcy  was  an  excellent  general  .scholar,  he  had  made  himself 
specially  familiar  with  the  branches  which  he  was  accustomed  to  teach.  The 
manner  in  which  the  classes  regarded  his  attainments  in  History  may  be  illus- 
trated by  a  remark  which  was  made  by  one  of  the  students  in  coming  from 
the  lecture-room, — namely,  that  he  believed  the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis 
must  be  true;  for,  unless  the  President  had  himself,  in  some  form,  lived  in 
Athens,  where  the  events  recorded  in  our  lesson  occurred,  he  never  could  have 
been  so  intimately  acquainted  with  the  characters  and  lives  of  the  men,  nor 
with  the  general  temper  of  the  people  he  had  been  describing  to  us.  This 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  various  branches  in  his  department,  in  connection 
with  a  remarkable  facility  of  communication,  render!  him  an  uncommonly 


304  BAPTIST. 

interesting  teacher.  His  questions  were  shaped  in  such  a  manner  as  to  save 
the  student,  who  had  the  least  knowledge  of  the  lesson,  from  the  embarrass- 
ment consequent  on  an  entire  inability  to  answer,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
leave  the  best  informed  with  the  conviction  that  there  were  still  other  things 
connected  with  the  subject  which  it  would  be  useful  for  them  to  learn.  His 
mode  of  teaching  was  eminently  fitted  to  promote  the  spirit  of  inquiry;  and 
the  students  left  the  lecture-room,  talking  over  the  subject  of  the  recitation, 
and,  after  reaching  their  rooms,  often  studied  their  lessons  more  thoroughly 
than  they  had  before  they  left  them.  A  system  of  questions  drawn  up  after 
his  manner,  would  be  an  invaluable  help  to  the  youth  of  the  present  day; 
and,  perhaps,  not  more  valuable  to  the  youth  than  helpful  to  the  great  bod}' 
of  instructers. 

Dr.  Maxcj-  took  great  pains  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  composition.  As  a 
means  of  doing  this,  he  was  accustomed  to  recommend  to  the  students  to  read 
over,  two  or  three  times,  some  well  composed  piece,  and  then,  having  laid  the 
book  aside,  to  write  out  the  same  thoughts  in  the  best  attainable  language. 
The  work  which,  above  all  others,  he  advised  to  be  used,  was  the  Spectator; 
and  next  to  that  the  Rambler.  He  was  also  desirous  that  the  young  men 
should  accustom  themselves  to  extemporaneous  speaking,  and  encouraged  those 
institutions  Avhich  were  fitted  to  help  them  in  this  exercise.  For  a  considera- 
ble time,  I  was  connected  with  an  association  formed  at  his  suggestion,  the 
only  business  of  which  was  to  speak  on  subjects  proposed  by  the  presiding 
officer  after  the  members  had  assembled.  Our  habit  was  to  meet  at  sunset, 
eacTi  day,  when  other  exercises  did  not  interfere,  and  spend  a  half  hour  or 
more  together,  as  we  might  find  convenient.  Our  instructions  from  the  Presi- 
dent were  carefully  to  avoid  irrelevant  speaking,  or  attempting  to  maintain  by 
sophistry  an  untruth,  or  giving  any  plausibility  to  error,  or  suggesting  any 
apology  for  crime. 

Allow  me  here  to  mention  a  little  incident  that  may  serve  to  illustrate  his 
habit  of  turning  the  most  trifling  circumstance  to  good  account  in  the  way  of 
communicating  instruction.  I  happened,  on  a  certain  occasion,  just  in  the 
dusk  of  evening,  to  be  sitting  with  him  at  the  entrance  of  his  dwelling,  when 
he  was  illustrating  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  philosophers.  Mr. 
(nov/  the  Rev.  Dr.)  Jacob  Brodhead,  then  a  Tutor  in  College, — a  man  whom 
we  held  in  high  estimation,  passed  by;  and  Dr.  Maxcy,  observing  him, 
remarked  humorously  that  the  members  of  Union  College  were  better  off 
than  the  j^outh  of  Athens,  under  one  of  the  most  distinguished  teachers  of 
ancient  times, — as  much  better  as  a  Broad-Head  was  superior  to  wide  or 
crooked  shoulders — alluding  of  course  to  old  Plato.  From  this  he  proceeded 
to  show,  by  various  historical  facts,  how  little  dependance  can  be  put  on  the 
etymological  meaning  of  ancient  names,  and  the  ludicrous  mistakes,  if  not 
hurtful  errors,  into  which  many,  for  want  of  due  caution  on  this  point,  have 
fallen . 

Dr.  Maxcjr  nianifcstedjnuch  of  a  devotional  spirit.  His  mind  was  eminently 
fruitful  in  serious  and  devout  reflections.  It  was  true  of  him,  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  that  "  the  cloud  returned  after  the  rain."  In  his  prayers  there  was 
always  an  unction  and  impressiveness  that  left  you  without  any  doubt  that  the 
Spirit  was  helping  him.  I  had  occasion,  on  a  certain  day,  to  call  at  his  study, 
a  short  time  before  evening  prayers  at  the  chapel;  and  I  found  him  deeply 
interested  in  a  remark  which  a  little  son  of  his,  perhaps  four  or  five  years  old, 
had  just  made  to  him.  The  little  fellow  came  running  into  the  study,  and, 
with  an  expression  of  great  earnestness,  said, — ««  Father,  the  prayers  are 
ringing,  the  prayers  are  ringing — why  do  you  not  make  haste  ?  You  will  get 
marked  and  fined,  if  you  do  not  go  quick."  The  language,  the  looks,  and  the 
earnestness  of  the  child  he  described  in  a  manner  and  tone  to  which  none  but 


JONATHAN  MAXCY.  305 

a  parent  could  have  been  adequate.  It  was  evident,  however,  in  a  moment, 
from  the  cliangc  of  his  countenance,  that  a  serious  thought  had  passed  over 
him;  and  he  went  on  to  remark  that  the  language  of  the  child  was  a  forcible 
illustration  of  the  passage  in  which  I'aul  speaks  of  the  outward  form  of  reli- 
gion as  only  '<  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal;" — too  true  a  description, 
he  said,  of  nianj^  prayers,  and  he  greatly  feared  of  manj'  of  his  own;  and  he 
then  added,  with  deep  feeling,  that  he  earnestly  desired  to  keep  his  mind 
habitually  impressed  with  the  consideration  that  where  the  heart  is  not  in  the 
worship  of  (iod,  forms  avail  nothing. 

Dr.  Maxcy's  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  characterized  by  great  simplicity, 
ease,  and  earnestness.  His  style  of  preaching  altogether  was  eminently  fitted 
to  produce  solemn  rellcction  and  deep  self-communion,  and  thus  lead  to  the 
best  practical  results.  There  was  nothing,  however,  in  his  public  perform- 
ances, that  was  of  a  particularlj'  exciting  or  agitating  character.  Every  thing . 
was  serene,  symmetrical,  impressive.  lie  attempted  to  imitate  no  one,  and 
caught  no  one's  peculiarities.  Destitute  of  all  pretension,  he  was  evidentl}' 
just  what  his  Creator  intended  he  should  be;  and  every  one  felt,  in  listening 
lo  him,  that  if  he  were  any  thing  else  than  what  he  was,  it  would  be  at  the 
expense  of  disobeying  the  impulses  of  his  own  nature. 

I  cannot  close  this  communication  without  .saying  that  I  have  ever  enter- 
tained a  deep  sense  of  my  obligation  to  Dr.  Maxcy, — not  only  for  the  impor- 
tant instruction  which  I  received  from  him,  but  for  his  watchful  care  over  me, 
at  a  period  when  «<  dangers  stand  thick  around  us."  Mrs.  Maxcy,  so  far  as  I 
know,  is  still  living,  highlj^  esteemed  by  the  community  around  her,  and 
greatly  blessed  in  the  worthy  characters  of  a  family  she  has  been  instrumental 
of  rearing.  Though  years  have  passed  away  since  I  have  had  the  privilege  of 
seeing  her  or  her  children,  the}--  are  still  the  subjects  of  my  grateful  and 
affectionate  recollections. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

In  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel, 

GARDINER  B.  PERRY. 


ROBERT  BA.YLOR  SEMPLE.* 

1790—1831. 

Robert  Baylor  Semple,  the  youngest  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Walker)  Semple,  was  born  at  Rose  Mount,  King  and  Queen  County,  Va.,^ 
January  20,  1769.  Ills  father,  who  was  the  son  of  very  wealthy  parents, 
(Muigrated  from  Scotland  to  this  country  in  early  life,  was  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, and  a  gentleman  of  high  respectability.  He  died  when  his  son 
Robert  was  only  twelve  months  old  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  having  become 
security  on  behalf  of  several  of  his  friends  for  a  large  amount,  nearly  his 
whole  estate  was  required  to  meet  the  claims  of  creditors,  and  his  wife  and 
four  children  were  left  nearly  penniless. 

Mrs.  Semple  was  warmly  attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church, — then  the 
Established  Church  of  Virginia,  and  trained  her  children  to  a  strict 
observance  of  its  forms  of  worship.  To  this  training,  Robert,  in  after 
life,  referred  the  fact  that  his  conscience  had  been  kept  tender  and  wakeful,, 
and  he  had  been  preserved  from  skeptical  tendencies. 
•  Taylor's  Va.  Bapt.— MS.  from  Dr.  Ryland. 

Vol.  VI.  30 


306  BAPTIST. 

At  au  early  age,  he  was  placed  at  school,  first  with  a  Mr.  Taylor,  and 
afterwards  Avith  the  Rev.  Peter  Nelsou,*  known  throughout  Lower  Vir- 
ginia as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  teachers  in  the  State.  Wlion  Mr. 
Nelson  removed  to  the  Forks  of  Hanover,  and  established  an  Academy, 
knowing,  as  he  did,  the  depressed  circumstances  of  Mrs.  Seniple's  family, 
and  her  inability  to  meet  the  expenses  of  Robert's  education,  and  observ- 
ing withal  that  he  was  a  youth  of  great  promise,  he  kindly  tendered  to  him 
his  board  and  tuition  free  of  expense.  Robert  studied  Latin  and  Greek 
under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Nelson,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  had  made 
such  proficiency  as  to  become  a  very  competent  assistant  teacher  in  the 
Academy. 

Having  completed  his  academical  course,  he  was  recommended  by  his 
tutor  and  benefactor  as  well  qualified  to  be  a  teacher,  and  he  obtained  a 
situation  in  a  private  family.  Here  he  commenced  the  study  of  Law  ;  and, 
being  placed  in  circumstances  of  great  temptation,  he  began  insensibly  to 
yield,  and  then  sought  to  hush  the  clamours  of  conscience  by  the  cavils  of 
infidelity.  Hence  ensued  a  conflict  which  rendered  him  much  of  the  time 
unhappy.  About  this  time,  the  Baptists  in  that  region  were  especially 
active  and  earnest  in  their  efforts  to  promote  evangelical  and  experimental 
religion.  Among  them  was  one  aged  man,  whom  Mr.  Semple,  regarding 
as  a  thorough  fanatic,  often  encountered  in  argument,  endeavouring  to 
convince  him  that  he  had  fallen  into  a  foolish  delusion.  It  turned  out, 
however,  that  the  old  man,  being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures, 
was  too  strong  for  his  opponent;  and  it  was  not  long  before  Mr.  Semple. 
as  the  result  of  an  examination  of  the  Bible  and  of  his  own  heart,  acknowl- 
edged himself  a  ruined  sinner,  and  expressed  an  humble  hope  of  accept- 
ance through  the  merits  of  liis  Redeemer.  Though  his  prejudices  against 
the  Baptists  had  before  been  strong,  he  was  brought  now  to  cast  in  his 
lot  with  them,  and  was  accordingly  baptized  in  December,  1789,  by  Elder 
Thcodorick  Noel,  and  joined  the  Upper  King  and  Queen  Church. 

With  this  change  of  feeling  and  of  character  originated  a  corresponding 
change  of  purpose  in  respect  to  his  profession — he  resolved  to  give  up  the 
study  of  Law,  and  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  Ministry.  His  first 
attempt  at  preaching,  which  was  made  within  a  few  days  after  he  became  a 
member  of  the  church,  was  by  no  means  a  successful  one  ;  but,  though 
conscious  of  his  failure,  it  did  not  at  all  discourage  him.  For  several 
months,  he  laboured  in  the  neighbourhoods  adjacent  to  his  own  home,  with 
great  zeal.  In  1790,  Bruington  Church  was  constituterl  in  King  and 
Queen,  and  Mr.  Semple  was  unanimously  called  to  take  the  pastoral  charge 
of  it.  On  the  20th  of  September  of  this  year,  he  was  regularly  examine<l 
and  ordaincl   lo  the  work  of  tlic  ministry,  by  Elders  Robert  "Ware,  Thoo- 

*  Petf.r  Nklson  was  a  native  of  Ilnnovcr  foiinty,  Va.,  and  was  graduated  at  William  and 
Mary  College,  after  which  he  rctiniied  lo  his  native  county,  and,  within  a  f<Mv  years,  joined 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  was  ordained  to  tlie  work  of  the  ministry.  lie  established  himself 
permanently  at  Wingfield.  where  he  became  the  head  of  an  Academy,  at  which  many  who 
afterwards  rose  to  eminence  were,  at  least  in  part,  educated.  About  the  year  1807,  his  wife 
became  deeply  anxious  in  regard  to  her  Sjiiritual  interests,  and  was  desirous  of  joining  a  ]5aptist 
church;  but  lie  earnestly  and  peremptorily  resisted  her  wishes.  Afterwards,  howe\er,  he  was 
led  to  an  examination  of  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  Baptism,  which  resulted  in  a  change  of  his 
own  views  on  the  subject,  in  consequence  (jf  which  he  was  baptized  by  immersion,  by  Elder 
Broaddus,  about  the  year  1808  or  'dH,  after  having  been  an  Episcopal  clcrgj-man  for  upwards 
of  twenty  years.     Ho  died  on  the  l.'ith  of  February,  1827. 


ROBERT  BAYLOR  SKMI'LE.  307 

doriek  Noel,  and  Iveson  Lewis.*  He  continued  to  sustain  the  pastoral 
relation  to  Bruington  Church  as  long  as  he  lived, — a  period  of  forty 
years. 

On  the  1st  of  3Iarch,  1793,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Loury,  of  Caroline  County, — an  estimable  young  lady, 
who  had,  a  few  months  before,  attached  herself  to  the  Baptist  Church. 
They  were  both  without  property,  and  felt  the  importance  of  practising  a 
rigid  economy,  in  order  that  he  might,  without  embarrassment,  prosecute 
the  duties  of  his  office.  After  two  or  three  removals,  they  ultin)ately 
settled  in  King  and  Queen,  on  a  farm  called  Mordington.  Here  they  spent 
the  greater  part  of  their  lives;  and,  by  teaching  a  school  and  cultivating 
a  farm,  he  soon  placed  himself  in  comfortable  circumstances,  and,  before 
the  close  of  life,  had  acquired  considerable  property. 

Elder  Seniple  had  not  been  long  in  the  ministry,  before  he  attained  a 
high  reputation  among  all  classes.  Notwithstanding  his  necessary  confine- 
ment in  school,  he  travelled  extensively  in  Lower  A'^irginia,  preaching  the 
Gospel  and  confirming  the  disciples  ;  though  his  regular  ministrations  were 
confined  to  King  and  Queen,  and  King  William  Counties.  He  was  instru- 
mental also  of  nursing  and  raising  to  a  vigorous  maturity  several  infant 
churches,  which  had  been  founded  before  he  entered  the  ministry. 

Elder  Semple  was  identified  with  some  of  the  earliest  efforts  of  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  tliis  country,  especially  in  Virginia,  to  send  the  Gospel 
among  the  Heathen.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  Baptist 
General  Convention,  and  uniformly  attended  afterwards  as  long  as  he  lived. 
From  the  origin  of  the  Richmond  Foreign  and  Domestic  Mission  Society, 
(afterwards  the  Virginia  Baptist  Missionary  Society,)  he  lost  no  opportu- 
nity to  promote  its  interests  ;  and  for  a  series  of  years  he  presided  at  its 
annual  meetings.  He  was  also  usually  the  Moderator  of  the  General 
Association  of  Virginia,  for  supplying  the  destitute  parts  of  the  State,  and 
was  President  of  its  Board  of  Managers.  He  was  also  an  earnest  friend 
to  the  Colonization  Society,  regarding  it  in  the  triple  light  of  a  source  of 
rich  blessings  to  the  slaves  themselves,  to  the  American  nation,  and  to  the 
savage  tribes  of  Africa.  The  interests  of  education  lay  very  near  his 
heart.  When  the  Columbian  College,  in  the  District  of  ("(dumbia,  became 
so  deeply  involved  in  debt  that  its  existence  as  a  Baptist  College  was  seri- 
ously imperilled,  the  eyes  of  the  Board  were  directed  to  him  as  the  most 
suitable  person  to  take  charge  of  its  financial  concerns;  and,  at  a  great 
personal  sacrifice,  he  accepted  the  appointment,  and  removed  to  Wasliiiig- 
ton  City,  in  July,  1827.     He  entered   upon    the   new  an,d    difficult  duties 

•Iveson  Lewis  was  a  son  of  John  Lewis,  whose  father,  Zachary  Lewis,  cmignited  to  this 
country  from  Wales,  in  1002,  and  settled  in  King  and  Queen  County)  Va.  Here  Ivcsim  w.is 
born  on  the  4th  of  March,  1741,  and  here  he  lived  and  died,  lie  wiis  educated  in  the  Church 
of  Kn^land,  and  continued  in  that  connection  many  years,  but  was  subsequently  converted,  a-i 
he  believed,  under  the  preaching  of  Jolin  Waller,  and  was  immersed  and  united  with  the  IJaptist 
Church  about  the  year  I77U.  He  commenced  preaching  shortly  after,  and  in  1775  constituted 
the  Church  called  Matthews,  in  the  county  of  tliat  name,  and  continued  to  visit  them,  in  the 
capacity  of  Pastor,  once  a  month,  for  many  years,  at  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles.  He  also 
organized  two  churches  in  the  County  of  Gloucester,  about  the  year  17!)(l,  and  sustained  a  sort 
of  pastoral  relation  to  them  for  a  considerable  time.  Advancing  age  compelled  him  at  length 
to  discontinue  his  ministrations  to  these  distant  churches,  and  to  confine  his  labours  to  those  in 
his  more  immediate  neighbourhood,  in  King  and  Queen,  and  .Middlesex  Counties,  where  he  was 
regularly  engaged  until  December,  1814.  He  died  In  the  exercise  of  a  triumphant  faith,  on 
the  5th  of  January,  1815. 


3Q8  BAPTIST. 

now    devolved  upon   Lira,   with  great   discretion   and  energy  ;    though   it 
pleased  Infinite  Wisdom  that  he  should  not  live  to  accomplish  ihe  work. 

As  an  Author,  he  had  considerable  reputation,  especially  in  his  own 
denomination.  In  1809,  he  published  a  Catechism  for  the  use  of  children, 
which  met  with  much  favour.  In  1810,  he  published  the  History  of 
Virginia  Baptists,  with  several  biographical  notices  appended,  which  has 
generally  been  considered  his  most  important  work.  He  was  also  the 
author  of  a  Memoir  of  Elder  Straughan,  and  of  various  Circular  Letters 
from  the  Dover  Association.  He  also  published  Letters  to  Alexander 
Campbell,  which,  however,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  were  not  among  his 
most  felicitous  productions. 

Mr.  Semple  received  many  testimonies  of  public  confidence  and  respect. 
As  early  as  the  year  1805,  he  was  invited  to  the  Presidency  of  Transyl- 
vania University,  but  declined  the  invitation.  In  1820,  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention,  and  continued  to  hold  the 
office  till  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1814,  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  Brown  University.  In  18'24,  he  was  honoured 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  same  institution;  and  in 
182G,  he  had  a  repetition  of  the  honour  from  the  College  of  William  and 
Mary  ;  but  in  both  cases  he  declined  it   from  C(?nscientious  considerations. 

Mr.  Semple  suffered  severe  trials,  but  they  were  mostly  of  a  domestic 
character.  The  place  of  his  residence  was  exceedingly  unhealthy,  and 
his  family  was  often  visited  with  protracted  and  dangerous  illness.  Of 
twelve  children,  only  four  were  living  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Front 
1825  to  1827,  his  house  was  little  else  than  a  hospital  ;  and,  though  his 
own  life  and  health  were  mercifully  spared,  most  of  his  family  were  very 
seriously  ill,  and  two  of  his  children  carried  in  quick  succession  to  the 
grave. 

When  he  left  King  and  Queen  County  in  1827,  he  remained  a  wliilc  in 
Washington,  and  then  took  up  his  abode  in  Fredericksburg.  With  the 
management  of  the  concerns  of  the  College  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  care 
of  the  Bruington  Church  on  the  other,  he  found  it  necessary  to  be  almost 
constantly  journeying  in  opposite  directions;  and  this,  with  the  great 
amount  of  care  and  responsibility  that  rested  upon  hin),  proved  too  great 
a  burden  for  his  already  decaying  constitution.  In  the  year  1831,  his 
health  became  perceptibly  impaired.  In  the  course  of  that  year  an  exten- 
sive revival  of  religion  took  place  in  the  church  at  Bruington,  and  he  was 
permitted  to  sec,  in  the  month  of  September,  more  than  one  hundred 
admitted  to  the  ordiiTtmce  of  Baptism,  and  become  members  of  the 
church  of  which  he  had  so  long  been  the  Pastor.  His  last  visit  to 
Bruington  was  made  about  three  weeks  before  his  death.  On  his  return 
home,  he  suffered  not  a  little  from  travelling  in  extremely  inclement 
weather;  and  it  was  soon  apparent  that  he  was  seized  with  a  serious  illness, 
though  his  family  flattered  themselves  that  it  was  nothing  more  than  a 
severe  type  of  the  prevailing  influenza.  It  turned  out  to  be  a  violent 
fever,  which  had  a  fatal  termination  in  just  one  week  from  its  commence- 
ment. He  predicted,  from  the  beginning,  that  it  would  prove  to  be  his 
last  illness  ;  and  so  deeply  was  he  impressed  with  this  thought  that  it  was 
the  opinion  of  his  physician  that  the  remedies  administered  were  in  a  great 


KOHEUT  BAYLOR  SEMl'LE.  309 

measure  neutralize*!  from  tlie  influence  wliicli  liis  mind  cxereisoil  over  his 
body.  His  mind  continued  perfectly  tranquil  during  his  wliole  illness ; 
and  one  of  his  last  expressions  was, — "  I  can  depart  in  peace."  lie  died 
on  Sunday  morning,  December  '2b,  1881.  The  Funeral  Sermon  was 
preached  by  the  llev.  Andrew  IJroaddus  ;  and  two  or  three  other  Dis- 
courses, commemorative  of  his  character  and  services,  were  delivered  in 
different  places. 


FROM  THE  UEV.  ROBERT  RYLAND,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  Va.,  December  30,  18oi. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  I  take  pleasure  in  complying  with  your  request  for  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  character  of  the  Rev.  Robert  B.  Semple.  I  knew  him  from 
my  earliest  childhood;  was  awakened  to  the  importance  of  Divine  truth  under 
his  labuurs;  was  baptized,  encouraged  to  study  for  the  ministry,  and  ordained 
to  the  oflice  of  an  Evangelist,  by  him;  and  have  been  a  careful  observer  of  the 
effects  of  his  life  on  the  morals  of  a  wide  community,  and  on  the  prosjjcrity 
of  our  churches  throughout  Eastern  Virginia.  I  mention  these  circumstaiices 
to  enable  you  to  judge  of  my  opportunities  for  forming  a  correct  estimate  of 
his  character. 

In  contemplating  his  ministerial  character,  nothing  comes  to  me  more  I'orci- 
bly  than  his  great  perseverance.  1  luive  known  many  men  of  equal,  perhaps 
superior,  abilities,  who  fell  far  short  of  his  usefulness,  because  they  wanted 
his  decision.  lie  was  deliberate  in  forming  his  conclusions,  but,  when  formed, 
he  acted  upon  them,  lie  felt  that  the  ground  on  Avhich  he  stood  was  solid, 
and  he,  therefore,  stood  erect  and  fearless.  Ilis  course  through  life  was  conse- 
quently not  an  irregular  one,  vacillating  from  one  extreme  of  doctrine  to 
another,  now  manifesting  an  excessive  zeal,  and  now  settled  down  into  a  frigid 
in.sensibilit)^;  but  it  was  uniform,  steady,  dignified.  You  always  found  him 
the  same  man.  Human  energy  is  often  wasted  because  it  is  applied  to  some 
point,  for  a  short  time,  with  great  vehemence,  and  then  diveited  from  that  to 
another  before  the  first  is  acconiplished.  Such  was  not  the  manner  of  Mr. 
Semple.  He  never  abandoned  a  project  because  it  proved  to  be  diliicult  or 
unpopular,  but  went  right  on,  until  a  fair  experiment  had  convinced  him  what 
was  expedient.  Hence  it  was  that  he  acquired  so  much  weight  of  cliaracter 
in  the  communit}'.  Every  person  confided  in  the  soundness  of  his  judgment, 
and  in  the  energy  with  which  he  executed  his  purposes.  If  he  had  api)oiiUments 
to  fulfil,  he  suffered  no  impediment,  which  mortal  enterprise  could  overcome, 
to  interfere  with  them.  His  congregations  ^vould  go  out  to  hear  him  in  cold 
and  rainy  weather,  because  they  were  sure  of  his  attendance.  lie  was  one  of 
your  practical  men,  that  set  themselves  to  work  in  good  earnest,  and  from  the 
same  fixed  point  never  decline  until  their  aim  is  accomplished.  It  ougiit  to  be 
set  down  also  to  his  credit  that  he  was  constitutionally  indolent.  His  pliysi- 
cal  nature  seems  to  have  been  changed  by  the  force  of  principle.  Whatever 
of  activity  he  displayed  was  the  result,  not  of  natural  temperament,  but  of 
grace  Divine,  urging  him  forward  against  the  current  of  his  feelings; — the  effect 
of  holy,  ardent  love,  prompting  him  to  spend  and  be  spent  for  the  salvation 
of  souls.  Many  men  are  endued  with  a  restless  temper,  that  makes  tliem 
energetic  liy  starts.  Their  motions  are  rapid,  but  uncertain  and  eccentric.  Their 
zeal  is  blazing,  but  mi.sguided  and  injudicious.  They  rarely  effect  much  good. 
But  this  man's  energy  was  steady  and  efficient.  His  zeal  was  uniform  and  .salu- 
tary, because  guided  by  a  sound  judgment,  and  directed  to  a  hallowed  end. 

Another  quality  by  which  he  was  distinguished  was  his  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  human  heart.     This  was  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  his  greatness 


310  BAPTIST. 

and  usefulness.  lie  applied  his  mind  more  to  the  study  of  this  than  to  books. 
U"  he  addressed  the  unconverted,  they  were  often  astonished  at  his  perfect  insight 
into  their  feelings.  Like  the  woman  of  Samaria,  they  were  constrained  to  .say, — 
"  He  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did."  He  described  them  so  faithfully  that 
they  found  no  way  of  escajjc,  and  had  to  confess  that  they  were  the  very  sinners 
whom  he  had  described.  If  he  spoke  to  Christians,  he  seemed  to  know  their 
ti'ials,  their  secret  exercises,  their  besetting  iniirmitics.  He  expatiated  on 
them  more  correctly  than  they  could  have  done  themselves.  And  he  was  well 
skilled  to  apply  a  remedy  suited  to  their  spiritual  diseases;  to  administer  com- 
fort to  the  depressed,  caution  to  the  unguarded,  and  reproof  to  the  disobedient. 
He  aimed  his  darts  not  over  the  heads  of  men,  but  at  their  consciences,  and 
they  felt  their  point.  He  abhorred  the  disposition  which  prompts  some  to 
attempt  great  things,  merely  to  attract  the  stare  of  the  ignorant.  The  useful 
was  preferred  by  him  to  the  ornamental,  and  the  homely  phrase  that  all 
would  understand,  was  selected  to  convey  his  thoughts,  rather  than  the  classic 
one  which  would  be  understood  only  by  the  learned. 

His  preaching  was  distinguished  also  for  its  practical  tendency.  He  scarcely 
ever  preached  without  showing  his  hearers  what  were  their  duties,  and  urging 
them  with  motives  to  their  fulfilment.  It  is  true  he  laid  the  basis  of  these 
duties  in  the  Cross  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  them  their  just  value,  as  the 
effects,  not  the  causes,  of  salvation.  But  then  he  insisted  on  them,  as  the 
indispensable  evidences  of  discipleship,  and  as  being  <<  good  and  profitable  unto 
men."  He  found  it  necessary,  as  a  Pastor,  again  and  again,  to  urge  the  breth- 
ren to  a  holy  life,  because  they  were  far  more  apt  to  learn  the  doctrines  of 
religion  than  to  comjjly  with  its  injunctions. 

Another  prominent  trait  in  his  character  was  gravity.  The  form  of  his 
head,  the  strongly  marked  features  of  his  face,  the  contemplative  moods  to 
which  his  mind  was  habituated,  and,  above  all,  the  air  of  unafiected  sanctity 
that  spread  itself  over  his  whole  deportment,  tended  to  inspii-e  with  awe  those 
who  came  into  his  presence.  It  was  this  that  gave  him  such  a  power  of  disci- 
pline in  his  family  and  in  his  church,  and  imparted  such  weight  to  his  opinions 
and  decisions  as  the  Moderator  of  deliberative  assemblies.  It  required  a  man 
of  more  than  ordinary  nerve  to  oppose  his  views, — much  more  to  oppose  them 
in  a  rancorous  or  obstinate  spirit.  A  trifling  incident  will  serve  to  illustrate 
the  force  of  jNIr.  Semple's  character  in  this  respect.  There  was  once  a  sale  of 
hou.sehold  and  farming  utensils  near  his  residence;  and,  wishing  to  purchase 
some  articles,  he  attended  on  the  day  appointed.  Among  the  things  put  up  to 
the  highest  bidder  was  a  fiddh,  but  not  a  single  bid  was  made  for  it,  notwith- 
standing the  earnest  efforts  of  the  auctioneer.  Knowing  that  a  certain  gentle- 
man present  wished  to  purchase  the  instrument,  the  conductor  of  the  sale 
afterwards  inquired  why  he  had  not  made  a  bid  for  it.  He  confessed  that  he 
was  awed  l)y  the  presence  of  the  holy  man,  and  then  added,  with  vehemence, — 
'<  Robert  1}.  Semple  is  the  only  person  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,  that  I  was  afraid 
of!"  This  austerity  of  manner  was  however  greatly  softened  on  a  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance,  and  by  a  sweet  smile  that  occasionally  played  on  his  coun- 
tenance. Few  men  ever  had  a  deeper  or  more  active  benevolence  towards 
their  fellow-creatures,  or  put  forth  more  disinterested  and  sustained  efforts  for 
their  highest  good. 

I  will  only  add  that  no  man  probably  felt  a  deeper  interest  than  he  in  the 
general  welfsxre  of  Zion.  AVhilc  the  disciples  arc  classed  into  so  many  little 
families,  there  is  danger  lest  they  feel  an  undue  solicitude,  each  for  his  own 
familjr,  and  disregard  the  common  cause.  Mr.  Scrapie  felt  a  deep  interest  in 
the  prosperity  of  his  own  denomination,  but  he  had  also  a  heart  to  pray  and 
to  labour  for  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  in  every  part  of  the  world.  He  could 
have  said   with    Paul, — "Besides  those  things  that  are  without,  that  which 


ROBERT  BAYLOR  SEMPLE.  31J[ 

oometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  churches."  Indeed,  as  his  reputa- 
tion advanced,  he  was  oftencr  put  in  requisition  to  preach  in  distant  neighbour- 
hoods, than  was  agreeable  to  his  own  people.  Wherever  he  sojourned,  there 
he  went  to  work,  as  if  he  had  been  among  his  own  charge.  And,  on  this 
account,  he  was  looked  up  to  by  all  the  churches  as  a  kind  of  Apostle;  was 
often  called  upon  to  decide  controversies,  and  adjust  difficulties.  One  of 
his  favourite  themes  in  the  pulpit  was  the  duty  of  brotherly  love.  His  soul 
was  oppressed  by  the  schisms  which  have,  in  some  instances,  distracted 
and  rent  our  churches.  To  the  variant  parties  his  private  and  public  counsels 
were  excellent.  If,  however,  he,  at  any  time,  dis^ilayed  an  authoritative 
spirit,  it  was  while  preaching  on  this  subject.  He  had  little  patience  for  the 
senseless  quarrels  of  those  who  profess  to  be  disciples  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
and  children  of  the  God  of  love.  In  line,  as  a  public  teacher  of  religion,  he 
was  deservedly  eminent.  He  was  always  appropriate.  The  variety  of  his  sen- 
timents, the  originality  of  his  manner,  the  solid,  earnest,  and  devout  constitu- 
tion of  his  mind,  made  him  profitable  to  all  classes  of  hearers. 

Mr.  Semple  was  of  ordinary  stature,  rather  inclined  to  corpulency, — of 
strongly  marked  features,  expressive  of  profound  thought.  His  head  was 
large,  and  indicated  deep  devotional  feeling.  He  was  of  fair  complexion,  deep 
blue  eyes,  thin  beard,  small  eye-brows,  projecting  forehead,  dark  but  not 
black  hair,  gradually  thinning  and  whitening  with  age.  His  walk  was  perhaps 
his  most  striking  peculiarity.  It  was  waddling,  usually  hurried,  and  sug- 
gested to  the  observer  that  he  was  going  somewhere,  and  for  some  definite 
object.  Indeed  there  was  something  in  his  whole  bearing  calculated  to 
impress, — something  of  patriarchal  dignity,  not  assumed,  but  natural,  that 
inspired  reverence,  and  that  would  have  prompted  a  stranger,  seeing  him  in 
the  midst  of  an  assembly  of  great  men,  to  ask  who  hz  was.  Withul  he  was, 
in  private  life,  and  among  his  own  people,  loved  as  well  as  venerated.  He 
could  condescend  to  the  poor,  without  seeming  to  feel  it  to  be  condescension, 
and  could  always  have  a  kind  word  or  a  sportive  gesture  for  children,  without  a 
tincture  of  levity. 

Very  fraternally  yours, 

ROBERT  RYLAND. 


ABEL  WOODS.* 

1790—1850. 

Abel  "Woods,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Abigail  Woods,  was  born  in  Prince- 
ton, Mass.,  August  15,  1765.  His  father  was  a  very  intelligent  farmer, 
and  both  his  parents  were  highly  respected  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  He  lost  his  mother  in  his  early  childhood  ;  but  his  father 
instructed  him  carefully  in  the  great  principles  of  religion,  and,  besides 
giving  him  the  advantages  of  a  common  school,  devoted  many  of  the 
winter  evenings  to  assisting  him  in  his  studies.  In  17S3,  when  he  was 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  became  deeply  concerned  in  respect  to  his 
immortal  interests.  After  having  been  for  a  long  time  in  darkness,  from 
not  having  had  right  views,  as  he  afterwards  believed,  of  the  Gospel  plan 
of  salvation,  he  at  length  emerged  from  it  into  a  state  of  tranquillity  and 

•  Dr.  Kendrick's  Fun.  Senn.— MS.  from  Eev.  Alvah  Woods,  D.  D. 


312  BAPTIST. 

joyful  hope..  Almost  immediately  he  became  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
it  was  his  duty  to  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  ministry ;  and  this  idea 
having  at  length  grown  into  a  full  conviction,  he  began  to  direct  his  efforts 
to  this  object. 

Notwithstanding  he  had  been  educated  a  Pedobaptist,  doubts  seem  to 
have  arisen  in  his  mind,  at  an  early  period,  in  respect  to  the  validity  of 
Infant  Baptism,  and  also  of  Baptism  by  Sprinkling ;  and  the  result  of  a 
somewhat  extended  and  earnest  inquiry  on  the  subject  was  a  conviction 
that  Baptism  could  be  legitimately  administered  only  by  immersion,  and 
only  to  believers.  In  1786,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Leicester,  Mass.  He  still  continued  to  labour  on 
his  father's  fai'm,  while  he  devoted  all  his  leisure  hours  to  study  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry.  It  would  appear  that  he  subsequently  regretted  not 
having  taken  a  more  extended  course.  He  says,  in  a  brief  sketch  of  his 
life  which  he  left,  alluding  to  this  period, — "Deeply  sensible  of  my  igno- 
rance and  unworthiness,  I  should  have  commenced  academical  studies,  but 
for  the  bad  advice  of  a  Baptist  minister, — advice  which  I  shall  lament 
having  followed,  so  long  as  I  live." 

In  1790,  he  began  to  preach  statedly  in  the  towns  of  Princeton  and 
Holden,  and  his  labours  seemed  to  be  attended  with  a  blessing.  He  was 
subsequently  invited  to  settle  as  Pastor  in  Dublin,  and  Alstead,  N.  H., 
and  Cavendish,  Vt.,  in  which  latter  place,  he  preached  about  a  year.  At 
length,  he  visited  Shoreham,  Vt.,  where  his  labours  seemed  to  be  eminently 
useful.  Here  a  church  was  soon  gathered,  and  he  was  ordained,  and  set 
apart  as  its  Pastor,  in  February,  1795. 

Mr.  Woods  remained  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Shoreham  fifteen  years  ; 
during  which  time  there  were  three  revivals,  each  of  which  brought  a  con- 
siderable accession  to  the  church.  His  labours  were,  by  no  means,  confined 
to  his  own  immediate  congregation,  but  he  often  went  abroad,  as  a  public 
man,  and  bore  an  important  part  in  various  Benevolent  Associations,  and 
in  organizing  a  system  of  effort  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  Owing  to 
peculiar  circumstances,  and  much  to  the  regret  of  his  people,  he  resigned 
his  charge  in  1810  ;  and  immediately  after  spent  about  a  year  in  missionary 
labour,  chiefly  under  the  direction  of  the  Vermont  Missionary  Society. 
In  1811,  he  settled  at  Panton,  Vt.,  and  subsequently  laboured  in  Addison, 
Granville,  and  Hubbardston,  until  the  year  1820.  In  these  several  places, 
especially  in  Addison,  large  numbers  were  gathered  into  the  churcli,  as  the 
result  of  his  labour.  In  October,  1826,  he  removed  to  Essex,  N.  Y.,  on 
Lake  Champlain,  where  he  remained,  labouring  most  of  the  time  as  Pas- 
tor, until  1837.  At  that  time,  being  sensible  that  the  infirmities  of 
age  were  gradually  coming  upon  him,  he  felt  admonished  to  withdraw  from 
the  active  duties  of  the  ministry  ;  and,  accordingly,  he  left  Essex,  and 
took  up  his  residence  with  his  son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Alanson  L.  Covcll,  then 
minister  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Albany,  Here  he  remained  about 
a  year  and  a  half,  when  the  death  of  Mr.  Covell  rendered  another  removal 
of  the  family  desirable,  and  it  was  determined  that  they  should  make  their 
future  home  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.  He  selected  this  spot,  partly  on  account 
of  its  pleasant  situation,  but  especially  from  its  being  the  seat  of  the  Bap- 
tist Literary  and  Theological  Institution,  in  which  he  felt  a  deep  interest, 


ABEL  WOODS.  313 

and  to  which  he  had  been  a  liberal  contributor.  He  took  up  his  residence 
hero  in  the  spring  of  1838,  and  never  made  another  remove  till  he  was 
summoned  to  his  long  home. 

Mr.  Woods  retained  both  his  intellectual  and  physical  powers,  without 
much  perceptible  abatement,  to  extreme  old  age.  Ho  took  a  deep  interest 
in  passing  events,  especially  as  they  were  connected  with  the  progress  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  It  had  long  been  his  prayer  that  ho  might  be 
spared  a  lingering  sickness  at  last ;  and  that  when  there  was  no  more  of 
active  service  for  him  to  perform  in  his  Master's  cause,  if  it  were  God'.«< 
will,  he  might  be  called  to  his  rest.  And  this  desire  of  his  heart  was 
granted.  During  the  week  previous  to  his  death,  he  was  slightly  ill,  but 
not  in  such  a  degree  as  to  interrupt  materially  his  ordinary  employments. 
On  Saturday  he  seemed  better,  and,  on  retiring  to  rest  at  evening,  dis- 
pensed witli  the  little  medicine  which  he  had  taken  for  a  few  of  the  pre- 
ceding days.  In  the  course  of  the  night,  his  disease  which  had  before 
seemed  so  light,  took  a  sudden  and  fatal  turn,  and,  after  a  few  hours,  the 
earthly  tabernacle  had  become  a  clod.  He  died  August  11,  1850.  His 
Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  llev.  A.  C.  Keudrick,  D.  D.,  and 
was  published. 

In  December,  1792,  Mr.  Woods  was  married  to  Mary  Smith,  of  Claren- 
don, Vt.,  who,  a  few  months  before,  had  joined  the  Baptist  Church.  She 
was  a  lady  of  great  excellence,  and  happily  adapted  to  fill  the  station  of  a 
minister's  wife.  She  died  nearly  three  years  before  her  husband.  They 
had  six  children,  three  of  whom  died  long  before  their  parents  ;  and  of 
the  other  three  who  survived  them,  the  eldest  is  Dr.  Alvah  Woods,  late 
President  of  Alabama  University  ;  the  second  is  the  widow  of  the  late 
Rev.  A.  L.  Covell  ;*  and  the  youngest  is  the  wife  of  the  Kev.  Dr.  Patti- 
son.  Professor  of  Theology  at  Newton,  Mass. 


FROM  THE  REV.  LEONARD  WOODS,  D.  D. 

PKOFESSOU   IN    THE    ANDOVER    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY. 

Andover,  January  21,  1852. 
My  dear  Sir:  You  ask  me  for  my  recollections  of  my  beloved  brother,  the 
Rev.  Abel  Woods.  He  was  several  years  older  than  my.self,  but  I  have  a  dis- 
tinct recollection  of  some  of  the  most  interesting  scenes  of  his  early  life.  At 
the  time  when  his  mind  was  first  seriously  directed  to  the  subject  of  religion, 
the  Congregational  Church  in  Princeton  Avas  ver}'  deficient  in  the  spirit  of 
piety,  and   exerted   apparently  but   little   of  trul}^  Christian   iiifinciiee.     Eul 


he  beciiino  the  Pastor  of  a  Church   in  Aiiilisoii,  Vt..  iind  was   married  shortly  ........     ...„„. 

labouring  here,  as  well  as  with  some  other  churclics,  for  about  two  years,  ho  renioveil,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 18:51,  to  Whilesborough,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  for  five  years,  labouring'  with  great 
acceptance  and  success.  In  1835,  he  received  a  unanimous  invitation  to  become  the  Paslor  of 
the  First  I!aptist  Church  in  Albany,  and,  having  accepted  it,  took  up  his  vesidenco  there  in 
.January.  1>.'5>.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  lie  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  organization  of 
the  American  and  Foreign  IJible  .Society,  and  delivered  a  discourse  in  reference  to  it,  which  was 
highly  approve*]  and  widely  circulated.  He  died  at  Albany,  after  an  illness  of  seven  months, 
on  the  20th  of  .September,  \S'M,  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  lie  was  on  eminently 
devout  and  godly  man,  but  was  subject  to  great  spiritual  conflicts.  His  whole  character  was 
one  of  uncommon  attraction.  His  death  was  deeply  mourned  by  all  who  had  witnessed  the 
sweetness  and  purity  of  his  spirit,  or  his  exemplary  and  devoted  life. 

Vof..  YI.  40 


314  BAPTIST. 

there  was  a  liltle  company  of  devout  Baptists,  who  lived  in  a  neighbourhood 
in  the  South  part  of  Princeton,  and  the  North  part  of  Holden.  Among  these 
Christians,  my  brother  found  those  Avho  could  sympathize  with  his  feelings, 
and  could  afford  him  the  Christian  aid  and  counsel  which  he  needed,  and 
which,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  proved  the  means  of  his  hopeful  conver- 
sion and  his  subsequent  growth  in  grace.  He  had  a  youthful  friend,  who  was 
intimately  associated  with  him  in  his  religious  duties.  That  friend  was  Syl- 
vanus  Haynes,*  afterwards  well  known  as  a  minister  in  the  Baptist  churches. 
lie  was  accustomed,  at  stated  times,  to  meet  with  my  brother  for  conversa- 
tion and  praj-er,  in  a  retired  place  in  a  grove  during  the  summer,  and  at  each 
other's  houses  during  the  winter.  I  was  then  about  ten  years  old.  I  knew 
the  object  of  their  meetings;  and  I  well  remember  how  kind  and  pleasant 
their  demeanour  was  towards  each  other,  and  towards  all  around  them;  how 
cheerful  and  happj'  they  appeared,  and  how  earnest  they  were  to  get  know- 
ledge, particularly  on  the  subject  of  religion.  And  I  remember  that  their 
appearance  led  me  to  think  how  excellent  religion  is,  and  how  desirable  to 
obtain  it  in  early  life. 

When  my  brother  told  our  father,  Avho  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  that  he  was  desirous  to  join  the  Baptist  Church,  our  father  gave  his 
free  consent.  I  was  present  when  my  brother  was  admitted  to  Baptism  by 
immersion.  It  was  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  assembly  was  too  large  to  be 
accommodated  in  a  private  house.  They  resorted,  therefore,  to  a  large  barn, 
then  empty.  I  sat  on  a  high  beam,  near  the  middle  of  the  building,  and 
there,  after  a  solemn  sermon,  I  heard  the  examination  of  my  brother,  as  to 
his  religious  knowledge  and  experience.  After  which,  I  went  to  a  small  river, 
and  witnessed  the  Baptism. 

My  brother  soon  cherished  a  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel;  and,  for  two  or 
three  years,  he  was  engaged  in  such  reading  and  such  exercises  as  he  thought 
best  suited  to  fit  him  for  the  sacred  work.  He  became  familiar  with  Dod- 
dridge's Rise  and  Progress,  some  of  Edwards'  works,  and  other  pious  books, 
making  the  Word  of  God  his  chief  study. 

While  he  remained  at  home,  he  was  my  companion,  daj^  and  night.  Though 
he  was  a  very  affectionate  brother,  he  was  very  sparing  in  his  conversation 
with  me  on  the  subject  of  religion.  But  some  of  his  remarks  were  distinctly 
and  permanentl)'  impi-essed  on  my  memory.  He  said  to  me  repeatedly,  and 
very  kindly, — "  Leonard,  I  hope  you  will  be  a  Christian."  Sometimes  he 
said, — "  I  cxpsct  you  will  be  a  Christian."  No  advice  or  warning  could  have 
touched  my  heart  so  much  as  to  know  that  my  brother  hoped  and  expected 
that  I  should  become  a  Christian.  Once  he  came  home  from  a  religious  meet- 
ing, later  than  common,  and  when  he  came  to  bed  with  me,  he  merely  said, — 
"  I  hope,  Leonard,  that  God  is  converting  some  of  your  mates."  This  single 
remark  took  strong  hold  of  my  childish  feelings,  and  such  a  manner  of  treat- 
ing the  subject  of  religion, — such  brevity  and  simplicity  of  remark,  joined 
with  humbleness  of  mind,  and  the  spirit  of  love,  distinguished  him  through 
life. 

•  Sylvanus  IIaynes,  son  of  Joseph  Ilaynes,  was  born  at  Princeton,  Mass.,  February  22, 
1768.  At  tlie  age  of  about  fourteen,  he  became  hopefully  pious;  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
began  to  have  seriiplcs  on  the  subject  of  Baptism;  and  in  July,  178(),  when  he  was  in  hi? 
nineteenth  year,  he  was  baptized  by  ininiersion.  He  commenced  prenching  in  Marcli,  178'.(. 
and  for  about  a  year  exercised  his  ministry  in  his  native  place.  In  March,  ]7'.IIN  he  removed 
to  Middletown,  Vt.  In  July,  1791,  he  received  ordination,  and  took  the  pastoriil  care  of  the 
church  in  that  place.  In  August,  1791,  he  was  married  to  Louisa  Gardner,  a  member  of  the 
Middletown  Clinrch.  After  a  successful  ministry  at  Middletown,  he  reuiovcd,  in  October. 
1817,  to  ICIbridge,  in  the  same  State,  where  also  a  rich  blessing  attendeil  his  labours.  His 
wife  died  in  Marcli  1825,  and  in  January,  1820,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Conian,  of  Chesliire, 
Mass.  He  died  on  the  .SOth  of  December  following,  after  a  short  illness.  lie  was  greatly 
esteemed,  both  as  a  Christian  and  a  minister. 


ABEL  WOODS.  3X5 

His  preaching  was  exceedingly  plain  and  scriplural,  and  his  pra^'crs  free 
and  fervent.  But  in  all  his  performances  he  manifested  devout  ravirsnce.  It 
could  not  be  otherwise;  for  pious  reverence  and  awe  belonged  to  the  settled 
habit  of  his  mind.  He  happily  employed  his  strong  and  manly  intellect  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  truths  of  Kevelatiou  intelligible  to  common 
people,  and  even  to  children.  His  preaching  abounded  in  anecdotes;  but 
they  were  pertinent  and  instructive,  though  evidently  carried  to  excess. 

He  liad  a  brief  and  striking  way  of  answering  objections.  AVhcn  a  man 
who  did  not  believe  the  doctrine  of  the  Saints'  Perseverance,  said, — "  What 
if  David  had  died  after  his  fall,  before  his  repentance,"  he  answered, — "  What 
if  the  angels  who  were  carrying  Elijah  to  Heaven,  had  let  him  slip  out  of  their 
hands.?"" 

My  brother,  being  the  first  ordained  minister  settled  in  the  town  of  Shore- 
ham,  was  entitled  to  the  bounty  land  set  apart  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  as 
the  property  of  the  first  minister.  By  vote  of  the  town,  this  land  was  his; 
and  he  occupied  it,  and  made  improvements  on  it  for  several  years.  At  length 
it  was  claimed  by  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants;  and,  after  an  expensive  law- 
suit, it  was,  with  manifest  injustice,  taken  from  him.  He  was  thus  embar- 
rassed, and  involved  in  a  heavy  debt.  There  was,  however,  a  way  in  which 
he  could  evade  his  obligation  to  pay  the  unjust  debt.  Some  of  his  friends 
advised  him  to  resort  to  means  which  were  of  doubtful  propriety,  though  not 
condemned  by  the  laws  of  the  State.  Here  came  the  trial  of  his  moral  princi- 
ple. Though  the  temptation  was  strong,  he  overcame  it.  He  determined  to 
avoid  whatever  would  be  likely  to  discredit  his  character  and  calling,  and  to 
proceed  with  perfect  fairness  and  honour,  however  great  the  losses  and  diffi- 
culties to  which  he  might  be  subjected.  And  many  a  time  did  he  afterwards 
refer  with  heartfelt  satisfaction  to  the  sound  principle  which  had  guided  his 
conduct,  devoutly  ascribing  his  deliverance  from  that  temptation  to  the  timely 
help  of  Divine  gtace. 

My  brother  was  conscientiously  wedded  to  the  principle  of  Close  Commu- 
nion, so  far  as  relates  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  But,  in  every  thing  else,  he  had 
cordial  fellowship  with  other  Christians,  both  publicly  and  privately.  His 
feelings  were  most  kind  and  fraternal  towards  all  tlic  followers  of  Christ,  and 
he  delighted  to  reciprocate  with  them  all  the  offices  of  Christian  love.  He 
told  me  that  he  was  as  really  united  in  heart  with  Christians  of  other  denom- 
inations, and  enjoyed  as  serene  and  happy  communion  M'ith  them,  as  with 
those  of  his  own. 

In  this  connection  permit  me  to  mention  what  took  place  during  my  last 
visit  to  him,  more  than  five  years  since.  In  the  village  of  Hamilton,  where 
he  lived,  there  was  a  Baptist  church,  and  a  Presbyterian  church,  and  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  to  be  administered  in  both  of  them  in  the  afternoon, 
instead  of  the  common  Sunday  service.  I  had  preached  in  the  Baptist  church 
in  the  morning,  and  was  to  administer  the  Sacrament  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  afternoon.  At  noon,  my  brother  told  me  that  he  intended  to 
go  with  me  to  the  Presbyterian  church.  I  said  to  him  that  I  should  be  glad 
to  have  him  with  me,  and  should  be  much  gratified  if  he  would  assist  me  in 
administering  the  Lord's  Supper.  "  I  have  no  objection,"  he  replied;  he  went 
and  sat  with  me  at  the  Sacramental  table.  After  I  had  introduced  the  ser- 
vice, and  administered  the  bread,  I  requested  him  to  address  the  church  and 
to  lead  in  the  next  prayer.  This  he  did,  giving  to  the  members  an  affection- 
ate and  faithful  exhortation,  and  then  offering  up,  with  great  fervency,  the 
usual  thanksgiving  and  supplication  before  the  distribution  of  the  cup.  In 
the  whole  service  there  was  nothing  to  show  that  he  M'as  a  Baptist,  except 
that,  while  he  joined  witli  us  in  h.art  in  commemorating  the  death  of  Christ, 
he  did  not  outwardly  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine.     He  had  a  large  and 


31G  BAPTIST. 

loving  heart,  and  he  embraced  in  cordial  fellowship  all  who  bore  the  image  of 
the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus. 

Under  the  repeated  bereavements  which  were  allotted  to  him,  and  under  all 
his  other  trials,  some  of  which  were  very  severe,  he  manifested  a  subdued 
and  quiet  spirit.  While  his  heart  was  bleeding  under  Divine  chastisement,  he 
found  relief  in  prayer,  and,  with  filial  confidence,  3nelded  himself  to  the  will 
of  his  Father  in  Heaven. 

In  my  brother's  religious  life,  there  was  a  long  succession  of  clouds  and 
darkness,  intermixed  with  great  serenity  and  joy.  My  impression  is  that  he 
attached  too  much  importance  to  particular  frames  of  mind,  and  thought  too 
little  of  tiic  habitual  course  of  his  life.  He  had  a  clear  and  often  a  distress- 
ing view  of  liis  inward  corruptions,  and  his  shortcomings  in  duty;  and,  in 
consequence  of  this,  he  trusted  less  and  less  in  himself,  and  more  and  more  in 
his  Saviour.  He  spoke  of  it  as  a  wonder  of  free  and  sovereign  grace  that  a 
sinner  Yiko  him  should  be  saved.  His  letters  were  characterized  b}"^  a  frater- 
nal and  devotional  spirit.  He  alwaj's  spoke  of  his  success  w'ith  all  lowliness 
and  meekness,  and  of  his  humble  hope  that,  through  boundless  grace,  he 
should  be  admitted  to  the  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 

Yours,  with  hearty  love  and  esteem, 

L.  WOODS. 


DANIEL  WILDMAN  * 

1791—1849. 

Daniel  Wildman  was  born  in  Danlmry,  Conn.,  on  the  lOtli  of  Decem- 
ber, 1764.  lie  was  a  son  of  Capt.  Daniel  Wildman,  whose  grandfather, 
Abrani  Wildman,  emigrated  from  the  North  of  England  to  this  country  in 
or  about  the  year  1683,  and  settled  in  Danbury,  where  the  family  have 
since  resided. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  tins  sketch  gave  liim  the  advantages  of  a 
good  common  education,  and  his  proficiency  was  highly  creditable  to  both 
his  industry  and  his  talents.  But  be  early  discovered  a  somewhat  way- 
ward dispojiition,  which  occasioned  his  fatlier  great  anxiety,  and  drew  from 
him  many  serious  admonitions,  wliich  were  not  altogether  Avithout  effect, 
though  they  seem  to  have  done  little  more  than  embarrass  him  in  liis  sinful 
course.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  his  mind  was  powerfully  wrought  upon  in 
respect  to  his  salvation,  and  for  several  months  he  kept  aloof  from  all 
scenes  of  gaiety,  and  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  serious  reflection  ;  but, 
not  finding  the  comfort  which  he  hail  expected,  he  resisted,  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded to  a  great  extent  in  banishing,  his  religious  impressions.  The  next 
two  years  he  spent  in  utter  carelessness,  with  the  exception  of  brief  inter- 
ruptions from  the  involuntary  workings  of  conscience ;  but,  at  the  end  of 
that  period,  when  he  was  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  a  more  deep  and 
decisive  work  was  commenced  in  his  heart,  which,  at  no  distant  period, 
resulted  in  his  indulging  the  hope  that  he  had  been  born  from  above.  His 
views  of  his  own  utter  unworthiness,  and  of  the  infinite  grace  and  excel- 
lence of  the  Gospel,  were,  at  this  period,  intense  and  well-nigh  overwhelm- 
*  MSS.  from  his  son, — Rev.  N.  Wildman,  and  Rev.  G.  Robins. 


DANIEL  WILDMAN.  317 

ing;  and  the  record  of  these  exercises,  which  he  made  shortly  after,  and 
which  still  remains,  shows  tliaL  his  CInistian  life  must  have  been  very  tlim- 
ough  in  its  beginning. 

Several  years  passed  after  this  change  in  Mr.  Wildman's  character 
before  he  devoted  himself  to  the  Christian  ministry;  and,  during  a  part  of 
the  time,  he  was  occupied  in  teaching  a  school.  He  was  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  Church  in  Danbury,  in  1791,  when  he  was  about  twenty-seven  years 
of  age.  He  commenced  his  labours  at  Plymouth,  Conn.  Here  he  con- 
tinued until  179G,  when  he  removed  to  Wolcott,  where  he  was  ordained, 
and  remained  two  years.  In  1798,  he  removed  to  Bristol,  and  commenced 
preaching  to  a  few  people,  in  a  chamber,  in  his  own  house  ;  but,  in  the 
progress  of  his  labours  here,  a  meeting-house  was  built,  and  tlie  church 
greatly  enlarged  and  strengthened.  In  1804,  he  removed  to  Middletown, 
Upper  Houses,  where  his  labours  were  attended  by  a  considerable  revival 
of  religion.  In  1805,  he  divided  his  labours  between  Middletown  and  the 
First  Church  in  Suffield  :  and  at  this  period  he  is  said  to  have  been  at  the 
zenith  of  his  power.  In  180G,  he  returned  to  Bristol,  where  he  laboured 
some  ten  or  twelve  years  longer  ;  thence  removed  to  Stratficld,  where  hu 
laboured  some  two  or  three  years  ;  and  thence  to  Bristol  again  ;  though, 
subsequently  to  this,  he  spent  some  portion  of  his  time  with  the  Stratficld 
Church.  In  the  year  1820,  he  preached  half  of  the  time  in  Carmel,  N. 
Y.,  and  baptized,  during  the  year,  about  three  hundred  persons.  After 
this,  he  spent  a  few  years  in  Licking  County,  0.,  but  in  1826  returned  to 
Connecticut,  and  was  settled  over  the  Church  in  New  London  for  about 
three  years,  in  one  of  which  the  church  received  about  seventy  to  its 
communion.  After  this,  he  laboured  successively  with  the  church  in 
Russell,  Mass.  ;  with  the  church  in  Meriden,  Conn.  ;  with  the  First  Church 
in  Norwich ;  and  finally  with  the  Church  in  Andover. 

The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  family  of  his  son,  who  resided 
at  Lebanon  ;  and,  though  he  was  so  blind  that  he  was  unable  to  read,  he 
continued  to  preach  occasionally  at  Lebanon  and  elsewhere  until  he  was 
eight}'  years  old.  His  last  sermon  was  especially  rich  in  evangelical  truth, 
and  was  delivered  with  great  pathos.  His  last  illness  was  brief,  and 
attended  with  little  sulfering.  For  some  time  before  his  death,  he  was 
frequently  heard  to  preach  regular  and  pathetic  discourses  in  his  sleep. 
He  died  at  his  son's  residence  at  Lebanon  on  the  21st  of  February,  1849, 
aged  eighty-five. 

Mr.  Wihlman  was  married  on  the  15th  of  August,  1791,  to  Mary  Weed, 
of  Plymouth,  Conn.  They  had  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  reached 
maturity,  and  made  a  public  profession  of  religion.  One  of  them,  the 
Rev.  Nathan  Wildman,  is  now  (1858)  the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Plainville,  Conn.      iMrs.  Wildman  died  in  April,  181G. 


FROM  THE  REV.  OURDON  ROBINS. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  April  9,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  I  was  well   acquainted   with    the  Rev.  Daniel  Wildman,  and 
am  happy  to  render  you  any  aid  in  my  power,  to  enable  you  to  give  a  faithful 
representation  of  him;   tliouj^h   the  circumstances  in  which  T  write  forbid  my 


318  BAPTIST. 

attempting  any  minute  delineation  of  his  character.     I  ■will  only  give  you  my 
impressions  concerning  him  as  a  preacher. 

And  I  can  truly  say  that  I  regarded  him  as  among  the  very  best  preachers 
of  his  day,  to  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  listen.  His  discourses  were 
evidently  framed,  not  to  please  the  car,  but  to  enlighten  the  understanding, 
to  move  the  conscience,  to  subdue  and  purify  the  heart.  They  were  dis- 
tinguished for  clear  and  consecutive  thought  and  logical  accuracy,  as  well  as 
for  forci))le  and  pungent  appeal,  and  sometimes  for  a  subduing  pathos.  It 
was  evidently  his  delight  to  preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified;  and  it  was  his 
privilege  to  see  man}"  gathered  into  the  church  as  the  fruit  of  his  labours. 
His  personal  appearance  was  fiivourable  to  the  general  effect  of  his  preaching. 
His  figure  was  commanding,  and  his  features  prominent,  and  not  prepossess- 
ing, when  in  repose;  but  when  lighted  up  by  some  great  evangelical  theme, 
his  face  would  sometimes  glow  with  such  effulgence  that  it  would  remind  you 
of  Closes  coming  down  from  the  Mount. 

He  was  present  at  a  ministers'  meeting  in  Hartford  County,  on  one  occa- 
sion, after  *he  was  very  far  advanced  in  j^ears.  He  had  listened  the  whole 
day  to  the  exercises  of  the  occasion,  which  consisted  partly  in  the  discussion 
of  some  important  topics  in  Theology.  There  was  a  rule  that  there  should 
be  a  sermon,  at  the  close  of  the  exercises,  in  the  evening;  and  it  fell  to  my 
lot  to  preach;  but  as  my  health  was  not  good,  and  T  was  desirous  of  hearing 
this  venerable  father  on  the  very  important  subjects  which  had  been  under 
discussion,  I  prevailed  upon  him  to  take  my  place.  On  his  consenting  to  my 
request,  he  said,  with  a  characteristic  smile, — <<  Well,  I  will  try  to  tell  the 
boys  how  the  matter  stands."  He  preached  a  sermon  nearly  two  hours  loug, 
which  was  an  epitome  of  the  entire  body  of  Divinity,  and  throughout  which 
he  spoke  with  perfect  ease  and  freedom,  showing  that  he  spoke  at  once  from 
a  well  furnished  mind  and  a  well  regulated  heart.  At  the  close,  a  most 
hearty  responsive  Amen  went  up  from  every  part  of  the  house.  This  was 
the  last  sermon  which  I  ever  heard  from  him,  and  the  impression  which  it 
made  upon  my  mind  still  remains  vivid. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  my  fraternal  regard. 

GURDON  ROBINS. 


FROM  THE    REV.  DANIEL  ATALDO. 

Syracuse,  March  3,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  doubt  not  there  are  many  persons  Avho  can  tell  you  more 
about  the  Ilcv.  Daniel  Wildman  than  I  can;  but  what  I  remember  concerning 
him  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  communicate.  Mj'  acquaintance  with  him  was 
limited  to  a  few  months  in  1806  or  1807,  which  he  spent  in  Suffield,  Conn. 
He  was  regarded,  at  that  time,  as  one  of  the  lights  of  his  denomination;  and 
he  Avas  there  b}'  request  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hastings,  minister  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  the  First  Pari.sh  of  the  town;  and,  though  my  residence  and  parish 
were  two  miles  West  of  that,  I  early  made  his  acquaintance,  and  often  met 
him,  and  sometimes  heard  him  preach,  while  he  was  in  that  neighbourhood. 
He  attracted  ver}'  considerable  attention  from  persons  of  all  classes,  and  had, 
no  doubt  deservedly,  the  reputation  of  being  much  more  than  an  ordinary 
man. 

In  person,  as  I  remember  him,  he  was  rather  above  the  middle  size,  of 
symmetrical  proportions,  and  of  a  countenance  expressive  of  thought,  intelli- 
gence, and  firmness.  His  movements  were  free  and  easy,  and  his  Avhole  air 
that  of  a  man  who  felt  that  he  realized  that  human  life  was  designed  for 
higher  purposes  than  mere  animal  or  even  intellectual  indulgence.  He  seemed 
to  be  truly  earnest  in  his  Master's  work.     He  preached  very  often  during  his 


DANIEL  WILDMAN.  319 

stay  in  our  neighbourhood,  and  his  preaching  was  largely  attended,  not  only 
by  persons  belonging  to  his  own  comnninion,  but  by  other  denominations. 
His  manner  in  tlie  pulpit  was  simple  and  natural,  and  much  more  cultivated 
than  tliat  of  the  Bajitist  clergy  generally  in  his  day.  And  the  same  was  true 
of  his  discourses.  Thougli  not  written,  they  were  cvidentl}"  well  premedi- 
tated, and  showed  a  disciplined  and  logical  mind.  His  text  was  the  true 
index  to  his  subject,  and  his  object  seemed  to  be  to  bring  out  the  very  mean- 
ing of  the  Spirit  in  the  most  perspicuous,  and  at  the  same  time  tlie  most 
forcible,  manner  he  could.  His  voice  was  not  remarkable  for  compass,  but 
was  pleasant  and  sufficiently  varied  in  its  inllexions  to  give  effect  to  whatever 
sentiment  he  wished  to  convey.  The  matter  of  his  di.scourses  was  intensely 
evangelical;  and  this  no  doubt  was  one  secret  of  the  interest  which  his 
preaching  awakened. 

In  private  intercourse  Mr.  Wildman  was  familiar  and  agreeable,  yet  alwa3's 
sufficiently  dignified.  He  was  understood  to  hold  some  peculiar  views  in 
regard  to  God's  covenant  of  grace  with  men;  and  when  he  preached  for  me,  I 
gave  him  a  text  which  was  designed  to  develop  them;  but  his  discourse  was 
throughout  in  strict  accordance  with  the  accredited  orthodoxy  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

The  above  is  all  that  I  remember  concerning  him,  that  would  be  likely  to 
be  to  your  purpose;  and  even  that  you  must  take  with  all  the  allowance  to 
be  made  for  a  man  who  lacks  but  a  few  months  of  having  completed  his 
ninety-sixth  year. 

Truly  yours, 

DANIEL  WALDO. 


WILLIAM  BATCHELDER. 

1792—1818. 

FROM  MISS  ELIZABETH  P.  PEABODT. 

Boston,  September  5,  1854. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  have  not  forgotten  my  promise,  but  it  was  not  until 
yesterday  tliat  I  could  find  a  moment  to  see  Mr.  Batchclder's  daugliter, 
whom  I  wished  to  hear  talk  of  her  father  again,  and  repeat  those  anec- 
dotes by  which  she  illustrates  a  character,  whose  delineation,  as  it  seems 
to  mis,  would  form  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  your  work,  and 
one  from  which  most  important  instruction  may  he  derived  for  the  profes- 
sion. For  it  shows  that  the  original  apostolic  fervour,  single-heartedness, 
and  many-sided  activity,  with  utter  self-abnegation,  is  possible  in  this  age 
of  the  world. 

If  any  man  was  ever  made  of  porcelain  clay,  it  was  Mr.  Batchelder. 
His  personal  beauty  was  very  great.  It  was  the  common  remark  of  those 
conversant  with  the  great  works  of  art  of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  he 
recalled  one  of  the  master  pieces  that  represented  the  Saviour  ;  and,  in 
going  among  the  hills  and  woods  of  ISIaine  and  New  Ilampsliire,  where  he 
laboured  so  assiduously  and  ardently  for  the  best  years  of  his  life,  the  old 
people,  who  never  saw  a  work  of  art.  will  tell  you  that  Mr.  Batchcl- 
der's countenance  seemed  like  that  of  the  blessed  Jesus  !  His  hair  and 
eyes  were  of  the  colour  of  Daniel  Webster's,  with  whom  he  was  connected 


320  BAPTIST. 

by  the  Batchclder  Llood ;  but  his  head  was  higher  and  lighter,  and  his 
neck  longer,  and,  on  account  of  frequent  nervous  headaches,  brought  on  by 
the  slightest  colds,  he  allowed  his  beautiful  black  hair  to  grow  long,  which 
fell  in  close  ringlets  in  his  neck,  nearly  to  his  shoulders. 

I  remember  once  going  into  the  Boston  Athenaeum  with  his  daughter, 
when  Cole's  picture  of  Christ  sitting  comforted  after  the  temptation,  was 
on  exhibition,  and  she  was  transfixed  before  it  with  great  expression  of 
emotion.  As  soon  as  she  found  her  voice,  she  said  to  me, — "  That  head 
and  countenance  are  exactly  like  father's." 

But  his  fine  temperament  of  body,  and  his  brilliant  qualities  which 
would  have  made  l;im  the  greatest  ornament  of  life,  were  wholly  unaccom- 
panied with  that  sickly,  sentimental  exaction  of  others,  which  often 
weakens  the  manliness  of  men  of  this  fine  order  of  genius,  and  leaves 
them  to  live  a  life  of  complaint  and  querulousness.  Mr.  Batchelder,  with 
all  his  sensibility,  always  appeared  as  a  Power. 

I  will  begin  by  showing  the  beautiful  wild  stock  of  nature,  on  which  was 
engrafted  this  rare  scion  of  Heavenly  Grace. 

William  Batchelder,  a  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Susanna  (Crosley) 
Batchelder,  was  born  in  Boston,  March  25,  1768,  His  father  was  one  of 
seven  brothers, — all  Deacons  in  Congregational  churches.  His  maternal 
gi'andfathcr  was  Deacon  of  Church  Green,  then  called  the  New  South, 
where,  afterwards,  Dr.  Kirkland,  Mr.  Thacher,  Dr.  Greenwood,  and  Dr. 
Young  successively  ministered. 

His  parents  were  wealthy,  but  both  of  them  died  within  a  week  of  each 
other,  in  1781,  leaving  William  thirteen  years  of  age.  The  estate  was  left 
to  be  settled  by  a  neighbour  and  intimate  friend,  who  was  made  executor 
of  the  estate,  and  guardian  of  the  children,  by  his  father.  A  destructive 
fire,  immediately  after,  laid  waste  the  estates  of  both  Mr.  Batchelder  and 
tlie  guardian,  destroying  a  large  quantity  of  important  papers,  and  by  an 
extraordinary  fatality  the  guardian  died.  William  chose,  at  this  time,  to 
go  to  the  house  of  a  relative  in  the  upper  part  of  New  Hampshire,  where  he 
supposed  he  might  have  leisure  to  study,  which  was  already  a  decided  pas- 
sion with  him. 

But  he  was  presently  shocked  by  the  tone  of  this  family,  which  seemed 
to  him  to  1)0  singularly  irreflective,  and  wholly  given  to  enjoying  the  goods 
of  this  world  in  the  form  of  good  eating.  He,  therefore,  determined  to 
leave  thcni  ;  and,  as  he  afterwards  said,  wishing  to  break  in  upon  the  dul- 
ness  of  their  life  by  at  least  a  little  inconvenience,  that  might  stir  them  out  of 
their  absolute  indolence  with  the  question  of  "What  is  it?" — the  last 
thing  he  did  before  he  left  was  to  go  on  the  top  of  the  house,  and  stop  up 
the  chimney.  He  next  went  to  liis  grandfather  Batchelder's,  who  was  a 
wealthy  farmer,  and  also  had  a  manufactory  of  iron  ware,  in  which  he 
employed  many  foreign  workmen.  Wliile  William  was  there,  one  of  these 
was  killed  by  an  accident  ;  and,  during  the  last  few  hours  of  his  life,  Wil- 
liam sat  by  his  bedside,  talking  to  him  of  death  and  the  world  to  come. 
He  talked  as  a  Protestant,  and  perhaps  the  workmen  were  Catholics  ;  but 
at  any  rate  this  talk  offended  them  ;  and,  after  the  Funeral,  when  the  old 
man  had  sent  them  all  to  their  rooms  to  meditate  on  death  and  judgment, 
while  he  himself  was  devoutly  reading  the  Scriptures  at  home,  the  workmen, 


WILLIAM  BATCIIELDER.  321 

gathering  in  one  of  the  rooms,  called  AVilliaiu  to  tlioiii,  ami  tola  liini  that  they 
were  going  to  punish  him  for  what  he  hud  said  to  their  dying  friend.  They 
proceeded  to  undress  him  and  wrap  him  in  a  winding  sheet,  and  stretch  him 
out  on  the  boards  upon  which  the  corpse  had  been  laid,  and  there  they  bound 
him  down  like  a  corpse,  and  left  him,  as  it  were,  for  the  night.  Neverthe- 
less, every  now  and  then,  they  would  come  in  with  a  light,  and  look  at  him, 
as  if  watching  the  dead. 

He  amused  himself  with  drumming  with  his  fingers, — the  only  motion  he 
could  make  ;  and  had  strength  enough  of  mind  to  resist  the  ghastly  impres- 
sion, which  might  have  been  permanently  injurious  to  his  nervous  system, 
had  not  his  courage  been  as  great  as  his  imagination  was  excitable.  In  the 
morning  he  was  released,  but  the  whole  thing  was  so  painful  to  him  that  ho 
did  not  care  to  expose  himself  to  any  repetition  of  the  same  kind  of  tricks, 
while  he  was  too  generous  to  tell  his  grandfather,  who  would,  he  felt  cer- 
tain, have  discharged  all  the  workmen,  as  sacrilegious,  for  thus  trifling  with 
the  semblance  of  death.  lie  concluded,  therefore,  to  leave  in  silence,  and 
he  walked  off  the  next  day,  and,  after  a  time,  arriving  in  Amlover,  he 
offered  himself  to  a  blacksmith  as  apprentice,  whose  good  wife  took  him 
into  the  house,  on  his  representing  himself  as  an  orphan  and  destitute. 

Here  it  was  his  fancy  to  play  a  singular  prank.  The  old  woman  offered 
to  teach  him  to  read,  and  the  Catecliisni ;  and  he  assented  with  alacrity. 
The  Catechism  was  easily  taught  by  rote  ;  but  the  stupidity  about  learning 
his  letters  seemed  intense.  Nevertheless  he  was  a  very  great  favourite 
with  the  old  woman;  for  his  disposition  was  very  sweet,  his  bodily  activity 
great,  and  his  individuality  altogether  singular^  attractive.  One  day  the 
old  woman  observed  on  the  clean  white  pannel  over  the  fire-place,  a  verse  of 
poetry,  in  an  elegant  handwriting,  and  asked  who  wrote  it;  to  which  one  of 
the  men  replied  that  he  saw  William  writing  it.  She  said, — "Pshaw,  William 
cannot  read  his  letters  ;"  but  to  her  utter  bewilderment,  and  even  vexation, 
William,  who  was  appealed  to,  did  not  deny  it.  No  explanation  was  pos- 
sible, and  he  did  not  attempt  any  ;  but,  suddenly  struck  with  a  sejise  of 
having  insulted  her  kindness,  he  felt  that  he  could  not  stay  to  brook  her 
reproaches  ;  and,  resorting  to  his  usual  mode  of  cutting  short  difficulties, 
left  immediately. 

He  wandered  off  till  he  came  to  the  Merrimack  lliver,  where  he  saw  a 
man  on  a  raft  going  down  the  river:  he  called  to  him  and  asked  for  a  pas- 
sage, and  the  man  took  him  on.  As  he  passed  Haverhill,  over  against  the 
IJaptist  meeting-house,  where  he  afterwards  ministered,  he  saw  upon  the 
hauks  the  congregation  assembled  to  witness  an  act  of  Baptism  by  immer- 
sion. Is  it  not  quite  possible  that  this  expressive  symbol,  entering  in 
among  the  images  of  his  mind,  at  this  eventful  period  of  his  life,  may  have 
lain  there  silently  working,  as  a  word  of  the  great  Truth,  which  subse- 
quently called  him  from  death  unto  life  1 

Having  arrived  at  Newburyport,  he  sought  employment  as  cabin  boy  in 
a  Lettre  de  Marque  of  twenty-two  guns,  which  was  going  to  Cape  Fran- 
(,'ois,  Porto  Rico,  for  salt.  It  was  now  1783;  and  when  three  days  out, 
they  fell  in  with  a  Bermuda  Privateer  and  had  a  battle.  On  this  occasion 
William  displaj'ed  undaunted  courage  and  zeal  in  the  management  of  a 
swivel  on  the  main  top  ;  and  gained  great  esteem  of  the   ship's  company. 

Vol.  VI.  41 


322  BAPTIST. 

The  Captain  and  mate  were  excellent  persons,  and  became  very  much 
attached  to  the  beautiful,  talented,  active  and  self-relying  boy  ;  and  set  him 
to  keep  the  reckoning  of  the  ship,  as  he  was  a  good  mathematician,  and  had 
even  studied  the  application  of  mathematics  to  navigation,  while  a  school 
boy  in  Bo.-^ton.  A  storm  now  drove  them  into  the  Grulf  of  jMexico,  and 
several  of  the  crew  were  washed  overboard  by  terrific  seas,  and  among 
others,  the  Captain  himself.  After  gi-eat  pains,  he  at  last  reached  Cape 
Frangois,  the  ship's  destination. 

While  there,  William  and  four  sailors  were  sent  in  a  long  flat  boat, 
twenty  miles  along  the  coast  for  the  salt.  This  boat  was  upset  on  the 
Westerly  end  of  the  Island,  and  lost,  and  they  all  had  to  swim  ashore, 
which  was  nearly  a  mile  off,  and  in  a  place  generally  infested  with  sharks  ; 
but  none  molested  them.  When  they  got  upon  shore,  tlie  question  arose, 
which  way  they  should  go  to  reach  the  ship  ;  and  William  was  quite  sure 
of  one  route,  while  the  sailors  took  an  opposite  direction.  He  was  without 
hat,  jacket  and  shoes,  having  lost  in  the  sea  every  thing  but  shirt  and  pan- 
taloons. After  walking  many  hours,  he  went  up  a  rising  ground,  and 
reached  the  top  just  as  the  sun  was  setting.  Here  he  was  startled  by  see- 
ing a  multitude  of  human  beings  gazing  upon  the  sun  ;  and,  after  some 
observation,  he  found  they  were  performing  rites  of  worship  to  that  lumi- 
nary. These  were  savage  in  tlieir  character.  His  daughter  has  heard  him 
describe  this  scene  to  brother  ministers  at  his  own  fireside,  and  the  strong 
impression  it  made  on  his  imagination.  He  was  somewhat  alarmed  with 
respect  to  his  own  reception  among  thej^e  Pagans,  but  he  needed  refresh- 
ment, and  concluded  to  go  down  the  hill  to  a  small  hut  which  he  saw  at  its 
foot,  and  see  what  he  could  do  by  the  sign  language  to  conciliate  some  hos- 
pitality, and  learn  the  way  to  Cape  Frangois.  In  going  into  the  hut,  he 
saw  lying  on  the  floor  a  gigantic  looking  man,  all  rags  and  shaggy,  who  was 
not  a  negro,  but  seemed  a  savage  of  a  peculiar  species.  William,  however, 
addressed  him  with  gestures,  on  which  the  creature  rose,  gazed  at  liim  :i 
moment,  and  then  rushed  forward,  and  clasped  him  in  his  arms.  Mr. 
Batchelder,  in  telling  this  story,  used  to  say  that  he  really  believed,  for 
the  moment,  it  was  the  devil,  who  had  caught  him  at  last,  in  punishment 
for  all  his  wickedness  (which,  however,  consisted  in  nothing  more  than  sucli 
freaks  as  have  been  related  above  ;  for  he  was  singularly  free  from  vieiou- 
propensity.)  But  presently  the  words, — "  William  Batchelder,  don't  you 
know  Pedro  ?  " — undid  the  mystery  in  part.  It  was  a  Portuguese  sailor, 
once  shipwrecked  in  the  harbour  of  Boston,  to  whom,  in  his  extremity, 
AVilliam  had  administered  Christian  charity,  some  years  before,  as  almoner 
of  his  grandfatlier  Crosley.  The  revulsion  of  feeling  was  so  gre^t  that  he 
nearly  fainted  ;  but  he  was  tenderly  cared  for  by  the  grateful  sailor,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  guinea,  which  Pedro  gave  him,  got  back  to  the 
place  where  the  ship  lay.  The  sense  of  a  Divine  Providence  was  brought 
home  to  his  heart  with  great  power  by  this  singular  incident. 

The  sailors  whom  he  had  left  to  take  their  difl'erent  route,  did  not  get 
back  till  some  days  afterwards.  They  then  loaded  their  ship,  and  returned 
towards  Newburyport.  It  happened,  however,  that  tlie  mate,  who  was 
serving  as  Captain,  died  on  his  way  home,  and,  although  William  was  not 
sixteen  years  old,  he  selected  him  as  the  only  one  of  the   crew  capable  of 


WILLIAM  BATCIIELDER.  323 

navigating  the  ship,  and  his  last  words  besought  tlie  sailors  to  ohoy  him 
implicitly.  Thus  installed  as  Captain,  William  steered  the  vessel  home 
safely,  for  which  he  was  handsomely  paid  by  the  grateful  owners. 

He  now  determined  to  return  to  study,  and  actually  made  some  advance 
in  medical  science.  But  his  mind  had  been  very  deeply  impressed  with  the 
remarkable  Providence  which  had  seemed  to  watch  over  bis  life,  and  ho 
linally  resolved  to  study  Theology,  though  rather,  perhaps,  with  the  idea  of 
knowing  what  was  true,  than  with  the  purpose  of  preaching.  Among  his 
papers  is  found  a  memorandum  of  the  extraordinary  course  of  reading  he 
took  up,  comprising  not  only  all  the  leading  writers  of  the  several  sects  of 
Christianity,  but  even  the  principal  Infidel  writers. 

But,  before  entering  on  this  portion  of  his  life,  I  cannot  but  pause  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  remarkable  character  the  above  account  exhibits, 
especially  the  self-dependance  and  irtdependence,  the  fulness  of  life,  the 
adventurous  spirit,  the  calm  sense  of  inward  power.  He  had  nover  yet 
doubted  that  he  had  wealth,  upon  which  he  should  finally  fall  back — he  now 
saw  that  it  was  gone  irretrievably,  but  he  felt  that  there  was  that  within 
himself  out  of  which  he  could  live.  His  conversion  to  the  Baptist  per- 
suasion, even  to  the  Christian  life,  was  not  brought  about  by  any  ministra- 
tion of  others,  but  his  studies  at  last  led  him  to  the  Bible  as  the  original 
fountain,  or  at  least  the  sure  stream  from  the  fountain  of  God.  Drinking 
there  with  the  fulness  of  youthful  life,  and  with  the  fresh  sensibility  of  an 
exquisitely  organized  heart,  not  without  some  wide  observation  of  men  in 
actual  life  and  in  the  world  of  books,  he  came  to  that  absolute  humility, 
which  is  man's  only  legitimate  attitude  before  the  majesty  of  God's  law, 
and  the  ineffable  beauty  of  Christ's  love  ;  and  seeing  that  human  nature  of 
itself  is  nothing  but  "life  in  death,"  lie  threw  himself  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  and  was  buried  in  that  Baptism,  out  of  which  the  children  of  Adam 
may  rise  one  with  Christ  to  the  Father,  to  go  forth  the  fervent  single-hearted 
apostle  of  the  Crucified  to  those  liis  Master  had  died  to  save.  Mr.  Batchel- 
der,  in  the  midst  of  the  cares  of  a  family  of  his  own,  of  a  parish  with 
whose  every  progressive  interest  he  identified  himself,  indeed  of  humanity 
itself,  so  far  as  it  could  be  compassed  by  his  immense  Christian  energy,  was 
truly  an  example  of  living  above  the  world,  while  he  lived  in  it.  He 
showed  his  full  reception  of  the  benefits  of  his  Saviour's  love  by  the  bounty 
with  which  he  spread  the  glad  tidings,  deeming  it  an  honour  and  glory  to 
work  as  well  as  suffer  for  the  cause  of  causes. 

For  the  several  first  years  of  his  ministry,  he  preached  without  settle- 
ment, in  the  manner  of  the  old-fashioned  Baptists.  On  the  29th  of  Novem- 
ber,* 1796,  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  a  Church  at  Berwick,  his  principle 
of  decision  as  to  locality  being,  as  he  himself  said,  to  find  "the  lea--t 
attractive  place,  where  the  greatest  good  could  be  done."  At  Berwick, 
his  salary  consisted  of  a  small  farm  and  house,  and  the  services  of  a  man 
servant  abroad  and  a  woman  servant  at  home.  Here  he  worked  on  his 
farm,  kept  school  for  children  in  the  day,  and  adults  in  the  evening,  preached 
at  various  localities  within  several  miles  three  times  on  Sunday,  and  some- 
times in  the  week  days.  The  story  of  his  wonderful  ministratiojis  of  the 
Gospel  is  the  cherished  tradition  of  the  whole  country  around  Berwick. 
•  Another  account  says,  the  14th  of  August. 


324  BAPTIST. 

His  daughter  tells  many  anecdotes,  showing  how  he  educated  his  children 
to  economy  and  generosity  at  once  ;  how  infinitely  he  was  removed  above 
complaining  of  poverty  ;  and  how  his  versatile  talent,  applied  to  every 
species  of  labour,  supplied  the  house  with  comforts.  On  one  occa.sion  lu; 
made  a  sleigh,  going  to  the  workshops  of  mechanics  to  make  the  different 
parts,  and  taking  this  occasion  of  intercourse  to  establish  a  gracious  influ- 
ence over  their  minds.  There  was  no  office  of  usefulness  so  humble  that 
he  could  not  perform  it,  and  ennoble  it  with  a  gracious  dignity.  For  in 
this  intercourse,  so  various,  he  always  presei'ved  the  dignity  of  genuine 
superiority.  Ardent  and  independent  as  he  was  in  youth,  he  never  seemed 
to  descend  to  the  arena  of  personal  altercation  in  his  maturity,  under  any 
provocation  Avhatever.  From  the  time  he  felt  constrained  to  preach  the 
Grospel  of  Christ,  he  seemed  lifted  forever  above  all  temptations  of  earthly 
strife.  Those  who  understand  the  composition  of  New  England  society  in 
the  country  towns,  well  know  how  to  appreciate  this.  On  one  occasion,  a 
Deacon  of  his  church,  having  wronged  and  maligned  him,  afterwards 
expressed  some  doubts  as  to  the  facts.  Mr.  Batchelder  immediately  went 
to  his  house  and  met  him  near  the  door.  The  Deacon  said  something  about 
going  half  way  to  meet  him.  "I  will  go  the  whole  way,"  said  Mr.  Batidi- 
clder. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  Mr.  Batchelder  was  invited  to  Haver- 
hill to  fill  an  important  place,  where  many  persons  distinguished  for  mind, 
position  and  wealth,  composed  the  orthodox  Congregational  Church.  He 
accepted  the  invitation  and  was  installed  on  the  4th  of  December,  1805. 
Here  his  salary  was  somewhat  larger,  and  his  activity  could  be  more  exclu- 
sively confined  to  his  profession.  And  I  must  tell  one  thing  more  to  slmw 
how  truly  he  was  above  the  temptations  of  the  w^orld. 

His  aunt,  Jane  Crosley,  had  married  an  English  officer  of  the  East  India 
Company,  and  carried  her  own  fortune  to  join  with  his  at  Madras.  She 
became  there  a  rich  widow;  and  when  she  died,  an  advertisement  called  for 
her  next  of  kin  to  go  to  England  and  receive  her  estate.  Mr.  Batcliolder 
never,  for  one  moment,  entertained  the  idea  that  he  could  leave  the  spiritual 
work  to  which  he  believed  he  had  a  special  call,  and  which  was  crowned 
with  such  successes,  to  go  and  get  earthly  wealth.  But  he  empowered  law- 
yers, and  sent  out  papers,  and  his  presence  was  necessary,  as  George  the 
Fourth  put  in  a  claim  on  the  ground  that  the  heir  did  not  appear  in  person. 
But  this  did  not  disturb  him  or  his  purpose.  The  property  was,  therefore, 
confiscated  to  the  Crownr- 

Now  observe  a  contrast.  He  had  taken  great  interest  in  Mrs.  Judson, 
and  her  husband's  missionary  enterprise  to  the  Plast,  though  he  had  nothing 
to  do  with  it  officially,  as  they  were  of  the  Orthodox  Congregationalists, 
and  he  was  a  Baptist.  But,  after  a  period,  the  news  came  from  India  tliat 
they  had  become  Baptists,  and  they  called  on  the  denomination  in  this 
country  to  send  them  comfort  and  aid.  This  news  caused  in  Mr.  Batch- 
elder  all  the  excitement  which  the  news  of  personal  chances  for  fortune 
could  not  do.  His  family  describe  the  peace  and  rapture  that  illumined 
his  countenance,  the  energy  with  which  he  brought  all  things  to  bear,  that 
he  might  go  to  Boston,  and  meet  his  brethren,  and  commune  upon  ways 
and  means   to   answer  this   Divine    call,   as   he   believed   it.     Grcntlvbv 


WILT.IAM  UATCllKLDKR.  325 

means    of  liis  personal    cnorg)^  the    Baptist    Mission   to    tlic    East   had  its 
organization. 

He  also  lost  his  life  by  the  zeal  with  wliicli,  in  the  winter  of  1817-18,  he 
went  about  among  the  Baptists  of  3Iaine  to  raise  funds  to  establish  Water- 
ville  Tiieologieal  Seminary  and  College.  Strongly  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  this  institution,  he  was  the  most  sueces^ful  of  agents  lo 
raise  cnthusia.«m  for  it  and  money.  His  success  carried  him  beyond  his 
personal  power,  and  he  took  a  violent  cold,  resulting  in  a  lung  fever,  which 
carried  him  oflF  on  the  8th  of  April,  1818,  at  the  age  of  fifty-one. 

On  the  day  of  his  Funeral,  all  business  was  suspended  at  Haverhill. 
The  shops  were  shut,  and  all  the  people  of  all  sects  came  forth  to  mourn 
for  what  was  felt  to  be  a  general  public  calamity. 

Mr.  Batchelder  seldom  wrote  out  a  sermon.  There  are  among  his 
papers  numerous  skeletons  of  sermons  which  show  tliat  he  premeditated 
what  he  delivered  ;  but  his  fluent  eloquence  required  no  previous  writing 
out  in  detail. 

His  hearers  would  testify  that,  however  comfortable  they  were  in  mind, 
as  they  sat  down  to  hear  him,  he  inevitably  tore  to  pieces  all  their  robes 
of  self-righteousness,  and  left  them  naked,  and  imploring  for  the  garment 
of  salvation  at  the  hands  of  Christ,  the  lledeemer. 

The  exaltation  he  produced  in  his  hearers,  he  also  often  produced  in 
himself.  One  evening,  after  baptizing  a  crew  of  sailors  in  a  rocky  nook 
of  the  shores  of  the  ocean,  near  Berwick,  he  said  to  liis  friends  that  it 
seemed  to  him  that  the  rocks  were  covered  with  supernatural  lights,  and 
these  continued  on  the  roadsides  and  trees  all  his  way  home. 

A  flood  of  exaltation  also  descended  upon  his  dying  hour,  and  his  last 
words  were, — "I  see  this  glory,"  and  then  a  shout — "Glory."  'This  is 
the  more  noteworthy,  as  he  was  habitually  the  opposite  of  talkative  or 
demonstrative.     A  sweet,  quiet  dignity  characterized  his  usual  demeanour, 

Mr.  Batchelder's  only  publications,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  are  a  Sermon 
preached  at  Buxton,  oMe.,  at  the  Ordination  of  Abner  Flanders,  1802,  and 
a  Masonic  Discourse  at  Danvers,  1810.  They  evince  very  considerable 
ability. 

Mr.  Batchelder  was  married,  in  1790,  to  Huldah,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Sanborn,  a  Deacon  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Deerficld,  N.  II. 
They  had  several  children.  Mrs.  Batchelder  died  in  1840,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-nine. 

Yours  truly, 

ELIZABETH  P.  PEABODY. 


FROM  THE  REV.  IRAII  CUASE,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR   IN    THE    NEWTON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY. 

Boston,  May  25.  1855. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  I  cherish  a  very  cndearinp:  recollection  of  tlie  Rev.  "Wil- 
liam Ratcdiclder.  If  T  mistake  not,  I  met  with  him  first  in  this  city  at  Dr. 
Baldwin's.  During;  my  residence  at  Andover,  as  a  student  in  the  Theological 
Seminary,  my  acquaintance  with  him  was  increased.  I  can  never  forget  the 
paternal  kindness  witli  which,  when  I  was  exceedingly  ill,  lie  invited  and  con- 
veyed me  to  his  house  in  Haverhill.     Nor  can  I  forget  the  cheerful  and  timely 


326  BAPTIST. 

Jitlcntions  v.hieh  I  theie  received.     Under  God,  they  contributed  much  to  the 
re.>toration  of  my  health,  and  they  made  a  deep  impression  on  my  heart. 

When  mjf  studies  ^.t  Andover  Avere  completed,  he  Avas  about  to  make  a 
journey  to  the  State  of  Maine,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Trustees  of  the  Baptist  Literary  and  Theological  Seminary  in  that 
State.  He  invited  me  to  accompany  him,  and  gave  me  a  seat  in  his  chaise. 
We  passed,  without  haste,  through  the  Avide  field  where,  in  earlier  da3-.s,  he 
had  laboured  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  Everj'^where  he  was  received  with 
the  warmest  Christian  love.  ITe  was  welcomed  as  a  father,  and  the  people 
came  in  crowds  to  hear  him  preach. 

The  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  at  the  house  of  Governor  King,  in  Bath, 
and  the  principal  business  was  to  locate  the  Seminary.  It  Avas  delightful  to 
see  Mr.  Batchelder  amidst  the  loAcd  and  venerated  men  there  assembled;  Avith 
many  of  Avhom  he  had  toiled  and  prayed  long  before  they  had  thought  of  CA'cr 
being  permitted  to  meet  on  such  an  occasion  as  now  called  them  together. 
Watervillc  Avas  selected  as  the  place  for  the  incipient  Seminarj-,  Avhich  has 
since  become  Waterville  College. 

During  the  journey,  he  availed  himself  most  happily  of  the  ample  oppor- 
tunities afforded  for  conversation.  He  related  many  instructive  incidents 
connected  Avith  the  early  historj^  of  the  churches  Avithin  the  sphere  of  his 
labours.  His  Avhole  deportment,  as  it  came  under  my  observation,  was  kind, 
courteous  and  cheerful.  ]  t  gaA-e  '<  lucid  proof  that  he  was  honest  in  the  sacred 
cause,"  and  that  he  felt  the  importance  of  doing  good  in  his  daily  intercourse 
with  men,  as  Avell  as  in  his  ministrations  from  the  pulpit. 

Since  the  time  referred  to,  nearly  forty-one  years  have  passed  aAvaj'.  I 
saw  him  no  more.  For,  upon  our  return  to  HaA'erhill,  I  hastened  from  Massa- 
chusetts to  enter  on  my  duties  as  a  Missionary  in  the  Western  part  of  Tii- 
ginia;  and  not  long  afterAvards  he  finished  his  career.  But  his  tall,  slender 
frame  and  his  expressiA'e  countenance  still  seem  to  be  before  me.  I  love  to 
think  of  him,  and  of  such  as  he  was.  It  is  adapted  to  aAvaken  gratitude  for 
the  Gospel,  to  purify  and  elevate  the  soul,  and  to  endear  the  hope  of  IleaA-en. 

Most  respectfully  yours, 

IK  AH  CHASE. 


ASA  MESSER,  D.  D.  LL.  D  * 

1702—1836. 

Asa  Messer,  son  oLjVsa  and  Ahiah  Mosser,  was  born  in  Methuen, 
Mass.,  in  the  year  1769.  His  father  was  a  farmer  on  the  banks  of  the 
Merrimack.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  left  the  town  school  in  his  native 
place,  and  Avent  to  live  at  Haverhill,  where  he  Avas  clerk  in  a  store  for 
nearly  a  year.  Having  given  up  his  clerkship,  he  studied  for  a  short  time 
under  the  instruction  of  the  llev.  Dr.  Ilczekiah  Smith,  of  Haverhill,  and 
then  went  to  Windham,  N.  H.,  Avhere  he  completed  his  preparation  fur 
College  under  the  Eev.  Mr.  Williams,  a  Scotch  clergyman,  Avho  was  in 
high  repute  for  both  talents  and  education.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
entered  Brown  University,  a  year  and  nine  months  in  advance.  He  gradu- 
ated in  1700  ;  and  his  reputation  for  scholarshiji  may  be  inferred  from  the 
•Prof.  Elton's  Memoir  of  Dr.  Maxcy. — MS.  from  Hon.  T.  Metcalf. 


ASA  MESSER.  327 

fact  tluvt  the  next  year  he  was  chosen  a  Tutor  in  his  Alma  Mater.  In  this 
oiricc  he  continued  till  17UG,  when  he  waselectcil  Professor  of  the  Learned 
Languages  in  the  same  institution.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence  in  1792,  and  was  ordained  in  1801. 
In  1799,  he  was  elected  to  the  Professorship  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy,  and  continued  in  it  till  the  resignation  of  President  Maxcy  in 
1802,  when  he  was  appointed  President  of  the  College.  After  having 
heen  connected  with  the  institution,  as  a  pupil  and  an  officer,  for  nearly 
forty  years,  he  resigned  the  office  of  President  in  the  year  1826.  He 
preached  occasionally,  both  while  Professor  and  President,  for  congrega- 
tions of  diiferont  denominations.  His  sermons  were  always  written,  and 
delivered  with  the  manuscript  before  him.  After  retiring  from  the  Presi- 
dential chair,  he  was  elected  by  the  citizens  of  Providence,  for  several 
years,  to  important  civil  trusts,  which  he  discharged  with  ability  and 
fidelity.  His  last  years  were  occupied  chiefly  in  superintending  a  small 
farm,  in  social  intercourse,  and  reading.  He  died  at  Providence,  October 
11,  183G,  aged  sixty-seven  years. 

President  Messer  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Brown  University  in  1806,  and  from  Harvard  University  in  1820; 
and  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  the  University  of  Vermont,  in  1812. 

He  was  married  to  Deborah  Angell,  and  had  four  children, — three 
daughters  and  one  son.  The  son  died  in  infancy.  The  second  daughter 
was  married  to  the  Hon.  Sidney  Williams,  of  Taunton,  Mass;  the  young- 
est married  the  Hon.  Horace  Mann,  of  Boston  ;  and  the  eldest  remains 
(1850)  unmarried.     His  widow  still  survives. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  President  Messer's  publications  : — A  Discourse 
delivered  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  at  the  Congregational  meeting-house  in 
the  First  Precinct  in  Rehoboth,  1798.  A  Discourse  delivered  in  the 
(Chapel  of  Rhode  Island  College  to  the  Senior  Class,  on  the  Sunday  pre- 
ceding the  Commencement,  1799.  An  Oration  delivered  at  Providence  in 
the  Baptist  meeting-house  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1803.  An  Address 
delivered  to  the  Graduates  of  Rhode  Island  College,  at  the  Public  Com- 
mencement, 1803.  An  Oration  delivered  before  the  Providence  Associa- 
tion of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  at  their  Annual  Election,  1803. 
An  Address  delivered  to  the  Graduates  of  Brown  University,  at  the 
Commencement,  1810.  A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Warren  (R.  I.) 
Association,  1812. 

Professor  Filton,  in  his  Memoir  of  President  Maxcy,  has  inserted  an 
Address  of  President  Messer  to  the  Graduates  of  Brown  University  at 
the  Commencement  in  1811 ;  stating,  however,  that  it  was  then  (1844) 
first  published  from  the  original  manuscript. 

FROM  THE  REV.  E.  A.  PARK,  D.  D. 

AnDOVER  TnEOLOGICAL  SeMINARTj  ) 

June  17,  1857.      S 
Dear  Sir:  I  cannot  remember  the   time  when  I  was  not  familiar  with  the 
countenance  of  President  Messer.     Before  I  entered   College  I  saw  him  every 
week,  and  while  I  was  a  member  of  College  I  saw  him  every  day,  and  no  one 
who  has  ever  seen  him  can  ever  forget  him. 


328  BAPTIST. 

His  individuality  \vas  made  unmistakable  by  his  phj'sical  frame.  This, 
while  it  was  above  the  average  height,  was  also  in  breadth  an  emblem  of  the 
expansiveness  of  his  mental  capacity.  A  "  long  head  "  was  vulgarly  ascribed 
to  him,  but  it  was  breadth  that  marked  his  forehead;  there  was  an  expres- 
sive breadth  in  his  maxillary  bones;  his  broad  shoulders  were  a  sign  of  the 
Aveight  which  he  was  able  to  bear;  his  manner  of  walking  was  a  noticeable 
symbol  of  the  reach  of  his  mind;  he  swung  his  cane  far  and  wide  as  he 
walked,  and  no  observer  would  doubt  that  he  was  an  independent  man;  he 
gesticulated  broadly  as  he  preached;  his  enunciation  y/as  forcible,  now  and 
then  overwhelming,  sometimes  shrill,  but  was  characterized  by  a  breadtli  of 
tone  and  a  prolonged  emphasis  which  added  to  its  momentum,  and  made  an 
indelible  impress  on  the  memory.  His  pupils,  when  they  had  been  unfaithful, 
trembled  before  his  expansive  frown,  as  it  portended  a  rebuke  which  would 
well-nigh  devour  them;  and  thej^  felt  a  dilating  of  the  whole  soul  when  they 
were  greeted  with  his  good  and  honest  and  broad  smile. 

That  his  mental  capabilities   outstretched   those   of  ordinary  men  might 
be  inferred  from  the  mere  record  of  his  life.     Before  he  fitted  for  College  he 
was  a  faithful  clerk  in  a  wholesale  grocery  store  at  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  left  the  College  with  high  honours.     For  delicate  phi- 
lological analysis  he  had  no  peculiar  aptitude;  yet,  one  year  after  his  gradua- 
tion, he  was  chosen  to  the  Classical  Tutorship  in  the  University  over  which 
the    accomplished    Maxcy  presided,    and    only  three  of  the    Alumni  of  the 
College  had  ever  been  elected  to  that  oflBce  before  him.     So  acceptable  were 
his  classical  instructions  that,  after  the  five  years  of  his  Tutorship,  he  was 
honoured   by  his  Alma   Mater  in  being  elected   her   first  Professor   of  the 
Learned  Languages.     After  a  creditable  service  of  three  years  in  this  office, 
he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosoph}^,  and  after  a 
still  more  honourable  career  of  three  years  in  this,  to  him,  more  congenial 
department,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Institution.     In  the  Presidential 
chair  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  sound  political  economist,  and  a  logical  and 
often  powerful  reasoner  in  various  branches  of  ethics.     He  was  born  in  the 
year  when  the  first  class  was  graduated  at  the  College;  seventeen  years  after- 
wards he  entered   the   Institution,  as  a  pupil;  and  after  the  lapse  of  onl}' 
twelve  years  from  the  day  when  he  ceased  to  be  a  pupil,  he  became  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  University.     He  was  then  but  thirt3'-thrce  years  old.     His  prede- 
cessor had  taken  the  Presidential  chair  at  the  still  earlier  age  of  twenty-four. 
For  a  man  of  thirty-three,  to  administer  an  office   so  recently  honoured  by 
Maxcy  and    Manning,  demanded   a   wide  expansion  of  mind  and  heart;  yet 
when  he  entered  on  this  high   station,  no  class  in  the  College  had  contained 
more  than  twenty-ciglit  members,  and  when  he  left  it,  he   had   instructed 
classes  of  forty,   forty-one,   forty-seven  and   forty-eight  pupils,  and  among 
them  many  scholars  eminent  in  church  and  state:  he  had  raised  the  finances 
of  the  College  to  a  prosperoois  condition,  and  had  added  depth  and  breadth  to 
the  groundwork  of  one  of  our  noblest  Universities.     He  was  only  fifty-.seven 
years  of  age  when  he  retired  from  Academic  life,  but  he  had  then  been  con- 
nected with  the  College  as  a  pupil  or  instructer  thirtj^-ninc  years.     During  all 
this  time  he  was  noted  for  a  round-about,  strong  sense,  for  a  vein  of  humour, 
if  not  of  broad  Avit,  for  a  terse  idiomatic  Saxon  style.     In  grave  counsel  few 
men  have  been  so  far-sighted   and   self-collected,   who   were   likewise   in  the 
social  circle  so  quick  at  repartee,  and  so  irresistibly  amusing.     I  have  seldom 
known  a  veteran  in   the  government  of  a   College,  who  was  so  strict  a  disci- 
plinarian,   so  clear-headed    a   diplomatist,   and   at  the   same   time   so  apt  in 
uttering  kindly  words  to  the  boys  whom  he  met  in  the  street,  so  ready  with 
a  cheering  proverb  or  a  sprightly  turn  with  the  care-worn  and  down-hearted. 
As  a  financier  he   was   sagacious  and    circumspect.     In  all  the   details  of 


ASA  MESSEU.  32'J 

business  lie  was  far  more  exact  than  olergynien  are  wont  to  be.  Punctuality 
iu  fullilling  engagements  was  one  of  his  most  noted  excellencies,  lie  was  an 
earnest  and  sonietiinos  a  conspicuous  politician.  His  fcUow-citizeus  were  glad 
to  honour  him  with  civil  ollices,  after  he  had  left  the  University.  A  seat  on 
the  l.ench  of  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  of  Rhode  Island  was  once  tendered 
to  him,  but  he  declined  accepting  it.  lie  laboured  in  the  service  of  free 
schools,  at  a  time  when  his  ellorts  were  imperatively  needed,  and  of  all 
charities  which  were  not  sectarian  he  was  a  discreet  friend.  He  knew  men. 
lie  understood  the  world.  His  original,  shrewd  maxims  are  not  yet  forgotten. 
In  his  Baccalaureate  Address  of  1811  he  said  to  the  Senior  Class,  "  Should 
you  choose  no  profession  at  all,  you  would,  having  no  stimulus,  be  likely  to 
live  with  no  industry  or  enterprise;  and  of  course  with  no  usefulness,  respect- 
ability or  satisfaction.  Should  you,  while  nature  would  give  you  on  ■  profes- 
sion, give  yourselves  another,  this  might  even  be  worse  than  none  at  all:  it 
might  keep  you  ever  struggling  both  against  wind  and  tide."  "  If  money  is 
your  object,  you  may  gain  it  better  by  ploughing  than  preaching."  j-Jppindix 
to  President  Maxcy's  Hemaiiis,  pp.  415,  418.  In  his  Baccalaureate  Address 
of  18UL)  he  said,  "  You  will  lind  most  men  alive  to  their  own  interest,  and  iu 
general  it  will  be  the  most  safe  to  commit  j'ourselves  to  them  only  so  far  as  that 
interest  may  induce  them  to  befriend  you."     Ibid,  p.,  440. 

It  is  as  a  Theologian,  that  President  Messer  is  in  the  truest  sense  a  study. 
He  felt  an  atlectionate  regard  for  Nathaniel  Emmons  and  for  John  Thornton 
Kirkland,  and  thus  illustrated  the  broadness  of  his  Catholicism.  Tough  as 
he  was  and  often  stern,  he  recoiled  from  religious  debate.  <«  You  should 
allow  nothing  but  a  sense  of  duty,"  he  advised  the  class  of  1811,  "  to  carry 
you  into  the  held  of  theological  controversy;  for  then  you  will  be  liable  to 
sacrihce  the  truth  of  (jod,  not  less  than  the  love  and  peace  of  men."  jJppai- 
dix  to  Prcs.  JIaxcy's  Jicinains,  p.  419.  Many  sharp  observers  have  regarded 
him  as  a  decided  and  thorough-going  Unitarian.  Some  have  looked  upon  him 
as  substantially  orthodox,  and  others  have  consigned  him  to  various  interme- 
diate positions. 

in  the  .seven  pamphlets  which  I  have  read  from  his  pen  there  is  no  decisive 
indication,  that  he  dilfered  iu  any  essential  doctrine  from  the  evangelical 
divines  of  New  England.  Perhaps  he  did  not  regard  himself,  at  that  period,  as 
coiijidtntbj  holding  any  opinion  which  was  at  variance  with  the  accepted  faith 
ijf  his  denomination.  His  early  education  had  been  acquired  on  the  banks  of 
the  Merrimack;  he  was  early  familiar  with  the  vague  terms  of  the  "Merri- 
mack theology,"  and  that  was  proverbially  for  from  the  high  Orthodox 
standard.  In  favour  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  L)r.  Mes.ser  uses, 
in  these  pamphlets,  the  most  unequivocal  language,  and  he  takes  a  strong  and 
bold  position  against  the  popular  infidelitj'  of  the  times.  The  first  of  those 
pamphlets  was  published  when  he  was  thirty  jcars  old,  and  is  entitled  "  A 
Discourse  delivered  in  the  Chapel  of  Rhode  Island  College  to  the  Senior  Class 
on  the  Sunday  preceding  their  Commencement,  1799."  Here  he  speaks  of 
the  Bible  as  i)roving  its  own  Divinity  by  "  the  way  of  salvation  which  it  dis- 
closes by  Jesus  Christ,"  and  says:  "No  where  can  we  lind  a  way  in  which 
such  imperfect,  sinful  creatures,  as  men  are,  can  be  just  with  God,  and  made 
happy  forever,  but  in  Him,  who  is  th"  way,  the  truth,  and  the  lifi-."  Pp.  8,  9. 
"You  have  no  way  to  obtain  his  smiles  but  through  the  merciful  interposi- 
tion of  his  glorious  Son."     P.  14. 

The  latest  of  Dr.  Messer's  pamphlets  was  published  when  he  was  forty- 
three  years  of  ago,  and  bears  the  title,  "A  Discour.se  delivered  before  the 
Warren  A.ssociation,  met  at  "Warren  on  Tuesday,  September  8th,  1812."  This 
Discourse,  from  the  text,  I.  Peter  v.  1, 4, — "  The  Elders  which  are  among  you," 
&c.,  is  an  historical  curiosity.     It  abounds  with  utterances  as  decisive  as  the 

Vol.  VI.  42 


330  BAPTIST. 

following:  "The  difference,  therefore,  between  friends  and  foes,  right  and 
wrong,  black  and  white,  is  not  more  striking  than  is  the  difference  between 
the  characteristics  of  other  men  and  of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  What  a  dif- 
ference between  a  crown  of  glory  and  a  lake  of  lire!  between  eternal  life  and 
eternal  death  !  l)etween  the  mansions  of  joy  and  the  dungeons  of  woe !  between 
the  songs  of  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord,  and  weejiing,  Availing,  and  gnashing 
of  teeth!  And  yet  this  is  the  difference  between  the  prospect  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ  and  of  other  men;  of  him  who  serveth  God,  and  of  him  who  serveth 
llim  not."     P.  18. 

Of  these  "  other  men,"  it  is  added:  "Their  condition  is  not  safe.  The 
most  awful  calamities  hang  over  them.  They  are  not  the  friends  of  God. 
They  are  the  enemies  of  God,  and  He  has  threatened  to  pour  out  on  them  the 
vials  of  his  wrath,  llemaining  as  they  are,  they  should  tremble  for  the  pros- 
pect before  them.  It  is  a  horrible  tempest.  It  is  tribulation  and  anguish,  it 
is  weeping,  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  It  is  everlasting  destruction  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power."    P.  8. 

How  can  these  men  be  made  sons  of  God  ?  "In  one  view,"  says  President 
Messer,  "  this  effect  lies  beyond  the  power  of  man.  It  is  not  of  him  that 
willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy.  Not  any 
thing  but  the  power  of  God  can  bring  sinners  to  repentance.  To  them  all  the 
preaching,  however  learned  or  eloquent,  which  the  Spirit  of  God  will  not 
apply,  is  nothuig  better  than  a  '  sounding  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.'  The 
preacher  must  ever  be  careful  to  exhibit  men  as  the  truth  exhibits  them,  fal- 
len, helpless,  perishing  sinners,  and  he  also  must  ever  be  careful  to  let  them 
know,  what  the  truth  will  let  them  know,  that  not  any  thing  but  the  mercy 
of  God  can  save  them:  but  that,  at  the  same  time,  this  mercy  is  rich  and  free, 
and  equal  to  the  salvation  of  the  very  chief  of  sinners.  Hence  the  truth 
v>'hich  the  Ekhr  is  bound  to  explain  and  enforce,  will  at  once  suggest  reforma- 
tions, revivals  of  religion; — such  blessed  effects  as,  since  this  Association  last 
assembled  in  this  place,  have  been  seen  in  Warren;  such  as,  for  the  last  seve- 
ral mouths,  have  been  seen  in  Harwich,  in  Barnstable  and  in  Providence,  and 
8uch  as,  at  this  very  time,  and  in  a  wonderful  manner,  may  be  seen  in  Bris- 
tol."   Pp.  10,  17. 

The  conflicting  rumours  with  regard  to  President  Messer  as  a  theologian, 
may  be  explained  b3^  supposing  that  he  moditied  his  views  as  he  studied  the 
Unitarian  controversy,  i  have  no  evidence  that  he  ever  abandoned  the  doc- 
trines, that  man  is  by  nature  entirely  devoid  of  love  to  God,  and  that  he  needs 
a  radical  change  of  heart  in  order  to  be  saved.  It  is  said  by  some  of  his  inti- 
mate friends,  that,  in  his  earlier  ministry,  he  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  a 
strictly  vicarious  atonement;  but  it  is  said  by  others  yet  more  intimate,  that, 
if  he  ever  believed  this  doctrine,  he  decidedly  abandoned  it  in  his  later  years. 
During  a  large,  perhaps  the  larger  part  of  his  public  life,  he  probably  adopted 
the  Arian  view  of  the  p"ci"son  of  Christ,  and,  in  the  main,  coincided  with  the 
General  Baptists  of  England,  more  nearly  than  with  any  other  denomination 
of  Christians.  AVhile  he  remained  President  of  Brown  University,  he  con- 
tinued to  attend  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence,  but  after  he  retired 
from  Academic  life  he  attended  a  Freewill  Baptist  Church.  He  considered 
himself  a  student  of  theology  until  the  day  of  his  death,  and  on  some  points 
did  not  pretend  to  have  fully  established  his  opinion.  It  was  therelore  a  ques- 
tion often  discussed,  and  never  fully  decided,  how  far  and  for  how  long  a  time 
he  doubted  or  disbelieved  various  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  faith. 

There  was  a  resemblance,  as  well  as  a  contrast,  between  the  theological 
career  of  President  ^laxcy  and  that  of  President  Messer.  Dr.  Maxcy  became 
more  and  more  orthodox,  while  he  remained  at  Brown  University;  Dr.  Messer 
less  and  less.     A  few  months  before  Dr.  Maxcy's  elevation  to  the  Presidencj', 


ASA  MESSER.  331 

he  wrote :  "  For  my  own  p;irt,  I  can  safely  say  that  I  liavc  never  been  disposed 
to  confine  myself  to  the  peculiar  tenets  of  any  sect  of  religionists  whatever. 
Great  and  good  men  have  appeared  among  all  denominations  of  Christians, 
and  1  sec  not  why  all  do  not  deserve  an  equal  share  of  attention  and  regard." 
"An  entire  coincidence  in  sentiment,  even  in  important  doctrines,  is  by  no 
means  essential  to  Christian  society,  or  the  attainment  of  eternal  felicity. 
ilow  man}-  are  there,  who  appear  to  have  been  subjects  of  regeneration,  who 
have  scarcely  an  entire  comprehensive  view  of  one  doctrine  in  the  Bible!" 
Maxcxfs  Remains,  pp.  149,  151.  Dr.  Messer  often  made  similar  remarks. 
He  was  a  Rhode  Islander  in  freedom  of  thought,  and  freedom  of  speech.  He 
has  given  his  own  autobiography,  to  some  extent,  in  his  letter  to  Rev.  William 
Richards,  D.  D.,  of  Lynn,  England.  It  was  doubtless  an  honest  letter,  but 
none  the  less  adroit  or  proiitable.  It  exhibits  Dr.  Messer  as  he  was,  an 
uncompromising  Independent  in  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  and  an  earnest  friend  of 
the  College  whose  finances  he  enriched,  and  in  whose  favour  ho  enlisted  the 
sympathies  of  the  (Jcneral  Baptists  of  England.  Dr.  Richards  Avas  a  pro- 
minent divine  among  the  General  Baptists,  and  to  him  the  far-seeing  President 
■writes  thus,  on  the  18th  of  September,  1818: 

"This  Literary  Institution  (Brown  University)  was  founded  by  men  who 
breathed  the  very  spirit  of  religious  freedom,  which  j'ou,  as  expressed  in  your 
letter,  breathe  yourself.  Though  the  charter  of  it  requires  that  the  President 
shall  forever  be  a  Baptis.t,  it  allows  neither  him,  in  his  official  character,  nor 
any  other  officer  of  instruction,  to  inculcate  any  sectarian  doctrine:  it  forbids 
all  religious  tests,  and  it  requires  that  all  denominations  of  Christians  behaving 
alike,  shall  be  treated  alike.  This  charter  is  congenial  with  the  whole  of  the 
civil  government  established  here  by  the  venerable  Roger  "Williams,  who 
allowed  no  religious  tests,  and  no  pre-eminence  of  one  denomination  over 
another;  and  none  has  here  been  allowed  unto  this  day.  This  charter  is  also 
congenial  with  the  present  spirit  of  this  State,  and  of  this  town.  Nothing 
here  would  be  more  unpopular  than  an  attempt  to  place  one  religious 
sect  above  another.  The  ancient  Baptist  Church  in  this  town  never  had  in  it, 
and  probably  never  will  have  in  it,  any  creed  but  the  word  of  God,  and  it  is 
very  large  and  very  nourishing.  Of  tlie  value  of  this  spirit  of  religious  free- 
doai,  no  man  perhaps  has  a  higher  estimation  than  I  myself.  1  abhor  a  bigot, 
and  1  should  be  unwilling  to  live  among  men  unwilling  that  I  should  think  for 
myself.  My  sentiments  on  this  subject  (if,  indeed,  it  may  be  lawful  for  a  man 
to  quote  himself,)  were  lately,  in  a  discourse  which  I  delivered  before  the 
Bible  Society  of  this  State,  expressed  in  the  following  words:  'Denomina- 
tional attachments,  I  know,  are  very  natural,  and  when  kept  within  the 
bounds  of  moderation,  they  are  very  commendable;  but  when  carried  beyond 
them,  they  become  bigotry,  and  bigotry  in  its  worst  form  is  a  fury  as  haggard 
as  the  worst  of  those  which  flew  from  the  box  of  Pandora.'  'Religious 
bigotry  indeed,  and  religious  tyranny,  both  belong  to  the  same  kennel,  and 
God  grant  that,  by  driving  them  back  to  their  native  dungeon,  Hible  Societies 
may  be  made  the  means  of  accelerating  the  progress  of  that  '  cliarity  which 
bearclh  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  cndureth  all 
things.' — These  thoughts  were  addressed  to  a  lal-ge  assembl}'  in  this  town, 
and  they  were  well  received.  Hence  you  ma}^  learn  a  little  of  the  town,  and 
also  of  me,  and  then  of  the  College,  and  this  little  I  hope  will  not  discourage 
your  design  of  becoming  one  of  its  generous  benefactors." 

These  words  of  Dr.  Messer  struck  the  right  chord  in  the  soul  of  Dr.  Rich- 
ards. Mr.  Evans,  the  biographer  of  Richards,  appends  to  them  the  following 
remark:  "  Gratitied  with  this  letter  of  the  President  of  Rhode  Island  Col- 
lege, which  breathes  the  spirit  of  unadulterated  Christianity,  Mr.  Richards 
now  resolved  to  become  one  of  its  generous    benefactors.     lu    his   will   he 


332  BAPTIST. 

bequeathed  his  Library,  consisting  of  nearly  thirteen  hundred  volumes  of 
Theology,  Ilistorj'  and  Biography  to  Brown  University." 

As  strength  of  style  comes  from  strength  of  character,  it  is  natural  to  infer 
that  the  robust  mind  and  enei'getic  impulses  of  President  ]Messer  would  be 
developed  in  vehement  language,  and  this,  when  uttered  with  his  massive  and 
sometimes  tumultuous  voice,  would  rouse  up  the  drowsiest  auditors.  <<Yes, 
young  gentlemen,"  he  said  in  his  Baccalaureate  of  17'J9,  "  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple tliat  you  deny  the  existence  of  God,  you  must  deny  the  most  plain  mathe- 
matical axioms;  you  must  deny  your  own  existence;  you  must  deny  the 
existence  of  any  thing  and  every  thing  in  the  lump.  None  but  a  fool,  none 
but  a  madman,  can  say  in  his  heart, — '  There  is  no  God.'  " — '<  Yes,  if  you 
will  not  believe  there  is  a  God,  you  must  adopt  the  ghastly,  murderous  doc- 
trine that  you  have  no  Creator,  no  Preserver,  no  Benefoctor;  that  you  sprang 
you  know  not  from  what,  that  you  are  bound  you  know  not  where;  that  there 
is  no  virtue,  no  vice,  no  heaven,  no  hell,  no  immortal  state,  no  day  of  righte- 
ous retribution,  no  nothing  which  can  elevate  a  man  above  an  ox.  0  cruel, 
foolish,  desperate  doctrine!  Let  me  rather  be  swallowed  up  alive  in  the 
yawning  earth,  than  embrace  a  doctrine  so  full  of  blasphem}^,  desperation, 
niadness'and  misery."  Pp.  12,  13.  "  The  enemies  of  our  government  are  the 
enemies  of  our  religion,  our  country,  and  of  mankind.  It  is  not  diflicult  to 
divine  what  would  be  the  consequence,  if  these  murmuring  spirits  could  obtain 
their  object — the  most  licentious  and  infernal  manners,  politics,  irreligion  and 
plunder  would  soon  be  the  torment  of  America;  and  all  the  peace,  safety, 
religion,  liberty  and  republicanism  on  earth  Avould  soon  be  buried  in  chaos.  1 
exhort  you,  therefore,  my  friends,  to  consider  the  enemies  of  our  government 
the  enemies  of  yourselves.  Banish  them  from  j^our  company;  and  asso- 
ciate with  none  but  men  of  sound,  patriotic,  American  principles."  P.  14.  In 
his  Baccalaureate  of  1803,  he  said:  "If  a  man's  belief  has  no  inlluence  on 
his  practice,  that  practice  Avill  be  as  destitute  of  moral  quality  as  is  the  run- 
ning of  a  horse,  or  the  flouncing  of  a  whale."    P.  13. 

After  these  quotations  it  may  be  superfluous  to  add  that  when  President 
Messer  was  bent  on  giving  a  racy  expression  to  a  sterling  thought,  he  did  not 
allow  himself  to  be  disheartened  by  trifles.  In  his  sound  and  wholesome  ora- 
tion before  the  Providence  Association  of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers,  lie 
asks :  <«  Can  we  be  independent  of  otlier  nations,  while  we  cannot  print  a  book 
without  their  types,  nor  make  a  pen  without  their  penknife,  nor  a  sliirt  with- 
out their  needle,  nor  even  a  shoe  Avithout  their  awl  i  "  P.  14.  And  auain  he 
says:  "It  is  a  trite  but  true  adage  that  '  a  Jack  at  all  trades  is  good  at 
none.'  "    P.  8. 

In  his  conversation  and  familiar  lectures.  Dr.  Messer  would  often  excite  a 
smile  by  his  homely,  if  not  uncouth  phrases.  Hence  it  has  been  inferred  that 
he  was,  both  in  principle  and  in  habit,  careless  of  his  diction.  This  is  not 
true.  In  general  he  .stiniied  a  rhythmical  cadence,  and  we  often  see  a  marked 
antithetic  structure  in  his  sentences.  Thus,  in  his  Baccalaureate  of  1810,  we 
read:  "At  noon  encircled  with  all  the  lures  of  life,  you  may  at  night  be 
encircled  M'ith  all  the  pangs  of  death."  P.  7.  To  the  Class  of  1803,  he  said: 
"Be  guarded,  then,  against  these  two  extremes:  against  distracting  your 
minds  b}'  roaming  at  random  among  all  subjects  indifferently,  and  against  con- 
tracting them  by  attending  to  only  a  few  subjects  exclusivel}'."    P.  4. 

Little  as  it  might  have  been  expected  of  him,  he  certainly  docs,  here  and 
there,  betray  a  desire  to  .search  out  unusual  expressions,  and  he  speaks  of 
"  every  thing  which  sublimes  our  natures,"  and  of  "  rulers  who  distinguish 
us  with  all  our  peace,"  and  of  "  the  most  salubrious  antidote  ever  administered 
to  the  sorrows  of  men."  By  this  occasional  effort  to  avoid  commonplace 
remarks,  he  now  and  then  throM's  a  haziness  over  his  phraseology,  which,  in 


ASA  MESSEU.  33> 

the  geiiernl,  was  precise  and  clear.  Thus  lie  meant  to  express  a  tlumglit  nioro 
profound  tlian  appears  at  first  sight,  in  these  words :  "It  is  obvious  that 
inveterate  and  confirmed  habits  become  very  rigid  and  inflexible."  Fourth 
July  Oration  at  Providence,  1803,  p.  9.  It  is  obvious  that  with  this  occa- 
sional obscurity  of  style,  and  with  liis  facetious  tendencies,  he  would  let  fall 
many  a  remark  which  would  be  stored  up  in  the  archives  of  Academic  anecdote. 
Still,  he  is  remembered  by  his  friends,  not  chiefly  as  a  man  of  wit,  or  of 
far-reaching  understanding,  or  of  rare  practical  skill,  or  of  punctuality  and 
exactness  in  discharging  his  varied  and  complicated  duties,  Academic,  Civil 
and  Ecclesiastical, — although  we  gladly  recall  these  distinguishing  traits  of 
his  character, — but  he  is  remembered  by  his  friends  with  the  kindliest  emo- 
tion on  account  of  the  rich  virtues  of  his  domestic  life;  the  tenderness  with 
which  his  capacious  mind  watched  over  the  children  of  his  love,  the  conflding 
affection  which  he  delighted  to  repo.se  in  his  most  excellent  and  exemplary 
wife,  the  habitual  cheerfulness  which  he  diffused  through  the  entire  circle  of 
his  family.  As  a  son,  brother,  husband,  father,  he  was  the  central  object  of 
attraction,  and  the  beams  of  joy  and  love  uniformly  radiated  from  him  over 
all  the  inmates  of  his  happy  home.  On  these,  his  most  signal  excellencies, 
however,  it  is  not  fitting  that  I  dilate  now  and  here. 

Very  respectfully,  your  friend  and  servant, 

EDWARDS  A.  PARK. 


FROM  THE  HON.  WILLIAM  L.  MAKCY. 

Albany,  November  27,  1849. 

My  dear  Sir:  During  my  college  life, — from  1805  to  1808, — I  had  that  sort 
of  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Me.s.ser  which  generally  exists  between  students  of 
College  and  their  President.  I  formed  a  definite  opinion  of  his  character  at 
that  time,  and  though  I  occasionally  saw  him  afterwards,  my  early  impres- 
sions concerning  him  were  not  modified  by  those  few  interviews.  You  must, 
therefore,  take  what  I  am  to  .say  as  the  testimony  of  a  College  student,  whose 
observations  were  of  course  made  from  a  stand-point,  not  the  most  favourable 
to  a  familiar  and  thorough  view  of  the  inner  man. 

Dr.  Mcsser  sustained  his  position  as  President  of  the  College  in  a  highly 
creditable  manner,  and  was  generally  esteemed  and  beloved  by  the  students. 
He  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  even  temper,  honest  in  his  purposes,  free  from 
prejudice,  and  well  adapted  to  exercise  that  kind  of  authority  which  pertained 
to  his  office.  He  always  met  his  class  (for  he  was  one  of  our  instructers 
during  the  Senior  year)  with  a  kindly  spirit  and  manner,  and  never  assumed 
any  offensive  official  airs,  or  did  any  thing  that  seemed  designed  to  impress 
us  with  a  sense  of  his  superiority.  He  was  often  very  familiar  in  our  recita- 
tions, and  sometimes  introduced  anecdotes,  by  way  of  illustration,  that  avo 
thought  more  remarkable  for  good-humour  and  appropriateness  than  for  the 
highest  literary  refinement. 

\)t.  Mcsser  was  far  from  being  a  graceful  man, — indeed  some  might  have 
tiiought  him  even  inclining  to  be  awkward, — but  there  was  that  in  his  move- 
ments and  general  manner,  that  betokened  great  simplicity  and  honesty  of 
purpose,  and  made  up  for  the  lack  of  artificial  accomplishments.  His  pro- 
ntmciation  of  certain  words  was  quite  peculiar,  and  yet  he  was  evidently 
unconscious  of  it;  for  I  well  remember  that  some  of  the  roguish  students  used, 
sometimes,  in  the  exercise  of  declamation,  to  adopt  these  peculiarities  in  his 
presence,  and,  so  far  from  their  escaping  his  attention,  or  receiving  his  appro- 
bation, he  would  instantly  detect  them,  and  criticise  them,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  the  students,  with  the  utmost  freedom  and  good-nature.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  he  did  not  bestow  any  great  attention  upon  what  may 


33  i  BAPTIST. 

be  called  the  minuticB  of  literature;  and  j'et  he  was  a  substantial,  competent 
instructer,  and  was  certainly  distinguished  for  the  kindly  and  paternal  super- 
vision which  he  exercised  over  all  who  were  placed  under  his  care. 

Of  his  character  as  a  preacher,  I  am  jierhaps  hardly  a  competent  witness, 
as  I  heard  him  only  occasionally,  when  he  supplied  the  pulpit,  in  the  absence 
of  the  regular  Pastor,  and  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  read  any  of  his 
sermons.  I  think  he  was  practical  rather  than  doctrinal;  logical  rather  than 
imaginative  and  ornate;  and,  though  his  style  of  preaching  was  too  plain  to 
suit  the  taste  of  the  mass  of  College  students,  I  believe  it  was  always  well 
received  by  the  more  mature  and  sober  part  of  his  audience.  It  used  to  be 
whispered,  even  at  that  period,  that  he  had  some  tendencies  to  Arianism; 
and  1  have  learned,  from  a  source  entitled  to  full  credit,  that  his  views,  after- 
wards, became  more  decided  in  favour  of  that  system.  But  I  never  heard  of 
his  introducing  in  the  pulpit  any  speculations  not  in  accordance  with  the 
commonly  accredited  orthodoxy. 

On  the  whole,  my  recollections  of  President  Messer  are  very  pleasant,  and, 
though  1  trust  j'ou  will  receive  better  aid  than  I  have  been  able  to  render,  in 
your  effort  to  transmit  to  posterity  some  just  idea  of  his  virtues  and  useful- 
ness, I  confess  that  this  very  slight  offering  to  his  memory  has  been  with  nie 
only  a  labour  of  love. 

I  am,  very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

W.  L.  MARCY. 


WILLIAM  STAUGHTON,  D.  D.^ 

1703— 1S29. 

William  Staughton  was  descended  from  a  respectable  and  pious 
ancestry,  and  was  born  at  Coventry,  in  Warwickshire,  England,  January 
4,  1770.  His  parents  were  Sutton  and  Keziah  Staughton,  both  persons 
of  decidedly  religious  character.  They  had  seven  children,  of  whom  Wil- 
liam was  the  eldest.  The  church  with  which  his  parents  were  connected, 
and  in  whicli  he  passed  his  earliest  years,  was  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Coventry,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Butterworth, 
author  of  the  Concordance  that  bears  his  name.  The  family  subi^equently 
removed  from  Coventry  to  London,  where  they  were  under  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  late  Dr.  llippon. 

The  subject  of  tlii.s^sketch  gave  indications,  in  early  youth,  of  superior 
talents,  and  especially  an  exuberant  fancy,  which  occasionally  discovered 
itself  in  poetical  efforts  of  considerable  merit.  His  parents  designed  him 
for  a  mechanical  trade  ;  and,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  sent  to  Bir- 
mingham to  learn  the  business  of  a  silversmith.  He  had  previously  had 
the  advantage  of  a  good  English  education  ;  but  so  ardent  were  his  aspi- 
rations for  knowledge  that  he  studiou.sly  availed  himself  of  every  opportu- 
nity for  acquiring  it.  Up  to  the  period  of  his  going  to  Birmingham,  he 
had  given  little  evidence  of  religious  sensibility  or  reflection  ;  but,  shortly 
after,   he   became  deeply   awakened,  under   an   earnest   and   pungent  dis- 

•  Lynd's  Memoir. — MS.  from  II.  G.  Jones,  Esq. 


WILLIAM  STAUGIITON.  335 

coui^o,  to  a  sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  for  eight  or  nine  months  was  a 
subject  of  overwhelming  convictions.  So  seriously  was  his  bodily  health 
affected  by  the  state  of  his  mind  that  he  was  for  some  time  under  medical 
treatment  ;  and  one  of  his  physicians,  regarding  it  as  a  case  of  religious 
phrenzy,  prescribed  the  reading  of  novels  and  romances  ;  but  so  much  was 
he  shocked  by  the  })rescription  that  he  would  never  afterwards  suffer  that 
physician  to  visit  him.  At  length,  as  he  lay  writhing  in  agony  upon  his 
i)ed,  the  peace  that  passeth  understanding  was  brought  to  his  spirit, 
through  that  most  cheering  passage, — "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason 
together,  saith  the  Lord  :  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be 
white  as  snow  ;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 
Not  long  after  this,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Baptist  Church-  in  Birming- 
ham, under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Pearce. 

About  this  time,  when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  published, 
as  it  would  seem  rather  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  some  of  his  friends  than 
from  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment,  a  small  volume,  entitled  "  Jiivenilc 
Poems."  But  the  great  purpose  of  his  life  was  now  changed.  Instead 
of  continuing  at  his  trade,  he  went  to  Bristol,  and  became  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Theological  Institution  there,  with  a  view  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  soon  commenced  preaching  in  the  neigh- 
bouring churches,  and  such  was  his  popularity  that,  even  before  his 
theological  course  was  completed,  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  quite  a  star 
in  the  denomination.  He  received  several  calls  to  settle,  and  among  others 
one  from  the  very  respectable  church  in  Northampton,  which  had  been 
rendered  vacant  by  the  removal  of  Dr.  Ryland  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Bristol  Institution.  Tie,  however,  declined  them  all,  having  his  eye  upon 
this  country  as  the  ultimate  field  of  his  ministerial  labours. 

About  this  time,  the  Bev.  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Furman,  of  Charleston, 
wrote  to  some  of  his  brethren  in  England,  requesting  that  they  would  send 
out  some  young  man  of  goo^l  promise  to  take  a  pastoral  charge  in  George- 
town, S.  C.  The  letter  being  read  at  a  meeting  of  ministers,  they  unani- 
mously agreed  that  Staughton  was  the  man  best  qualified  for  the  mission  ; 
and,  as  the  suggestion  was  in  accordance  with  all  his  predilections  and 
intentions,  he  gladly  availed  himself  of  it,  and  made  his  arrangements 
without  delay  for  crossing  the  ocean.  He  arrived  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  in 
the  autumn  of  1793,  bringing  with  him  strong  recommendatory  letters 
from  several  of  the  most  eminent  clergymen  of  his  denomination  in  P]ng- 
land.  He  was  received  with  great  cordiality  by  his  brethren  in  South 
Carolina,  and,  without  nnuh  delay,  commenced  his  ministerial  labours  in 
Georgetown.  He  was  married  almost  immediately  after  his  arrival,  by 
Dr.  Furman,  to  Maria  Hanson. 

In  this  new  field  he  fpiickly  acquired  a  very  extensive  popularity;  and 
when  it  was  found  that  he  was  inclined  to  withdraw  from  it,  the  most 
flattering  offers  and  vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  detain  him.  But,  after 
having  resided  there  about  seventeen  months,  during  which  time  a  church 
had  been  constituted  and  he  had  accepted  the  pastoral  charge,  he  became 
satisfied  that  the  climate  was  unfricndlv  to  his  health;  and  this,  together 
with  his  strong  repugnance  to  the  system  of  slavery,  ilctermined  him  to 
seek  a  Northern  residence.      Accordingly,  he  removed  with    his   f.rmily  to 


336  BAPTIST. 

Now  York,  at  the  close  of  1795,  where  also  he  was  met  with   tokens  of 
marked  respect  and  kindness. 

Scarcely  had  he  reached  New  York  before  the  Yellow  Fever — that 
awful  scourge  of  humanity — made  its  appearance.  He  suffered  a  severe 
attack  of  it,  insomuch  that  not  only  was  his  case  considered  hopeless,  but 
a  report  went  abroad  and  reached  his  friends  in  England  that  he  was 
actually  dead  ;  and,  while  they  were  preparing  to  go  into  mourning  for 
him,  they  were  relieved  by  a  letter  written  by  himself  announcing  his 
recovery.  He  did  not,  however,  entirehj  regain  his  health  for  a  conside- 
rable time,  being  subject,  after  the  fever  left  him,  to  a  violent  rheumatic 
and  spasmodic  affection. 

Having,  in  the  course  of  the  winter,  received  an  invitation  from  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Allison  to  succeed  him  in  the  charge  of  his  Academy  in  Bordentown, 
N.  J.,  he  accepted  the  proposals,  and  removed  thither  the  ensuing  spring. 
In  June  of  this  year,  (1797,)  he  was  ordained  at  Bordentown,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  Baptist  Churches  in  this  country  ;  and,  during  tlie 
period  of  his  connection  with  the  Academy,  he  preached  frequently  to  one 
or  two  churches  of  his  own  communion  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  His 
expectations  seem  not  to  have  been  met  by  the  establishment  at  Borden- 
town, in  consequence  of  which  he  removed,  towards  the  close  of  1798,  to 
the  neighbouring  town  of  Burlington,  Here  he  had  a  large  and  flourish- 
ing school,  to  which  he  devoted  regularly  eight  hours  of  each  du}^  and  at 
the  same  time  supplied  two  churches  on  the  Sabbath,  besides  occasional 
services  in  the  week.  The  Baptist  Church  in  Burlington  originated  in 
his  efforts  ;  and  the  number  of  its  members  increased,  during  the  brief 
period  of  his  ministry  there,  from  fourteen  to  ninety-three. 

In  1801,  when  he  was  only  twenty-eight  years  old,  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  It 
was  undei-stood  to  have  been  done  at  the  instance  of  the  late  Governor 
Bloomfield. 

Dr.  Stangliton  having,  during  his  residence  at  Burlington,  become  well 
known  at  Philadelphia,  the  first  Baptist  Church  in  that  city  resolved  to 
make  an  effort  to  obtain  his  constant  services  as  a  minister.  Accordingly, 
about  the  commencement  of  the  year  180.5,  they  extended  to  him  an  invi- 
tation to  supply  their  pulpit  for  one  year;  giving  as  a  reason  for  the  limi- 
tation, that  they  were  embarrassed  in  their  financial  affairs,  and  that,  at 
the  end  of  a  3'ear.  they  hoped  to  be  able  to  meet  the  expenses  incident  to 
the  regular  support  of  ajiiinister.  He  accepted  their  invitation,  and  the 
effect  of  his  labours  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  congregation  fully  justified 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  concerning  it ;  so  that  he  was  not  only 
called  at  the  close  of  the  year  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church,  but 
such  was  the  growth  of  the  congregation  that  they  found  it  necessary,  after 
a  short  rime,  to  enlarge  their  place  of  worship.  During  his  ministry 
among  them,  more  than  a  hundred  persons  were  added  from  other  churches. 
and  nearly  three  hundred  on  a  profession  of  their  faith.  Two  new 
churches  also  were  formed  out  of  this  body, — the  third  Baptist,  and  the 
First  African,  of  Philadelphia;  and  a  new  impulse  was  given  by  his 
instrumentality  to  the  interests  of  the  denomination  throughout  the  city. 


WILLIAM  STAUGHTON.  337 

Dr.  Staughtou  continued  the  Pastor  of  the  Fir.st  Church  until  the  year 
1811,  wheu  he  was  induced  to  identify  liiniself  with  a  new  enterprise, — 
namely,  the  formation  of  a  church,  and  the  erection  of  an  edifice  for 
public  worship,  in  Sansom  Street.  For  a  while  after  their  organization, 
the  new  church  worshipped  in  the  Court  House  on  Chestnut  Street,  and 
afterwards  in  the  Academy  on  Fourth  Street ;  but,  after  a  reasonable 
period,  tliey  erected  a  large  circular  building,  ninety  feet  in  diameter,  at 
an  expense  of  forty  thousand  dollars.  Here  was  the  theatre  of  his  greatest 
popularity,  and  perhaps  also  of  his  greatest  usefulness.  The  house, 
capacious  as  it  is,  was  ordinarily  well  filled,  and  on  Sabbath  evening  was 
generally  thronged  ;  and  the  frequent  additions  to  the  communion  of  the 
church  indicated  that,  wliile  he  was  admired  for  his  eloquence,  a  Divine 
power  attended  his  ministrations. 

The  labours  of  Dr.  Staughton,  during  his  residence  in  Philadelphia,  it 
would  have  seemed  scarcely  possible  for  any  human  constitution  to  endure. 
He  preached  regularly  thrice,  and  often  four  times,  on  the  Sabbath,  and  once 
or  twice  during  the  week.  He  was  engaged  also,  during  a  part  of  every  day,  in 
the  instruction  of  youth,  besides  directing  the  studies  of  a  number  of  young 
men  in  their  preparation  for  the  ministry,  and  having,  a  great  part  of  the 
time,  the  editorial  responsibility  of  a  religious  periodical.  He  was  also 
the  active  friend  and  patron  of  many  of  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the 
day,  and  was  always  ready  to  lend  his  influence  where  he  thought  it  might 
advance  in  any  degree  the  interests  of  humanity.  He  was  among  those 
who  had  a  leading  influence  in  originating  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society, 
and  from  its  commencement  was  its  llecording  Secretary,  and  afterwards 
one  of  its  Vice  Presidents.  He  assisted  also  in  the  formation  of  the 
Female  Bible  Society  of  Philadelphia, — the  first  Female  Bible  Society,  so 
far  as  is  known,  that  was  ever  organized.  In  the  Sunday  School  cause  he 
was  most  deeply  interested ;  and  not  only  his  eloquent  tongue  but  his 
eloquent  pen  was  put  in  requisition  to  illustrate  its  importance  and  urge 
its  claims.  And,  in  addition  to  all  this,  there  were  a  thousand  nameless 
inroads  upon  his  time,  from  an  extensive  circle  of  acquaintance,  and 
from  being  a  sort  of  centre  of  influence  for  his  denomination  in  a  large 
city. 

When  the  Columbian  College, — an  institution  designed  to  educate  for 
t!ie  ministry  young  men  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  was  established  in 
the  vicinity  of  Washington,  Dr.  Staughton  was  appointed  its  President; 
and,  though  he  was  inducted  to  oflBce  in  January,  18'22,  he  did  not  remove 
from  Philadelphia  till  the  autumn  of  1823,  but  supplied  his  place  by  an 
occasional  visit  of  a  few  weeks.  In  the  interval  between  his  acceptance 
of  the  appointment  and  his  removal  to  Washington,  he  suff"ered  a  most 
severe  domestic  affliction  in  the  death  of  his  wife.  But  her  death  was 
peaceful,  even  triumphant ;  and  his  behaviour  in  view  of  it,  showed  that 
he  was  no  stranger  to  the  joy  in  tribulation.  He  received  from  many 
quarters,  and  especially  from  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  of  various 
denominations,  the  most  marked  expressions  of  sympathy  and  respect ;  and 
when  the  news  of  his  bereavement  reached  the  students  of  the  College  at 
Washington,  they  testified  their  aflFcctionate  condolence  in  a  highly  appro- 
priate and  touching  communication. 

Vol.  YI.  43 


338  BAPTIST. 

It  was  no  easy  thing  for  liim  to  break  the  cord  tha«t  boand  him  to  his 
congregation  in  Sansom  Street.  A  vigorous  effort  was  made  to  retain  him  ; 
and  it  was  only  a  strong  sense  of  duty  that  led  him  to  accept  the  appoint- 
ment. His  introduction  to  his  new  sphere  of  labour  seemed  to  augur  well 
for  both  hhi  comfort  and  usefulness.  His  Address  at  the  opening  of  the 
College  was  highly  popular;  his  condescending  and  affable  deportment 
towards  the  young  men  conciliated  their  regards ;  and  the  friends  of  the 
institution  congratulated  themselves  that  their  prospects  were  every  thing 
they  could  desire.  It  turned  out,  however,  that  these  high  hopes  were 
fallacious.  It  was  quickly  discovered  that  the  very  existence  of  the  insti- 
tution was  in  jeopardy,  by  reason  of  pecuniary  embarrassment ;  and,  though 
Dr.  Staughton  himself  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  convinced  of  this,  yet  he 
was  ultimately  constrained  to  admit  it,  and  to  act  in  view  of  it.  In  1826, 
after  he  had  been  for  some  time  desponding  in  regard  to  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  enterprise,  some  change  occurred  which  he  deemed  auspicious  ; 
and,  in  the  commencement  of  the  year  1827,  he  made  a  journey  through 
the  South'ern  States,  with  a  view,  if  possible,  to  secure  the  means  of 
delivering  the  College  from  its  embarrassments.  While  he  was  in  Charles- 
ton, he  received  intelligence  from  "Washington,  that  led  him  at  once  to 
tender  the  resignation  of  his  office  as  President.  And  when  this  came  to 
be  known,  the  other  officers  quickly  followed  his  example,  and  the  College 
was  virtually  disbanded.  Dr.  Staughton  remained  a  few  weeks  at  the 
South,  after  resigning  his  place,  and  then  took  passage  by  water  directly 
to  Philadelphia. 

For  a  short  time  after  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  he  preached  to  the 
congregation  in  New  Market  Street ;  but  just  as  they  were  about  giving 
him  a  call  to  become  their  Pastor,  an  application  for  his  services  was 
made  from  a  distant  part  of  the  Union,  to  which  he  ultimately  deter- 
mined to  yield.  The  Baptists  in  the  State  of  Kentucky  were  now  establish- 
ing a  Literary  and  Theological  Institution  at  Greorgetown,  and  Dr.  Staughton 
was  chosen  its  first  President.  Though  he  felt  reluctant  to  remove  so 
far  from  the  field  of  his  former  labours,  and  from  the  circle  of  his  most 
endeared  associations,  yet,  after  having  duly  considered  the  case  in  all  its 
bearings,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  accept,  and  in  due  time  signified  his 
acceptance  of,  the  invitation.  Provision  had  been  made  for  a  liberal  endow- 
ment of  the  institution  ;  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State  were  enlisted 
vigorously  for  its  support ;  and,  with  a  man  of  so  much  ability  and  influence 
as  Dr.  Staughton  at  the  head  of  it,  nothing  seemed  wanting  to  ensure  its 
prosperity. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1829,  a  few  days  before  he  announced  his  accept- 
ance of  the  Presidency  at  Georgetown,  he  was  married  to  Anna  C,  daugh- 
ter of  James  Peale,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  he  left  Philadelphia  for  his  new  field  of  labour, 
which,  however,  he  was  never  destined  to  reach.  On  parting  with  his  old 
friends,  he  received  many  testimonies  of  their  affectionate  regard ;  and  the 
New  Market  Street  Church  particularly,  which  he  had  supplied  for  some 
time  previous,  addressed  him  in  a  communication  expressive  of  their  grati- 
tude for  his  ministrations  and  their  interest  in  his  welfare.  When  he 
reached  Baltimore,  it  was  apparent  to  his  friends  that  he  was  the  subject 


WILLIAM  STAUGHTON.  339 

of  a  serious,  and  the}'  feared  an  alarming,  malady.  He,  however,  after 
remaining  a  few  days  with  them,  proceeded  to  Washington,  Avhere,  after  a 
little  time,  his  strength  seemed  to  be  somewhat  recruited,  insomuch  that  he 
actually  performed  one  public  service  on  the  Sabbath.  This,  however,  was 
the  last  which  he  was  destined  to  perform ;  for  before  the  next  Sabbath, 
his  disease  had  assumed  a  more  aggravated  form,  and  on  the  12th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1829,  he  sunk  calmly  to  rest,  aged  fifty-nine  years,  eleven  months,  and 
eight  days.  Pie  evinced,  during  his  whole  illness,  the  most  unqualified 
resignation  to  the  Divine  will,  and  sometimes  uttered  himself  in  the  lan- 
guage of  joyful  confidence  and  triumph.  His  Funeral  was  attended  by  a 
large  concourse,  and  the  services  on  the  occasion  were  performed  by  several 
clergymen  of  different  denominations.  His  remains  were  interred  in  the 
Episcopal  burying-ground  in  Washington  City;  and,  having  rested  there 
for  nearly  three  years,  were  removed  to  the  Sansom  Street  cemetery  in 
Philadelphia,  where  they  now  repose,  beside  those  of  his  first  wife. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr  Staughton's  publications : — A  Discourse 
occasioned  by  the  sudden  Death  of  three  young  persons,  by  Drowning  ; 
delivered  at  the  Baptist  Meeting  House  in  Bordentown,  N.  J.,  1797.  Mis- 
sionary Encouragement :  A  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Philadelphia 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  Congregation  of  the  Baptist  Meeting  House, 
Philadelphia,  1798.  An  Eulogiura  on  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  1813.  A  Ser- 
mon commemorative  of  the  llev.  Samuel  Jones,  D.  D.,  1814.  An  Address 
delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  Columbian  College,  1822. 

Dr.  Staughton  had  four  children, — two  sons,  and  two  daughters, — all  by 
the  first  marriage.  The  eldest  son  died  in  infancy.  The  other  son,  James, 
studied  medicine,  was  for  some  time  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Medical 
department  of  the  Columbian  College,  D.  C.,  and  afterwards,  till  the  time 
of  his  death,  occupied  the  same  chair  i)i  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio.  His 
eldest  daughter,  Maria  Leonora,  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Lynd, 
for  several  years  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Cincinnati,  and  afterwards 
President  of  the  Theological  Institution  at  Georgetown,  Ky.;  and  his 
youngest,  Elizabeth  Ann,  to  Dr.  John  Temple  of  Virginia.  The  second 
Mrs.  Staughton  survived  her  husband,  and  has  since  become  the  wife  of 
General  William  Duncan,  of  Philadelphia. 


FROM  THE  REY.  DANIEL  SHARP,  D.  D. 

Boston,  November  8,  1848. 

My  dear  Sir :  The  name  of  Dr.  Staughton  awakens  in  my  bosom  the  most 
delightful  recollections.  He  was  one  of  the  most  amiable,  talented,  noble- 
hearted  and  useful  men  with  whom  I  have  ever  been  acquainted.  I  was  first 
introduced  to  him  in  the  spring  of  1807.  The  circumstances  which  gave  rise 
to  that  event,  and  his  invariable  kindness  towards  me  subsequently,  were,  I 
believe,  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  feelings  which  governed  his  whole  life. 

Hearing  by  a  mutual  friend  that  I  had  been  licensed  to  preach,  but  was 
desirous  of  increasing  my  little  stock  of  literary  and  theological  knowledge, 
before  I  devoted  myself  exclusively  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  he  addressed 
to  me  a  most  affectionate  letter,  in  which  he  confirmed  my  views  and  purposes, 
invited  me  to  his  house,  and  assured  me  of  his  readiness  to  aid  me  in  a  course 
of  study,  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 


340  BAPTIST. 

I  accepted  his  invitation,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  twenty-first  of  March, 
in  the  year  already  mentioned ^  I  found  myself  in  his  hospitable  dwelling. 
Although  his  engagements  were  numerous, — for  besides  preaching  three  times 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  twice  during  the  week,  he  gave  instruction  in  two  of  the 
most  respectable  Female  Seminaries  then  in  Philadelphia, — yet  I  recited  to 
him  once  or  twice  every  day,  except  on  the  Sabbath.  In  addition  to  the  course 
of  study  which  was  prescribed,  the  almost  unreserved  intercourse  which  he 
permitted  me  to  enjoy  with  him,  Vv'as  of  no  small  advantage.  His  instructive 
remarks, — the  result  of  his  own  experience  and  observation,  concerning  minis- 
terial and  pastoral  duties;  his  amiable  manners  in  private  life,  and  his  able 
and  eloquent  discourses  in  public, — for  he  was  then  at  the  zenith  of  his  minis- 
terial career, — were  not,  I  trust,  wholly  lost  upon  me.  I  am  sure,  while  I 
possess  the  power  of  memory,  these  seasons  of  delightful  and  profitable  inter- 
course can  never  be  forgotten.  They  are  treasured  recollections,  which,  even 
at  this  distance  of  time,  cheer  many  a  solitary  hour. 

The  interest  which  Dr.  Staughton  felt  for  his  pupils  did  not  subside  when 
they  were  removed  from  his  immediate  care.  His  letters  followed  them  to 
their  scenes  of  labour,  fraught  with  expressions  of  friendship,  and  the  coun- 
sels of  experience  and  wisdom.  He  felt  for  them  a  paternal  regard.  If  they 
were  faithful,  successful  and  respected,  they  were  his  glory  and  his  joy.  He 
loved  to  speak  of  them  as  his  sons  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation. 

In  return,  his  pupils  felt  for  him  a  filial  veneration  and  love.  The  mention 
of  his  name  has  often  operated  as  a  spell  in  charming  away  the  sadness  which 
the  coldness  and  selfishness  of  others  had  produced,  by  calling  up  vividly  to 
remembrance  those  sunlight  seasons  in  which  they  held  intercourse  with  om, 
whose  dignity  as  a  teacher  was  so  blended  with  the  aflability  and  kindness  of 
the  man  as  to  inspire  the  most  timid  with  confidence,  and  the  most  bold  wii.!i 
respectful  regard. 

Dr.  Staughton  possessed  an  uncommonly  active  and  vigorous  mind.  I  now 
feel  admiration  and  surprise,  while  I  think  of  the  amount  of  his  intellectual 
labours.  Although  his  sermons  were  not  wholly  written,  yet  they  were  by  no 
means  extemporaneous  effusions — they  were  the  product  of  much  and  varied 
reading,  and  of  deep  and  patient  thought.  In  the  earlier  years  of  his  minis- 
try, so  laborious  was  his  preparation  for  the  pulpit  that  it  frequently  occa- 
sioned serious  inroads  upon  his  health.  During  the  period  I  was  with  him,  I 
never  heard  him  on  the  Sabbath,  more  than  once  or  twice,  when  he  had  not 
notes  of  his  discourse,  more  or  less  copious.  These,  however,  he  used  so 
expertly  that  persons  who  did  not  see  them,  had  no  suspicions  of  any  paper 
being  before  him. 

But  his  intellectual  efforts  were  not  confined  to  his  preparations  for  the  pul- 
pit. He  composed  and  delivered  lectures  on  Botany,  Chemistrj^,  and  Sacred 
and  Profane  History,  to  the  young  ladies  at  the  two  Seminaries  already 
named.  And  for  two  years  at  least,  he  was  virtually,  although  not  nominallj", 
the  editor  of  a  monthly  religious  periodical, — a  large,  if  not  the  largest,  por- 
tion of  the  original  and  selected  matter  in  the  work,  during  that  period,  hav- 
ing been  contributed  by  him.  From  that  publication,  and  the  "Laiter  Day  Lumi- 
nary,"— a  verj'  interesting  ^^olume  containing  the  productions  of  his  pen,  might 
be  compiled.  It  would  be  a  treasury  of  able  essays,  ingenious  criticisms, 
striking  anecdotes,  and  beautiful  poetry. 

Dr.  Staughton  was  a  truly  benevolent  man — he  was  so,  both  from  sympath}', 
and  from  principle.  I  have  accompanied  him  many  a  time  to  the  habitations 
of  the  poor,  and  to  the  couches  of  the  sick  and  the  dying;  and  he  never 
seemed  more  happy  than  when  he  was  ministering  to  their  wants,  and  when, 
by  the  utterance  of  the  tenderest  feelings,  in  the  tenderest  language,  he  evi- 
dently soothed  their  sorrows.     I  need  say  nothing  of  his  untiring,  powcrfiil, 


"WILT JAM  STAUGHTON.  34] 

and  disinterested  support  of  the  religious  and  humane  charities  of  the  age. 
Every  one,  acquainted  with  their  rise  and  progress,  knows  that  he  most 
readily  gave  his  time,  his  talents,  and  his  whole  inlluence  in  advancing  their 
prosperity.  In  his  most  favourite  phuis,  1  believe,  he  had  never  his  own 
aggrandizement  in  view.  Some  of  them  might  have  been  impracticable,  but 
they  were  not  selfish.  His  errors  were  those  of  a  generous  and  too  confiding 
soul.  I  have  known  him  suffer  wrong  in  patient  silence;  but,  altliough  i 
knew  him  intimately  and  long,  1  never  knew  him  do  a  mean,  unkind  or  unjust 
action. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  was  at  times  surpassingly^  eloquent.  It  is  difficult  to 
describe  the  manner  in  which  he  illustrated  and  enforced  the  great  truths  of 
Christianity.  No  one  can  convc}^  to  those  who  never  heard  him  a  correct  idea 
of  his  action,  so  suited  to  his  words;  or  of  his  countenance,  so  expressive  of 
what  was  passing  within;  or  of  the  intonations  of  his  voice,  which  penetrated 
the  chambers  of  the  soul,  and  awakened  emotions  of  joy  or  grief,  of  terror  or 
transport,  at  his  bidding. 

There  Avei'e  occasions,  however,  when  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  had  more 
action  and  voice  than  his  subject  required.  But  when  he  appeared  in  the  pul- 
pit, prei)ared  by  suitable  reflection  to  discuss  some  great  truth,  as  his  imagi- 
nation kindled,  and  his  soul  expanded  with  his  theme,  he  would  pour  forth 
such  strains  of  lofty  and  j^et  melting  eloquence,  as  I  never  heard  from  any 
other  man.  Many  a  time  I  have  seen  a  crowded  assembly,  now  held  in 
breathless  silence, — now  all  in  tears, — and  now  scarcely  able  to  remain  on 
their  seats,  while  listening  to  "the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God," 
delivered  with  such  sublime  and  thrilling  pathos,  that  if  angels  had  been 
spectators,  they  must  have  been  enraptured  with  the  scene. 

He  was  not  more  happy  in  his  manner  than  in  his  selection  of  subjects. 
He  was  an  attentive  observer  of  passing  events.  Whether  these  afl'ected 
nations,  families,  or  individuals,  if  they  were  of  a  character  to  excite  public 
attention,  he  felt  that 

"  To  give  to  them  a  tongue  was  wise  in  man." 

His  texts  on  these  occasions  were  like  "  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver." 
Every  one  perceived  their  appropriateness.  Attention  was  awakened,  and  the 
instruction  thus  imparted  could  not  easily  be  erased  from  the  mind. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  interesting  to  record  some  instances  of  his  peculiarly 
happjr  talent  in  this  respect.  When  intelligence  was  received  from  Spain  of 
the  downfall  of  the  infamous  Goday,  who  was  styled  the  "  Prince  of  Peace," 
he  delivered  on  the  following  Sabbath  a  most  interesting  discourse  from  the 
passage  in  Isaiah, — "He  shall  be  called  the  Prince  of  Peace."  I  distinctly 
remember  that,  after  alluding  to  the  event,  he  described,  in  brilliant  contrast, 
the  infinite  superiority  of  the  Lord  Jesus  over  all  earthly  princes,  as  to  his 
personal  dignitj^  the  extent  and  duration  of  his  authority,  and  the  benefi- 
cence of  his  reign.  At  another  time,  when  a  great  encampment  in  Europe  had 
been  surprised  and  routed  by  an  opposing  armj',  he  preached  a  sermon  from 
the  words, — "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear 
Him,  and  delivereth  them,"  which  almost  electrified  his  hearers.  Placing 
them  in  imagination  in  sight  of  the  camp,  listening  to  the  clash  of  arms,  and 
the  roar  of  cannon,  and  witnessing  the  carnage  that  ensued,  he  then  directed 
their  contemplations  to  the  peaceful  tents  of  the  righteous,  and  to  their  certain 
and  complete  protection,  aiBbrded  by  the  unlimited  and  encircling  power  of 
the  Almighty.  In  the  summer,  Dr.  Staughton  preached  in  the  open  air,  in 
Southwark,  on  Sabbath  mornings,  at  five  o'clock.  I  heard  him  there,  just  as 
the  orb  of  day  was  ascending  above  the  horizon,  announce  for  his  text, — 
"Unto  you  that  fear  my  name,   shall  the   Sun  of  Righteousness  arise  with 


342  BAPTIST. 

healing  in  his  wings."  In  that  discourse  he  drew  a  beautiful  parallel  between 
the  glorious  effects  of  the  sun  on  all  animated  nature,  and  those  which  are 
produced  by  Him,  who  is  "  the  Light  of  the  world,  and  the  Life  of  men."  I 
might  easily  adduce  other  instances  of  his  felicitous  manner  in  seizing  on  the 
incidents  of  the  times,  and  improving  them  so  luminouslr  and  impressively 
that  the  truths  which  he  taught  could  scarcely  ever  be  forgotten. 

Dr.  Staughton  was  a  man  of  great  catholicity  of  spirit.  He  was  true  to  his 
own  convictions,  but  he  cherished  and  manifested  a  large  and  habitual  charity 
for  Christians  of  other  sects,  and  he  taught  his  pupils  to  do  the  same.  On  a 
Dedication  occasion,  he  once  said, — "  I  know  I  am  but  adding  a  voice  to  the 
thoughts  of  my  brother  through  whose  ministrations  this  house  has  been 
raised,  and  of  the  members  of  the  Church  in  general,  when  I  give  a  cordial 
welcome  to  every  preacher  of  Jesus  to  assist  in  its  holy  services.  The  points 
in  which  we  difter  from  our  Christian  brethren  of  other  denominations,  com- 
pared with  those  in  which  we  all  agree,  bear  no  greater  proportion  to  each 
other,  than  does  the  trembling  lustre  of  a  star  to  the  meridian  blaze  of  the 
summer  sun.  While  Christian  ingenuousness  proceeds  to  state  religious  senti- 
ment with  plainness  and  simplicit}^.  Christian  love  looks  anxiously  for  the 
moment  when  bigotry  shall  expire  with  the  flames  it  has  kindled." 

What  he  thus  praised  he  practised.  On  baptismal  occasions  he  was  admi- 
rable. While  he  gave  free  utterance  to  his  own  convictions,  there  was  not  the 
semblance  of  invective  in  his  remarks.  He  spake  what  he  deemed  to  be  the 
truth,  but  always  in  love.  He  beautifully  exemplified  the  advice  which  he 
gave  to  one  of  his  students — <<At  the  water  side,"  said  he,  "ever  becalm, 
affectionate  and  firm — show  the  jseople  that  you  respect  them,  and  they  will 
manifest  respect  for  you."  There  was  a  calm  dignity  in  his  appeals,  which 
commanded  respect;  and  in  my  most  confiding  intercourse  with  him,  for  a  long 
succession  of  years,  he  was  always  affectionate  in  his  expressions  concerning 
Christians  of  other  denominations. 

But  although  he  commanded  general  respect  and  admiration,  and  was  indeed 
a  public  man,  jet  no  one  could  feel  a  greater  sympathy  in  the  pains  and 
pleasures  of  private  life.  The  following  letter  to  my  daughter,  who  was  pur- 
suing her  studies  at  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  at  Hartford,  is  a 
striking  illustration  of  his  affectionate  interest  for  those  who  were  the  sub- 
jects of  affliction : — 

"  New  York,  April  28,  1826. 
■'  Mt  dear  Child: 

"  I  liave  seen,  with  great  satisfaction,  some  specimens  of  your  handwriting.  I  am 
surprised  at  tlie  degree  of  improvement.  Only  go  on  to  improve,  and,  witli  your  neat 
hand,  you  will  write  a  letter  equal  to  any  of  us. 

"  I  presume  you  remember  me.  If  you  do  not,  look  at  my  picture  in  the  parlour 
of  your  dear  parents,  and  then  take  up  your  pen  and  write  the  words, — '  That  is  a 
friend  that  loves  me.' 

"  By  the  return  of  your  father,  if  the  Lord  spare  my  life,  I  will  write  you  a  full 
sheet.  lam  rather  much  engaged  this  morning;  hut  I  cannot  help  expressing  my 
joy  that  you  seem  desirous_of  knowing  and  loving  the  Lord  Jesus.  Pray  to  Him — 
though  you  do  not  speak  to  Him,  He  can  hear  the  language  of  your  heart,  and  make 
you  his  own  dear  child  forever  and  ever.  He  will  take  you,  when  you  die,  to  his  bosom , 
and  you  will  sing  his  holy  praises  to  all  eternity. 

"  Give  my  affectionate  regards  to  your  beloved  mother,  and  to  your  brothers  and 
sisters.    The  Lord  bless  you. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  Ann, 

Yours  very  truly, 

"  William  Staughton." 


WILLIAM  STAUGHTON.  3^3 

I  feel  that  I  have  given  but  a  faint  sketch  of  the  virtues  and  talents  of  Dr. 
Staughtou.  I  might  liave  used  more  freely  the  language  of  eulogy,  and  yet  not 
have  exceeded  the  truth.  Any  who  knew  him  as  intimately  as  I  did,  will 
recognise  the  likeness.  But  a  feeling  of  disapi)ointment  will  come  over  them, 
and  they  will  saj'  "  it  is  not  so  beautiful  and  splendid  as  was  the  original." 
Wishing  you  all  success  in  your  undertaking, 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  affectionately  yours, 

DANIEL  SHARP. 


FROM  THOMAS  D.  MITCHELL,  M.  D. 

Philadelphia,  February  14,  1859. 

Dear  Sir:  Having  been  very  well  acquainted  with  the  late  \yilliam  Staugh- 
ton,  D.  D.,  when  he  was  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  this  city,  and 
subsequently,  when  he  served  the  church  on  Sansom  Street,  I  venture  to  com- 
municate to  you  a  few  things  concerning  him,  which  may  perhaps  aid  in  the 
just  presentation  of  his  character,  in  your  forthcoming  volume  on  the  Baptist 
Clergy. 

Although  born  and  educated  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which 
the  late  Doctors  Milledoler  and  Alexander  were  Pastors,  I  well  remember  the 
frequent  attendance  of  my  father  and  others  of  the  family  on  the  ministrations 
of  Dr.  Staughton, — especially  his  Sabbath-night  services.  The  crowded  state 
of  the  ancient  edifice,  knoAvn  as  the  Old  Second  Street  Meeting  House,  soon 
called  for  enlargement,  not  once  merely,  but  several  times,  till  at  length 
the  audience-room  was  equal  in  capacity  to  almost  any  other  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Staughton 's  preaching  seems  to  me  to  have  been  eminently  adapted  to 
win  souls.  He  did  not  aim  at  mere  rhetorical  glare  on  the  one  hand,  or  at 
metaphysical  abstractions  on  the  other;  but  his  grand  object  seemed  to  be  to 
exhibit  the  Cross  in  all  its  attractive  power.  His  manner  was  always  solemn 
and  impressive,  and  sometimes  deeply  affecting.  No  one  else  ever  read  the 
lines, — 

"All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name,"  &c., 

as  they  flowed  from  his  lips.  At  least  so  I  thought,  and  such,  I  know,  was 
the  opinion  of  thousands.     And  in  like  manner, 

"  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul," 

carried  with  it  more  of  the  Heavenly  inspiration,  as  vrell  as  the  inspiration  of 
poetry,  as  read  by  him,  than  as  I  ever  heard  it  read  by  any  other  person. 

To  the  young  his  manner  was  especially  pleasing;  and  there  was,  in  fact, 
the  secret  of  a  large  portion  of  his  ministerial  success.  I  was  then  a  youth; 
and  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  high  regard  which  I  have  ever  since  cherished  for 
him,  had  its  rise  in  the  hold  he  got  of  my  sympathies,  at  that  earlj'  period. 
Well  do  I  remember  a  prayer-meeting,  started  and  carried  on  by  him  for  seve- 
ral years,  near  the  residence  of  my  father,  in  a  school-house,  owned  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Indeed,  the  Presbyterians  had  much 
to  do  in  originating  this  meeting,  and  the  place  was  frequently  filled  to  over- 
flowing. 

But  the  most  signal  efforts  of  Dr.  Staughton  were  those  which  he  put  forth 
at  what  was  then  the  extreme  Southern  border  of  Philadelphia,  near  the  Navy 
Yard.  Two  or  more  of  the  family  of  Captain  Beasley  were  converts  under 
the  Doctor's  ministry,  and  at  their  instance  a  sunrise  meeting  was  commenced 
on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  Captain's  house.  That  service,  being  on  the  Sab- 
bath, added  one  to  the  ordinarj^  pulpit  services,  so  that  he  delivered  four  dis- 
courses on  each  Sabbath,  during  nearly  the  entire  summer.  I  was  myself  far 
from  being  pious  at  that  time,  but  there  was  a  charm  about  those  sunrise  ser- 


344  BAPTIST. 

vices,  that  drew  me  to  them,  though  I  was  obliged  to  walk  three-quarters  of  a 
mile.  Large  congregations  were  gathered  under  the  venerable  willows  of  the 
premises,  and  if  the  true  God  was  ever  worshipped  in  spirit  any  where  in 
Philadelphia,  it  was  just  at  the  place  to  which  I  now  refer.  Scores  of  indi- 
viduals were  there  converted,  and  became,  as  subsequent  years  proved,  devoted 
servants  of  Christ.  If  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  those  labours  mark  the  most 
magnificent  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Baptists  of  Pennsylvania.  From  two 
church  edifices  and  a  handful  of  members,  they  began  to  spread  out,  and  at 
length  acquired  the  position  in  this  region  that  has  made  them,  as  a  Society, 
what  they  now  are.  To  this  result  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Staughton,  out  of  the 
pulpit  as  well  as  in  it,  were  powerfully  auxiliary.  And  when  to  all  this  we  add 
the  fact  that  in  his  own  dwelling  in  this  city  was  commenced  the  first  Baptist 
Theological  School  in  this  country, — the  same  in  which  some  of  the  brightest 
lights  of  the  denomination,  living  and  dead,  have  been  educated,  you  have  a 
clue  to  the  rapid  progress  of  the  Society  of  Baptists,  not  in  this  city  merely, 
but,  to  a  great  extent,  in  the  entire  country.  I  may  safely  say  that  it  is  a 
rare  thing  that  a  minister  of  any  denomination  enjoys  so  extensive  a  popu- 
larity, and  for  so  long  a  period,  as  did  the  venerable  man  of  whom  I  am 
writing. 

Allow  me  to  close  this  brief  communication  with  an  announcement  made 
to-day  at  the  prayer-meeting  held  in  Sansom  Street  Baptist  meeting-house,  by 
a  venerable  man  from  Indiana,  who  turned  in  to  see  for  himself  what  the 
noonday  prayer-meetmg  really  was.  Said  the  old  man, — «« I  bless  God  that  I 
am  permitted  to  be  once  more  in  this  sacred  place.  Here  it  was  that  I  was 
born  again,  forty  years  ago,  under  the  faithful  preaching  of  Dr.  Staughton.  I 
never  can  forget  his  tender  and  affectionate  appeals." 

Very  truly  yours, 

THOMAS  D.  MITCHELL. 


MORGAN  JOHN  RHEES. 

1794—1804. 

FROM  THE  REV.  NICHOLAS  MURRAY,  D.  D. 

Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  September  10,  1855. 

My  dear  Dr.  Sprague  :  I  regret  to  say  that  the  material  for  a  memoir 
of  the  life  of  the  Rev.  Morgan  John  Rhees  is  much  less  ample  than  could 
be  desired.  As  he  was  the  father  of  my  wife,  I  suppose  that  I  am  in 
possession  of  all  the  leading  facts,  illustrative  of  his  history  or  character, 
that  are  now  accessible.  In  what  follows,  I  believe  you  have  the  substance 
of  all  that  can  now  be  gathered  concerning  him. 

Europe  was  profoundly  agitated  by  great  and  stirring  events  during  tlie 
last  half  of  the  eighteentlv  find  the  beginning  of  the  present,  century. 
These  events  gave  rise  to  many  noble  characters  in  Church  and  State  ;  and 
such  was  the  commingling  of  the  moral,  religious  and  political  elements 
as  not  unfrequently  to  convert  politicians  into  preachers,  and  the  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  into  soldiers  and  politicians.  And  of  this,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  who  has  recorded  his  name,  both  in  Britain  and  America,  as 
an  eloquent  minister  of  the  Grospel,  and  as  an  ardent  and  devoted  advocate 
of  democratic  principles,  was  at  once  proof  and  illustration. 


MORGAN  JOHN  RllEES. 


345 


Morgan  John  Riiees  was  born  in  Glamorganshire,  Wales,  on  the  8th 
of  Docomljcr,  17G0, — the  son  of  highly  respectable  and  pious  parents.  As 
he  early  evinced  superior  talents,  and  a  great  love  for  study,  they  gave 
him  a  finished  education.  He  first  devoted  himself  to  teaching,  and  soon 
acquired  a  high  reputation  for  brilliant  writing  and  eloquence.  He  became 
hopefully  pious,  and  connected  himself  with  the  Baptist  Church,  which 
was  the  Church  of  his  fathers.  After  a  full  consideration  of  his  duty,  ho 
consecrated  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry;  and,  to  prepare  for  his 
high  calling,  he  entered  the  Baptist  College  at  Bristol.  Ou  leaving  the 
College,  he  was  ordained  over  the  Church  of  Pcny-garn,  in  Monmouth, 
where  he  laboured  with  great  ability  and  success ;  and  where  traditions, 
illustrating  his  power  and  eloquence,  are  yet  abroad  among  the  people. 
Whilst  here,  he  wrote  many  sacred  lyrics,  and  other  poetical  pieces,  whicli 
are  yet  in  high  repute  among  his  countrymen. 

With  a  soul  all  alive  to  the  wrongs  of  the  oppressed,  and  to  the  univer- 
sal extension  of  liberty,  he  became  an  enthusiastic  advocate,  at  its  com- 
mencement, of  the  French  Revolution.  Indeed,  he  resigned  his  charge, 
and  went  over  to  France,  in  order  to  witness  the  glorious  triumphs  of 
liberty.  He  was,  however,  soon  convinced  of  the  unprincipled  selfishness 
of  the  chief  actors  in  that  memorable  drama,  and  returned  to  Wales, 
determined  to  defend  his  own  principles  the  more  zealously,  an<l,  for  this 
purpose,  he  established  a  quarterly  magazine,  called  "  The  Welsli  Trea- 
sury." In  this,  with  high  eloquence  and  terrible  sarcasm,  he  exposed  the 
policy  of  the  English  ministry.  But  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  it, 
and,  knowing  that  he  was  suspected  of  being  friendly  to  the  French  inte- 
rests, and  that  the  Tory  ministry  only  needed  a  fair  pretext  to  subject  him 
to  prosecution,  he  called  many  of  his  friends  around  him,  and,  as  the  pro. 
tector  of  a  Welsh  colony,  came  to  America,  where  he  landed  in  Februarv 
1794. 

He  was  most  kindly  received  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  then   Pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  Provost  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.     Between  these  two  there  existed,  ever  after,  a  cordial 
friendship.     Finding  the  civil  institutions  of  the  country  in  harmony  with 
all  his  political  views,  and   nothing,  in  the  way  of  religious  intolerance,  to 
fan  his  excitable  feelings,  the   religious   sentiment  soon  rose  to   the  supre- 
macy in  his  heart  ;  and,  as  if  he  had  never  turned  aside  from  the  ministry, 
he  again  preached  the  Gospel  with  great  power  and  success.      He  was  fol- 
lowed  by  admiring  crowds  wherever  he   spoke;  and  preached  Christ  with 
an  earnestness  and   an   unction,    but   rarely  witnessed    since   the  days  of 
Whitefield.     He  travelled  extensively  through  the  Southern  and  Western 
States,  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  and  in  search  of  a  suitable 
location  for  his  colony.     On   his  return  to   Philadelphia,  he   married  the 
daughter  of  Col.  Benjamin  Loxley,  of  that  city,  who  was  an  officer  of  the 
army   of    the   Revolution,    and   a  man   of  high    character    and    standing. 
After  two  years   residence   in    Philadelphia,   he,    in   connection  with   Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush,  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in    Pennsylvania,  which, 
in  honour  of  his  native  country,  he  called  Cambria.      He  also  located  and 
planned  the  capital  of  the  county,  to  which  he  gave  the   name  of  Boulah. 
To  this   place    he  removed  his  own  family,  with  a  company  of  Welsh  emi- 

VoL.  TI.  44  • 


346  BAPTIST. 

grants,  in  1798,  which  was  increased,  from  year  to  year,  by  others  from 
the  Principality. 

Here  he  was  intensely  occupied,  for  several  years,  with  the  duties  which 
devolved  upon  him,  as  a  large  landed  proprietor,  and  as  Pastor  of  the 
Church  of  Beulah.  For  the  benefit  of  his  increasing  family,  lie  was 
induced  to  remove  to  Somerset,  in  Somerset  County,  where  he  died  of  a 
sudden  attack  of  pleurisy,  and  in  the  triumphs  of  faith,  on  the  17tli  of 
September,  1804,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Indeed,  his  departure 
seemed  rather  a  translation  than  a  death.  He  left  a  widow  and  five  children 
to  mourn  his  loss. 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  Dr.  Rush  to  Mrs.  Rhees,  in 
reference  to  the  death  of  her  husband ;  and  it  shows  the  writer's  exquisite 
sensibility  and  sympathy,  as  well  as  his  high  appreciation  of  Mr.  Rhees' 
character  : — 

•'  My  dear  Mad  AM: 

"  Accept  of  my  sympatliy  in  your  affliction.  While  you  deplore  the  loss  of  an 
excellent  husband,  I  lament  the  loss  of  a  sincere  and  worthy  friend.  His  memory 
will  always  be  dear  to  me.  Be  assured  of  my  regard  for  you  and  your  little  family. 
May  a  kind  and  gracious  Providence  support  you  !  And  may  you  yet  have  reason  to 
praise  the  orphan's  Father,  and  the  widow's  God,  in  the  land  of  the  living  !" 
"  From,  my  dear  Madam, 

Your  sincere  friend , 
"  Philadelphia,  January  26,  1805."  Benjamin  Kush." 

A  glowing  but  chastened  enthusiasm  was  a  leading  characteristic  of  Mr. 
Rhees,  and  gave  form  and  hue  to  his  entire  life.  He  had  a  highly  poetic 
temperament.  This  was  apparent  from  his  earliest  life, — not  merely  from 
the  lyrics  of  which  he  was  the  author,  but  from  the  ardour  with  which  he 
devoted  himself  to  every  subject  which  interested  him.  He  was,  whilst 
orthodox  himself,  a  liberal  in  religion,  and  a  democrat  in  politics.  Hence 
he  was  a  lover  of  all  good  men,  and  threw  the  mantle  of  charity  even  over 
persons  whose  opinions  he  considered  honest,  though  unsound.  Hence  he 
was  the  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Priestly  and  of  Jefferson,  whilst  utterly 
eschewing  their  religious  opinions, — because  they  agreed  with  him  on 
the  agitating  political  topics  of  the  day.  He  was  a  most  fervent  preacher 
and  orator,  and  gave  to  his  sentiments  a  point  and  intensity  which  made 
them  deeply  felt.  And  down  to  the  present  day,  his  name  is  as  ointment 
poured  forth  among  the  old  settlers  of  Cambria  and  Beulah.  And  if  any 
excuse  is  necessary  for  the  degree  to  which  he  united  the  religious  and  the 
political  in  his  life,  it  may  be  found  in  the  circumstances  of  his  times, 
which  induced  many  of  the  ablest  divines  of  his  native  and  adopted 
country  to  pursue  the  same  course. 

Mrs.  Rhees  was  a  womaii  of  high  character.  On  her  great  bereavement, 
she  returned  to  her  native  home,  where,  upon  her  patrimonial  inheritance, 
she  educated  her  children,  and  lived  to  see  them  all  not  only  members  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  but  filling  posts  of  high  honour  and  usefulness. 
Endowed  with  a  mind  of  the  strongest  original  texture,  polished  by  educa- 
tion, stored  by  reading  and  reflection,  and  by  grace  subdued  to  the  most 
humble  obedience  to  the  truth,  she  was  efficient  in  action,  wise  in  counsel, 
strong  in  faith,  and  untiring  in  doing  good.     A  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  con- 


MORGAN  JOHN  RHEES.  347 

nected  with  tlic  deepest  liuuiility,  was  her  leading  eharacteristic.  But  few 
have  lived  a  life  more  consistent  and  lovely,  or  died  a  death  more  cheerful, 
calm  and  confiding.  She  rested  from  her  labours  on  the  11th  of  April 
1849,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  her  age. 

The  earlier  productions  of  Mr.  Rhees  were  published  in  the  Welsh 
language,  but  few  of  them  have  been  translated.  The  few  Orations  and 
Discourses,  written  and  published  by  him  in  this  country,  exhibit  great 
vivacity  and  eloquence. 

With  great  regard, 

Truly  your  friend, 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY. 


ZENAS  LOCKWOOD  LEONARD.^ 
1794—1841. 

Zenas  Lockwood  Leonard  was  a  descendant,  in  the  fifth  generation, 
of  Solomon  Leonard,  who  emigrated  from  Holland  about  1630,  and  is 
believed  to  have  been  a  member  of  John  Robinson's  congregation  at 
Leyden.  He  first  settled  in  Duxbury,  and  afterwards  became  an  original 
proprietor,  and  one  of  the  first  settlers,  of  Bridgewater. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  second  of  thirteen  children  of  Capt. 
David  and  Mary  (Hall)  Leonard,  and  was  born  at  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  Jan- 
uary 16, 1773.  His  father,  though  not  a  professor  of  religion,  was  a  worthy 
and  exemplary  man.  He  was  twin  brother  of  Jonathan  Leonard,  father  of 
the  late  lamented  Dr.  Jonathan  Leonard  of  Sandwich,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  of  the  class  of  1786.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Deacon 
Joseph  Hall,  of  Taunton,  and  was  distinguished  for  her  fervent  piety, 
great  energy  and  industry,  and  uncommon  intelligence. 

His  early  years  were  passed  on  his  father's  farm,  where  he  acquired 
habits  of  industry  and  a  knowledge  of  agriculture,  that  he  turned  to  good 
account  in  after  life.  In  March,  1790,  when  he  was  about  seventeen 
years  of  age,  his  mind  first  became  deeply  impressed  with  eternal  realities, 
and  about  the  middle  of  June  following,  he  obtained  evidence,  as  he  be- 
lieved, of  a  renovated  heart.  For  a  short  time  he  was  somewhat  perplexed 
and  agitated  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  but  he  finally  became  satisfied  that 
immersion  is  the  scriptural  mode  of  administering  that  ordinance,  and  he 
was,  accordingly,  baptized  in  that  way  on  the  1st  of  July  following,  and 
immediately  after  connected  himself  with  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Middleborough,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Backus; 
of  which  his  excellent  mother  had  been  a  member  for  several  years. 

Shortly  after  this,  he  commenced  a  course  of  study  preparatory  to  enter- 
ing College.  He  was  assisted  partly  by  his  elder  brother,  David  A.— 
then  a  member  of  Brown  University,  and  partly  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fobes,  a 
Professor  in  the  same  University,  but  having  his  residence  and  a  pastoral 

•MS.  from  his  son,  M.  Leonard.  Esq. — Communication  from  Hon.  W.  L.  Marcy. 


348  BAPTIST. 

charge  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Raj'ubam  ;  and,  during  part  of  the  time, 
he  studied  without  an  instructer,  and  in  connection  with  his  labours  upon 
the  farm.  In  May,  1792,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Sophomore  class  of 
Brown  University,  and,  during  his  whole  College  course,  was  distinguished 
for  diligence  in  study,  exemplary  deportment,  and  earnest  piety.  He 
graduated  with  honour  in  September,  179-1. 

On  leaving  College,  he  commenced  a  course  of  theological  study  under 
the  direction  of  the  llev.  William  Williams  of  Wrentham,  Mass.;  but,  at 
the  urgent  request  of  his  friends,  he  began  almost  immediately  to  preach, 
being  regularly  licensed,  according  to  the  order  of  his  deuominatiou,  by 
the  Church  in  Bridgewater.  He  spent  the  next  winter  in  Sandwich,  and 
some  of  the  adjoining  places,  and  early  in  the  spring,  was  permitted  to  take 
part  in  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  in  Provincetown, — a  place  situated 
on  the  extreme  Northwestern  point  of  Cape  Cod.  After  this,  he  went, 
by  invitation,  to  Templeton,  and  remained  there  about  two  months,  when 
he  determined  to  prosecute,  what  he  had  previously  meditated,  a  tour 
through  the  New  England  States,  and  the  State  of  New  York.  He,  accord- 
ingl^^  set  out;  but,  on  arriving  at  Sturbridge,  Mass.,  at  the  close  of  his 
second  day's  journey,  he  was  led  to  abandon  the  project,  and  accept  an  invi- 
tation to  pi-each  to  the  Baptist  church  in  that  town.  On  the  30th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1796,  he  received  a  unanimous  call  from  the  Church  and  Society  to 
become  their  Pastor  ;  and,  having  accepted  it,  he  was  ordained  on  the  15th 
of  September  following, — the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin  of  Boston  preaching  the 
Ordination  Sermon. 

With  such  zeal  and  energy  did  Mr.  Leonard  now  apply  himself  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  that  his  health  soon  began  to  fail,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1797  he  was  obliged  to  suspend  his  labours  for  several  months,  which 
he  spent  upon  the  sea-shore.  In  the  autumn  he  was  so  much  improved  that 
he  commenced  a  grammar  school  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  his  own 
dwelling,  which  he  continued,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  for  thirteen  suc- 
cessive seasons ;  and  for  several  years  he  had  in  his  family  a  number  of 
young  men  fitting  for  College,  or  more  immediately  for  some  of  the  higher 
walks  of  active  usefulness.  In  the  spring  of  1798,  his  health  again  became 
very  feeble,  and  serious  fears  were  entertained  of  an  incipient  disease  of 
the  lungs,  which  might  oblige  him  to  desist  from  public  speaking  altogether. 
He  again  availed  himself,  for  a  while,  of  the  sea  air,  but  with  little  or  no 
apparent  advantage.  Afterwards,  he  journeyed  into  the  Northern  part  of 
Vermont,  and  in  the  autumn  made  a  visit  to  Cape  Cod  ;  but  his  health  still 
continued  feeble.  About  this  time,  he  resumed  his  early  habit  of  regular 
labour  in  the  open  air ;  and  this  was  the  means  of  restoring  him  to  a  com- 
fortable state  of  health,  which  continued  till  near  the  close  of  life. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1799,  he  was  married  to  Sallj^  daughter  of 
Deacon  Henry  Fiske,  of  Sturbridge, — a  lady  distinguished  for  excellent 
judgment,  discreet  management  of  her  household  affairs,  and  all  those 
qualities  which  are  most  desirable  in  the  female  head  of  a  family.  She  sur- 
vives (1857)  in  a  green  old  age. 

Mr.  Leonard  was  active  in  procuring  a  division  of  the  Warren  (Rhode 
Island)  Baptist  Association.  A  Convention  of  ministers  and  private  mem- 
bers of  the  church   was  held  at  Sturbridse,    November   3,    1801,   which 


ZEN  AS  LOCKWOOD  LEONARD.  349 

resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Stnrbridgc  Association.  Their  first  meet- 
ing was  liohl  at  Cliarlton,  Septenilier  30,  llSO'i,  and,  for  more  tliau  a  (juar- 
ter  of  a  century,  he  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the  body.  He  enlisted 
with  great  zeal  for  tlie  promotion  of  several  of  the  prominent  benevolent 
objects  of  the  day, — particularly  the  Sabbath  School,  the  Temperance 
cause,  and  tlie  cause  of  African  Colonization,  and  was  President  of  the 
Society  for  Worcester  County  and  Vicinity,  auxiliary  to  the  Baptist  Board 
of  Missions.  He  also  repeatedly  accepted  and  conscientiously  discharged 
civil  trusts  conferred  upon  him  by  his  fellow-citizens.  His  uncommon 
industry  and  perseverance,  and  scrupulous  regard  to  system,  enabled  him 
to  accomplish  a  great  amount  of  labour. 

It  was  his  often  expressed  desire  that  he  might  not  outlive  the  period  of 
his  usefulness  ;  and  it  was  a  mysterious  dispensation  of  Providence  that, 
while  in  the  midst  of  vigorous  manhood,  he  was  visited  with  a  malady  (soft- 
ening of  the  brain)  which  gradually  brought  a  cloud  over  his  intellect. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1832,  he  was,  by  his  own  request,  dismissed 
from  the  immediate  charge  of  the  congregation,  which  he  had  ably  and 
faithfully  served,  during  a  period  of  thirty-six  years.  The  next  year,  the 
citizens  of  the  town  signified  their  continued  confidence  in  his  fidelity  and 
ability,  by  electing  him,  for  the  sixth  time,  to  represent  them  in  the  Coun- 
cils of  the  State.  For  some  years  he  continued  a  constant  attendant  in  the 
sanctuary',  and  occasionally  took  part  in  conference  and  prayer  meetings. 
It  had  been  his  custom  to  visit  annually  his  pious  mother,  and  the  friends 
and  home  of  his  youth,  in  the  Eastern  part  of  the  State,  and  generally,  in 
going  or  returning,  to  attend  Commencement  at  Brown  University.  His 
last  journey  thither  was  made  in  1833.  In  the  autumn  of  1835,  accom- 
panied by  his  son,  he  made  a  tour  through  a  part  of  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont,  which  he  seemed  greatly  to  enjoy,  but  was  glad  to  return  home  "  to 
rest."  He  died  on  the  24th  of  June,  1841,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his 
age,  and  his  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Joel  Kinney,  then 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Sturbridge,  from  II.  Timothy  iv.  7,  8. 

Mr.  Leonard  was  the  father  of  seven  children, — three  sons  and  four 
daughters.  The  eldest, — Henry  Fiske,  was  graduated  at  Brown  University 
in  1826,  and  studied  Law  with  the  late  Nathaniel  Searl,  LL.D.,  of  Provi- 
dence, a  classmate  and  friend  of  his  father.  He  died  soon  after  he  Avas 
admitted  to  the  Bar.     All  the  remaining  children  survived  their  father. 

The  only  productions  of  Mr.  Leonard's  pen,  that  are  known  to  have  been 
printed,  with  the  exception  of  contributions  to  various  periodicals,  are  the 
Circular  Letters  to  the  Sturbridge  Association,  for  the  years  1802,  1810, 
1822,  and  1825,  and  an  Oration  delivered  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  181 G. 

David  A.  Leonard,  an  elder  brother  of  the  Bev.  Zenas  L.  Leonard, 
was  born  at  Bridgewater,  September  15,  1771;  was  baptized  and  admitted 
a  member  of  the  First  Church  in  Providence,  March  7,  1790  ;  was  gradu- 
ated at  Brown  University  in  1792;  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist  at 
Bridgewater,  December  17,  1794 ;  afterwards  preached  two  years  at  Nan- 
tucket, and  for  about  the  same  period  at  Asonet  (now  Freetown) ;  and  was 
stated  supply,  for  some  time,  at  the  Gold  Street  Baptist  Church  in  New 
York.  He  removed  to  Bristol,  B.  I.,  in  June,  1805,  and  shortly  after 
became   a   Unitarian.     He   now   withdrew   from   the   active   duties  of  the 


350  BAPTIST. 

ministry,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  about  the  same  time  was 
appointed  Postmaster,  which  office  he  held  twelve  years.  He  was  also 
Secretary  of  the  Bristol  Insurance  Company,  and  was  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Bristol  Bepublican,  a  paper  warmly  devoted  to  the  interest  of  the 
then  Democratic  party.  In  the  hope  of  improving  both  his  health  and  his 
worldly  circumstances,  he  removed  to  the  West  in  the  autumn  of  1817, 
and  died  in  Harrison  township,  Boone  County,  la.,  on  the  22d  of  July  fol- 
lowing. 

He  was  married  to  Mary  Pierce  of  Middleborough,  February  9,  1797, 
by  whom  he  had  eleven  children, — three  sons  and  eight  daughters.  One 
of  the  daughters  was  married  to  the  Hon.  David  Merriwether,  late  U.  S. 
Senator  from  Kentucky,  and  G-overnor  of  New  Mexico,  and  another  to  the 
Hon.  William  P.  Thompson  of  Louisville,  late  Member  of  Congress  from 
that  District. 

Mr.  Leonard  was  distinguished  as  a  scholar,  and  especially  as  a  philolo- 
gist, and  he  occasionally  indulged  in  writing  poetry.  He  published  a  Ser- 
mon delivered  at  Holmes'  Harbour,  Martha's  Vineyard,  on  the  Death  of 
Mr.  John  Holmes,  1795  ;  an  Oration  delivered  at  Nantucket,  at  the  Cele- 
bration of  the  Festival  of  St.  John,  1796  ;  a  Funeral  Sermon  delivered  in 
Gold  Street  Church,  New  York,  1800;  an  Oration  delivered  at  Piaynham, 
Mass.,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1802;  an  Oration  delivered  at  Dighton,  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1803;  and  an  Oration  delivered  at  Raynham,  on  the 
Acquisition  of  Louisiana,  1804. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ALVAN  BOND,  D.  D. 

Norwich,  Conn.,  April  6,  1857. 

My  dear  Sir:  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  learn  that  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Zenas 
L.  Leonard  is  to  find  a  place  in  your  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  as 
it  does  to  contribute  any  reminiscences  of  that  excellent  man,  which  I  may  be 
able  now  to  command.  My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  in  the  year 
1820,  when  I  became  his  neighbour  by  assuming  the  Pastorate  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Sturbridge.  Though  many  years  have  passed  since  my 
intercourse  with  him  ceased,  in  consequence  of  my  removal  to  another  field 
of  labour,  yet  I  have  many  distinct  recollections  of  him  which  it  is  pleasant  to 
revive. 

Mr.  Leonard  was  of  about  the  medium  height,  with  a  robust,  fully  devel- 
oped form,  erect  and  firm,  but  rather  moderate,  in  his  movement.  His  com- 
plexion was  light,  with  a  clear  blue  eye;  and  his  face,  as  a  whole,  though  not 
conformed  to  a  classic  model,  was  expressive  of  intelligence,  firmness, 
benignity,  and  cheerfulness.  His  deportment  was  manly;  and  his  manners, 
though  not  highly  polished,  were  affable  and  gentlemanly.  He  understood 
and  practised  the  courtesies  and  hospitalities  of  life,  and  in  his  social  inter- 
course he  was  an  agreeable  companion; — fluent  and  instructive  in  conversation. 
He  was  free  from  ecccntri^tj^  and  not  given  to  svich  license  in  the  use  of  his 
tongue  as  detracts  from  the  dignity  and  propriety  which  should  characterize 
the  Christian  minister. 

In  regard  to  his  talent.s,  and  especially  executive  force  of  character,  he 
ranked  much  above  the  ordinary  type.  By  his  literarj'^  attainments  and  gen- 
eral intellectual  culture,  he  acquired  a  position  and  influence  that  commanded 
deference  among  the  ministers  of  his  own  order,  as  well  as  the  respect  of  his 
Congregational  brethren,  with  whom  he  maintained  kind  and  fraternal  rela- 
tions.    It  is  not  claimed  that  he  excelled  in  those  attractive   qualities  which 


ZENAS  LOCK  WOOD  LEONARD.  ogn 

secure  the  highest  degree  of  popularit)^;  but  he  undoubtedly  possessed  those 
sound,  discriminating,  earnest  and  energetic  elements  of  mind,  wliich  are 
favourable  to  the  highest  usefulness,  and  which  secured  to  him  a  solid  and 
lasting  reputation. 

As  a  writer,  he  had  a  good  command  of  language,  and  expressed  himself 
with  ease,  force,  and  perspicuity.  His  elocution  was  good,  and  his  style  of 
reading  the  Scriptures  excellent.  The  deep,  mellow  tones  of  his  voice,  modu- 
lated to  the  gravity  of  manner,  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  enunciate 
the  Holy  AVord,  gave  uncommon  significance  and  impressivcness  to  the  portions 
which  he  read. 

His  Christian  character,  though  not  marked  by  any  extraordinary  develop- 
ments, was  of  that  calm,  sincere  and  steadfast  stamp,  the  moral   efficiency  of 
which  did  not  depend  on  the  exciting  influence  of  objective  agencies,  so  much 
as  on  the  power  of  an  interior,  healthful  vitality,  supplied  by  grace.     In  his 
habitual  deportment  and  conversation,  he  manifested  supreme  deference  to  the 
authority,  truth,  and   spirit  of  the  Gospel;  stability  and  persistency  of  pur- 
pose; uncompromising  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  freedom,  righteousnes-s,  and 
public  virtue;  and  unwearied  activity  in  performing  the  various  duties  of  his 
profession.     His  was  a  piety  of  steady  progress,  which   mellowed   richly  and 
ripened  fruitfully,  as  his  sun  gradually  went  down  behind  the  cloud  of  death. 
When   Mr.    Leonard   was   invested  with    the  responsibilities   of   a   settled 
Pastor,    he  Avas    quite  young,  and    his    theological   training   had   been  less 
thorough  than  he  had  intended  it  should  be.     At  that  period,  too,  dishearten- 
ing forms  of  antagonism  challenged  the  ministry  to  polemic   encounter.     The 
extravagances  of  Separatism,  the  leaven  of  Antinomianism,  and  the  blighting 
spirit  of  French  Infidelity,  had  so  unsettled  the  foundations  of  religious  belief, 
that  spiritual  religion  burned  with  a  dim  light,  and  but  little  sympathy  was 
felt  for  a  direct,  earnest,  evangelical  tone  of  preaching.     To  a  young  man,  just 
putting  on  his  armour,  as  a  Christian  minister,  such  a  state  of  things  must 
have  seemed  not  a  little  discouraging.     But,  having  enjoyed  educational  advan- 
tages above  most  of  the  Baptist  ministers   of  that  period,  and  having,  from  a 
literary  stand-point,  surveyed  the  condition  and  studied  the  resources  of  the 
enemy,  he  was  enabled  to  sustain  himself,  amidst  his  labours  and  conflicts, 
with    decided  advantage.     His  progress  was  gradual   but  constant,  till    he 
secured  a  commanding  position  among  his  brethren,  and  was  regarded  as  one 
of  their  ablest  leaders.     The  fact  that,  for  a  period  of  thirty-six  years,  he 
officiated  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  highly  intelligent  Society,  as  a  Preacher  and 
Pastor,  is  an  historic  attestation  to  both  his  capability  and  fidelity. 

In  his  public  services  he  was  earnest,  though  not  vehement,— grave  and 
mstructive,  and  not  unfrequently  highly  pathetic  and  impressive.  His  salary 
being  inadequate  to  the  support  of  his  family,  he  was  under  the  necessity  of 
devotmg  a  portion  of  his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  did  not,  however, 
neglect  his  professional  studies,  though  he  never  aimed  at  the  refinements  of 
esthetic  culture,  or  the  reputation  of  brilliant  scholarship.  The  position  he 
occupied  did  not  offer  much  stimulus  to  literary  ambition.  His  views  and 
habits  partook  very  much  of  a  practical  character.  His  sermons,  though 
unwritten,  were  not  unstudied;  and  if  they  did  not  show  the  graces  of  classic 
composition,  or  the  attractions  of  rhetorical  ornament,  they  abounded  in 
manly  thought  and  apt  illustration,  and  were  listened  to  with  pleasure  and 
profit.  His  church  flourished  under  his  care,  and,  though  never  very  nume- 
rous, the  stability  and  Christian  intelligence  which  marked  the  religious 
character  of  the  mass  of  those  who  composed  it,  showed  the  practical  value 
and  evangelical  spirit  of  his  teachings. 

Though  honest  and  decided  in  his  adherence  to  the  distinctive  views  of  his 
denomination,  he  was  far  from  excluding  from  the  circle  of  his  charity  those 


352  BAPTIST. 

who  differed  from  him  in  respect  to  mere  ecclesiastical  forms,  or  minor  points 
of  doctrine.  In  building  up  his  own  church  and  denomination,  to  whose 
jirosperity  he  was  ardently  devoted,  he  adopted  a  method  that  was  open  and 
manly,  conscious  of  his  ability  to  maintain  his  ground,  without  recourse  to 
the  selfish  policy  of  an  exclusive  sectarism.  Consequently  he  lived  at  peace 
with  his  brethren  of  other  denominations,  and  enjoyed  their  respect  and  con- 
tideiicc.  During  the  period  of  my  ministry,  of  more  than  ten  years,  I  main- 
tained M'ith  him  relations  of  an  official  and  social  character,  which  were  never 
disturbed  by  the  slightest  misunderstanding  As  Pastors  of  different  flocks, 
which  were  intermingled  by  domestic  alliances,  we  dwelt  together  in  unity; 
and  between  the  people  of  the  respective  congregations  there  was  a  reciprocity 
of  neighbourly  kindnesses,  and  Christian  sympathy,  uninterrupted  and 
unmarred  by  sectarian  jealousy  and  bitterness. 

When  Mr.  Leonard  was  settled,  the  laws  of  the  State  secured  privileges  to 
the  Congregationalists,  or  as  they  were  sometimes  called, — "the  Standing 
Order,"  not  enjoyed  by  Societies  of  other  denominations.  He  early  took 
ground  against  this  monopoly  of  privileges,  and  contended  that  all  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  were  entitled  to  an  equality  of  religious  rights,  and  that  the 
precedence  of  one  over  another  was  an  infringement  of  such  rights,  which 
ought  to  be  remedied  by  appropriate  legislation.  He  maintained  that  all  eccle- 
siastical monopoly  is  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Demo- 
cracy, that  gives  form  and  vitality  to  our  civil  institutions.  If  his  zeal  on 
this  subject  sometimes  brought  him  into  an  antagonistic  position  with  the 
Congregational  Society,  in  public  meetings,  it  was  with  him  a  contest  for  prin- 
ciple,— not  the  spirit  of  animosit}^  towards  those  from  whom  he  differed.  It 
has  long  since  been  conceded  by  all  denominations  that  the  principle  for  which 
he  contended, — namely,  the  equality  of  legal  protection  and  privilege  to  ever^' 
Christian  sect,  is  right;  but  the  warmth  which  he  manifested,  while  the  ques- 
tion was  yet  unsettled,  never  interfered  in  the  least  with  the  agreeable  rela- 
tions that  existed  between  himself  and  his  Congregational  brethren.  As  an 
illustration  of  the  conciliatory  spirit  which  they  both  cherished,  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that,  at  a  time  when  the  Congregational  church  Avas  destitute  of  a 
Pastor,  he  was  invited  to  supply  their  pulpit  for  a  season,  and  his  people  to 
unite  with  them  in  the  services  of  the  Sabbath;  and  this  arrangement  actually 
took  effect,  to  the  mutual  satisfaction  of  both  congregations. 

In  seasons  of  special  religious  interest,  there  Avas  such  a  mutual  understand- 
ing and  harmony  of  action  between  the  two  ministers,  that  the  good  work  was 
in  no  instance  disturbed,  as  it  has  too  often  been  in  other  places,  by  an  excit- 
ing denominational  controversy.  Union  meetings  for  religious  purposes  were 
occasionally  held,  with  satisfactory  results.  Those  persons  who  can  recollect 
these  "  times  of  refreshing,"  when  both  churches  were  revived  and  enlarged 
by  the  visitation  of  the  gracious  Spirit,  and  the  ingatheriug  of  converts;  when 
fraternal  sympathies  and  mutual  labours  furnished  an  example  of  the  sweet 
charities  of  vital  religion,  will  bear  their  testimony  to  the  power  and  precious- 
ness  of  those  spiritual  harvest  seasons.  The  shepherds  were  not  afraid  to  call 
their  respective  flocks  togiither,  on  certain  occasions,  that  they  might  feed  in 
the  same  green  pasture,  and  by  the  side  of  the  same  still  waters.  While  they 
returned  to  their  respective  folds,  neither  shepherd  missed  any  of  his  own 
flock.  The  spirit  of  Christian  brotherhood,  cherished  at  these  union  gather- 
ings, gave  fervour  and  efficiency  to  prayer,  and  produced  a  cordial  outflow  of 
a  Heavenly  fellowship,  responsive  to  the  sentiment, — 

"0,  sweet  it  is,  through  life's  dark  way, 
"  In  Christian  fellowship  to  move, 
"Illumed  by  one  unclouded  ray, 
"And  one  in  faith,  in  hope,  in  love." 


ZENAS  LOCKWOOD  LEONARD.  353 

The  time  was  when  the  cause  of  eihication  found  but  slender  support  from  a 
portion  of  the  people  attached  to  the  ]5aptist  denomination.  This  i)rijudice 
was  somewhat  prevalent  in  the  earlier  period  of  Mr.  Leonard's  ministry. 
Knowing  the  advantajjes  of  a  liberal  mental  culture,  he  entered  heartily  into 
such  measures  as  promised  improvement  and  elevation  to  the  public  .schools 
He  was  a  strong  advocate  for  the  free  and  thorough  education  of  the  masses, 
and  favoured  liberal  appropriations  for  this  important  object.  By  personal, 
persevering  elTorts,  he  contributed  not  a  little  in  aid  of  the  cause  of  education 
in  the  town.  lie  shared  cheerfully  the  arduous  services  which  this  work 
devolved  upon  a  few,  and  never  was  disposed  to  shirk  responsibility,  when  an 
.•'.ppeal  was  made  for  his  co-operation.  He  served  on  School  Committees  and 
Boards  of  Visiters,  with  a  cliecrful  and  constant  devotion  of  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  work.  He  urged  a  liberal  and  enlightened  jiolicy  in  the  maintenance 
of  Free  Schools;  and  he  lived  to  have  cheering  proof  that  the  efforts  which  he 
put  forth  in  this  cause  were  not  in  vain. 

As  a  Citizen,  he  identified  himself  with  the  municipal  interests  of  the  town. 
The  circle  of  his  ecclesiastical  relations  and  labours  did  not  limit  his  activities 
or  his  influence.  He  consulted  for  public  improvements,  and  airlcd  in  accom- 
plishing them.  By  his  devotion  to  the  public  welfare,  by  his  stern  integrity, 
his  sound  common  sense,  and  his  enlightened  views  on  great  political  ques- 
tions, he  won  public  consideration  and  confidence.  Though  his  own  Society 
constituted  but  a  minority  of  the  population  of  the  town,  such  was  the  esti- 
mation in  which  he  was  held  that  he  was  repeatedly  elected  to  represent  the 
intelligent  constituency  of  the  place;  and  when  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
was  revised,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  to  which  that  impor- 
tant business  was  entrusted. 

Though  he   never  would  descend  from   the  high  ground  he  occupied  as  a 

('hristian  minister,  to  wield  tlie  carnal  weapons  of  political  strife,  he  claimed 

the  right  to  canvass  political  measures  and  principles,  fearlessly  to  avow  and 

maintain  his  own  opinions,  and,  as  a  citizen,  to  avail   himself  of  the  elective 

franchise.     Though  he  was  not  in  the  habit  of  preaching  political  sermons, 

except  occasionally  on  Fast  or  Thanksgiving  days,  yet  he  maintained  that  the 

pulpit  must  be  free  to  speak,  where  the  great  interests  of  national  morality 

and  safety  are  concerned,  or  it  must  cease  to  be 

"  The  most  important  and  effectual  guard, 
"  Support  and  ornament  of  Virtue's  cause." 

Mr.  Leonard's  theological  views  were  strictly  evangelical.  Jesus  Christ  and 
Him  crucified  was  the  central  theme  of  his  ministrations.  In  his  views  of 
Conversion,  and  Christian  experience  generallj^,  he  was  clear  and  discrimina- 
ting; and  was  therefore  a  judicious  coun.sellor  to  persons  inquiring  after  the 
way  of  salvation.  As  an  early  and  decided  friend  of  religious  revivals,  he 
preached,  and  prayed,  and  laboured,  with  a  view  to  their  promotion  among 
his  people.  During  his  ministry,  he  was  repeatedly  blessed  Mith  '  times  of 
refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord." 

As  it  respects  measures  of  religious  progress,  and  the  cure  of  great  moral 
and  social  evils,  he  was  earnest  and  aggressive.  He  regarded  it  as  the  Chris- 
tian's duty,  not  only  to  keep  his  own  vineyard,  but  to  labour  also  in  a  wider 
field,  which  is  the  world.  He,  accordingly,  both  by  example  and  appeal, 
urged  on  his  church  the  duty  of  going  forward,  in  obedience  to  the  calls  of 
Providence,  in  the  prosecution  of  every  good  work. 

Thus,  as  a  Citizen,  a  Christian,  and  a  Minister  of  the  Cospel,  did  this  vener- 
able servant  of  fJod,  by  a  faithful  and  uncompromising  devotion  to  the  cau.se 
of  human  improvement,  and  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom, 
.serve  his  generation.  The  evening  of  his  life  was  .saddeneil  by  infirmities, 
which  reached  beyond  the  body  to  the  mind;  but  the  horizon  of  his  faith  and 

Vol.  VT.  45 


354  BAPTIST. 

hope  was  luminous  and  cheerful.  Though  his  public  career  was  not  signalized 
by  any  extraordinary  intellectual  demonstration,  it  was  not  because  he  was 
not  capable  of  making  efforts  that  would  have  greatly  distinguished  him;  but 
because  he  instinctively  shrunk  from  notoriety — as  an  instance  of  which  I 
may  mention  that,  when  the  proffer  of  literarj^  honours  was  made  to  him  by 
his  jilma  Mater,  he  unhesitatingly  discouraged  it.  Pursuing  the  even  tenor 
of  his  way,  he  made  and  left  his  mark  on  the  Religious  Society  to  which  he 
ministered,  and  on  the  town  with  whose  varied  interests  he  identified  himself. 
Among  that  people  who  honoured  and  revered  him  while  living,  his  memory  7S 
still  fragrant,  and  his  good  influence  gratefully  acknowledged. 

Truly  your  friend  and  brother, 

ALVAN  BOND. 


JOHN  HEALEY. 

1794—1848. 

FROM  THE  REV.  GEORGE  F.  ADAMS. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  March  29,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  "With  my  excellent  brother  and  predecessor,  the  Rev. 
John  Healey,  I  enjoyed  an  intimate  acquaintance,  for  about  ten  years,  and 
had  therefore  a  good  opportunity  of  forming  a  correct  judgment  of  his 
character.  In  complying  with  your  request,  I  have  not  only  availed 
myself  of  my  own  personal  recollections,  but  have  examined  the  Records 
of  the  Church  with  which  he  was  so  long  connected,  and  the  very  few  mem- 
oranda which  he  left  in  the  possession  of  his  family.  None  of  the  friends 
of  this  venerable  man  would  claim  for  him  any  remarkable  intellectual 
endowments,  or  any  high  professional  distinction,  and  yet  the  position 
which  he  held  in  the  Church,  in  connection  with  his  great  moral  and  Chris- 
tian excellence,  justly  entitles  him  to  a  grateful  commemoration. 

John  Healey  was  born  in  Leicester,  England,  October  31,  1764.  His 
parents  were  members  of  the  Established  Church  of  England,  and  the 
rite  of  Confirmation  was  administered  to  him  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 
About  the  same  time,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  silk  dyer ;  and  at  this  trade 
he  continued  to  work  for  many  years  after  he  was  settled  in  this  country. 
When  he  was  about  seventeen,  he  began  to  attend  the  preaching  of  the 
Rev.  John  Deacon,  a  minister  of  what  is  now  called  in  England  "  the  Gene- 
ral Baptist  Church."  Under  his  ministry  he  became,  as  he  believed,  a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  received  Baptism  at  his  hands.  As  it 
was  customary,  in  the  social  meetings  of  the  Church,  for  any  who  were 
thus  disposed,  to  speak  of  their  experience  in  Divine  things,  ]Mr.  Healey 
used  occasionally  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  address  his  fellow 
disciples.  He  commenced  preaching  in  or  about  the  year  1792, — several 
years  after  he  made  a  profession  of  his  faith.  In  1794,  he,  with  several 
of  his  neighbours,  mostly  members  of  the  same  church,  came  to  this  coun- 
try, having,  before  leaving  England,  covenanted  together  as  a  Christian 
community,  and   Mr.  Healey  was  chosen   as    their  spiritual   guide.     They 


JOHN  IIEALEY.  355 

landed  in  New  York  in  October,  and  remained  in  that  city  till  Februar}' 
of  the  following  year,  when  they  came  to  Baltimore, — the  place  to  which 
their  minds  were  directed  before  leaving  England.  They  worshipped,  for 
some  time,  in  a  warehouse,  which  had  been  fitted  up  for  that  purpose  by 
some  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  over  which  the  Kev.  Dr.  Bend 
presided  as  minister.  It  is  due  to  the  Christian  kindness  of  Dr.  Bend  to 
state  that  Mr.  Healey  was  allowed  to  occupy  this  room  three  Sabbaths 
each  month,  free  of  rent.  He  continued  to  minister  to  this  little  band  for 
about  two  years,  without  any  formal  organization.  The  church  was 
regularly  constituted,  with  only  five  members,  on  the  11th  of  June,  1797. 
and  Mr.  Healey  was  publicly  ordained  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Joshua  Jones 
and  John  Austin,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1798.  He  continued  in  the  Pas- 
torship until  December,  1747,  when,  on  account  of  infirmity  incident  to  his 
advanced  age,  he  resigned  his  charge.  He  died  on  the  17th  of  June, 
1848,  at  the  age  of  nearly  eighty-four  years. 

Mr.  Healey  was  married,  May  15,  1789, — five  years  before  coming  to 
America,  to  Mrs.  Mary  Martha  Leech,  whose  maiden  name  was  Brodair. 
She  was  a  widow,  with  one  daughter, — now  the  highly  respected  widow  of 
the  late  William  Young,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore.  He  had  several  children, 
but  only  two  of  them  lived  to  maturity.  His  eldest  son,  Joseph  Ward, 
born  in  England,  died  at  sea,  at  the  age  of  thirty.  His  only  surviving 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  is  the  wife  of  Timothy  Stevens,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore 
County,  a  lady  of  great  respectability  and  moral  worth.  Mrs.  Healey 
died  December  22,  1803.  In  June,  180.5,  Mr.  Healey  married  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Hunt,  a  widow,  who  was  one  of  the  little  band  who  came  with  him  to 
this  country,  and  one  of  the  original  constituents  of  his  church.  They 
lived  in  happy  union  until  her  death,  which  took  place  May,  11,  1843. 
She  was  a  woman  of  kindred  spirit  with  her  husband,  and  in  all  respects 
"a  help-meet  for  him."     She  had  no  child. 

Mr.  Healey,  though,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  not  distinguished  for 
either  talents  or  learning,  possessed  good  common  sense  and  a  sound 
judgment,  had  read  quite  extensively,  and  had  acquired  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  Glreek  and  Hebrew  languages.  His  piety  was  at  once 
ardent  and  consistent.  Through  his  long  career,  as  a  Christian  and  a  min- 
ister, he  maintained  a  spotless  reputation. 

He  was  a  steady  friend  and  supporter  of  the  various  efforts  of  Chris- 
tians to  spread  the  Grospel  throughout  the  world.  He  was  one  of  the  con- 
stituent members  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention  for  Missionary 
purposes,  formed  in  Philadelphia  in  April,  1814,  and,  with  other  worthy 
brethren,  was  appointed  one  of  its  Board  of  Managers.  One  of  its  earli- 
est auxiliary  Societies  was  formed  under  his  auspices. 

As  a  preacher,  I  cannot  say  that  Mr.  Healey  was  eminently  successful,  if 
his  success  be  judged  of  by  the  numerical  growth  of  his  church.  During 
his  ministry,  he  admitted  to  the  communion  four  hundred  and  forty-six, 
besides  the  original  members.  The  number  of  communicants,  however, 
seldom  exceeded  one  hundred  and  fifty  at  any  one  time.  It  should  be 
stated  that,  during  a  large  portion  of  his  ministry,  he  was  obliged  to  devote 
much  of  his  time  to  secular  business,  the  church  never  having  been  able 
to  give  him  a  support  for  his  family.     Indeed,  he  him.self  was  accustomed. 


356 


BAPTIST. 


for  many  years,  to  give  not  only  his  time  but  also  his  substance  to  defray 
the  incidental  expenses  of  maintaining  public  worship.  During  his  minis- 
try, the  church  erected  two  houses  of  worship,  to  both  of  which  enter- 
prises the  Pastor  lent  both  his  time  and  his  means.  Yet,  with  these  drafts 
upon  him,  beside  the  support  of  his  family,  and  the  constant  hospitality  to 
which  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  must  be  given,  he  saved  enough,  by  industry 
and  economy,  to  possess  a  comfortable  house.  During  the  last  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  of  his  life,  he  was  enabled,  by  means  of  what  he  had  accumu- 
lated in  business,  and  what  the  church  could  pay  for  his  services,  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office. 

Between  Mr.  Healey  and  the  people  of  his  charge,  there  existed  a  strong 
mutual  attachment.  He  moved  about  among  them  with  an  earnest  desire 
T,o  do  them  good,  and  he  was  especially  particular  to  "visit  the  widows 
and  fatherless  in  their  affliction."  He  was  an  eminently  good  man  in  all 
his  various  relations,  and  his  record  is  on  high. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

GEORGE  F.  ADAMS. 


FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  June  16,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  Your  request  for  my  recollections  of  Father  Healey  touches  a 
tender  chord  in  mj  heart.  I  knew  him  from  1817  till  his  death.  1  resided  in 
Baltimore  for  some  years,  and  sat  under  his  ministry,  and  it  was  especially 
through  his  instrumentality,  in  connection  with  that  of  his  church,  that  I  was 
myself  introduced  to  the  privileges  and  responsibilities  of  the  sacred  oflBce. 
He  was  accustomed  to  call  upon  me  to  pray  and  exhort  in  our  social  religious 
meetings;  and,  after  he  had  read  a  chapter,  he  expected  me  to  follow  it  witli 
such  comments  as  I  was  able  to  make.  When  I  expressed  to  him  my  convic- 
tion that  I  was  incompetent  to  speak  to  edification,  he  said  "  No, — go  on,  and 
if  you  get  it  crooked,  I'll  make  it  straight;"  and  when  I  had  finished  my 
remarks,  he  would  follow  with  some  remarks  of  his  own,  and  would  some- 
times say, — "  The  young  man  has  spoken  to  you  the  truth,  and  it  will  be  well 
for  you  if  you  receive  the  truth  at  his  lips."  Thus  began  my  training  for  the 
ministry;  and,  at  no  distant  period,  the  Church,  acting  of  course,  under  his 
counsel  and  guidance,  gave  me  a  license  to  preach  the  Gospel  wherever,  in  the 
Providence  of  God,  there  might  be  an  opening! 

It  was  not  long  after  I  was  licensed  before  the  good  old  man  accompanied 
me  on  a  preaching  tour  of  forty  days,  on  both  sides  of  the  Juniata  River,  on 
the  borders  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania;  and,  during  this  mission,  I  had 
opportunity  to  make  full  proof  of  his  wisdom,  benevolence,  devotion,  and,  T 
may  add,  good-humour.  One  or  two  circumstances  that  occurred  on  this  joiir- 
ney,  which  are  still  perfectly  fresh  in  my  remembrance,  I  will  mention  as 
giving  you  a  better  idea  of  some  of  his  characteristics  than  I  can  conve}^  in 
any  other  way.  ~ 

It  had  fiiUen  to  my  lot  to  preach  on  one  occasion,  and  the  object  of  my  dis- 
course was  to  explain  and  defend  the  doctrine  of  Election.  Among  my 
hearers  was  a  certain  lady,  who  was  a  very  zealous  Arminian,  and  of  course 
had  no  sjnnpathy  with  the  views  which  T  had  vmdertaken  to  put  forth.  It  so 
happened  that,  after  tlie  service,  we  were  invited  to  her  house  to  dine;  and 
she  availed  herself  of  the  opportunity  to  let  me  know  that  the  system  of 
doctrine  which  1  preached  found  no  favour  in  her  eyes.  The  castigation  she 
gave  me,  T  received  with  exemplary  deference,  and  neither  Father  Ilcaley  nor 


JOHN    llEALEV.  qk»7 

myself  thought  proper  to  enter  into  any  discussion  with  Iicr  on  the  suhject. 
When  we  came  out  to  mount  our  horses,  the  old  gentleman,  whose  fiiith  in 
the  doctrine  of  my  sermon  was  as  firm  as  a  mountain,  simply  said,  with  a 
most  expressive  look—"  As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever  shall 
be,  world  without  end." 

Another  incident  illustrative  of  a  diflerent  charactoiistic.     One  night  where 

we  lodged,  it  became  a  matter  of  convenience  for  us  to  occupy  the  same  bed. 

1  happened  to  be  awake  some  time  in  the  night,  but,  supposing  my  compunion 

was  asleep,  1  did  not  venture  to  speak  to   him.     At  length,  however,  I   heard 

from  him  a   low  whisper,  in  wliich    I   instantly  recognized   the  breathing.s  of 

devotion.     For  some  time,  he  prayed  most  fervently  for  himself,  supplicating 

blessmgs  with  reference  to  his  own  peculiar   needs.     He   then  commenced  a 

most  earnest  and  afiectionate  intercession  for  me,— regarding  my  circumstances 

especially  as  a  young  preacher,— the  temptations  and  dangers   to   which   I 

should  be  exposed,  and,  with  an  almost  matchless  fervour,  imploring  for  me 

large  measures  of  Divine  grace,  that  I  might  be  preserved  and  carried  forward 

m  a  career  of  eminent  ministerial  usefulness.     Those  moments,  during  which 

I  was  listening  to  the  supplications  of  that  man  of  God  in  my  behalf,  I  have 

always  thought  had  more  of  blessing  crowded  into  them   than  perhaps  any 

period  of  my  life  since  I  entered  upon  the  Christian  course.     The  idea   tha't 

the  venerable  saint  was  thus  wrestling  with  God  for  me,  in  the  stillness  of 

midnight,  when  he  supposed    that  no  ear  this   side  of  Heaven  was  awake  to 

his  tender  and  imploring  utterances,  so  wrought  upon  my  inmost  soul,  that  I 

found  it  difficult  to  prevent  my  emotions  from  taking   on  an  audible  form.     I 

felt  then  that  the  prayer  that  was  going  up  for  me  was  the  effectual  fervent 

prayer  of  the  righteous  man;  and,  while  I  have  never  lost  the  savour  of  that 

nightly  exercise,  it  has  always  been  with  me  a  cherished  impression  that  not 

a  few  of  the  great  blessings  with  which  my  life  has  been  crowned,  may  have 

had  a  connection,  in  the  Providence   of  God,  with   those   devout  whispers  to 

which  I  then  listened. 

While  Father  Healey  was  eminent  for  a  devotional  spirit,  and  was  one  of 
the  finest  models  of  Christian  character  that  I  remember  to  have  met  with, 
he  had  naturally  one  of  the  most  lovely  and  loving  of  dispositions.  One  inci- 
dent illustrative  of  this  trait,  that  came  within  my  immediate  knowledge,  I 
can  never  forget.  On  my  return  to  Baltimore,  some  time  after  1  came  to  the 
North,  I  was  prompted  alike  by  filial  duty  and  filial  love,  to  call  upon  him 
soon  after  my  arrival.  The  moment  I  entered  the  room  in  which  he  was,  he 
sprang  from  his  chair,  rushed  up  to  me,  threw  his  arms  around  my  neck,  laid 
his  head  upon  my  shoulder,  and  burst  into  tears.  It  was  the  overflowing  of 
one  of  the  kindest,  warmest  hearts  that  God  ever  placed  in  a  human  bos°om. 
It  was  not  easy  to  say  how  much  of  the  benevolence  that  came  out  in  his  life 
was  to  be  set  to  the  account  of  nature,  and  how  much  to  that  of  grace;  but 
It  was  impossible  to  mark  the  generous  and  kindly  workings  of  his  spirit 
from  day  to  day,  and  resist  the  impression  that  he  was  a  debtor  to  both  in  a 
higher  degree  than  often  falls  to  the  lot  of  humanity. 

Father  llcaley  was  far  from  being  a  popular  preacher.  His  .sermons  were 
not  distinguished  for  either  the  logical  or  the  imaginative— they  were  little 
more  than  familiar  talks— and  yet  they  were  alwavs  sensible,  and  ahvavs 
embodied  material  for  u.seful  reflection.  His  manner  as  well  as  his  matter 
was  characterized  by  the  utmost  simplicity,  and  uniformly  impressed  you 
with  the  idea  that  he  was  striving  to  do  you  good.  His  salary  was  so  small 
that  he  might  almost  be  said  to  have  rendered  his  services  gratuitously;  and 
the  necessity  of  connecting  with  his  professional  engagements  a  .secular  occu- 
pation as  a  means  of  supporting  his  family,  no  doubt  greatly  lessened  the 
force  and  attractiveness  of  his  public  ministrations. 


358  BAPTIST. 

In  his  jDersonal  appearance.  Father  Healey  was  a  fine  specimen  of  an  English- 
man. He  was  rather  inclined  to  a  plethoric  habit.  He  had  an  intelligent 
face,  a  keen  eye,  and  wliile  his  countenance  readily  took  on  an  arch  express- 
ion, it  was  always  blazing  forth  in  the  warm  glow  of  hearty  good-will. 
Though  nobody  regarded  him  as,  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  word,  a 
great  preacher  or  a  great  man,  every  body  esteemed,  honoured  and  loved  him; 
and  I  venture  to  say  that  if  I  were  to  revisit  the  scene  of  his  labours,  i 
should  find  that  his  name  there  is  still  a  household  word,  and  that,  with  all 
the  surviving  members  of  his  flock  at  least,  his  memory  is  as  fragrant  as  ever. 

Very  fraternally  yours, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.* 

1795—1825. 

John  Williams  was  born  at  Carnarvonshire,  Wales,  March  8,  (0.  S.) 
1767.  His  father's  name  was  William  Roberts,  from  which,  according  to 
an  ancient  Welsh  custom,  of  deriving  the  Surname  of  the  children  from  the 
Christian  name  of  the  father,  he  took  the  name  of  Williams.  His  father 
was  a  farmer,  as  his  more  remote  ancestors  had  also  been  for  several  gene- 
rations. He  went  at  an  early  age  to  live  with  his  maternal  grandfather, 
whose  residence  was  a  few  miles  distant  from  his  father's  :  here  he  passed 
the  years  of  his  boyhood ;  and,  as  both  his  father's  and  grandfather's 
families  were  strongly  attached  to  the  Established  Church,  his  earliest 
religious  associations  were  altogether  with  that  Body.  Being,  by  a  consti- 
tutional lameness,  unfitted  for  agricultural  pursuits,  it  was  his  father's 
wish  that  he  might  receive  such  an  education  as  should  qualify  him  to 
enter  the  ministry  in  the  Established  Church ;  but  his  unwillingness  to  be 
dependant  on  his  family  led  him  to  prefer  a  trade.  With  a  view  to  carry 
out  this  purpose  he  went  to  reside  in  the  County  town  of  Carnarvon.  But 
before  he  had  been  long  there  an  event  occurred,  which  gave  a  new  com- 
plexion to  his  character,  and  a  new  direction  to  his  pursuits.  Under  the 
preaching  of  David  Morris,  a  devoted  Calvinistic  Methodist  minister,  he 
was  brought  to  receive  Christianity  in  its  life  and  power ;  and,  shortly 
after,  when  he  had  about  completed  his  nineteenth  year,  he  united  with  the 
Independent  Church  in  the  neighbourhood,  then  under  the  care  of  the  llev. 
Dr.  Lewis,  a  man  distinguished  alike  for  talents  and  acquirements. 

Not  long  after  he  had  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  encouraged 
by  his  judicious  and  excellent  Pastor,  he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry  ;  and  very  soon  commenced  his  public  labours.  Before  long,  lie 
began  to  entertain  doubts  as  to  the  validity  of  Infant  Baptism  ;  and  those 
doubts  were  not  a  little  confirmed  by  a  remark  that  fell  from  Dr.  Lewis, 
who  did  not  suspect  the  tendencies  of  his  mind,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  he 
made  of  him  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  passage, — "Buried  with  him 
in  Baptism."     The    Doctor's   answer  was, — "I  really  think  the  Baptists 

*  Amer.  Bapt.  Mag.  V. 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  359 

have,  in  that  text,  the  advantage  over  us."  He  soon  revealed  l\i.s  doubts  to 
Dr.  Lewis,  who  did  his  utmost  to  remove  them ;  but  all  his  efforts  proved 
unavailing.  In  due  time,  he  felt  constrained,  in  obedience  to  his  honest 
and  mature  convictious,  to  receive  Baptism  by  immersion  ;  and,  in  doing  so, 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Horeb  Baptist  Church  at  Garn.  But  this 
chan<re  in  his  views  and  church  relations  did  not  at  all  affect  the  warm 
friendship  which  had  existed  between  him  and  Dr.  Lewis:  jMr.  Williams, 
to  the  close  of  his  life,  continued  to  speak  of  his  former  Pastor,  in  terras 
of  the  strongest  affection. 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Williams  connected  himself  with  the  Ilorcb  Church, 
he  became  their  Pastor.  Before  entering  upon  this  charge,  some  of  his 
friends  advised  him  to  study  for  a  while  at  the  Bristol  Baptist  Academy  ; 
and,  in  subsequent  life,  he  regretted  that  he  had  not  followed  their  advice ; 
but  he  seems  to  have  been  determined  to  a  different  course  by  an  appre- 
hension, growing  out  of  what  he  thought  were  signs  of  consumption,  that 
his  period  for  labour  was  short,  and  that  he  needed  it  all  to  devote  directly 
to  his  Master's  service.  The  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed  by  this 
early  settlement,  put  in  requisition  all  his  energies  of  both  mind  and  body ; 
for  the  Horeb  Church  was  composed  of  several  branches,  and  met  at  dif- 
ferent places  of  worship  ;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  he  travelled  extensively 
through  North  and  South  Wales,  collecting  funds  for  building  two  meeting- 
houses for  the  accommodation  of  his  people.  By  this  means  he  became 
generally  known  and  greatly  respected  throughout  the  Principality ;  and. 
at  the  same  time,  the  tone  of  his  physical  constitution  was  much  improved, 
and  the  unfavourable  symptoms,  which  had  awakened  his  apprehensions, 
were  in  a  great  degree  removed.  He  often  travelled  in  company  with  the 
celebrated  Christmas  Evans,  who  was  his  intimate  friend,  and  with  whom 
he  kept  up  a  correspondence  to  the  close  of  life. 

Mr.  AVilliams  at  length  formed  the  purpose  of  seeking  a  home  on  this 
side  of  the  ocean.  In  the  multitudes  who  were  emigrating  from  Great 
Britain  to  this  country,  there  were  many  of  the  mountaineers  of  Wales,  not 
a  small  portion  of  whom  had  no  knowdedge  of  the  English  language ;  and 
it  was  with  special  reference  to  the  wants  of  this  class  that  he  resolved  to 
come  hither,  and  cast  in  his  lot  among  them.  He  landed  at  New  York  on 
the  25th  of  July,  1795,  bringing  warm  recommendations  from  his  church, 
who  had  parted  with  him  with  extreme  reluctance,  and  from  various  others, 
among  whom  was  his  former  Pastor,  Dr.  Lewis. 

Within  a  fortnight  after  he  arrived  in  the  country,  a  younger  brother, 
who  had  come  with  him,  died  very  suddenly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New- 
ark, N.  J.  Mr.  Williams  was  in  New  York  when  the  tidings  reached 
him  ;  and  he  immediately  set  out  and  travelled  on  foot  to  the  place  where 
his  brother  had  died.  This  exertion,  in  connection  with  the  severity  and 
suddenness  of  the  blow,  threw  him  into  a  violent  fever.  In  the  distress 
and  agitation  of  mind  which  ensued,  he  began  to  doubt  whether,  in  coming 
to  this  country,  he  had  not  run  before  he  was  sent ;  he  prayed  that  one, 
though  it  were  but  one,  soul  might  be  given  him  as  the  fruit  of  his  labours 
in  America  ;  and,  when  he  recovered  from  his  illness,  he  addressed  himself 
to  his  work  with  greater  zeal  than  ever.  He  had  intended  to  plant  him- 
self in  the  neighbourhood  of  some  Welsh  settlement,  and  to  continue  his 

Vol.  VI.  47 


360 


BAPTIST. 


labours  in  his  native  language;  and,  with  this  view,  his  attention  had  been 
directed  to  Beulah  in  Pennsylvania,  and  Steuben  in  New  York.  His  first 
sermon  in  America  was  in  Welsh,  and  was  preached  in  the  meeting-house 
then  occupied  by  the  Rev.  John  Stanford,  in  Fair  (now  Fulton)  Street. 

The  Baptist  Church  in  Oliver  (then  Fayette)  Street,  consisting  of  about 
thirty  members,  worshipped  in  an  unfinished  building,  only  thirty  feet 
square,  with  scarcely  decent  accommodations  ;  and  here  Mr.  Williams  was 
allowed,  occasionally,  to  preach  for  the  benefit  of  his  countrymen.  Up  to 
this  time  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language  was  too  imperfect  to  jus- 
tify his  alterapting  to  preach  in  it ;  but,  by  request  of  the  church,  he  gave 
himself  to  the  study  of  it,  and  very  soon  had  made  such  progress  that  he 
ventured  one  service  in  English  on  the  Sabbath,  while  the  other  was  still 
performed  in  Welsh.  The  English  part  of  his  congregation  became  con- 
stantly more  and  more  interested  in  his  pulpit  efforts,  as  well  as  in  his  pri- 
vate character;  and,  having  already  made  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to 
procure  a  supply,  they  began  to  fix  their  attention  upon  him  as  a  suitable 
person  to  fill  the  place.  After  a  trial  of  nine  months,  they  gave  him  a 
unanimous  call ;  and,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1798,  he  was  formally  con- 
stituted Pastor  of  the  church.  The  Yellow  Fever,  just  about  this  time, 
appeared  in  New  York  in  uncommon  virulence,  and  Mr.  Williams  was  very 
early  attacked  by  it.  By  the  use  of  prompt  and  decisive  means,  how- 
ever, the  disease  was  arrested,  and  his  life,  which  had  been  despaired  of, 
mercifully  preserved. 

Mr.  Williams,  from  the  time  of  his  settlement  over  this  church,  was 
constantly  growing  in  both  favour  and  usefulness.  The  place  soon  became 
too  strait,  and  in  1800  the  meeting-house  was  enlarged,  and  in  other 
respects  rendered  more  commodious.  In  the  course  of  years,  this  place 
also  became  insufficient ;  and  was  succeeded  by  a  noble  stone  edifice  which 
compared  well  with  the  largest  and  most  attractive  places  of  worship  then 
in  the  city.  His  congregation,  as  these  changes  would  indicate,  was  con- 
stantly upon  the  increase  ;  his  church  was  greatly  enlarged  and  strength- 
ened ;  and,  during  his  connection  with  them,  about  four  hundred  and  forty 
persons  were  baptized,  exclusive  of  others  baptized  on  Long  Island  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  State.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1823,  the  Rev. 
Spencer  H.  Cone,  of  Alexandria,  D.  C,  became  his  colleague  in  the  pasto- 
ral office. 

About  this  time,  his  bodily  strength  began  perceptibly  to  decline,  and  his 
mind  seemed  to  be  losing  its  wonted  energy.  In  the  course  of  the  winter,  he 
was  attacked  by  a  violent  influenza,  from  which  he  suffered  great  prostration  ; 
but  he  still  cherished  the  hope  that  it  would  occasion  nothing  more  than  a 
temporary  suspension  of  his  labours.  For  two  or  three  weeks  previous  to 
his  death,  he  seemed  to  be  gaining  strength,  and  his  friends  were  becoming 
somewhat  encouraged  in  respect  to  his  recovery.  Saturday  night,  however, 
he  passed  without  rest,  and  on  Sabbath  morning  his  whole  appearance  indi- 
cated an  unfavourable  change.  In  the  course  of  the  morning,  he  was 
occupied  in  reading  from  a  favourite  work, — President  Edwards'  work  on 
the  Religious  Affections  ;  and  he  also  held  a  brief  conversation  with  a 
brother  minister  who  had  called  to  see  him.  Having  requested  his  friend 
to  employ  himself  with  a    book,  he  walked   into   an   adjoining   room   and 


JOHN  WILLIAMS.  3(31 

threw  himself  upon  the  bed.  He  almost  immediately  expressed  a  wish  to 
rise,  and,  being  helped  by  his  wife  into  a  chair,  he  passed  away  in  a 
moment  and  without  a  struggle.  This  event  occurred  on  the  25t]i  of  May, 
IS'io.  His  Funeral  was  attended  at  the  meeting-house  in  Oliver  Street, 
and  a  Sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  his  intimate  and  long-tried 
friend,  the  venerable  John  Stanford. 

Mr.  Williams'  publications  are  a  Sermon  preached  before  the  New  York 
Missionary  Society,  and  several  Association  Letters. 

A  son  of  ^Ir.  Williams,— the  Rev.  Dr.  William  R.  Williams,  of  New 
York,  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  ablest  preachers,  and  most  accomplished 
•writers,  of  the  day. 

FROM  THE  REV.  CHARLES  G.  SOMMERS,  D.  D. 

New  York,  May  12,  1853. 
Dear  Sir:  I  knew  the  Rev.  John  "Williams  well,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to 
bear  my  testimony  to  his  remarkably  elevated  character  and  useful  life.  My 
acquaintance  with  him  commenced  about  the  time  that  I  came  to  this  city,  in 
the  year  1810,  and  I  may  say  that  I  was  on  terms  of  intiniacj-  with  him  almost 
from  that  time  till  his  death.  Before  I  was  myself  in  the  ministry,  I  was 
often  a  visiter  at  his  house,  and  often  heard  him  preach,  though  lie  was  not 
the  Pastor  of  the  church  with  which  I  was  more  immediately  connected. 
After  I  commenced  preaching,  my  relations  with  him  became  still  more  intimate, 
and  I  have  never  ceased  to  regard  liim  as  eminently  deserving  the  appellation 
of  a  model  Christian  and  a  model  Minister. 

Looking  lirst  at  his  outer  man,  I  may  say  that  there  was  notliing  about  him 
externally  that  was  particularly  striking  or  attractive.  In  stature,  he  was 
of  about  the  middle  height;  his  face  was  very  much  of  the  Welsh  character, — 
round  and  full,  and  beaming  with  kind  and  generous  feeling.  His  voice  was 
.strong,  and  had  somewhat  of  the  Welsh  accent;  but  was  marked  by  another 
peculiarity,  not  easily  described,  which  never  struck  a  stranger  pleasantly. 
If  you  had  met  him  casually  in  the  street,  and  heard  him  speak  onlj^  enough 
to  catch  the  sound  of  his  voice,  and  then  had  been  called  upon  to  offer  a  con- 
jectural opinion  of  his  character  as  a  preacher,  your  judgment  would  almost 
certainly  have  been  very  wide  of  the  mark.  For  though,  when  he  entered 
the  pulpit,  you  saw  the  same  man,  and  heard  the  same  voice,  yet  the  man, 
under  the  influence  of  the  great  truths  he  was  delivering,  seemed  to  have 
brightened  into  a  superior  being,  and,  in  your  admiration  of  what  was  said, 
you  quite  forgot  the  imperfection  of  the  voice  which  uttered  it.  Though  he 
had  but  little  gesture,  yet  such  was  the  earnestness  of  his  spirit  that  his  whole 
frame  would  sometimes  seem  tremulous  under  the  power  of  his  emotions.  He 
was  accustomed  to  elaborate  his  discourses  thoroughly  in  his  own  mind,  and 
to  commit  the  outline  to  paper,  and  then  to  trust  for  the  language  to  the 
impulse  of  the  moment  at  the  time  of  delivery.  He  was  a  most  diligent  stu- 
dent of  the  Bible,  and  his  great  object  in  preaching  seemed  to  be,  not  only  to 
bring  out  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  but  to  bring  it  in  contact  with  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  his  hearers  in  all  its  Divine  power;  and  in  this  I  must  say  that 
he  succeeded  beyond  most  persons  whom  I  have  known.  Though  tlie  basis  of 
all  his  discourses  was  evangelical  truth,  he  was  accustomed  to  view  truth  in 
its  most  practical  bearings;  and  no  one  could  ever  listen  attentively  to  his 
preaching,  without  feeling  that  he  had  prescribed  something  to  be  done  as  well  as 
to  be  believed.  He  had  excellent  powers  of  reasoning,  though  his  preaching  was 
not  generally  of  an  argumentative  cast.  As  the  Welsh  was  his  native  language, 
he  was  of  course  familiar  with  that  version  of  the  Scriptures;  and  I  used  to 

Vol.  VI.  46 


362  BAPTIST. 

think  that,  owing  to  this,  he  sometimes  arrived  at  shades  of  difference  in  the 
construction  of  a  text,  which  gave  him  an  advantage  over  most  other  preach- 
ers. His  prayers  were  remarkable  specimens  of  the  simplicity  as  Avell  as  fer- 
vour of  devotion.  I  think  it  must  have  been  difficult  for  any  man — no  matter 
how  wicked  he  may  have  been — to  have  heard  him  pray  without  being 
impressed  with  the  thought  that  he  was  in  actual  communion  with  God. 

For  nothing,  perhaps,  was  Mr.  Williams  more  distinguished  than  for  the 
natural  gentleness  and  amiableness  of  his  spirit.  He  loved  peace,  some  might 
perhaps  say,  even  to  excess :  for  rather  than  see  it  interrupted,  he  would  some- 
times yield  his  own  opinion,  where  his  friends  thought  he  had  better  have 
adhered  to  it.  His  congregation  were  devotedly  attached  to  him, — the  youth 
and  little  children  equally  with  the  adults.  In  his  social  intercourse  he  was 
always  pleasant  and  cheerful,  but  never  even  seemed  to  lay  aside  the  dignity 
of  the  Christian  minister.  He  had  in  his  natural  constitution  a  rich  vein  of 
wit;  but  so  careful  was  he  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil,  that  he  always 
kept  it  under  rigid  control,  though  it  would  now  and  then  give  a  bright  hue  to 
some  of  his  remarks.  He  was  one  of  the  most  modest  and  retiring  of  men. 
Not  only  was  it  impossible  that  he  should  ever  obtrude  himself  where  his  pre- 
sence or  his  influence  was  not  demanded,  but  it  often  required  some  effort  to 
draw  out  an  expression  of  his  opinions  where  circumstances  rendered  it  e.spe- 
ciallj^  desirable.  In  our  Associations  and  public  meetings  of  different  kinds, 
his  voice  was  rarely  heard,  unless  he  was  directly  called  upon  to  speak;  but 
then  he  always  spoke  with  composure,  and  dignity,  and  point;  and  no  man's 
opinion  was  perhaps  more  generally  respected.  He  was  an  earnest  Baptist, 
but  he  had  a  strong  fellow-feeling  with  true  Christians  of  every  name. 

I  would  say  of  him,  in  one  word,  that  he  was  distinguished  for  a  clear, 
sound  and  strong  mind,  for  an  amiable  and  a  retiring  spirit,  for  an  effective 
eloquence,  and  for  an  intense  and  glowing  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  his 
fellow-men  and  the  honour  of  his  Master. 

Very  truly  yours, 

CHARLES  G.  SOMMERS. 


WILLIAM  PARKINSON.^ 

1796—1848. 

William  Parkinson,  second  son  of  Thomas  and  Dinah  Parkinson, 
was  born  in  Frederick  County,  Md.,  November  8,  1774.  His  mind  wa.'; 
first  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  condition  as  a  sinner,  under  the  preaching 
of  Elder  Lewis  Richards,  of  Baltimore,  in  1794  ;  and  he  was  baptized,  near 
Woodsberry,  Frederick  County,  by  Elder  Absalom  Bainbridge,  on  the 
17th  of  June,  1796.  His  parents,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  were  both 
Episcopalians,  and  his  mother  especially  he  regarded  as  a  devout  and 
earnest  Christian.  To  her,  chiefly,  he  was  indebted  for  his  early  training ; 
and  it  is  not  known  that  he  ever  had  any  other  teacher,  except  in  the  study 
of  the  Hebrew  language. 

While  he  was  yet  a  mere  boy,  his  parents,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Elder  John  Davis,  a  somewhat  distinguished  Baptist  preacher  of  that 
day,  were  led  to  embrace  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists,  and  travelled 

*Bapt.  Mem.,  1850. 


WILLIAM  PARKINSON.  3(33 

on  liorsoback  thirty  miles  to  have  the  ordinance  administered  to  them  by 
immersion.  This  circumstance  made  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind  of 
the  sou ;  but,  being  soon  after  entered  as  a  clerk  in  a  mercantile  establisli- 
ment  in  Baltimore,  he  seems  to  have  banished  all  serious  thoughts,  and  to 
have  become  passionately  fond  of  worldly  gaiety.  At  the  age  of  about 
twenty,  however,  his  mind  took  a  different  direction,  and  the  salvation  of 
his  soul  became  with  him  the  object  of  supreme  concern,  lie  derived 
great  advantage,  at  this  period,  from  his  intercourse  with  a  pious  old  slave 
in  Baltimore,  who  was  unremitting  in  his  efforts  to  lead  him  to  embrace 
the  Saviour.  At  length  his  mind  reposed  in  the  gracious  promises  of  the 
Gospel,  and  he  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  shortly  after  he  had 
completed  his  twenty-first  year. 

Having  now  an  increasing  desire  for  reading  and  study,  he  abandoned 
his  clerkship,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  1794  or  early  in  1795,  returned  to 
Frederick  County,  and  opened  a  school  at  Carroll's  Manor.  Here  he 
devoted  all  the  leisure  that  he  could  command  to  the  culture  of  his  mind, 
and  all  the  money  he  could  spare  to  the  purchase  of  books.  Having  occa- 
sion, soon  after  he  was  baptized,  to  travel  a  considerable  distance  from 
home,  he  was  attracted  to  a  particular  place  to  hear  a  celebrated  preacher, 
who  had  made  an  appointment  there  for  that  day.  A  large  audience 
assembled,  but  the  preacher  did  not  come.  It  was  proposed  to  have  a 
prayer-meeting,  and  Mr.  Parkinson,  being  known  to  be  a  professor  of 
religion  and  a  schoolmaster,  was  invited  to  share  in  the  exercises.  He 
read  a  portion  of  Scripture  and  commenced  speaking  ;  and,  as  he  proceeded, 
the  passage  revealed  to  him  new  treasures,  and  he  spoke  with  increased 
earnestness  and  power,  until,  to  his  great  astonishment  and  mortification, 
he  found  that  his  address  had  occupied  upwards  of  three  hours.  On  his 
return  home,  he  made  an  acknowledgment  to  the  church  of  this  irregular 
procedure,  (as  he  deemed  it,)  but  their  own  estimate  of  the  case  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  they  proceeded  almost  immediately  to  give  him 
a  regular  license  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  was  ordained  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  by  Elders  Jeremiah  Moore  and  Lewis  Richards,  on  the  1st 
of  April,  1798. 

Mr,  Parkinson's  predilections  were  in  favour  of  becoming  a  missionary, 
and  on  this  ground  he  objected  for  some  time  to  taking  a  regular  pastoral 
charge.  In  1801,  he  was  chosen  Chaplain  to  Congress,  and  was  re-elected 
for  two  successive  years  ;  but  he  had  the  privilege,  during  this  time,  of 
travelling  through  the  week,  and  preaching  every  day  where  he  had  pre- 
viously made  appointments.  He  was  also  particularly  interested  in  the 
cause  of  education,  and  was  instrumental  in  the  establishment  of  one  or 
two  Academies. 

In  1802,  Mr.  Parkinson  made  a  visit  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  his 
services  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  were  so  acceptable  that  he  was  invited 
to  return  and  spend  a  few  months  with  them  ;  but  he  preferred  to  labour  as 
an  itinerant.  In  November,  1804,  they  renewed  their  invitation,  and  he 
accepted  it,  though  not  with  any  intention  of  remaining  longer  than  through 
the  winter.  In  February  following,  they  gave  him  a  call  to  become  their 
Pastor,  which,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  he  accepted 
early  in  April.     In  the  spring  of  1805,  a  revival  of  religion  commenced 


364  BAPTIST. 

under  lus  niiiiistry,  which  continued  six  years,  adding  a  greater  or  less 
number  to  the  church,  each  successive  month. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  high  degree  of  prosperity,  Mr.  Parkinson's 
prospects  of  usefulness  were,  temporarily  at  least,  clouded  by  reports 
unfavourable  to  his  moral  character.  It  is  sufficient,  however,  to  say 
that  they  became  the  subject  of  legal  investigation,  and  he  was  acquitted 
of  the  several  charges,  and  left  in  regular  standing  in  the  church. 

During  the  last  ten  years  of  his  ministry  in  the  First  Church,  various  cir- 
cumstances conspired  to  reduce  its  numbers.  His  constitution  had  become 
impaired  by  excessive  labour,  insomuch  that  he  felt  himself  uo  lunger 
adequate  to  perform  all  the  duties  of  his  office;  and  in  1840  a  proposal 
was  made  to  have  an  assistant  minister.  This  measure,  however,  did  not 
seem  likely  to  succeed  according  to  his  mind,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
tendered  the  resignation  of  his  charge.  The  church  reluctantly  accepted 
it,  and  gave  him  a  dismission  to  the  Church  in  Frederick,  Md.,  with  which 
he  had  originally  been  connected. 

The  Bethesda  Baptist  Church  in  New  York,  constituted  principally  of 
members  dismissed  from  the  First  Church,  very  soon  presented  him  a  call, 
and,  as  he  felt  himself  adequate  to  the  moderate  amount  of  labour  that  would 
here  be  required  of  him,  he  accepted  it,  and  became  their  Pastor  in  1841. 
This  connection,  however,  was  of  brief  continuance.  In  December  of  that 
year,  he  had  a  fall  which  injured  him  so  severely  as,  in  the  judgment  of 
many  of  his  friends,  to  render  him  unfit  for  any  further  public  service. 
He,  however,  persevered  in  his  labours,  amidst  all  his  debility  and  suffer- 
ing, resolved  not  to  leave  the  pulpit  as  long  as  he  could  make  himself  heard 
in  the  delivery  of  his  message.  From  August,  1847  till  March  following, 
he  was  confined  to  his  bed.  The  last  few  daj^s  of  his  life  were  days  of 
great  suffering,  but  he  endured  it  with  the  utmost  submission,  and  in  the 
full  confidence  that  it  was  the  harbinger  of  eternal  rest.  He  died  on  the 
10th  of  March,  1848,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  Funeral 
was  attended  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and  an  appropriate  Discourse 
delivered  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Dodge,  of  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Parkinson  published  A  Treatise  on  the  Public  Ministry  of  the 
Word,  especially  as  under  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  1818;  and  A  Series 
of  Sermons  on  the  xxxiii  Chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  in  two  volumes,  octavo, 
1831.  On  the  cover  of  the  above  mentioned  Treatise  appears  tlie  follow- 
ing advertisement — "Preparing  for  press  a  work  entitled  An  Attempt  to 
shed  light  upon  several  disputed  points  in  Divinity,  among  which  are  I. 
The  True  Standard  by  which  Fallen  Man  is  tried  and  condemned  ;  II.  The 
Aggravations  of  his  Condemnation;  III.  The  Nature  and  Extent  of  the 
Atonement  made  by  Christ;  IV.  The  Covenant  of  Eedemption  ;  V.  The 
Natural  and  Moral  Ability  and  Inability  of  Man;  VI.  The  Gospel  Call  to 
Repentance."  Whether  this  work  was  ever  published,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  ascertain. 

FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  June  G,  1859. 
My  dear  Sir:  T  had  but  just  entered  the  ministry  in  182G,  when  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  late  Rev.  William  Parkinson,  of  whom  vou  ask  me  to  prive 


WILLIAM  PARKINSON.  3(35 

you  some  account.  lie  took  me  b}'  the  liand,  with  great  kindness,  and  asked 
me  to  preach  for  him;  and  I  well  remember  that  his  congregation  M'as,  at  that 
time,  one  of  the  largest,  and  most  imposing  in  its  appearance,  that  1  had  ever 
seen.  Such  was  the  interest  that  he  manifested  in  me  and  for  me,  that  I  ven- 
tured, soon  after,  to  address  a  letter  to  liim,  requesting  that  he  would  favour 
me  Avith  his  suggestions  and  counsels  with  a  view  to  aid  me  in  the  great  work 
on  which  I  was  entering.  His  answer  was  characterized  by  great  kindness 
and  wisdom,  and  was  designed  especially  to  impress  me  with  the  importance 
of  looking  immediately  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  IIolj'-  Spirit  that  dictated 
them,  for  the  light  which  I  needed  in  the  prosecution  of  my  ministry. 

In  person,  Mr.  Parkinson  was  of  about  the  middle  stature,  rather  inclined 
to  be  stout,  and  at  that  time  had  a  full  face,  and  a  sedate  and  kiiidly  expres- 
sion. I  always  found  him  exceedingly  amiable,  and  disposed  to  oblige  mo  by 
every  means  in  his  power.  He  was  rather  deliberate  in  his  movements,  and 
his  whole  appearance  gave  you  the  impression  of  a  tlioughtful  and  earnest 
mind. 

It  was,  I  believe,  conceded  by  all  who  knew  him,  that  his  intellectual 
powers  were  quite  extraordinary.  As  a  scholar,  too,  particularly  in  the 
department  of  Biblical  learning,  he  was  probably  unsurpassed  by  any  in  his 
denomination  at  that  day.  He  studied  the  Scriptures,  in  their  original 
languages,  most  closelj^  and  critically,  and  the  results  of  his  learning  were 
manifest,  both  in  his  conversation  and  his  public  discourses.  He  was  pro- 
foundly versed  in  the  Levitical  Law,  and  delighted  to  trace  the  foreshadowings 
of  another  and  a  sublimer  dispensation  in  the  institutions  and  rites  of  the 
ancient  economy.  Indeed,  this  became  well-nigh  a  passion  with  him,  insomuch 
that  it  constituted  a  striking,  if  not  a  predominating,  feature  of  his  public 
ministrations. 

He  was,  during  a  part  of  his  ministry  at  least,  one  of  the  most  popular 
preachers  which  New  York,  or  perhaps  I  may  say  anj^  other  of  our  cities, 
has  ever  had  in  it.  No  church  would  contain  the  number  which,  at  some 
periods,  would  throng  to  hear  him;  and  hence  he  sometimes  preached  to  a 
congregation  of  some  thousands  assembled  in  the  Park.  He  preached  without 
notes,  but  always  spoke  with  ease  and  fluencj",  and  seemed  to  have  the  best 
language  full)^  at  command.  Without  an}'  remarkable  power  of  voice,  his 
enunciation  was  so  distinct  that  he  could  be  easily  heard  and  understood  at  a 
very  considerable  distance.  His  gesture  was  appropriate  and  graceful,  though 
not  very  abundant;  and  his  attitudes  and  whole  bearing  in  the  pulpit  were  in 
a  high  degree  manlj'^  and  dignified.  The  tone  of  his  preaching  was  strikingly 
evangelical,  and  whatever  might  be  the  exterior  of  his  subject,  he  was  sure  to 
find  Christ  in  it  before  he  had  finished.  His  discourses  were  marked  b}^  great 
concentration  and  consecutiveness  of  thought,  which  interested  and  delighted 
the  intelligent,  Miiile  j^et  they  were  so  luminous,  impressive,  I  might  almost 
saj'  majestic,  that  the  multitude  were  attracted  b\'  them.  I  think  lie  rarely 
preached  less  than  an  hour,  but  I  believe  his  hearers  never  wearied  under 
him,  and  indeed,  at  that  period,  an  hour  was  not  considered,  by  anj'  means, 
an  extraordinary  length. 

Mr.  Parkinson  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and 
great  practical  wisdom,  and  for  many  years  he  exerted  a  commanding  inlluence 
in  his  denomination. 

Yours  fraternally, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


366  BAPTIST. 


STEPHEN  SMITH  NELSON. 

1796—1853. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  July  22,  1856. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  In  complying  with  your  request  for  some  account 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nelson,  first  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  this 
city,  I  have  the  advantage  of  drawing,  to  some  extent,  upon  my  own  per- 
sonal recollections,  of  living  among  the  people  whom  he  served  in  the 
pastoral  relation,  for  several  years, — though  chiefly  of  another  generation  ; 
and,  in  addition  to  this,  I  have  explored  every  source  of  information  con- 
cerning him  within  my  reach.  The  result  of  my  observations  and 
inquiries  will,  I  hope,  prove  to  be  substantially  what  you  have  requested 
of  me. 

Stephen  Smith  Nelson,  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann  Nelson,  was  born 
in  Middleborough,  Mass.,  October  5,  1772.  The  training  of  pious  parents 
was  blessed  to  his  conversion  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen.  In  his  six- 
teenth year,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  William  Nelson,  and  united  v.'ith 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Middleborough,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Isaac 
Backus,  the  venerable  Annalist  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  the 
earnest  advocate,  in  early  times,  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  and  the  true 
freedom  of  the  soul.  He  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1794,  and 
was,  from  1819  to  1831,  a  meniluT  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  that  insti- 
tution. On  leaving  College,  he  studied  Theology  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Stillman,  the  devout  and  eloquent  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Boston,  and  frequently  assisted  him  in  his  labours  by  visiting  and  other- 
wise. By  this  means  he  acquired  a  thorough  practical  training  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  In  his  twenty-fourth  year  he  was  licensed  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  After  labouring  two  years  with  the  church  in  Hartford,  as  a 
stated  supply,  he  was  ordained  in  1798,  as  their  Pastor,  preaching  to  them 
at  first  in  "  an  upper  room,"  or  in  the  old  Court  House.  The  church,  how- 
ever, soon  secured  a  convenient  place  of  worship,  which,  thougli  humble  in 
its  appearance,  and  rough  in  its  furniture,  was  found  to  be  a  true  Bethel, — 
"  the  House  of  God  and  the  very  Gate  of  Heaven." 

At  this  time,  Mr.  Nelson  was  the  only  liberally  educated  Baptist  min- 
ister in  Connecticut ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  accurate  scholarship, 
courteous  manners,  and  consistent  piety,  served  greatly  to  aid  in  the  estab- 
lishment and  increase  of  the  Baptist  Church,  especially  in  this  city.  He 
was  actively  engaged  rn  the  remarkable  revival  of  religion  tliat  occurred 
about  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  which  added  so  many  converts  to 
the  churches  of  all  Christian  denominations  in  Hartford  and  elsewhere. 

Decided  in  his  peculiar  views  and  usages  as  a  Baptist,  he  was  the  cordial 
friend  and  brother  of  all  good  men.  On  that  account,  he  Avas  in  the  most 
friendly  and  intimate  relations  with  Doctors  Strong  and  Flint,  at  that  time 
the  only  Congregational  ministers  in  Hartford,  and  cheerfully  co-operated 
with  them  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 


STEPHEN  SMITH  NELSON.  367 

Though  Mr.  Nelson's  pastoral  charge  was  in  Hartford,  his  occasional 
labours  extended  to  several  of  the  neighbouring  towns,  particularly  Mid- 
dletown;  and  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Upper  Middletown  (now 
Cromwell)  was  established  by  his  efforts. 

Mr.  Nelson,  as  well  as  several  other  prominent  Baptist  clergymen  of 
that  day,  was  not  only  the  firm  friend  but  open  advocate  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  as  the  inalienable  birthright  of  the  human  soul;  and,  during 
his  residence  in  Hartford,  took  an  active  part  in  preparing  and  urging 
upon  the  public  attention  "The  Baptist  Petition," — a  llemonstrance 
addressed  to  the  Connecticut  Legislature,  complaining  of  the  civil  disa- 
bilities which  "Dissenters"  from  the  "  Standing  Order"  were  compelled 
to  suffer,  and  urging  upon  them  the  great  doctrine  of  absolute  "soul 
liberty," — in  other  words,  the  entire  freedom  of  conscience,  worship,  and 
action,  in  the  domain  of  religion, — which  petition,  constantly  pressed  by 
the  Baptists,  and  other  lovers  of  liberty,  who  united  with  them,  at  last 
severed,  in  Connecticut,  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  by  securing  that 
Constitution  of  civil  government,  which,  in  1818,  gave  to  all  equal  civil 
and  religious  rights. 

At  the  first  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Nelson  was  appointed,  with  others,  by  the  Danbury  (now  the 
Hartford)  Baptist  Association,  in  behalf  of  that  Body,  to  prepare  and 
fiirward  to  him  a  Congratulatory  Address,  recognizing  his  acknowledged 
attachment  to  civil  and  religious  libei'ty. 

In  1801,  Mr.  Nelson  resigned  his  charge  in  Hartford,  and  became,  for  a 
number  of  years.  Principal  of  a  large  and  flourishing  Academy  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  now  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.,  at  the  same  time  taking  charge  of  an 
infant  church  in  that  village.  Both  the  Church  and  Academy  flourished 
under  his  care  until  the  War  with  Great  Britain  came  on,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  removed  in  1815  to  Attleborough,  Mass.,  where  an  extensive 
revival  took  place  under  his  labours,  which  brought  into  the  church 
upwards  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  After  this,  he  had  the  charge, 
for  a  short  time,  successively,  of  the  churches  in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  and 
Canton,  Conn. 

In  1825,  he  removed  to  Amherst,  Mass.,  for  the  purpose  of  availing 
himself  of  the  facilities  there  furnished  in  the  education  of  his  family. 
During  the  first  year  of  his  residence  there,  he  took  charge  of  the  church 
in  Belchertown  ;  but  being  unable,  on  account  of  the  distance,  to  perform 
the  duties  to  his  own  satisfaction,  he  resigned  it.  He  was  accustomed, 
however,  almost  till  his  dying  day,  to  preach  to  feeble  and  destitute 
churches  in  the  neighbourhood  and  elsewhere,  as  he  had  opportunity.  In 
these  gratuitous  labours  he  enjoyed  the  abundant  blessing  of  God. 

For  the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  his  rapid  progress  in  spirituality  was 
obvious  to  all  his  friends.  He  was  filled  with  peace.  He  longed  for  the 
salvation  of  God,  both  here  and  hereafter.  Hundreds  at  least  were  brought 
to  Christ  by  his  agency,  through  his  long  career,  and  his  last  days  were 
crowned  by  the  reviving  influences  of  God's  Spirit  upon  the  churches 
around  him,  in  which  he  also  was  permitted  to  share.  A  delightful  visit 
to  his  son  in  Greenfield,  a  short  time  before  his  decease,  was  a  season  of 
refreshing  to  both  himself   and  many  others.     He  lived   to  see   all  his 


368  BAPTIST. 

children  and  some  of  his  grandchildren  gatliered  into  the  fold  of  the  Good 
Shepherd, — some  of  whom  are  on  this  side,  and  some  on  the  other  side, 
of  the  flood.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  object  he  laboured  and 
prayed  much  during  the  last  years  of  his  life.  He  established  a 
monthly  Sabbath  evening  Concert  of  Prayer  throughout  the  diff"erent 
families  of  his  children  for  the  conversion  of  all  their  relatives,  which  is 
kept  up  to  this  day ;  and,  as  another  means  to  the  same  end,  he  addressed, 
on  his  seventy-eighth  birth-day,  to  each  of  his  grandchildren  the  memorial 
of  a  selected  text  of  Scripture,  accompanied  by  a  word  of  patriarchal 
counsel.  His  ruling  passion  was  to  do  some  good  while  life  lasted,  so  that 
he  might  be  a  burden  neither  to  himself  nor  to  others.  His  desire  was 
fulfilled.  The  illness  of  which  he  died,  which  was  erysipelas  in  the  head, 
lasted  but  sis  days.  His  mind  was  calm  and  composed.  He  comforted  his 
comforters.  Tranquilly  he  stepped  into  the  dark  waters  of  Death's  river ; 
speedily  and  pleasantly  he  gained  the  farther  shore  ;  and  while  his  friends 
and  family  were  gazing  with  mingled  grief  and  joy,  he  was  lost  to  their 
sight  amid  the  glories  of  the  Heavenly  Canaan.  He  died  at  Amherst  on 
the  8th  of  December,  1853,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age.  His 
Funeral  drew  together  a  great  concourse  of  his  friends  and  neighbours, 
ministers  and  private  members  of  the  Church,  from  his  own  and  other 
denominations  ;  and  a  Sermon  was  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the  Pastor 
of  the  Baptist  church,  which  was  followed  by  an  impressive  Address  from 
one  of  the  Professors  in  Amherst  College.  "  As  we  have  known  him," 
was  the  utterance  of  one  of  these,  "he  appeared  as  the  pilgrim  who  had 
passed  the  hill  of  difficulty,  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  the  giants 
and  the  lions.  His  strifes  were  over.  He  was  walking  in  the  land  of 
Beulah,  fanned  by  refreshing  breezes,  and  calmed  by  the  gentle  strains  that 
floated  on  the  ear  of  his  listening  spirit.  Such  was  his  place  among  us. 
We  looked  for  him,  and  he  had  gone  over  to  the  celestial  city." 

Mr.  Nelson  was  about  five  feet,  six  inches  in  height,  erect  in  his  gait, 
neat  in  his  appearance,  prompt  in  his  movements,  and  remarkably  urbane 
in  his  manners.  When  I  knew  him,  his  hair  was  silver  gray,  his  eye  bright 
and  penetrating,  and  his  movements  as  vivacious  nearly  as  those  of  a  young 
man.  Brief,  pointed,  earnest,  evangelical,  his  preaching  was  eminently- 
fitted  to  do  good.  His  voice  was  clear  and  ringing  ;  his  manner  impressive 
and  dignified,  as  became  an  ambassador  for  Christ.  His  life  was  simple, 
serene,  and,  especially  in  his  later  years,  heavenly.  "  He  seemed,"  said  a 
dear  friend  and  relative,  "  to  move  among  men  in  the  quietness  of  his  own 
reflections,  above  and  aside  from  the  cares  and  conflicts  of  outward  life,  at 
peace  with  God,  at  peace  with  men." 

Mr.  Nelson  was  married,  on  the  15th  of  October,  1798,  to  Emelia,  third 
daughter  of  Deacon  Epliraim  Robins,  of  Hartford,^ — who  still  survives.* 
They  had  nine  children, — four  sons  and  five  daughters.  Two  of  tlie  sons 
were  graduates  of  Amherst  College.  One  of  these,  Ephraim  Robins,  had 
the  ministry  in  view,  and  was  contemplating  the  work  of  a  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary, but  died,  greatly  lamented,  in  1831,  while  filling  the  office  of 
Tutor  in  the  Columbian  College,  D.  C.  His  elder  brother,  William 
Francis,  after  pursuing  a  course  of  Theology  at  the  Newton  Theological 

*  Mrs.  N.  has  deceased  since  the  commencement  of  the  year  1859. 


STEPHEN  SMITH  NELSON.  369 

Institute,  became  a  Professor  iu  Iliclimond  College,  Va.  ;    but  has  ^,ince 
become  Pastor  of  the  Church  iu  Wickford,  R.  I. 

I  am  yours  truly  and  fraternally, 

ROBERT  TURNBULL. 


ISAAC  SAWYER* 

1797—1847. 

Isaac  Saavyer,  a  son  of  Isaac  Sawyer,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Iloosick, 
N,  Y.,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1770.      His  parents  were  Pedobaptists, — 
his  father   being  a  Presbyterian,  and   his   mother  an   Episcopalian.     His 
father's  ancestors  came  from  England  ;  his  mother's  from  Ireland.     When 
he  was  a  small  boy,  his  father  was  taken  captive   by  the   Indians,  a  large 
number  of  whom  surprised  him  in  the  night;  and  he,  with   another  white 
man,  was  started  olF  (the  family  having   been  stripped  of  every  thing  the 
Indians  could  carry  away)  for  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  where  the  famous  Cap- 
tain Brant  then  was,  with  a  large  company  of  his  men.     Mr.  Sawyer,  as  ho 
was  leaving  his   house,  caught  up  a  leaf  of  some  book,  and  pretending  to 
the  Indians  that  it  was  part  of  the  Bible,  obtained  permission  from   them 
to  read  it,  in  company  with   his  friend;  and,  while  they  professed    to  be 
reading  it,  they  were  actually  devising   means   for   their   escape.      On  the 
eleventh  night  of  their  captivity,  when  they  were  on  one  of  the   branches 
of  the   Susquehannah   River,  in  Pennsylvania,  the  party  of  their  captor.s 
having   separated,    and   only  four  of  them   having   the   charge  of  the   two 
whites,  Mr.  Sawyer,  taking  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  carefully  drew 
himself  out  from  between  the  two  Indians  who  were  sleeping  on  either  side 
of  him,  and  with  an  axe   instantly  killed   them   both.     This   aroused   the 
others  ;  and,  in  order  to  despatch  them  both   at  once,  he  dropped   his  axe, 
and  caught  up  a  gun  and  snapped  it;   ])ut,  finding  that   it  was   not  loaded, 
he  seized  a  hatchet  with  which  he  killed  one,  and  wounded  the  other.     The 
latter  made  his   escape  ;  and   Mr.  Sawyer  and  his  friend,  after  traversing 
the  wilderness   fifteen  days,  and  subsisting  on  roots  and   berries  of  winter 
greens,  at   length   reached  a  settlement  of  whites   at  a  place   then    called 
Minisink,  on  the  Susquehannah,  nearly  famished,  and  exhausted  by  fatigue. 
Mr.  Sawyer's  family  were  removed  to  Albany  after  his  return,  and  remained 
there  during  the  greater  part  of  the  War;  but,  towards  its  close,  they  set- 
tled in    Pittstown,  N.  Y.,  where  Mrs.  Sawyer  died,  when  her  son   Isaac 
was  about  eleven  years  of  age.     Three  years  after,  his  father  died  of  a  dis- 
ease  contracted  during   his  captivity.     Thus   young   Sawyer  was   left  an 
orphan  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen. 

Two  years  after  this,  he  bound  himself  out  to  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Herrick,  who,  soon  after,  removed  to  the  town  of  Monkton,  Addison 
County,  Vt.  That  country  was  then  a  wilderness,  without  schools,  churches, 
or  any  other  institutions  for  the  promotion  of  intellectual,  moral  or  reli- 
gious culture;   and  it  was  in  such  circumstances  that  this  young  man  lived 

•  MS.  from  his  son,  Rev.  Conant  Sawyer. 

Vol..  VI.  47 


370  BAPTIST. 

till  lie  attained  tte  age  of  twenty-oue.  His  associates  were,  like  him.self, 
utterly  regardless  of  the  claims  of  religion ;  and  he  and  they  mingled 
together  in  scenes  that  were  fitted  to  exclude  God  from  their  thoughts,  and 
paralyze  their  moral  sensibilities. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  1792,  he  was  married  to  Mary,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Willoughby,  of  Monkton,  M'ith  whom  he  shared  the  highest  domes- 
tic enjoyment  during  the  long  period  of  fifty-five  years.  They  had  ten 
children, — nine  sons,  and  one  daughter;  all  of  whom  survived  both  their 
parents  ;  all  of  whom  became  professors  of  religion  and  were  baptized  by 
their  father;  and  five  of  whom  are  now  (1858)  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
Mrs.  Sawyer  died  in  Jay,  Essex  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1849. 

In  the  year  1793,  Monkton  was  visited  with  a  revival  of  religion, — the 
first  that  Mr.  Sawyer  ever  witnessed ;  and  it  was  then  that  he  became  hope- 
fully a  subject  of  renewing  grace.  For  a  long  time  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  his  own  sinfulness,  and  sometimes  trembling  on  the  borders 
of  despair.  He  sought  to  make  himself  better,  that  he  might  have  some- 
thing to  offer  in  the  way  of  personal  righteousness,  as  a  ground  of  his  justi- 
fication ;  but,  after  a  long  course  of  fruitless  effort,  was  brought,  as  he 
believed,  to  welcome  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  and  accept  of  salvation  as  a 
free  gift.  In  referring  to  the  commencement  of  his  Christian  course,  after 
he  was  far  advanced  in  life,  he  said, — "The  hope  I  was  then  permitted  to 
cherish,  I  have  enjoyed  from  that  day  to  the  present,  though  not  without 
some  attacks  of  unbelief.  At  an  early  period  of  my  experience,  however, 
I  had  so  full  a  confirmation  of  the  truth  and  Divinity  of  Christianity,  that 
the  enemy  has  not  been  permitted  since  to  shake  my  confidence  in  it ;  nor 
have  I  indulged  the  least  doubt  but  that  those  who  die  impenitent  will  be 
forever  banished  from  the  pure  and  peaceful  presence  of  God."  Very  few 
of  the  young  people  with  whom  he  had  been  more  immediately  associated 
became  subjects  of  the  revival,  and  he  found  the  utmost  circumspection  and 
firmness  necessary  in  order  to  resist  the  influences  they  brought  to  bear 
upon  him. 

At  that  period,  there  was  no  church  of  any  denomination  in  the  town  in 
which  he  lived ;  nor  was  there  any  ordained  minister  within  forty  miles  of 
him.  His  relatives,  so  far  as  he  knew,  were  all  Pedobaptists  ;  and  ho 
himself  had  been  baptized  in  infancy ;  but  still  he  felt  disposed  to  examine 
the  subject  of  Baptism  for  himself.  As  the  result  of  an  earnest  and  some- 
what protracted  investigation,  he  reached  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no 
warrant  in  Scripture  for  Infant  Baptism,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  be  bap- 
tized by  immersion,  upon  a  profession  of  his  own  faith.  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  an  administrator  could  be  obtained,  he,  and  ten  others,  were 
baptized  and  organized  into  a  Baptist  church.  It  was  the  first  church  of 
that  denomination  formed  in  the  county.  And,  although  he  was  the  young- 
est of  the  company,  he  was  soon  chosen  Deacon,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
until  he  began  to  preach. 

He  was  called  by  the  church  to  "exercise  his  gift"  in  preaching  in 
1797 ;  but  so  deeply  was  he  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  own  unfitness 
that  he  hesitated  long  before  he  could  make  up  his  mind  to  go  forward. 
One  day,  when   at  work   in    the  field,  these  words  were  constantly  passing 


ISAAC  SAWYER.  37 1 

through  his  nihul, — "  Let  the  dead  Ijury  their  dead."  On  his  return  home 
at  eveuing,  he  took  up  his  Bible  to  ascertain  the  connection  of  the  words  ; 
but  he  did  not  know  where  to  look  for  them.  Much  to  his  surprise,  on 
opening  the  sacred  volume,  they  were  the  first  words  on  which  his  eye 
rested.  And  greater  still  was  his  astonishment  when  he  read  the  connec- 
tion,— "But  go  thou  and  preach  the  Gospel."  He  exclaimed, — "This 
i^-ertainly  cannot  be  for  me  " — he  could  not  for  a  moment  admit  the  idea 
that  he  was  called  to  the  sacred  office, — such  was  his  sense  of  incompC' 
teucy  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  urgent  solicitations  of  the  church,  he 
would  probably  have  never  had  any  other  than  a  secular  vocation. 

On  the  29th  of  June,  1799,  a  Council  was  called,  consisting  of  five 
ministers  and  several  lay  delegates,  who.  after  due  examination,  ordained 
him  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  remained  at  Monkton  some  thirteen 
years  after  his  ordination,  during  which  time  the  church  increased  to  about 
one  hundred  members,  and  enjoyed  in  other  respects  a  good  degree  of 
prosperity.  But,  as  some  became  dissatisfied  in  consequence  of  his  taking 
legal  measures  to  secure  a  glebe  lot  which  was  oiFered  by  law  to  the  first 
ordained  minister  in  every  town,  in  which,  after  a  seven  years'  law  suit,  he 
succeeded, — this,  in  connection  with  the  influence  of  party  politics,  led  him 
to  leave  Monkton,  and  remove  to  Fairfield,  in  the  same  State,  in  iMarch, 
1812.  While  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Monkton,  he  performed 
several  missionary  tours  in  the  Northern  Counties  of  New  York,  in 
some  of  which  his  labours  were  eminently  blessed  ;  and  many  of  the  large 
and  flourishing  churches,  now  existing  in  that  part  of  the  country,  were 
gathered  through  his  instrumentality.  He  was  generally  sent  out  by  the 
Association  to  which  he  belonged,  and  was  absent  from  home  six  or  eight 
weeks  at  a  time.  He  was  accustomed,  as  long  as  he  lived,  to  revert  with 
great  satisfaction  to  these  missionary  labours,  as  having  been  among  the 
most  pleasant  and  successful  of  his  whole  ministry. 

In  consequence  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  with  Great  Britain,  he 
remained  in  Fairfield  but  a  single  year.  In  1813,  he  removed  to  Orwell, 
Rutland  County,  where  he  spent  four  years,  and  witnessed  a  powerful 
revival  of  religion  in  connection  with  his  labours. 

About  this  time,  he  seriously  meditated  the  purpose  of  finding  a  home  in 
the  West.  He  had  an  uncle  in  Harpersfield,  0.,  who  was  very  desirous 
that  he  should  settle  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and,  as  an  inducement  to 
him  to  do  so,  ofi'ercd  him  a  valuable  farm.  Ho  consented  to  settle  with  the 
Church  at  West  Haven,  with  the  understanding,  however,  that  he  should  visit 
the  State  of  Ohio  in  the  course  of  the  year,  and,  if  he  thought  best,  should 
ultimately  remove  his  family  thither.  He  made  the  contemplated  journey 
to  Ohio,  and  was  much  pleased  with  the  country  ;  but,  at  the  earnest  solici- 
tation of  the  Church  in  Brandon,  he  relinquished  the  idea  of  settling  in 
the  West,  and  removed  to  Brandon  in  the  spring  of  1818.  Here  he 
remained  as  Pastor  of  the  church  seven  years,  and,  during  that  time,  wit- 
nessed one  of  the  most  powerful  revivals  that  ever  occurred  under  his  min- 
istry. In  1825,  he  removed  to  Bethel,  on  the  East  side  of  the  Mountain, 
in  Windsor  County,  where  he  remained  till  1828,  performing  the  duties  of 
a  Pastor  during  a  largo  portion  of  the  time,  and  occasionally  labouring  as 
a  Missionary  and  an  agent  of  the  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  Insti- 


372  BAPTIST. 

tution.  After  spending  three  years  here,  lie  removed  to  Westport,  Essex 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  six  years,  and  witnessed  three  extensive 
revivals.  During  his  residence  in  tliis  place,  he  baptized  a  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  on  a  profession  of  their  faith,  more  than  two  thirds  of  whom 
were  added  to  the  Church  in  Westport.  In  1834,  he  left  Essex  County, 
and  removed  to  Knowlesville,  Orleans  County  ;  and  after  this  lived  suc- 
cessively in  Stockton,  Chautauque  County,  and  Lewiston,  in  the  County  of 
Niagara.  In  the  two  last  named  places  he  lived  and  laboured  but  a  short 
time. 

The  last  six  or  seven  years  of  his  life,  he  spent  chiefly  with  his  son  and 
daughter  in  Essex  County.  His  death  occurred  suddenly.  He  attended 
church  on  the  Sabbath,  was  taken  ill  on  Monday,  died  on  Thursday,  and 
was  buried  the  next  Sabbath.  His  disease,  which  was  of  the  nature  of 
cholera,  resisted  all  medical  treatment,  and  reached  a  fatal  termination  on 
tlie  30th  of  September,  1847.  A  few  hours  before  his  death,  his  son  said 
to  him, — "  Father,  you  feel  that  you  have  got  almost  home,  do  you  not  ?" 
He  said, — "I  do."  "  And  does  not  the  near  prospect  of  Heaven  fill  you 
with  joy?"  He  answered, — "I  cannot  say  that  I  feel  any  particular 
ecstacy,  but  I  have  a  hope  that  is  like  an  anchor  to  the  soul."  His  end 
was  eminently  peaceful  and  happy  ;  and  none  who  knew  him  doubted  that 
it  marked  the  beginning  of  an  eternal  rest. 

Mr.  Sawyer  l)aptized,  during  his  ministry,  upwards  of  eleven  hundred 
persons,  and  among  them  a  greater  number  who  became  ministers  than 
have  been  baptized  by  any  other  minister  in  Vermont.  He  lived  to  b<i 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  for  half  a  century  a  preacher  of  the  Go;;pol. 
He  was  the  first  President  of  the  Vermont  Baptist  State  Convention,  ami 
held  this  office  several  years.  He  was  the  friend  of  Education,  and  laboured 
much  at  home  and  abroad  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Baptist  Educa- 
tion Society.  He  was  also  the  friend  of  Missions,  of  Temperance,  of 
Emancipation,  of  every  cause  which  involved  the  present  or  future  well 
being  of  his  fellow-men. 


FROM  THE  REV.  S.  S.  CUTTING,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR    IN    THE    ROCUESTER   TJNIVERSITT. 

Rochester,  January  15,  1859. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  My  earliest  recollection  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Sawyer  is 
associated  with  an  incident  illustrative  of  his  character.  It  was,  I  think,  in 
the  summer  of  1827,  before  the  tender  of  the  cup  had  ceased  to  be  an  acknowl- 
e<lged  part  of  the  hospitalities  of  a  Christian  family.  The  minister  of  our 
church, — the  Baptist  church  in  Westport,  N.  Y., — had  resigned,  and  ^Ir. 
Sawyer  had  been  invited J,o  visit  the  place  with  a  view  to  the  pastoral  office. 
He,  with  the  retiring  minister,  was  a  guest  at  my  (ixther's  house,  between  tlic 
services  of  the  Sabbath  day.  T,  as  the  boy  on  whom  that  duty  naturally 
devolved,  Avas  directed  to  bear  to  our  Reverend  visiters  the  refreshment  of 
brandy  and  water,  with  sugar  attached;  and  tliis  I  did  without  a  thought  to 
that  moment  of  any  connection  between  conscience  and  drinking,  except  that 
conscience  forl)ade  intemperate  drinking.  With  the  air  of  the  true  gentleman, 
quietly  but  firmly,  Mr.  Sawyer  declined  the  cup.  "  It  is  a  point  of  conscience 
with  me,"  said  the  already  venerable  man;  "  I  have  united  with  some  of  my 
brethren    in    an    obligation  to   abstain  entireh'."      ".A  point    of  conscience !" 


ISAAC  SAWYER.  373 

thought  the  astonished  hoy, — and  he  never  forgot  the  lesson,  or  ceased  to 
honour  the  minister  of  religion  from  whose  lips  those  few  words  had  fallen. 
Thank  Heaven,  the  cup  ceased  to  he  among  the  hospitalities  of  that  home. 

All  my  subsequent  impressions  of  Mr.  Sawyer's  character  were  outgrowths 
of  this  original  incident.  He  was  of  medium  stature,  rather  slightly  formed, 
erect,  and  possessing  that  kind  of  dignity  which,  while  it  never  repelled  a 
proper  approacli,  prohibited  rude  familiarity.  There  was  nothing  sanctimo- 
nious in  his  manner  or  bearing,  but  there  was  sanctity,  and  nobody  presumed 
to  trifle  in  his  presence.  There  had  been  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  in  tlie 
town,  and  the  church  had  had  large  accessions.  His  ministry  v/as  of  the 
kind  to  establish  Christian  character,  to  promote  Christian  growtli,  and  to 
prepare  the  church  for  wider  usefulness  and  greater  extension.  Other  revivals 
succeeded,  and  it  is  my  impression  that  I  have  not  been  accustomed  to  see, 
generally,  in  later  years,  so  much  of  thoroughness  in  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tian life,  as  distinguished  his  ministry  at  such  seasons.  I  well  remember  a 
revival  which  occurred  in  1831.  I  was  a  student  at  the  time,  at  home  in 
search  of  health.  On  my  arrival,  I  found  preparations  in  progress  for  a 
'<  Four  Days  Meeting."  The  frame  of  the  house  of  worship  had  been  for 
some  time  raised,  but  the  work  had  proceeded  slowly.  Hoof  and  rough 
boarding  were  now  hurried  on;  a  loose  flooring  was  laid;  rude  benches  were 
to  furnish  sittings  for  the  congregation,  and  a  carpenter's  bench  a  platform  for 
the  preachers.  The  moral  preparations  seemed  to  be  less  adequate.  A  meet- 
ing largely  attended  was  held  in  a  schooi-house  on  the  evening  previous  to  the 
great  gathering  in  the  unlinishod  church.  The  Providence  of  God  had  brought 
to  the  village,  on  that  evening,  tlie  venerable  Father  Comslock,  a  Congrega- 
tional minister,  long  known  and  honoured  in  Northern  New  York.  On  these 
aged  men  devolved  the  duty  of  the  religious  instructions  of  that  evening. 
Father  Comstock  preaclied,  making  the  union  of  Christians  in  love,  and 
prayers,  and  labours,  the  burden  of  his  message,  and  reaching  a  strain  of 
Christian  eloquence  which  it  has  never  been  my  lot  to  witness  on  any  other 
occasion.  Father  Sawyer  followed,  reiterating  and  applying  the.se  instructions, 
and,  before  the  evening  closed,  the  members  of  the  church,  to  that  hour  so 
languid  and  so  wanting  in  faith  as  well-nigh  to  quench  the  hope  of  a  blessing, 
were  brought  upon  their  knees  in  confessions  and  prayers  which  were  the  sare 
precursors  of  a  great  ingathering  of  souls.  This  great  revival  was,  I  believe, 
the  last  under  the  ministry  of  Father  Sawyer  at  Westport,  and  illustrated,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  the  excellence  and  height  of  his  power  as  a  Christian  Pastor. 

I  was  best  acquainted  with  Father  Sawyer's  ministry  when  1  was  too  young 
for  a  critical  estimate  of  his  intellectual  power.  He  always,  I  believe,  preaciied 
extemporaneousl}',  and  I  well  remember  that  his  quiet  but  earnest  and 
impressive  facility  of  speech  seemed  to  me  remarkable,  and  I  think  his  clear- 
ness, method,  and  correctness  were  not  less  noticeable.  I  do  not  know  the 
extent  of  his  acquisitions.  I  know  that  he  valued  highly  intellectual  cultiva- 
tion as  a  preparation  for  the  ministry,  for  he  encouraged  and  stimulated  my 
own  purposes  in  regard  to  an  education.  His  attention  to  the  education  of 
his  own  family,  several  of  whom  became  ministers,  equally  attested  the  same 
fact.  I  met  him  but  seldom  after  this  period.  Once  I  saw  him  in  his  extreme 
old  age,  sustaining  still  the  dignity  of  former  years,  and  looking  serenely  for 
the  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

S.  S.  CUTTING. 


374  BAPTIST. 

DANIEL  DODGE. 

1797—1851. 

FROM  THE  REV.  HENRY  C.  FISH. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  July  12,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  for  such  an 
account  as  I  am  able  to  give  of  the  late  Rev.  Daniel  Dodge,  who  was 
known,  for  many  years,  as  one  of  the  prominent  ministers  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  this  country.  What  I  shall  write,  is  partly  from  personal 
knowledge,  and  partly  from  diligent  inquiry  among  his  surviving  friends. 
I  have  also  the  advantage  of  living  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation  which 
he  served  for  several  years. 

Daniel  Dodge  was  born  in  Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  December  1, 
1777  ;  his  father  having  migrated  to  that  Province  from  Ipswich,  Mass. 
His  father's  sympathy  with  the  American  cause,  during  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  led  him  to  return  to  his  native  country,  while  the  War  was  yet 
in  progress,  and  to  settle  again  in  Massachusetts.  His  mother,  who  was  a 
Miss  Conant,  of  Massachusetts,  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  ;  but,  while  Daniel  was  yet  very  youug,  she  embraced  the  Baptist 
faith, — a  circumstance  by  which  he  seems  to  have  been  very  strongly 
impressed.  He  was  exceedingly  fond  of  liis  mother,  and  is  said  never  to 
have  been  guilty  of  but  a  single  act  of  disobedience  towards  her,  and  that 
of  a  very  trivial  character;  but  it  occasioned  him,  ever  after,  the  deepest 
regret,  and  contributed  not  a  little  to  that  conviction  of  his  guilt  which 
preceded  his  acceptance  of  the  Saviour. 

Of  the  circumstances  of  his  conversion  little  is  now  known  ;  but  it  is 
known  that,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  indulged  the  hope  that  he  had  passed 
from  death  unto  life,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Woodstock, 
Vt.,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elder  Elisha  Ransom.  He  began 
almost  immediately  to  feel  a  strong  desire  to  become  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel.  To  remove  an  impediment  in  the  way  of  realizing  the  object  of 
his  desires,  he  purchased  his  time  of  a  ship  builder,  to  whom  his  fatlier 
had  apprenticed  him.  He  agreed  to  pay  to  his  employer  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  dollars,  to  acquire  which  he  went  to  sea;  and,  while  upon  his 
voyage,  was  taken,  with  others,  by  a  French  Privateer  vessel,  and  caused 
to  pass  tlirough  many  trials,  and  much  suffering.  In  the  good  Providence 
of  God,  he  at  last  escaped,  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  former  employer  the 
stipulated  sum,  and,  not  long  after,  in  1797,  realized  his  wishes  in  becoming 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  He  received  license  to  preach  from  the  Baptist 
Cluircli  in  Baltimore,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards. 
He  preached  some  time  in  different  churches  in  Maryland  and  Virginia. 
About  1802,  he  became  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  Wilmington,  De.,  where  he 
laboured  with  great  success,  baptizing  sixty  persons  in  one  year.  He 
preached  in  Wilmington  nearly  twenty  years,  and  then  went  to  Piscataway, 
in  New  Jersey,  where  he  had  the  charge  of  a  church  about  fourteen  years. 
From  Piscataway  he  was  called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church  in  New- 
ark, in  June,  1832.     He  accepted   the  call,  and  in  the   month  of  August, 


DANIEL  DODGE.  375 

entered  fully  upon  his  labours.  This  proved  in  all  respects  a  happy  choice, 
as  was  soon  apparent  in  the  increase  of  harmony  among  the  brethren,  in 
a  better  attendance  upon  the  means  of  grace,  in  the  awakening  of  the 
careless  and  the  increase  of  the  faithful.  In  November,  1837,  he  resigned 
his  charge  at  Newark,  on  account  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  support ;  but 
the  Church  were  unwilling  to  be  deprived  of  his  valuable  services,  and 
induced  him  to  withdraw  his  resignation.  He  continued  with  them  until 
December,  1839,  when  he  became  the  Pastor  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  resided  at  the  time  of  his  death.  For  a  year  and  a  half  previous 
to  that  time,  he  had  been  unable  to  perform  his  pastoral  labours  ;  but  such 
was  the  affectionate  esteem  of  his  people  towards  him,  that  they  would 
not  consent  to  accept  his  resignation,  until  two  or  three  months  previous  to 
his  decease.  At' intervals,  especially  during  the  early  period  of  his  last 
illness,  his  mind  was  somewhat  clouded  with  doubts,  God  gave  him  grace, 
however,  for  the  most  part,  to  triumph  in  hope  and  joy.  Particularly  was 
this  true  in  the  few  last  months  of  his  earthly  sojourn. 

A  brother  in  the  ministry, — the  Rev.  Dr.  Kennard  of  Philadelphia,  in 
calling  upon  him,  when  he  was  sufiFering  much,  directed  his  mind  towards 
Christ  and  Heaven,  and  repeated  the  passage, — "  We  shall  see  Him  as  He 
is."  At  this,  the  old  man  threw  up  both  his  hands,  and  with  gushing 
tears  exclaimed, — "Too  much,  too  much!"  On  another  occasion,  this 
brother  spoke  to  him  of  the  many  happy  souls  now  in  Heaven,  and  ready 
to  welcome  him  there — to  which  he  replied  with  much  emotion, — "  Do  you 
think  so?" — and  the  suggestion  filled  him  with  joyful  surprise.  He  bore 
his  protracted  sufferings  without  complaint,  but  waited  for  his  change  to 
come.  When  informed  of  the  death  of  an  aged  brother  in  the  ministry, 
whom  he  had  long  and  intimately  known,  he  cried  out, — "  Is  he  gone  before 
me  ?  Why  does  my  Heavenly  Father  keep  me  here  ?"  He  died  on  the 
13th  of  May,  1851,  aged  seventy-five  years.  After  his  death,  and  before 
his  burial,  persons  of  all  ages,  even  down  to  little  children,  flocked  with 
most  intense  interest,  to  look  upon  his  face  once  more,  before  his  remains 
should  be  carried  to  their  final  resting  place.  It  was  estimated  that  his 
Funeral  was  attended  by  fully  two  thousand  persons,  among  whom  were 
about  thirty  clergymen.  The  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Kennard. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  married,  soon  after  he  entered  the  ministry,  to  a  Miss 
Ragan  of  Virginia,  a  lady  of  eminent  piety.  After  her  death,  he  was 
married  a  second  time  to  Miss  Letitia  Mankin,  of  Baltimore,  who,  with 
one  daughter,  survived  him. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Dodge  was  in  the  spring  of  1844,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  American  Baptist  Triennial  Convention  in  Philadelphia. 
He  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  more  active  members  of  the  Body,  and 
entered  into  the  various  discussions  and  business  transactions  with  much 
interest  and  enthusiasm.  His  head  was  crowned  with  thick,  short,  white 
hair,  and  his  brow  was  wrinkled  with  age  ;  but  the  fire  and  force  of  other 
days  were  not  abated.  His  form  was  quite  commanding — tall,  erect, 
massive,  with  a  countenance  indicative  of  a  genial  heart,  and  an  earnest- 
ness of  purpose.  His  pulpit  ministrations  were  not  especially  marked, 
but  always  highly  acceptable  ;  especially  while  dwelling  upon  his  favourite 


376  BAPTIST. 

topic, — the  doctrine  of  Divine  Grace.  The  entire  bearings  of  the  man, 
both  in  his  social  and  public  intercourse,  were  adapted  to  impress  one  with 
his  plain,  round-about  common  sense,  his  keen  insight  into  human  nature, 
and  his  marked  sincerity  and  devotion. 

During  his  extended  ministry,  he  always  bore  an  irreproachable  charac- 
ter, and  was  greatly  esteemed  in  every  community  in  which  his  lot  was 
cast.  He  was  a  man  of  enlarged  Christian  sympathies,  and  hailed  every 
one  as  a  brother  in  whom  he  recognized  the  Master's  image  ;  while  yet  he 
was  a  consistent  Baptist,  always  showing  himself  faithful  to  his  own  con- 
victions. Though  he  had  never  had  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education, 
he  had  l)y  no  means  neglected  the  culture  of  his  own  mind,  and  never 
appeared  on  any  occasion  otherwise  than  with  propriety  and  dignity.  His 
sound  judgment  and  excellent  common  sense,  as  well  as  his  peaceable  and 
conciliatory  spirit,  were  often  put  in  requisition  in  cases  of  controversy  ; 
and  few  were  more  successful  than  he  in  healing  divisions.  He  was  sure 
to  be  cordially  welcomed  at  all  public  meetings  of  general  interest,  as  well 
as  in  Associations  of  his  own  denomination  ;  for  he  had  always  something 
to  say  to  enlighten,  or  encourage,  or  help.  Many  are  they  who  hold  his 
memory  in  hallowed  recollection  ;  and  many  are  the  fruits  of  his  ministry, 
attesting,  to  his  protracted  and  successful  labours. 

I  am  most  truly  yours, 

HENRY  C.  FISH. 


WILLIAM  COLLIER.* 

1798—18-13. 

William  Collier  was  born  in  Scituate,  Mass.,  October  11.  1771. 
He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Isaac  and  Tamsen  Collier,  whose  family  con- 
sisted of  twelve  children.  The  father  pursued  the  occupation  of  a  farmer, 
and  was  much  respected  for  intelligence  and  integrity.  Under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  pious  mother,  he  developed,  in  his  youth,  a  simplicity  of  character, 
and  conscientious  regard  to  moral  obligation,  which  distinguished  him 
through  life. 

He  eai'ly  evinced  a  distaste  for  sea-faring  pursuits,  in  which  most  of  his 
youthful  associates  became  engaged,  and  was  soon  led  to  Boston  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  Here  he  attended  upon  the 
ministry  of  Doctors  Stillman  and  Baldwin,  and,  a  few  years  later,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  he  united  with  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  Dr.  Baldvyin.  Having  completed  his  apprenticeship,  and 
feeling  a  strong  desire  to  spend  his  life  in  preaching  the  Gospel,  he  entered 
upon  a  course  of  study  with  reference  to  that  object.  In  the  year  1793, 
he  entered  Rhode  Island  College,  (now  Brown  University.)  and  graduated 
in  1797.  He  afterwards  studied  Theology  under  the  President  of  the 
College,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Maxcy,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  by 
what  is  now  the  Baldwin  Place  Church,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1798. 

*  MSS.  from  his  son, — Jlr.  W.  R.  Collier,  and  Rev.  Gurdon  Robins. 


WILLIAM  COLLIER.  377 

Mr.  Collier  was  ordained  at  IJoston,  July  11,  1799,  the  Sermon  being 
preached  by  Dr.  Baldwin,  the  Charge  delivered  by  Dr.  Stilhnan,  and  the 
Right  Hand  of  Fellowship  given  by  Dr.  Gano.  He  was  ordained  as  a 
Minister  at  Large,  but  was  almost  immediately  settled  as  Pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  remained,  however,  but  one 
year,  being  then  called  to  the  Pastorate  of  the  First  Bapti.st  Church  in 
New  York  City.  This  station  he  occupied  for  a  term  of  four  years.  From 
this  place  he  was  transferred,  without  any  intermediate  loss  of  time,  to 
Charlestown,  Mass.  Here  he  became  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  the 
year  1804,  and  held  the  position  for  sixteen  years.  Tliis,  as  it  was  his 
largest  term  of  service,  also  presents  the  field  to  which  we  are  chiefly  to 
look,  as  a  test  of  the  value  of  his  labours.  Here  he  became  intimately 
associated  with  those  fathers  in  the  ministry.  Doctors  Stillman  and  Bald- 
win, and  other  clergy  of  his  denomination,  maintaining  among  them  a  good 
standing,  as  Pastor  of  a  prominent  church,  and  enjoying  the  uniform  con- 
fidence and  affection  of  his  people,  and  the  respect  of  tlie  community  in 
which  he  lived.  Though  he  exercised  his  ministry  during  a  period  in 
which  the  country  was  greatly  agitated  by  political  conflicts,  and  the 
churches  suffered  a  corresponding  depression,  he  sustained  himself  with 
great  dignity  as  an  active  and  successful  minister  of  the  Gospel.  During 
part  of  his  ministry  at  Charlestown,  he  shared  with  Dr.  Morse  the  Chap- 
laincy of  the  State  Prison.  He  resigned  his  charge,  on  account  of  the 
failure  of  his  health,  in  the  year  1820. 

Immediately  after  this,  he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  Here  he  commenced  a  long  and  varied  service  as 
Minister  at  Large,  thus  closing  his  ministerial  life  as  he  began  it  ;  and, 
dui-ing  the  whole  of  the  period  last  named,  he  was  widely  and  favourably 
known  for  his  labours  in  connection  with  the  City  Mission,  and  other 
kindred  enterprises.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  Temperance 
Reform,  and,  in  addition  to  a  great  amount  of  previous  labour  in  aid  of  it, 
he  undertook,  in  the  year  1826,  the  publication  of  a  weekly  Temperance 
newspaper,  called  The  National  Philanthro'pist, — the  fiirst  paper  of  the 
kind,  as  far  as  is  known,  that  was  ever  printed.  It  was  sustained  by  him 
for  two  years,  and  proved  a  very  eflicient  auxiliary  to  the  cause. 

About  the  12th  of  February,  184.3,  Mr.  Collier  was  suddenly  prostrated, 
while  actively  engaged  in  City  Missionary  labours, — his  exertions  in  that 
work  having  been  for  some  months  obviously  far  beyond  his  strength.  He 
soon  became  aware  that  his  sickness  was  unto  death, — the  effect  of  which 
was  greatly  to  quicken  his  religious  feelings.  His  chief  anxiety  seemed  to 
be  to  bear  a  dying  testimony  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  He  then 
turned  his  attention  to  the  settlement  of  his  worldly  affairs,  and,  with  the 
utmost  tranquillity  of  spirit,  gave  the  most  minute  directions  in  respect  to 
all  that  concerned  him.  It  then  seemed  as  though  his  work  was  done,  and 
nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  await  calmly  the  summons  which  he  knew 
was  at  hand.  He  resumed  his  natural  manner,  and,  as  far  as  his  weakness 
and  suffering  permitted,  his  sick  chamber  became  the  scene  of  the  same 
genial  and  social  influences  which  had  ever  attended  his  personal  presence 
through  life.  Thus  he  lingered  till  the  19th  of  March,  1843,  when,  with- 
out a  struggle,  his  spirit  passed  from  its  earthly  tenement,  to  mingle  in 

Vol.  YI.  48 


378  BAPTIST. 

higher  scenes.  A  Funeral  Discourse  was  delivered  in  the  Second  Baptist 
Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rollin  II.  Neale,  and 
the  numerous  attendance  from  all  classes  evinced  a  high  and  general  appre- 
ciation of  his  character,  and  a  deep  sense  of  the  loss  that  had  been  sus- 
tained, oii^peciallj  in  the  circles  in  which  he  had  moved. 

Mr.  Collier  published  a  Sermon  preached  before  the  Massachusetts  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society  in  1816,  and  a  Sermon  preached  at  Lyme,  Conn., 
at  the  Ordination  of  G.  ^Y.  Appleton,  in  1819.  He  compiled  a  Hymn 
Book ;  edited  the  Baptist  Preacher, — a  monthly  publication  consisting  of 
Sermons  from  living  ministers,  commenced  in  1827;  and  superintended  an 
edition  of  Saurin's  Sermons,  of  a  work  in  four  volumes,  entitled  "  The 
Gospel   Treasury,''  of  Andrew  Fuller's  Works,  &c.,  &c. 

Mr.  Collier  was  married  on  the  10th  of  August,  1799,  to  Abigail,  daugh- 
ter of  Deacon  Ephraim  Robins,  of  Hartford.  Conn,  By  this,  his  only 
marriage,  he  had  seven  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  early  life.  Ephraim, 
his  youngest  son,  survived  to  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1826,  and  was  a  young  man  of  great  purity  of  charac- 
ter, rare  classical  tastes,  and  excellent  scholarship.  He  was,  however,  of 
feeble  constitution,  and  just  as  he  entered  on  the  work  of  the  ministry  to 
which  he  was  consecrated,  he  was  called  to  mingle  in  higher  scenes.  He 
died  in  1840.     The  eldest  son  and  three  daughters  still  (1858)  survive. 

FROM  THE  REV.  BARON  STOW,  D.  D. 

Boston,  September  6,  1858. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  William  Collier  com- 
menced about  the  year  1825.  He  was  then  actively  engaged  as  a  Minister  at 
Large,  in  Boston,  and  was  regarded  by  a  large  circle,  of  various  denomina- 
tions, as  a  man  of  warm  Christian  philanthropy,  and  an  industrious,  useful 
laboui'er.  He  had  then  passed  his  prime,  and  was  on  the  descending  side  of 
life.  In  person,  he  was  rather  above  medium  size,  moderate  in  his  movements, 
and  a  little  stooping  in  his  gait.  His  head  was  well  formed,  with  no  part 
especially  protuberant,  or  indicative  of  marked  intellectual  character.  His 
hair  was  light  and  thin,  his  complexion  fair,  his  eye  soft,  and  his  whole 
expression  of  face  bland  and  amiable.  My  first  impression  was,  that  he  must 
be  a  man  of  great  humility  and  meekness,  shrinking  from  notoriety,  oblivious 
of  self,  and  regardful  of  the  good  of  others.  That  impression  I  never  had 
occasion  to  correct.  From  1832  till  the  time  of  his  death,  I  sustained  to  him 
the  relation  of  Pastor,  and  therefore  had  ample  opportunity  to  observe  the 
traits  of  his  character.  Uniformly  he  honoured  my  position,  and  I  never  had 
occasion  to  suspect  him  of  a  disposition  to  counterwork  my  plans,  or  control 
church  action.  He  was  ever  ready  for  service  as  a  private  member,  demand- 
ing no  preference  or  pre-eminence  on  account  of  either  his  age  or  his  ministe- 
rial office.  He  was  invariably  my  helper  and  friend,  and  I  could  have  gone 
through  the  longest  Pastorate,  with  a  hundred  such  as  Mr.  Collier  in  the  mem- 
bership, and  found  the  relation  only  agreeable.  In  the  church  he  was 
respected  and  beloved  as  eminently  a  man  of  God,  and  his  death  was  most 
sincerely  lamented.  And  here  I  may  add  that  my  esteemed  predecessors,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  and  the  Rev.  James  D.  Knowles,  were  accustomed  to  speak 
of  him  as  a  quiet,  unobtrusive  member,  and  a  useful  coadjutor. 

The  character  of  Mr.  C.  was  peculiarly  harmonious.  His  faculties  and 
affections  were  admirably  balanced,  and  consequently  he  was  not  adapted  to 
be  a  leader  where  great  boldness  or  daring  was  requisite,  nor  was  he  a  man  to 


WILLIAM  COLLIER.  379 

produce  a  sensation  in  the  masses.  lie  had  a  low  estimate  of  himself,  and 
never  ventured  into  prominence,  even  where  the  general  respect  for  his  char- 
acter would  have  tolerated  much  assumption.  If  he  erred  in  judgment,  it 
was  always  in  matters  aflccting  his  personal  interest,  and  never  bringing 
damage  to  others.  Though  eminently  conservative,  yet  he  was  sufficicntlj' 
progressive,  and  to  the  last  was  interested  in  every  movement  that  promised 
good  to  humanity.  He  struck  out  no  large  plans  of  action,  and  yet,  in  some 
things,  he  was  the  originator  and  the  pioneer  of  good  enterprises.  Hating 
ever)'  thing  wrong,  he  was  charitable  towards  wrong-doers,  and  sought, 
through  kindness,  to  benefit  them.  I  never  heard  him  speak  ill  of  any  per- 
son; I  have  often  known  him  to  seek  for  the  best  possible  construction  of  the 
designs  and  motives  of  such  as  others  were  earnest  to  condemn.  1  think  no 
man  has  lived  in  this  communitj^  who  better  deserved  the  name  of  peacemaker. 

Mr.  Collier  had  strong  faith  in  the  Bible  as  the  Avord  of  God,  and  he  loved 
the  book,  and  studied  it  with  docility  and  success.  His  views  of  Christian 
doctrine  were  clear,  strong  and  symmetrical.  The  plan  of  salvation,  as  a 
plan  of  Grace,  he  admired  and  habitually  commended.  I  never  met  with  his 
superior  in  the  exposition  of  Paul's  strongest  passages  relating  to  Justification 
by  Faith.  And  yet,  when  near  his  end,  he  said  to  me: — "  Many  years  ago  I 
was  much  impressed  by  those  words  of  the  Apostle, — '  Wherefore  we  labour, 
that,  whether  present  or  absent,  we  may  be  accepted  of  Ilim.'  I  have  long 
been  labouring  at  that  point,  anxious  so  to  demean  myself  in  all  respects  as 
to  secure  final  acceptance.  I5ut  I  now  perceive  that  I  have  unconsciously  been 
manufacturing  as  pretty  a  piece  of  self-righteousness  as  ever  was  put  together. 
I  renounce  the  whole,  and  turn  to  the  finished  work  of  Christ  as  my  all.  If 
I  am  not  accepted  in  the  Beloved,  I  am  lost  forever.  Warn  Christians,  my 
brother,  not  to  put  any  measure  of  sanctification  in  the  place  of  Christ's  jus- 
tifying righteousness." 

The  memory  of  Mr.  Collier  is  fragrant  in  this  community.  The  sphere 
that  he  filled  was  not  large,  but  he  filled  it  well.     He  walked  with  God. 

Your  brother  in  heart, 

BARON  STOW. 


CLARK  KENDRICK  * 

1799—18-24. 

Clark  Kendrick  was  a  descendant,  in  the  fifth  generation,  of  John 
Kendriek,  who  was  born  in  England  in  1605  ;  came  to  Boston  in  1639  ; 
settled  in  Newton,  Mass.,  and  died  on  the  29th  of  August,  1686,  aged 
eighty-one  years.  He  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Anna  (Davenport)  Ken- 
drick, and  was  born  in  Hanover,  N.  H.,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1775, — his 
parents  having  removed  thither,  a  short  time  before,  from  Connecticut. 
His  father  became  hopefully  pious  near  the  close  of  his  life,  and  joined  the 
Congregational  Church  ;  but  his  motlier,  though  distinguisheil  fur  her  good 
sense  and  brilliant  wit,  was  not  a  professor  of  religion,  and  evinced  no  spe- 
cial interest  in  it.  It  is  said  that  his  father,  who  was  killed  by  the  fall  of 
a  tree,  was  engaged,  in  his  last  moments,  in  prayer  for  the  salvation  of  his 
family ;  and  all  his  children  have  become  exemplary  members  of  the 
Church. 

•  Amer.  Bapt.  Mag.,  1831. — MS.  from  his  son, — Rev.  Dr.  Kendrick. 


380  BAPTIST. 

Some  time  before  the  death  of  his  father,  Clark  was  placed  in  the  family 
of  an  uncle,  in  the  vicinity,  who  afterwards  removed  to  Bethel,  Vt.  Having 
lived  with  him,  labouring  on  a  farm,  till  he  was  seventeen,  he  removed  to 
Plainficld,  in  the  same  State,  where  he  continued  in  the  same  occupation 
for  two  years, — until  he  lost  his  health.  He  then  left  Vermont,  made  a 
short  visit  to  Connecticut,  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  the  sea  air,  and  again 
took  up  his  residence  in  Hanover.  Here  he  qualified  himself  for  teaching, 
and  spent  about  three  years  in  that  employment  before  he  left  the  place. 
During  this  period,  in  the  summer  of  1797,  lie  became  hopefully  the  sub- 
ject of  a  spiritual  renovation. 

The  circumstances  attending  his  conversion  were  deeply  interesting.  On 
a  certain  evening,  he  and  the  friend  in  whose  family  he  was  boarding  fell 
into  a  conversation  on  the  subject  of  religion,  which  gradually  assumed 
an  unwonted  solemnity,  and  left  upon  Mr.  Kendrick's  mind  a  deep  impres- 
sion of  the  importance  of  eternal  realities.  By  Mr.  K.'s  request,  his 
friend  detailed  to  him  some  of  the  particulars  of  his  Christian  experience ; 
and  this  lieightened  not  a  little  his  own  sense  both  of  obligation  and  of 
need.  For  six  weeks,  he  suffered,  without  interruption,  the  most  intense 
anguish  of  spirit,  insomuch  that  his  friends  greatly  feared  either  that  his 
bodily  health  would  sink,  or  that  his  mind  would  become  unstrung.  Mean- 
while others,  from  witnessing  his  agony,  became  similarl}'  impressed ;  a 
general  awakening  ensued;  and  numbers  were  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  the 
Gospel,  while  he  was  yet  oppressed  with  the  wild  horrors  of  despair.  At 
length,  however,  the  dark  cloud  which  had  enveloped  him  passed  off,  and 
while  he  reposed  a  joyful  confidence  in  his  Redeemer,  he  became  an  earnest 
and  efiicient  auxiliary  in  sustaining  and  advancing  the  work  which  had  so 
singularly  originated  with  himself. 

Mr.  Kendrick,  who  had  now  reached  the  age  of  twenty-two,  soon  became 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel ; 
but  so  reluctant  was  he,  from  a  distrust  of  his  abilities  and  a  consciousness 
of  his  limited  attainments,  to  yield  to  it,  that  he  actually  left  New  Hamp- 
shire, crossed  the  Green  Mountains  on  foot,  and  came  to  Salem,  N.  Y., 
where  he  engaged  in  teaching  a  school,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  banish 
these  unwelcome  thoughts  from  his  mind.  He  did  not  succeed,  however, 
in  accomplishing  his  object  ;  for  the  sense  of  obligation  to  tliis  dut}'  still 
remained  with  him,  and,  on  the  appearance  of  something  like  an  awakening 
in  the  place,  he  lost  all  his  diffidence  and  entered  into  it  with  the  utmost 
zeal  and  efficiency.  The  Rev.  Obed  Warren,*  who  was,  at  that  time,  Pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Salem,  became  at  once  deeply  interested  in   Mr. 

*  Obed  Wakren  was  born  in  Plainfield..  Conn.,  March  18,  1760,  and  supposed  himself  to  have 
been  converteil  at  the  early  age  of  seven  years;  but  it  was  not  till  he  was  fifteen  years  old,  and 
after  his  parents  had  removed  to  Dudley,  Mass.,  that  he  made  a  profession  of  religion  by  unit- 
ing with  the  Baptist  Church.  In  that  town  lie  commenced  preaching,  and  on  the  day  that  he 
was  twenty-one  years  old,  delivered  his  first  sermon.  Shortly  after  this,  he  accepted  a  call  to 
the  Churcii  in  Halifax,  Vt.,  where  he  laboured  several  years,  and  about  the  year  1790,  removed 
to  Salem,  N.  Y.,  and  took  charge  of  the  Baptist  Cliurch  in  that  pbice.  But  in  the  spring  of 
1812,  he  was  dismissed  by  his  own  reqnest,  and  accepted  a  call  to  ths  Cambridge  Baptist  Church, 
in  which  connection  he  remained  till  the  spring  of  ISIG,  when  he  became  for  a  short  time  the 
Pastor  of  the  Hoosick  Church.  He  subsequently  removed  to  Delphi.  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y., 
■where  ho  laboured  two  years;  thence  to  Seipio,  Cayuga  County,  where  he  spent  one  year;  and 
thence  to  Eaton,  IMadison  County,  where  he  had  the  charge  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  for 
three  years;  and  finally  to  Covert,  Seneca  County,  where  he  died  on  the  29th  of  August,  1823, 
in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty-third  of  his  ministry.  He  was  a  man  of  sound 
judgment,  sterling  i.ntegrity,  and  great  efficiency  and  public  spirit. 


CLARK  KENDRICK.  3gl 

Kcudrick,  seconded  his  views  in  regard  to  the  ministry,  and  rendered  hiw 
all  the  assistance  in  his  power. 

After  having  lived  at  Sulcm  about  two  years,  Mr.  Kendrick  coninienced 
preaching,  and  the  year  following  was  invited  to  visit  Poultney,  Vt.,  and 
the  consequence  of  his  visit  was  an  immediate  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
people  there  to  engage  him  as  their  Pastor,  The  circumstances  attending 
his  call  were  peculiar ;  as  it  came  not  from  the  Baptist  Society,  but  from 
the  town,  which  had  hitherto  been  controlled  by  Congregational  influence. 
The  Baptists,  whose  numbers  scarcely  exceeded  thirty,  had,  in  consequence 
of  their  distance  from  a  church  of  their  own  communion,  uniformly  wor- 
shipped with  the  Congregalionalists,  and  assisted  in  the  support  of  their 
minister.  When  the  Congregational  church  became  vacant  by  the  removal 
of  their  Pastor,  it  was  understood  that  they  would  unite  in  the  support  of 
any  minister  whom  the  town  might  call;  though  they  doubtless  expected 
that  it  would  be  one  of  tlieir  own  order.  Mr.  Kendrick  visited  them  in 
the  spring  of  1801;  and,  in  the  early  part  of  1802,  received  an  invitation 
from  the  town  to  settle  among  them.  Owing  to  divisions,  partly  religious 
and  partly  political,  then  existing  in  that  community,  his  prospects  for  a 
quiet  ministry  were  by  no  means  promising  ;  but  he  still  thought  it  his 
duty  to  accept,  and  did  accept,  the  call.  A  Baptist  church  was  duly  orga- 
nized on  the  8th  of  April,  and  his  ordination  took  place  on  the  20th  of  the 
next  month.  In  October  following,  he  was  married  to  Esther,  daughter 
of  David  Thompson,  who  had  removed  to  Poultney  from  Goshen,  Conn. 
They  had  twelve  children,  four  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  the  rest  all  sur- 
vived their  father. 

His  church  which,  at  its  organization,  consisted  of  thirty-four  members, 
was  nearly  doubled  during  the  first  year  of  his  ministry.  The  next  year 
the  Congrcgationalists  withdrew,  and  both  they  and  the  Baptists  built  for 
themselves  each  a  separate  and  commodious  place  of  worship.  In  1805, 
Mr.  Kendrick,  owing,  as  it  would  seem,  to  circumstances  connected  with 
his  settlement,  was  subjected  to  severe  trials,  and  both  the  press  and  the 
Court  of  Justice  were  put  in  requisition  to  establish  charges  against  him. 
The  case  was  deemed  so  serious  that  an  Ecclesiastical  Council  convened  at 
Poultney  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  and  judging  in  respect  to  its  merits. 
He  seems  to  have  been  fully  vindicated  from  the  offensive  charges,  and 
even  those  who  had  manifested  towards  him  the  greatest  hostility,  after- 
wards became  some  of  his  most  cordial  friends. 

From  this  period  Mr.  Kendrick's  ministi-y  was  comparatively  smooth  and 
unembarrassed.  Ilevivals  of  religion,  of  greater  or  less  extent,  occasion- 
ally attended  his  labours  ;  but,  in  1816,  one,  more  powerful  than  any  which 
had  preceded,  occurred,  which  added  upwards  of  a  hundred  to  his  churcli, 
and  numbered  many  more  as  its  hopeful  subjects. 

One  object  which  very  early  awakened  Mr,  Kendrick's  special  interest 
was  the  Vermont  Association,  to  which,  in  1800,  Avhile  a  member  of  Mr. 
Warren's  Church  at  Salem,  he  had  been  appointed  a  delegate.  At  the 
time  he  became  a  member  of  it,  he  found  it  in  a  distracted  and  broken  con- 
dition. He  immediately  set  himself  to  heal  the  divisions  which  existed  in 
it,  and  his  efforts  were   not  without  success.     The  meetings  of  the  Body 


382  BAPTIST. 

soon  became  entirely  harmonious,  and  Mr.  Kendrick  remained  an  active 
and  useful  member  of  it  till  the  close  of  life. 

In  this  Association,  the  missionary  spirit  was  early  cherished,  and  mea- 
sures were  adopted  for  carrying  the  Gospel  into  the  destitute  regions  round 
about.  In  the  Northern  parts  of  Vermont  and  New  York,  as  well  as  in 
Canada,  there  were  vast  districts  where  scarcely  a  church  or  a  minister 
was  to  be  found.  The  Association,  as  a  Body,  and  some  of  the  churches 
individually,  had,  for  some  time,  been  in  the  habit  of  making  an  annual 
contribution  with  reference  to  these  destitute  regions ;  but  there  was  no 
Missionary  Society  formed  in  Vermont  until  1812.  Mr.  Kendrick,  how. 
ever,  had  previously  made  several  missionary  tours  into  various  parts  of 
the  above  named  districts, — the  first  of  which  was  in  the  summer  of  1808, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  Massachusetts, 
when  he  spent  three  months  in  visiting  the  churches  in  Upper  Canada.  In 
1810  and  1812,  he  made  short  excursions  into  the  Northern  parts  of  Ver- 
mont and  New  York,  and  on  the  borders  of  the  Canadas.  In  1813,  he 
visited  the  Western  part  of  New  York,  and,  while  engaged  in  this  mission, 
his  health,  owing  to  excessive  labour,  in  connection  with  the  severity  of 
the  season,  sustained  a  shock  from  which  it  never  recovered.  In  1814,  he 
made  another,  but  less  extended,  tour,  which  closed  his  missionary  labours. 
His  zeal  in  the  cause  of  missions,  however,  continued  unabated,  and  a  plan 
of  wider  extent  was  now  going  into  operation,  in  whose  origin  and  promo- 
tion he  was  actively  enlisted. 

On  the  return  of  the  Rev.  Luther  Rice  from  India,  in  1813,  an  unusual 
interest  was  awakened  in  the  Baptist  churches  in  Vermont,  as  well  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  country,  in  behalf  of  Foreign  Missions;  and,  immedi- 
ately after  the  formation  of  the  Baptist  Gleneral  Convention  for  the  pro- 
motion of  Missions,  an  Auxiliary  Society  was  formed  in  Vermont,  with 
some  of  the  leading  ministers  in  the  State  at  its  head.  Mr.  Kendrick  was 
originally  its  Vice-President,  but  in  1817,  became  its  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  held  the  office  until  his  death.  The  same  year  he  was 
appointed  Chaplain  to  the  Vermont  Legislature,  and  his  services  in  the 
pulpit  were  there  received  with  marked  approbation. 

In  1819,  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Middlebury  College. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged  in  public  labours,  his  constitution  was  gra- 
dually giving  way,  under  the  power  of  a  disease  which  affected  his  head 
and  preyed  upon  his  spirits,  sometimes  occasioning  a  distressing  mental 
depression.  Yet  nothing  even  damped  his  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
Church.  The  subject  which  now  especially  occupied  his  thoughts,  was  the 
importance  of  a  higher  standard  of  education  for  the  ministry;  and,  having 
associated  with  him  a  few  others  whose  views  and  feelings  on  the  subject 
were  similar  to  his  own,  he  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  forming  the  Baptist 
Education  Society  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  the  immediate  object  of  which 
was  to  support  indigent  young  men  in  their  pi-eparation  for  the  sacred 
office.  Of  this  Society  Mr.  Kendrick  was  chosen  President,  and,  subse- 
quently, was  appointed  an  Agent,  to  visit  the  Churches  and  procure 
funds  in  its  behalf.     The  Society  had  been  constituted  previous  to  the 


CLARK  KENDRICK.  383 

year  1817  ;  and  in  1820  they  were  contemplating  the  establishment  of  a 
school,  when  a  change  of  measures  was  deemed  expedient. 

In  Soptember,  1817,  the  Baptists  of  the  Central  and  Western  Districts 
of  the  State  of  New  York  formed  a  Society  for  a  purpose  f^imilar  to  that 
of  the  one  in  Vermont,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  take  under  their 
patronage  indigent  young  men  who  were  preparing  for  the  ministry. 
These  they  maintained  at  diflfcrent  institutions  until  the  year  1820,  when, 
the  nxxmber  of  their  beneficiaries  having  increased  to  about  twcdve,  they 
opened  a  school  in  Hamilton,  ]\Iadison  County,  trustijig  to  the  liberality 
of  the  denomination  for  its  support  and  enlargement.  While  on  an  agency 
in  New  York,  soliciting  aid  for  his  own  institution,  it  was  proposed  to  him 
to  relinquish  the  idea  of  opening  a  School  in  his  own  State,  and  to  use  his 
influence  to  induce  the  Vermont  Society  to  co-operate  with  the  Society  in 
New  York  for  the  support  of  the  School  already  established  at  Hamilton. 
Mr.  Kendrick  was  favourably  impressed  by  the  proposal,  and,  on  his  return 
to  Vermont,  having  laid  the  matter  before  his  own  Society,  and  secured 
their  concurrence,  the  proposed  combination  was  immediately  effected. 
Mr.  Kendrick  was  now  appointed  General  Agent  of  the  Society  for  the 
State  of  Vermont,  and  he  continued  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 
thus  devolved  upon  him,  until  his  death. 

His  interest  in  the  progress  of  this  Institution  never  faltered  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  secure  to  it  private 
beneficence,  or  to  commend  it  to  public  regard.  In  June,  1823,  nearly 
a  year  before  his  death,  he  visited  Hamilton,  and  attended  the  examina- 
tion of  the  School,  the  exhil)ition  of  the  graduating  class,  and  the  meeting 
of  the  Board.  In  an  Address  to  the  Board,  he  manifested  the  utmost 
confidence  in  the  siiccess  of  the  Institution,  and,  on  his  return,  assembled 
tlie  people  of  his  charge,  and  gave  them  an  animated  account  of  its  con- 
dition and  prospects. 

During  the  winter  preceding  his  death,  his  health  had  been  manifestly 
declining.  The  affection  of  his  head  had  increased,  and  was  attended  by 
a  dizziness,  that  sometimes  almost  incapacitated  him  for  his  public  duties ; 
though  he  continued  to  discharge  them  till  about  three  weeks  before  his 
death.  Even  then,  no  immediate  danger  was  apprehended,  and  his  friends 
allowed  themselves  to  hope  that  the  return  of  spring  might  relieve  and 
invigorate  him.  No  material  change  in  his  symptoms  occurred  until  the 
Wednesday  evening  preceding  his  death,  when  he  was  struck  with  paraly- 
sis. Being  now  aware  that  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand,  he 
called  his  family  around  him,  and  prayed  for  them,  for  himself,  for  the 
Church,  and  the  world  ;  and  closed  by  saying, — "  The  prayers  of  David, 
the  son  of  Jesse,  are  ended."  He  lingered  through  the  Sabbath  follow- 
ing, and  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night  requested  to  be  placed  in  a  chair, — 
which  having  been  done,  his  head  fell  l)ack,  and  without  a  struggle  or  a 
groan  he  expired.  He  died  on  the  29th  of  February,  1824,  in  the  forty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age.  A  Discourse  was  delivered  at  his  Funeral  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Dillaway  of  Granville,  from  the  words  which  closed  his  last 
audible  earthly  supplication, — "The  prayers  of  David,  the  son  of  Jesse, 
are  ended." 


384  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Kciulrick's  publications  were  a  pamphlet  on  Close  Communion, 
entitled  "Plain  dealing  with  the  Pedobaptists,  &c. ;"  A  Sermon  before 
the  Legislature  of  Vermont ;  and  one  or  two  Funeral  Sermons. 

FROM  THE  EEV.  NATHANIEL  COLVER. 

Cincinnati,  July  16,  1857. 

Dear  Sir :  "Will  you  accept  a  brief  reminiscence  of  the  late  Rev.  Clark  Ken- 
drick  of  Vermont,  from  one  who  cherishes  his  memory  with  veneration  and 
love.  Clark  Kendrick  was,  alike  as  a  Man,  a  Christian,  and  a  Minister  of 
Jesus  Christ,  aside  from  and  above  the  common  order.  There  were  features 
of  character  which  strongly  distinguished  him  from  ail  other  men  witli  whom 
I  have  been  acquainted.  His  light  hair  and  light  complexion  gave  him  a 
youthful  appearance;  there  was  a  timid,  delicate  play  of  mirthfulness  about 
his  countenance;  but  through  it  all,  and  over  all,  there  was  ever  a  gentle, 
uncompromising  and  commanding  dignity.  He  seemed  to  possess  a  fund  of 
wit  that  would  ever  and  anon  be  breaking  out,  yet  was  so  controlled  as  never 
to  detract  from  that  gravity  which  adorned  his  ministerial  character.  I  can 
scarcely  better  express  it  than  by  saying  that  in  his  conversation  there  was  a 
gentle  flow  of  wit,  chastened  by  an  unaffected  gravity  and  unassuming  wisdom, 
which  made  him  at  once  among  the  most  companionable  and  dignified  of  all 
the  men  of  w^hom  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  have  personal  knowledge. 

Among  his  ministerial  brethren  he  was  a  delightful  model  of  fraternal  kind- 
ness. Especially  did  liis  young  brethren  feel  that  they  had  in  him  a  father 
and  a  friend.  He  could  and  did  at  times  criticise  their  performances  with 
great  fidelity,  but  at  the  same  time  with  such  a  frank,  redeeming  tenderness, 
that  none  ever  thought  of  taking  offence.  To  a  young  brother  in  tlie  ministry, 
not  over  skilled  in  rhetoric,  he  once  said, — "  My  brother,  God  has  given  you 
a  wonderful  voice.  I  almost  envy  you  a  voice  so  sweet  and  full;  but  you 
sometimes  let  it  break, — and  it  seems  harsh  enough  to  rive  an  oalc  that  has 
stood  for  years  hardening  in  the  sun."  The  young  brother  took  care  not  to 
let  his  voice  break  again. 

He  was  not  less  peculiar  in  his  family.  He  sat  like  a  king,  but  a  benignant 
one.  He  seemed  to  take  for  granted  tliat  his  word  was  law,  and  so  it  was.  I 
do  not  know  that  lie  ever  used  corporeal  punishment,  but  if  he  looked  dis- 
turbed, and  said,  as  none  but  he  could  say  it,  «<  J ,  can't  you  be  clever.'" — 

it  was  enough.  Occasionally  he  would  resort  to  some  eccentric  mode  of 
administering  reproof,  in  order  to  render  it  effectual.  On  one  occasion,  in  a 
liigh  pew  in  the  gallerj''  of  one  of  the  old  fashioned  churches,  some  boys, 
during  the  time  of  worship,  got  to  cracking  and  eating  nuts.  His  keen  eye 
perceived  it,  and  that  one  of  his  own  sons  was  with  them.     He  stopped  and, 

witli  a  countenance  both  grieved  and  vexed,  said:  "D ,  come  and  sit  on 

the   pulpit  stairs  and  eat  j'our  nuts."     D came  and  sat  on  one  of  the 

pulpit  steps;  and  though  more  than  one  of  his  sons  had  a  habit  of  cracking 
nuts,  as  Bunyan  would  say,  I  believe  none  of  them  ever  afterwards  ventured 
to  eat  nuts  in  meeting  time. 

He  had  a  happy  M'ay  of  quoting  old  sayings,  especiall}'  the  Proverbs.  They 
.seemed  in  fact  almost  to  have  been  made  for  his  especial  u.se.  On  one  occasion, 
he  was  desired  to  interfere  in  a  matter  of  personal  difficulty.  He  begged  to  be 
excused,  saying, — "Solomon  says,  'He  that  passeth  by,  and  meddleth  with 
strife  belonging  not  to  him,  is  like  one  that  taketh  a  dog  by  the  ears — if  you 
hold  him  j^ou  must  have  a  tussle  with  him;  and  if  you  let  him  go,  he  is  sure 
to  bite." 

As  a  speaker,  he  was  a  little  heavy  in  manner,  but  this  was  atoned  for  by 
the  richness  of  his  matter,  and  the  never  failing  "point."     His  manner  was 


CLARK  KEiNDRICK. 


6bb 


tjuito  peculiar.  A  disease  in  his  head  (which,  before  his  death,  became  very 
troublesome,  caused  ossiiication,  and  pmbably  shortened  his  life)  led  him  to 
contract  a  certain  habit  of  hcmminp;  and  snulling,  as  if  to  remove  some  obstruc- 
tion from  his  throat.  This  habit,  although  a  little  unpleasant  to  a  stranger, 
became,  to  his  constant  hearers,  inoU'ensivc  and  almost  agreeable.  A  moment 
or  two  of  hesitation  while  removing  the  ajjparent  obstruction,  and  then  there 
would  burst  forth  some  thought  so  rich,  so  striking,  as  more  than  to  comi)ensate 
for  the  waiting,  and  to  cause  all  physical  peculiarities  to  be  wholly  lost  sight 
of.  As  a  sermonizer,  too,  he  was  peculiar.  He  did  not  carry  you  with  a  storm 
of  eloquence,  or  with  an  outburst  of  passion;  but  he  never  failed  to  entertain, 
enchain,  and  instruct.  His  discourses  had  a  natural  order  and  easy  develop- 
ment, illustrating  the  rhetorical  requisition  of  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and  an 
end.  They  abounded  in  common  sense  and  solid  truth,  and  none  who  had 
heard  him  once  failed  to  desire  to  hear  him  again. 

As  a  Counsellor,  he  was  unsurpassed.  1  love  to  remember  him  in  scenes  of 
church  dilliculty,  with  his  intuitive  grasping  and  fatherly  disposal  of  the 
matter.  His  plain  and  faithful  language,  couched  often  in  homely,  but  forci- 
ble, imagery,  was  almost  sure  to  reach  its  aim.     «'  Brother  U ,"  he  would 

say,  "  is  a  little  apt  to  be  putting  his  flukes  into  somebody;  he  needs  to  be 

checked  a  little."     "  Brother  R ,  you  confess  enough,  but  you  keep  taking 

it  all  back;  do  let  it  stay."  And  as  he  said  this  with  a  look  half  playful  and 
half  serious,  and  a  manner  at  once  kind  and  severe.  Brother  B.  and  Brother 
R.  would  own  the  justice  of  the  rebuke,  and  the  one  allow  that  he  needed  to 
be  "  checked  "  and  the  other  permit  his  confession  to  "  stay."  In  short,  his 
counsels  of  severity,  but  of  righteousness,  rarely  failed  of  success.  The 
denomination  throughout  the  State  felt  his  power  as  a  counsellor,  and  mourned 
his  loss,  when  he  fell,  as  that  of  a  leader  in  Israel. 

The  character  of  his  piety  was  modified  by  the  peculiar  structure  of  his 
mind.  Surpassed  by  many  in  passionate  zeal  and  in  flights  of  hoi}'  fervour, 
he  may  have  been;  but  by  none  in  the  childlike  simplicity  and  iidelity  of  his 
faith.  I  know  of  none  of  whom  I  could  say  more  heartily  that  he  was  with- 
out guile.  It  seems  to  me  that  he  never  thought  of  flinching  from  the  truth, 
never  doubted  its  power,  never  relied  for  a  moment  on  anything  but  (Jod  and 
truth  for  success.  In  his  church,  and  with  his  people,  his  words  of  consola- 
tion, counsel  or  reproof,  ever  fell  with  Aveight.  In  illustration  1  could  relate 
many  anecdotes  which  still  linger  in  the  memories  of  those  who  knew  him:  1 
will  mention  but  one.  His  church  had  occasion  to  exclude  for  covetousness  a 
member  who  refused  to  pay  his  church  dues.  A  few  days  after,  the  excluded 
member  met  his  Pastor,  and,  as  in  former  times,  said. — "  How  do  you  do 
Brother  Kendrick.'"  But  Brother  Kendrick  declined  the  recognition,  saying, 
a.";  he  alone  could  say  it, — "  You  need  not  call  mc  brother.  I  belong  to  a 
brotherhood  that  hold  all  for  God  as  his  steward.  You  do  not  belong  to  that 
brotherhood;  you  must  not  call  me  brother."  The  countenance  of  the  man 
fell :  he  went  away  in  grief:  but  at  the  next  covenant  meeting  he  came  to  the 
church,  and  said, — "  Brethren,  I  wish  you  would  take  me  back  and  try  mc; 
when  I  first  joined  the  church  I  made  a  mistake.  I  kept  my  farm  out.  This 
time  I  wish  to  put  in  all  I  have."  He  was  readmitted  into  the  church,  and 
his  Pastor  again  called  him  brother. 

I  love  to  remember  Clark  Kendrick  as  one  belonging  to,  but  in  advance  of, 
the  past  generation  of  ministers.  At  the  time  of  our  acquaintance,  I  was 
just  entering  with  much  fear  and  trembling  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry; 
he  was  in  his  meridian  strength.  I  found  in  him  a  tender  father  and  a  true 
friend,  and  gathered  inspiration  from  his  noble  spirit  and  the  strength  and 
vigour  of  his  thoughts.  He  preached  my  Ordination  Sermon,  and  laid  his 
hands   on   me  al  my  consecration.     Our  acquaintance  was   as   intimate  as  it 

Vol.  VI.  49 


380  BAPTIST. 

well  could  be,  considering  the  disparity  of  our  years.  I  loved  him  with  vene- 
ration, and  his  maxims  yet  remain  with  me.  When  I  remember  his  sunny 
face,  his  mind  well-balanced  and  of  large  proportions,  his  sound  discretion, 
his  loving  heart,  his  dropping  wisdom,  I  long  to  meet  him  in  Heaven.  I  love 
to  think  of  him  among  the  great  and  good  that  have  gone  before  him,  and 
above  all  with  that  Saviour  whom  on  earth  he  served  with  such  distinguished 
ability  and  devotion. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  truly  yours, 

NATHANIEL  GOLVER. 


ASAHEL  MORSE  * 

1799—1838. 

AsAHEL  Morse  was  a  son  of  the  llcv.  Joshua  Morse,  who  was  born  in 
South  Kingston,  R.  I.,  on  tlie  10th  of  April  172G.  He  (tlie  father)  was 
liopefully  converted  under  the  preaching  of  Whitefield,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen. The  next  year  lie  commenced  preaching  as  an  itinerant.  At  length, 
after  preaching  in  several  diiFerent  places  in  Connecticut,  in  which  lie  was 
subjected  to  severe  trials  from  the  intolerance  of  the  times,  he  gathered  a 
Church  in  the  North  parish  of  New  London,  (now  Montville,)  and  was 
ordained  as  its  Pastor  on  the  17th  of  May,  1751.  He  married  Susannah, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Babcock,  of  Westerly,  R.  I.,  with  whom  he  lived  hap- 
pily forty-five  years.  They  had  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  lived  to 
maturity.  The  distress  occasioned  by  the  Revolutionary  War  led  him  to 
remove  from  New  London  to  Sandisfield,  Mass.,  where  he  settled  in  1779  ; 
gathered  a  church  soon  after,  and  lived  to  see  it  number  a  hundred  mem- 
bers. He  died  in  1795,  in  his  seventieth  year  :  his  wife  survived  him  fif- 
teen years,  and  died  in  her  eightieth  year, 

Asahel  Morse  was  born  at  New  London,  (Montville,)  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1771,  and  was  a  little  less  than  eight  years  old  when  his  fiitlier 
removed  to  Sandisfield.  He  evinced  an  early  fondness  for  books,  and  at 
the  age  of  nine  had  made  himself  quite  familiar  with  the  writings  of 
Josephus,  and  was  also  a  diligent  and  constant  reader  of  the  Bil)le.  During 
several  subsequent  years,  he  devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  History 
and  Geography,  and  to  reading  books  of  Travels ;  and  at  nineteen  lie 
taught  a  winter's  school,  and  in  the  spring  following  went  to  a  school  of  a 
higher  order,  in  which  he  studied  Algebra,  and  some  kindred  branches. 
He  had,  at  this  period,  an  irrepressible  desire  to  obtain  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. _ 

He  began  to  be  the  subject  of  serious  impressions  when  he  was  in  his 
tenth  year;  and,  after  alternations  of  anxiety  and  indiflFcrence,  which  were 
protracted  through  nearly  two  years,  he  supposed  that  he  had  cordially 
acquiesced  in  the  terms  of  the  Gospel,  and  was  the  subject  of  true  evan- 
gelical exercises.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  world  began  to 
regain  its  ascendancy  over  lilni,  and  he  gradually  sunk  back  into  a  state  of 

•  Autobiog.  in  Eapt.  Mem.,  1844. — MS.  from  his  son. 


ASAIIEL  MORSE.  387 

liabitual  carelessness.  When  he  was  nineteen,  he  taught  a  school  during 
the  winter  in  StockbriJge,  Mass.  ;  and,  after  he  had  closed  his  schooL 
availed  himself  for  sonic  time  of  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Samuel  Whelpley,  who 
liud  then  a  number  of  }oung  men  under  his  care,  and  who  had  been,  fur  two 
or  three  years,  a  Eapti.st  preacher.  Tliough  he  was  tlien  a  vain  and  trifling 
young  man,  Mr.  Whelpley  often  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, and  was  so  much  impressed  by  his  knowledge  of  Scripture,  and 
liis  ability  in  sustaining  his  own  positions,  that  he  used  to  tell  him  that 
•'  he  wished  he  would  throw  by  his  nonsense  and  go  to  preaching."  He 
subsequently  taught  a  school  in  Canaan,  wlierc  his  mind  was  again  roused 
to  serious  reflection,  though  his  views  and  feelings  were  yet  far  from  being 
established  ;  and,  after  this,  he  became  still  more  unsettled,  by  reading 
Paine's  Age  of  Reason,  and  some  other  works  of  infidel  tendency.  It  was 
not  till  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1798  that  he  was  enabled  finally  to  rest, 
as  he  believed,  on  the  Rock  of  Ages.  There  being  an  unusual  attention  to 
religion  in  the  neighbourhood  in  which  he  lived,  he  was  induced  to  attend 
some  of  the  meetings,  and,  after  a  season  of  great  anxiety  and  terrible 
conflict,  aggravated  not  a  little  by  the  recollection  of  his  having  trifled 
with  his  own  previous  convictions,  he  was  enabled  to  cherish  an  enduring 
hope  in  God's  forgiving  mercy.  He  was  baptized,  on  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1798,  by  the  Rev.  Rufas  Babcock,*  of  Colebrook,  Conn.,  when  he 
was  within  one  day  of  being  twenty-seven  years  old. 

•RuPDS  Babcock  was  born  in  North  Stonington,  Conn.,  April  22,  1758,  (the  eighth  gene- 
ration from  the  progenitor  of  most,  if  not  all,  of  this  name  in  the  United  States, — James  Bab- 
cock, of  Essex,  England,  who,  as  one  of  the  Puritans,  migrated  to  Leyden,  in  Holland,  and 
thence  to  Plymouth,  where  he  anived  in  June,  1623.)  His  father,  Elias  Babcock,  who  belonged 
to  that  division  of  the  Baptists  kno«n  as  Separates,  removed,  during  the  minority  of  his 
youngest  son,  Rufus,  to  North  Canaan,  Conn.,  about  tho  year  1776.  The  latter  was  two  or 
three  times  called  out  as  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  serving  in  Captain  Timothy  Morses  com- 
pany, whose  daughter  he  subsequently  married.  In  17Sn,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Joshua 
Morse,  and  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in  the  adjacent  town  of  Sandisfiekl,  Mass.,  by  which 
church,  some  years  later,  he  was  licensed  to  preach.  He  gathered  a  church  in  Colebrook,  Conn., 
where  he  was  ordained  in  1794, — the  first  minister  of  any  denomination  settled  in  the  township. 
When  he  iirst  went  there  to  visit,  by  request,  a  few  Baptist  families,  the  Congregationalists, 
who  had  a  meeting-house  in  an  unlinished  state,  but  had  no  Pastor,  met,  for  a  while,  with  their 
Baptist  brethren,  and  I\Ir.  Babcock  preached  acceptably  to  the  united  congregations.  Early  in 
1794,  a  small  Baptist  Church  was  regularly  constituted,  and  he  was  ordained,  the  same  day, 
their  Pastor.  Eor  want  of  adequate  accommodations  elsewhere,  the  services  were  conducted  in 
a  large  barn,  though  it  was  in  mid-winter.  He  continued  to  serve  this  Church  as  its  Pastor, 
until  he  was  seventy-three  years  old,  with  good  success;  above  five  hundred  members  haying 
been  added  during  liis  connection  with  it.  The  church  gathered  members  from  several  neigh- 
bouring towns,  where  no  Baptist  organization  then  existed.  In  some  of  these  he  commenced 
regular  preaching  stations,  and  churches  of  the  same  faith  have  since  been  gathered.  His 
labours  were  thus  widely  extended  and  very  arduous.  He  mainly  supported  his  family  by  his 
and  their  hard  earnings  and  careful  savings  on  his  small  farm;  and  was,  moreover,  enabled  to 
educate  his  two  younger  sons  for  the  ministry  at  Brown  University.  Against  the  earnest  pro- 
testations (if  many  of  the  church,  he  insisted  on  their  accepting  his  resignation,  when  he  had 
passed  his  threescore  and  ten  years,  more  tlian  half  of  which  he  had  sjjent  in  their  service. 
He  also  gave  them  a  parsonage,  an<l  continued  to  nurse  the  church  with  fatherly  care  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Without  any  great  advantages  for  early  culture,  without  fluency  of  speech  or 
any  of  the  graces  of  an  orator,  he  hacl  such  native  soundness  and  vigour  of  mind,  coupled  with 
good  sense  and  indefatigable  industry,  that  ho  was  highly  and  deservedly  esteemed,  not  only  in 
his  own  communion,  but  by  intelligent  and  learned  ministers  of  other  denominations.  One  of 
his  .sons  {Cyru'i  Giles)  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  ISIG,  and  licensed  to  preach,  and 
called  to  the  Pastorship  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Bedford,  Mass. ;  but  he  declino<l  the  call  on 
account  of  ill  health,  and  came  home,  to  his  father's,  to  die.  Dr.  Chauncey  Lee,  of  the  (  on- 
gn-gational  Church  in  the  same  town,  preached  his  Funeral  Sermon  in  the  pulpit  of  hi? 
bereaved  brother,  to  their  united  congregations,  in  March,  1817.  Another  son,  bearing  his 
own  name,  was  graduated  in  1821,  and  is  now  the  Rev.  Dr.  Babcock,  well  known  as  one 
of  the  most  prominent  ministers  in  the  Church.  Mr.  Babcock,  the  father,  died  in  November, 
1842. 


388  BAPTIST. 

After  making  a  public  profession  of  religion,  he  began  almost  imme- 
diately to  exiiort,  not  only  in  private  circles  but  in  public  meetings  ; 
and  he  was  really  exercising  his  gifts  in  preaching  almost  before  he  was 
aware  of  it.  He  was  formally  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Sandisfield,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  in  the  spring  of  1799;  and, 
during  that  year,  divided  his  labours  in  preaching  between  Sandisfield  and 
some  other  places.  He  made  repeated  visits  to  Enfield,  Conn.,  where  a 
rich  blessing  seemed  to  attend  his  labours. 

In  the  spring  of  1800,  Mr.  Morse  commenced  preaching  in  Winsted, 
Conn.,  one  half  of  the  time;  and  he  removed  his  family  thither  in  the 
autumn  following.  He  was  ordained  there  in  May,  1801  ;  after  which,  he 
travelled  in  various  parts  of  Connecticut,  preaching  in  almost  every  town 
through  which  he  passed.  He  remained  at  Winsted,  supplying  a  small 
Society  there,  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  for  two  years  and  seven 
months  ;  but,  as  the  Society  was  unable  to  contribute  much  to  his  sup- 
port, he  gave  part  of  his  time,  during  the  last  year,  to  Winchester  and 
Torrington. 

In  the  autumn  of  1802,  the  Baptist  Church  in  Stratfield,  Conn,  invited 
him  to  visit  them  ;  and  this  led  to  a  negotiation  which  resulted  in  his  remo- 
val thither  in  June,  1803.  Here  he  continued  nine  years  and  three  months, 
during  which  time  he  was  in  the  habit  of  preaching  six  times  a  week, 
except  in  the  months  of  July  and  August.  His  salary  here  consisted  of 
two  hundred  dollars  a  year,  besides  many  valuable  presents. 

In  1807,  he  accepted  an  appointment  from  the  Shaftsbury  Baptist  Asso- 
ciation to  take  a  missionary  tour  into  Upper  Canada.  He  left  home  on  the 
15th  of  August,  and  passed  through  the  Genesee  country  to  Niagara.  He 
remained  in  the  Province  a  little  more  than  a  month,  during  which  time 
he  attended  fifty-four  meetings,  preached  fifty-one  sermons,  baptized  four 
persons,  and  gave  fellowship  to  a  church  in  Clinton,  at  the  Thirty  Mile 
Creek.  The  tour  seems  to  have  been  one  of  great  interest  to  him,  though 
attended  by  considerable  exposure  and  hardship. 

In  1810,  Mr.  Morse  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Suffield,  Conn.,  their  Pastor, — the  Rev.  John  Hastings,  being  so 
much  enfeebled  by  age  and  disease  as  to  be  inadequate  to  discharge  any 
longer  the  duties  of  the  place.  This  overture  occasioned  him  great 
embarrassment  and  hesitation;  but  the  result  was  that,  after  two  years,  he 
dissolved  his  relation  with  the  Church  at  Stratfield,  and  took  charge  of  that 
at  Suffield. 

In  1818,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  was  hold  at  Hart- 
ford for  framing  a  Constitution  for  the  State  of  Connecticut.  In  the  object 
of  this  meeting,  he,  with  the  Baptist  denomination  generally,  felt  the  deep- 
est interest.  In  Aprilj_^1820,  he  went  to  Philadcliiliia,  as  a  delegate  from 
the  Connecticut  Baptist  Missionary  Board  to  the  Baptist  General  Conven- 
tion ; — an  occasion  which  brought  him  in  contact  with  many  excellent  min- 
i.sters,  and  supplied  the  material  for  many  grateful  recollections. 

During  his  residence  at  Suffield,  he  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  seve- 
ral churche;^,  particularly  at  Cheshire  and  Pittsfield,  in  Massachusetts,  and 
Springfield,  in  New  York  ;  and  he  had  sometimes  entertained  the  idea  of 
making  a  change  ;  but,   in  1828,  he  came  to  the  resolution,  in  view  of  his 


ASAIIEL  MORSE.  389 

advancing  years,  and  liis  ])lc;isant  rclalions  willi  his  people,  to  remain  at 
Suffield  during  the  rest  of  lii.s  life.  Scarcely,  however,  had  this  resolution 
been  taken,  before  hi.s  congregation  became  the  scene  of  a  violent  commo- 
tion, in  the  issue  of  whicli  lie  resigned  his  jiastoral  charge;  and  the  next 
spring  he  united  with  tiie  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford. 

After  this,  he  preached  in  various  places,  and  was  disposed  to  remove  to 
Ohio,  but  was  prevented  by  not  being  able  to  dispose  of  his  real  estate  in 
Suffield.  He  at  length  engaged  to  supi)ly  a  very  feeble  church  in  Cole- 
brook,  Conn.,  for  one  year,  and  removed  thither  in  October,  1831.  At  the 
close  of  that  engagement,  being  still  unable  to  dispose  of  his  properly  at 
Suffield,  he  consented  to  remain  at  Colebrook  for  an  indefinite  period  ;  and, 
in  the  autumn  of  1832,  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Cliurch 
in  that  town.  Here  he  remained  four  years  ;  but,  during  this  period,  he 
became  conscious  that  he  was  the  subject  of  a  physical  affection,  against 
which  his  energies  could  not  long  hold  out.  A  paralytic  stroke  came  upon 
him,  while  he  was  addressing  his  congregation,  and  so  shattered  his  mind 
that,  though  he  afterwards  partially  regained  his  health,  he  was  never  able 
to  compreliend  the  subject  on  which  he  was  speaking,  notwithstanding  it 
had  previously  been  entirely  familiar  to  him.  He  removed  back  to  Suf- 
field in  the  year  1836,  his  faculties  having  by  this  time  so  far  declined 
that  he  was  incapable  of  performing  any  ministerial  duties.  Here  he 
remained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  10th  of  June,  1838,  in 
the  si.Kty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  About  seven  weeks  previous,  he  had 
been  struck  with  apoplexy  ;  but  he  so  far  recovered  from  this  as  to  be  able 
to  converse  with  his  family  and  friends,  and  to  testify  to  the  all-sustaining 
power  of  the  Gospel  which  he  had  preached. 

Mr.  I\Iorse  was  married  on  the  24th  of  August,  1795,  to  Rachel,  eldest 
daughter  of  Amos  and  Lucy  (Fargo)  Chapel,  of  New  Marlborough,  jMass. 
They  had  eight  children, — all  sons. 


FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

Pateeson,  N.  J.,  25th  March,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  late  Rev.  Asahel  Morse  began  in 
my  early  childhood.  My  father's  house,  in  North  Colebrook,  Conn.,  was  the 
welcome  home  of  his  brother  ministers  of  different  denominations,  several  of 
whom  you  have  embalmed  in  your  volumes  already  published.  Dr.  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  Dr.  Chauncey  Lee  were  successively  Pastors  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  the  same  town;  and  they,  learned  and  noble  men  as  they 
were,  fully  appreciated  the  strong  and  manly  good  scn.se  and  ardent  dovotcd- 
ness  to  the  cause  of  Christ  of  their  less  erudite  Baptist  brother,  and  visited 
him  a.s  frcfiuently,  and  co-operated  with  him  as  cordially,  as  with  those  of 
their  own  communion.  Beneath  his  humble  roof  Avere  often  gathered  tiic  wise 
and  good  of  that  early  daj^;  and  my  recollection,  reaching  back  almost  to  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  brings  up  a  long  array  of  departed  worthies,  who, 
in  their  journeyings  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  perform  other  ecclesiastical 
.services,  found  it  convenient  to  turn  in  for  a  night  and  share  the  hospitalities 
of  the  Pastor  of  North  Colebrook.  The  personal  appearance  of  such  men  as 
Daniel  Wildman,  John  Hastings,  and  many  others  of  Connecticut,  ami  an 
equal  number  from  Rhode  Island,  Massachu-setts,  and  New  York,  is  indelibly 
impressed  on  my  memory.     Among  them  came  the  good  Mr.  Morse.     I  can- 


390  BAPTIST. 

not  remember  when  I  first  saw  him:  his  form,  his  smile,  his  voice  were  fami- 
liar to  me  from  my  earliest  years.  Some  of  these  visiters  seemed  to  belong 
only  to  my  father,  and  talked  with  him  almost  exclusively.  Others  gave  their 
attention  to  the  adults  of  the  family  generally;  but  Mr.  Morse  belonged  to  us 
children  just  as  much  as  to  any  of  the  rest.  We  felt  that  we  could  claim  our 
share  of  him,  and  that  claim  was  never  repudiated.  lie  talked  with  us  about 
our  school  studies,  and  thus  enhanced  our  interest  in  them;  about  our  general 
reading,  and  was  always  leading  us  on  to  something  higher  and  better;  and 
he  could  enter  into  the  spirit  of  our  work  and  our  sports,  and  seemed  to  be 
hearty  in  it  all.  In  all  this  condescension  there  was  nothing  to  impair  in  the 
least  his  dignity  as  a  Christian  minister.  He  was  just  about  the  last  of  my 
father's  guests  that  rude  and  roguish  boys  would  have  thought  of  treating 
with  indecorum  or  undue  familiarity. 

The  music  of  his  powerful  voice  is  the  first  thing  I  remember  concerning 
him  in  the  pulpit.  His  robust  frame,  his  erect  position,  the  perfect  self-pos- 
session with  which,  without  a  scrap  of  manuscript,  he  would  pour  forth  his 
well  matured  and  weighty  thoughts  by  the  hour,  and  the  somewhat  wider 
range  of  thought  and  illustration  which  he  indulged  in  than  we  were  accus- 
tomed to  hear  from  others,  next  impressed  themselves  upon  my  memory.  Near 
the  close  of  a  precious  revival,  in  the  end  of  the  autumn  of  1815,  he  exchanged 
with  my  father,  and  spent  a  week  or  more,  visiting  from  one  neighbourhood 
to  another,  and  preaching  day  and  night.  On  the  Sabbath,  he  administered 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  I  was  myself  one  of  the  candidates,  and  it 
is  no  marvel  that  I  can  never  forget  the  circumstances.  The  day  proved 
stormy — the  cold  sleet  was  falling  fast  as  we  gathered  on  the  banks  of  the 
stream,  raised  our  voices  in  a  brief  song  of  praise,  and  he  bared  that  broad 
brow  of  his,  and  looked  up  to  God  in  prayer.  It  seemed  as  if  we  almost  saw 
the  Heavens  again  opened,  and  witnessed  another  dove-like  descent  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Taking  the  first  candidate  by  the  hand,  with  a  generous  assur- 
ing smile,  he  repeated  the  familiar  lines  of  a  hymn  written  by  his  much  loved 
friend,  John  Leland : 

"  Brethren,  if  your  hearts  be  warm, 
"  Ice  and  snow  can  do  no  harm ; 
"  If  the  Saviour  you  have  prized, 
"  Believe,  arise,  and  be  baptized." 

His  manner  of  administering  the  oidinance  was  at  once  inimitably  simple, 
solemn  and  tender.  It  gave  the  impression  of  one  utterly  forgetful  of  self, 
and  absorbed  in  the  purpose  of  honouring  his  beloved  and  gracious  Saviour. 
The  outlines  of  his  sermons  on  that  day  I  could  readily  reproduce  from 
memory,  after  an  interval  of  nearly  fortj^-three  years.  But  I  will  only  say 
that  they  were  characteristic  of  the  man  and  the  times,  developing  much  of 
Ciospcl  truth  and  practical  duty  from  some  parts  of  the  Levitical  dispensa- 
tion,— its  furniture,  even  the  carvings  and  ornaments  of  the  tabernacle, — 
which,  to  common  readers,  would  convey  no  such  meaning.  In  this  respect 
he  followed  Dr.  John  Gill,  who,  in  Rabbinical  lore,  has  had  few,  if  any,  supe- 
riors. The  doctrinal  .system  of  this  profound  and  learned,  but  somewhat 
ultra,  Calvinist,  was,  I  believe,  substantially  adopted  by  Mr.  Morse;  but 
Owen,  Booth,  Fuller,  and  McEwen  were  also  among  his  favourite  authors, 
and  probably  each  of  them  may  have  had  something  to  do  in  modifying  his 
views. 

After  I  was  licensed  to  preach,  he  once  or  twice  heard  me,  and  I  well 
remember  a  correction  he  suggested  on  some  point  of  Theology,  where  he 
thought  I  might  improve.  Some  young  ministers  regarded  him  as  unduly 
severe,  but  nothing  could  be  more  genial  and  considerate  than  his  manner 
towards  me. 


ASAIIEL  MORSE.  392 

One  who  knew  him  better  than  I  did,  and  in  who.se  judgment  and  recollec- 
tion I  have  entire  confidence,  writes  thus  concerning  him: — "  His  characteris- 
tics were  varied.  Blunt  and  outspoken,  never  calculating  with  a  conservative 
foresight,  which  a  prudent  regard  for  the  feelings  of  others  might  demand,  he 
ever  fearlessly  upheld  what  he  believed  to  be  truth,  whether  men  would  hear 
or  forbear.  Scarcely  could  he  be  regarded  dogmatic,  and  still  less  disposed 
to  maintain  a  point  for  the  sake  of  argument.  Truth  with  him  admitted  of  no 
compromises — hence  he  might  always  have  been  regarded  as  a  radical  man. 
Warm  in  his  attachments,  he  loved  both  to  exercise  hospitality  and  to  receive 
it.  Religion  with  him  was  a  matter  of  deep-seated  principle,  and  he  had  no 
sympathy  with  spasmodic  piety.  Ilis  temperament  must  have  been  of  a  san- 
guine character  in  early  life,  though  in  later  years  it  assumed  a  lymphatic 
type.  Ilis  physical  courage  was  remarkable.  If  requisite,  he  would  have 
sufTcred  amputation  or  the  rack  Avithout  exhibiting  a  sign  of  pain;  yet  hia 
eyes  would  moisten  in  his  pulpit  ministrations,  especially  in  prayer. 

"Always  happy  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  he  lived  his  boyhood  over 
again  in  the  favourite  sports  of  his  children.  Every  where  he  was  a  favourite 
with  the  young.  Until  his  sixtieth  year  his  vigour  was  unimpaired,  and  he 
would  mount  his  horse,  heavy  as  he  was,  with  the  ease  of  a  boy.  He  was 
in  a  small  way  a  practical  farmer,  and  rather  prided  himself  on  being  a 
superior  mower." 

Mr.  Morse  was  a  self  made,  but  a  well  made,  man.  His  acquisitions  in 
some  departments  were  both  extensive  and  accurate.  The  study  of  History, 
ancient  and  modern,  sacred  and  civil,  was  ever  his  delight;  and  his  iron 
memory  preserved  and  reproduced  his  acquisitions  at  pleasure.  The  same 
reliance  on  memory  enabled  him  to  dispense  with  notes  in  preaching.  Hi.«! 
sermons,  as  to  the  subject  matter,  and  even  the  illustrations  he  intended  to 
employ,  were  faithfully  studied  beforehand;  but  he  could  safely  trust  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment  for  the  fitting  language.  His,  therefore,  was  not., 
so  far  as  the  words  Avere  concerned,  memoriter  preaching.  It  was  eminently 
instructive  and  suggestive  also.  He  rarely  exhausted  any  topic,  but  said  just 
enough  to  excite  the  minds  of  his  hearers  to  further  and  independent  reflection. 

Like  his  eccentric  and  highly  gifted  friend,  John  Leland,  he  took  a  deep 
interest  in  the  politics  of  the  day,  though  he  never  degraded  the  ministry  by 
mingling  in  partisan  conflicts.  No  wonder  that  he  and  most  of  the  Baptist 
ministers  of  that  period  were  opposed  to  the  party  called  Federalists,  from 
the  apprehension  they  entertained  that  their  iniluence  would  perpetuate  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  so  oppressive  to  all  who  were  not  of  the  "  Stand- 
ing "  or  established  "  Order."  This  will  account  for  his  action  in  the  Con- 
vention for  forming  a  Constitution  in  Connecticut,  abolishing  these  odious 
religious  distinctions.  He  also  regretted  the  agitations  on  Antimasonry,  con- 
sidering them  uncalled  for  and  profitless. 

His  home  life  was  quiet  and  agreeable.  He  was  habitually  an  early  riser, 
and  loved  invigorating  exercise  before  breakfast.  The  press  was  not  then  as 
prolific  as  it  is  now;  but  whatever  new  and  good  books,  suited  to  his  tastes 
and  his  object,  came  in  his  way,  he  read  immediately,  without  regard  to  sys- 
tem. But  his  recollections  of  what  he  had  thus  made  his  own  were  so  sys- 
tematized, mentally,  as  to  be  always  at  his  command.  Certain  devotional 
volumes,  as  Buck's  Treatise  on  Religious  Experience,  Booth's  Reign  ol  drace, 
Bunyan's  Allegorical  Works,  Cowper's,  Hart's  and  Newton's  Hymns,  he 
greatly  delighted  in.  He  was  quite  fond  of  music,  vocal  and  histrumcntal. 
Old  Hundred  and  China  were  among  his  favourite  Church  tunes. 

The  malady  which  carried  him  to  the  grave,  impaired  all  his  faculties, 
mental  and  physical,  several  years  before  his  decease;  but  those  who.sc  recol- 
lections of  him  reach  back  to  his  prime,  very  uniformly  speak  of  him  as  not 


392 


BAPTIST. 


only  impressive  but  often  truly  eloquent  in  the  pulpit.  Feeling  the  power  of 
his  subject,  he  would  make  those  who  listened  to  him  feel  it  too.  Of  the 
purity  of  his  life  and  the  unaffected  goodness  of  his  heart,  no  one  who  knew 
him  could  entertain  a  doubt.  His  name  is  fairly  entitled  to  a  place  among 
the  most  excellent  and  influential  ministers  of  that  portion  of  the  Church  to 
which  he  belonged.  Yours  fraternally, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


ELISHA  SCOTT  WILLIAMS.^ 

1799—1845. 

Elisha  Scott  Williams,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Eliphalet  Williams,  D.  D., 
was  born  in  East  Hartford,  Conn.,  October  7,  1757.  His  father  was,  for 
many  years,  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  that  place ;  and  his 
<Trandfather,  the  Rev.  Solomon  Williams,  of  Lebanon,  was  among  the  most 
eminent  Congregational  ministers  of  New  England.  He  was  graduated  at 
Yale  College  in  1775,  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen.  Possessing  naturally 
a  somewhat  adventurous  spirit,  and  being  deeply  imbued  with  the  love  of 
Lis  country,  he  entered  the  army  in  1776,  as  Adjutant  of  a  regiment  of 
young  men  from  his  native  State,  many  of  whom  were  from  within  the 
range  of  his  own  acquaintance.  He  crossed  the  Delaware  with  Washing- 
ton, and  was  in  the  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton.  Having  acquitted 
himself  with  much  honour  on  the  land,  he  went  on  board  the  privateer 
Hancock,  of  twenty-eight  guns,  in  which,  after  some  weeks'  cruise,  they 
encountered,  somewhere  on  the  coast  of  Bermuda,  the  British  frigate 
Levant,  of  thirty  guns,  and,  after  a  most  desperate  engagement,  the  latter 
blew  up.  In  this  action,  Captain  Hardy,  the  brave  commander  of  the 
Hancock,  was  shot  down  by  Mr.  Williams'  side.  After  this,  he  returned 
to  his  father's  house  in  East  Hartford  ;  but  in  1780  he  went  to  live  in 
Stockbridge,  Mass.,  where  he  was  engaged  in  some  kind  of  business  for 
about  ten  years.  The  same  year  he  was  married  to  Abigail  Livermore  of 
Waltham,  Mass. 

In  the  year  1790,  he  removed  to  the  District  of  Maine,  and  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  then  newly  settled  town  of  Livermore,  where  his  father- 
in-law,  from  whom  the  town  was  named,  then  lived.  Here  he  was  employed 
as  a  schoolmaster,  and  also  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace.  It  was 
here  too  that  his  mind  underwent  a  great,  and  as  he  believed,  ra'lical, 
change  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Hitherto  he  had  felt  no  sympathy  with 
the  system  of  Christian  doctrine  to  which  he  had  been  educated,  which 
recognizes  the  merits  of  ^hrist  as  the  only  foundation  of  the  sinner's  hope. 
On  a  certain  evening,  he  was  led,  from  curiosity,  to  attend  tlie  preaching 
of  a  Baptist  minister  by  the  name  of  Smith,!  in   an  adjacent    town  ;   and 

•  Bapt.  Mem.  1845. — MS.  from  his  family. 

t  EnPHALKT  Smith  laboured  as  an  Evangelist  in  Fayette  and  its  vicinity  as  early  ns  1790, 
and  was  Pastor  of  that  Church  from  1792  to  1798;  and  united  with  the  Kev.  Oliver  Billings  in 
sujiplying  it  several  years  afterwards. 

Mr.  Billings,  above  referred  to,  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist  in  1800,  and  was  the  acting 
Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Fayette  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  Senior  Pastor  till  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  Slat  of  July,  1842. 


ELISIIA  SCOTT  WILLIAMS.  393 

the  discourse,  being  of  a  very  searching  and  pungent  character,  only 
sui)i)liod  Mr.  Williams  with  fresh  grounds  for  cavil  and  oppo.sition.  He 
was,  however,  drawn  irresistibly  to  hear  the  same  preacher  the  next 
evening,  wiicn  he  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  extreme  agitation  and  anguish 
of  .spirit,  under  a  conviction  of  his  own  sinfulness,  from  which  he  quickly 
passed,  as  he  believed,  to  a  state  of  reconciliation  with  God  through  the 
death  of  his  Son.  His  views  of  the  glory  of  Christ  in  the  work  of 
redemption  were  such  as  to  fill  him  with  surprise  and  rapture. 

As  he  received  his  first  religious  impressions  in  connection  with  the 
preaching  of  a  Baptist  minister,  he  seems  at  once  to  have  embraced  the 
peculiar  views  of  that  denomination,  and  to  have  been  identified  with  them 
from  that  period  to  the  close  of  his  life.  His  friends  began  almost  imme- 
diately to  urge  him  to  enter  the  ministry ;  but,  for  some  time,  he  resisted 
their  importunity.  He,  however,  consented  to  aid  them  in  their  more 
private  religious  meetings ;  and  in  this  way  his  gifts  were  gradually  devel- 
oped, so  that,  after  a  few  months,  he  consented  to  preach  in  public.  His 
very  first  cfi'ort  proved  instrumental  of  the  conversion  of  an  individual,  who 
became  an  eminently  devoted  and  useful  Christian.  This  greatly  encour- 
aged him  to  persevere.  He  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Bowdoinham  Association,  in  August,  1799,  and  shortly  after  com- 
menced preaching,  half  of  the  time  in  Brunswick,  and  the  other  half  in 
Topsham.  In  ISOO,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Brunswick, 
and  continued  in  this  relation  about  three  years.  During  the  whole  period 
of  his  residence  in  Maine  after  he  commenced  preaching,  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  planting  and  cherishing  churches  of  his  own  denomination. 

In  the  summer  of  1803,  he  received  a  call  from  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  Beverly  to  become  their  Pastor.  This  call  he  accepted  ;  and  the  first 
sermon  he  preached  there  was  from  Acts  x.  29 — "Therefore  came  I  unto 
you  without  gainsaying,  as  soon  as  I  was  sent  for.  I  ask,  therefore,  for 
what  intent  ye  have  sent  for  me."  He  remained  Pastor  of  this  church 
until  the  autumn  of  1812.  During  his  ministry  here,  there  were  two  revi- 
vals of  religion,  which  resulted  in  an  addition  to  the  church  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  members. 

In  1812,  having  been,  by  his  own  request,  dismissed  from  his  charge, 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Boston,  and  acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  Minister 
at  Large  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  Here  he  became  intimately  associated 
with  Dr.  Baldwin,  and  other  prominent  clergymen,  and  rendered  important 
aid  in  forming  new  churches,  and  assisting  feeble  ones,  in  Boston  and  its 
vicinity.  Not  only  his  active  services,  but  his  pecuniary  means,  were  liber- 
ally expended  in  thus  doing  good. 

After  having  been  thus  engaged  in  Boston  for  some  twenty-five  years, 
he  returned,  about  the  year  1837,  to  Beverly,  to  pass  the  evening  of  his 
days  in  the  scene  of  his  former  labours.  During  the  last  year  of  his  life, 
he  suffered  much  from  a  disease  incident  to  old  age,  and  which,  at  last,  wore 
out  his  life.  He  died  on  the  3d  of  February,  1845,  in  the  eighty-eighth 
year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Williams'  first  wife  died  in  Boston  in  July,  1817.  By  this  mar- 
riage he  had  eleven  children, — three  sons  and  eight  daughters.  He 
n)arricd,  about  the  year  1821,  for  a  second  wife,  Rebecca  Bridge,  of  Bos- 

Vor..  YI.  50 


394  BAPTIST. 

ton,  who  died  in  Beverly,  in  March,  1842,  aged  seventy-six.     There  were 
no  children  by  the  second  marriage. 

Mr.  Williams'  publications  are  a  Serious  and  Familiar  Dialogue  concern- 
ing the  Divine  Ordinance  of  Baptism,  by  a  Friend  of  Truth  ;  and  a 
Sermon  in  the  Baptist  Preacher. 

FROM  THE   REV.  IRAH  CHASE,  D.  D. 

Boston,  April  10,  1858. 

Dear  Sir:  My  opportunities  of  knowing  the  Rev.  Elisha  Scott  Williams 
were  limited  almost  exclusively  to  meeting  with  him  a  few  times  on  public 
occasions,  and  to  incidental  remarks  from  those  to  whom  he   was  well  known. 

In  personal  appearance  he  was  above  the  ordinary  size, — tall,  erect  and 
well  proportioned.  His  eyes  were  blue,  and  his  countenance  was  somewhat 
florid.  His  whole  aspect  and  demeanour  made  the  impression  that  he  firmly 
believed  what  he  professed,  and  that  he  was  habitually  mindful  of  his  high 
and  holy  calling.  Not  only  in  the  pulpit,  but  out  of  it  also,  he  was  "  simple, 
grave,  sincere."  His  manners  were  those  of  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school. 
If,  in  trying  circumstances,  he  sometimes  uttered  a  harsh  or  unkind  word, 
he,  with  frankness,  expressed  his  regret,  and  promptly  made  all  needed  repa- 
ration. His  theological  reading  and  the  structure  and  habits  of  his  mind  led 
him  rather  to  the  cool  and  didactic  manner,  than  to  the  glowing  and  impres- 
sive, in  the  ministrations  of  the  pulpit.  And  yet  there  was  ample  evidence 
that  his  heart  sympathized  with  deep  religious  feeling.  He  loved  to  trace  and 
exhibit  the  experience  of  Christians.  And  he  set  a  high  value  on  a  Pastor's 
free  and  familiar  intercourse,  especially  with  the  more  devout  and  lowly  mem- 
bers of  his  flock,  as  contributing  to  his  own  spirituality,  and  to  his  ministerial 
usefulness. 

Yours,  dear  Sir,  with  much  esteem, 

and  with  best  wishes, 

IRAH  CHASE. 


BENJAMIN  TITCOMB. 

1799—1848. 

FROM  THE  REV.  THOMAS  B.  RIPLEY. 

Portland,  October  2,  1857. 

My  dear  Sir:  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  have  gathered  all  the 
more  important  facts  in  connection  with  the  life  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Titcomb,  within  my  reach,  and  herewith  embody  them  in  a  narrative  which 
I  hope  may  suit  your  purpose.  The  material  has  been  drawn  from  the 
most  authentic  sources.  _ 

Benjamin  Titcomb  was  born  in  Falmouth,  now  Portland,  Me.,  in 
July,  1761.  Of  the  particulars  of  his  early  life,  and  especially  of  the 
time  and  circumstances  of  his  conversion,  I  am  not  informed.  But  it  is 
ascertained  that  both  himself  and  his  wife  were,  for  some  time,  members 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Portland,  and  that  they  left  that 
Church  in  consequence  of  a  change  in  their  views  of  religious  truth,  and 
associated   themselves  with   others,  who,    about  the   same    time,   (early  in 


BENJAMIN  TITCOMB.  395 

179C,)  had  hopefully  embraced  Cluisti:uii(3'  in  its  life  and  power.  These 
individuals,  from  an  examination  of  tlie  Scriptures  and  other  religious 
books,  had  been  brought  to  conclusions  respecting  Christian  truth  iind 
duty,  wliicli  resulted  in  their  separating  themselves  from  the  Ecclesiastical 
Societies  tlieii  existing  in  Portland. 

To  this  little  company  Benjamin  Titcomb  opened  his  doors,  and  their 
meetings  were  held  for  some  time  under  his  roof.  For  the  first  three 
months,  not  more  than  five  or  six  constantly  attended.  The  meetings, 
which  were  conducted  by  prayer  and  praise  to  God,  and  the  reading  of 
sermons,  began,  after  a  while,  to  grow  formal — the  result,  it  was  thought, 
on  inquiry,  of  thus  reading  printed  discourses.  The  practice  was,  there- 
fore, laid  aside,  and,  instead  of  it,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  was  intro- 
duced;  and  this  was  followed  almost  immediately  by  a  revival  of  religious 
feeling.  Tiie  number  of  attendants  began  now  to  increase,  and  soon  the 
place  of  meeting  was  crowded.  During  this  time,  Mr.  Titcomb  was  accus- 
tomed to  address  the  people  thus  convened  at  his  house,  offering  generally 
expository  remarks  upon  the  Scriptures.  This  was  the  commencement  of 
his  ministerial  course. 

In  1797,  a  school-house  was  hired  for  the  place  of  meeting.  Previously, 
however,  to  that,  Mr.  Titcomb  had  been  baptized  in  North  Yarmouth,  by 
Dr.  Thomas  Green,*  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  place.  Several 
others  began  now  to  think  very  seriously,  and  with  deep  interest,  on  the 
subject  of  Christian  Baptism.  "  What  does  the  Bible  teach  on  this  sub- 
ject ?"  was,  I  suppose,  their  inquiry.  Ministers,  residing  at  some  distance, 
commenced  visiting  them  ;  and,  within  the  space  of  about  a  year  and  a 
half,  eight  or  nine  persons  were  baptized  on  a  profession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ,  and  stood  ready  to  be  constituted  a  distinct  church. 

Mr.  Titcomb  received  the  approbation  of  the  Church  in  North  Yarmouth, 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  the  ministr}'.  He 
was  ordained  in  that  town,  in  1801,  at  the  Anniversary  of  the  Bowdoinham 
Association.  Some  may  read  with  interest  the  names  of  the  ministers  who 
took  part  in  the  services — The  llev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  led  in  the 
Introductory  Prayer.  The  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Pastor  of  the 
Church.  In  the  Prayer,  accompanied  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery,  the  llev.  Mr.  Stinson,t  of  "West  Bowdoin,  officiated.  The 
Rev.  Elisha  Williams,  of  Brunswick,  gave  the  Charge  ;  the  llev.  John 
Tripp,  of  Hebron,  presented  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellowship  ;  and  the  Rev, 
Robert  Low,1:  of  New  Gloucester,  led  in  the  Concluding  Prayer. 

In  January,  1801,  the  brethren  in  Portland  hired  a  large  upper  room  in 
a  brick  store   for    their    place  of  worship.      In  March  following,  those  who 

•  Dn.  Thomas  Gn rem  was  first  a  physician,  but  gubscqnently  became  a  minister,  and  was 
ordained  Pastor  ot'  tlie  Church  in  North  Yarmouth  in  January,  1797,  where  be  continued,  useful 
and  beloved,  until  iiis  death,  which  occurred  on  the  2!ith  of  Alay,  1814. 

t  William  Stinsov  was  ordained  at  Bowdoin,  (Litchfield)  "in  June,  1702,  as  Pastor  of  the 
■church  in  that  phiee,  having  previously  been  one  of  its  members.  His  connection  with  that 
church  continued  till  1822. 

i  RoDKRT  Low  was  onlained  P.ostor  of  the  Church  in  New  Gloucester  in  ISOfl,  and  officiated 
in  that  churcli  from  18(10  to  1807,  and  from  1815  to  1820.  He  also  discharged  the  duties  of 
Pastor  in  P.eadficid  from  1807  to  1815,  and  from  18:52  to  M^PA.  After  supplying  the  Wayne 
Church,  and  others  destitute  of  a  stated  ministry,  from  1820,  he  became  I'astor  of  Livermore 
(third)  in  1S24.  and  remained  there  till  1832.  From  1834,  ho  was  nearly  laid  by  on  account 
of  the  infirmities  of  ago. 


396 


BAPTIST. 


had  been  baptized,  adopted  certain  Articles  of  Faith,  expressive  of  their 
views,  and  agreed  to  unite  in  Church  rehition.  At  their  request,  a  Council 
from  the  neighbouring  churches  convened  ;  who,  having  obtained  sati  factory 
evidence  of  the  mutual  fellowship  of  these  individuals,  and  having  examined 
their  Covenant  and  Articles  of  Belief,  proceeded  to  constitute  them  a 
regular  Church  of  Christ.  Of  this  little  flock  Mr.  Titconib  became  the 
Pastor  in  September,  1801.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Baptist  Church 
iu  Portland. 

Mr.  Titcomb  continued  his  labours  with  this  church  until  1804.  In 
September  of  that  year,  he  was  dismissed  to  join  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Brunswick,  Me.,  of  which  he  then  became  Pastor,  and  continued  such  till 
1827. 

In  regard  to  this  long  period,  I  am  not  able  to  present  any  very  definite 
statements,  except  in  relation  to  an  interesting  revival  which  occurred  in 
Brunswick,  in  1816.  That  was  a  gloomy  year  to  the  farmers  of  New 
England.  In  Maine,  I  well  remember,  frosts  came  every  month,  and  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  were  cut  off.  How  dreary  and  strange  an  aspect  did 
the  fields  present !  The  standing  corn  was  black  with  frost,  even  in 
August.  13ut  the  garden  of  the  Lord  flourished — the  dews  and  the  sunshine 
of  Heaven  were  upon  it.  Revivals  extensively  prevailed.  Multitudes 
were  gathered  into  the  fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  Brunswick  shared 
largely  in  the  Heavenly  visitation.  And  here  occurred  a  memorable  scene, 
on  Monday  morning,  July  22d.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  had  spent  the 
preceding  day  in  Bath,  and  on  his  way  to  Yarmouth  and  Porthuul,  where 
he  was  expected  to  take  part  in  the  services  of  two  ordinations,  he  preached 
by  appointment  in  Brunswick,  in  a  hall  frequently  opened  for  religious 
meetings.  Many  individuals  were  deeply  impressed  by  the  truth,  and 
awakened  to  anxious  inquiry.  Mr.  Titcomb  estimated  that  the  number 
was  more  than  fifty.  No  impassioned  oratory  wrought  this  wonderful 
result.  It  was  not  "  the  wind,  great  and  strong,"  nor  "  the  earthquake," 
nor  "the  fire;"  but  "the  still  small  voice  "  was  there.  The  preacher's 
manner  was  ordinarily,  and  I  suppose  also  on  that  occasion,  rather  calm 
than  vehement.  He  spoke  the  truth  in  love,  seriously  and  earnestly,  and 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  attended  it.  The  revival  went  on.  Among 
the  number  of  those  who  obeyed  the  Gospel,  was  Mr.  Titcomb's  son  Ben- 
jamin, who  afterwards  entered  the  ministry,  but  finished  his  course  long 
before  his  father.* 

•Benjamin  Titcomb,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Standish,  Me.,  December  4,  1787.  lie  was  fitted 
for  College  at  rhillips'  Academy,  Exeter,  and  was  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College  in  180').  He 
commenced  tbc  study  of  the  Law  with  .Judge  iMellcn  of  Portland,  but  abandoned  it  after  two 
years,  and  for  scveriil  succeeding  years  lived  in  Brunswick,  and  was  occupied  chielly  in  the 
indulgence  of  his  literary  tnstcs.  In  181(i,  during  a  revival  in  Brunswick,  he  became,  hoiie- 
fullyj^a  subject  of  renewing  grace.  In  April,  1817,  he  conimeneed  preaching,  and  soon  after 
accepted  an  invitation  to  labour  jyith  the  Baptist  Church  at  Freeport,  Me.  In  September, 
1821,  he  aecejited  a  similar  iuvitalion  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Charlestown,  Muss.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1822,  be  returned  to  Brunswick  to  receive  ordinaticm  as  an  E\"ungelist ;  but  scarcely  had 
he  resumed  bis  labours  at  Ciiarlestown  before  his  prospects  of  usefulness  were  clouded  by  the 
failure  of  his  health.  In  the  summer  following,  he  took  leave  of  his  people,  and  went  again 
to  Brunswick  to  live  with  his  father.  But  his  apprehensions  in  regard  to  a  speedy  dciith  were 
not  realized.  He  continued,  for  several  years,  preaching  occasionally  in  various  places,  and 
especially  in  Freeport,  the  scene  of  his  early  labours.  In  1824  and  182.'J,  ho  edited  the  Maine 
Baptist  ilerald,  a  weekly  religious  newspaper  published  iu  Brunswick.  In  November,  1828,  ho 
was  attacked  with  a  lung  fever,  which  run  into  a  pulmonary  consumy)tion,  that,  in  about  four 
months,  terminated  his  life.  He  died,  in  the  tranquillity  of  a  joyful  hope,  on  the  29th  of  March, 
1829. 


BENJAMIN   TITCOMB.  397 

Respet'tiiig  tlii.s  revival — ]Mr.- Titconib,  in  a  letter  dated  April  17, 
1817, — addressed,  I  suppose,  to  Dr.  Baldwin, — states  that  the  whole 
number  added  to  the  church  by  Baptism,  since  October,  1815,  was  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two.  He  adds  that  the  revival  was  preceded  by  an  uncom- 
mon attention  to  meetings,  which,  for  more  than  twelve  months  before,  had 
been  held  in  all  parts  of  the  town.  The  church  likewise  was  much  stirred 
up  to  prayer  and  supplication.  Days  were  especially  set  apart  for  fasting 
and  prayer,  and  were  attended  with  an  unusual  blessing.  The  ordinance 
of  Baptism  was  of  remarkable  religious  benefit  to  those  who  witnessed  it, 
as  were  also  the  exhortations  of  converts.  Persons  of  all  ages,  from 
eighty  years  down  to  nine,  shared  in  the  blessing. 

To  this  church  Mr.  Titcomb  sustained  the  pastoral  relation  about  twenty- 
two  years.  In  1829,  a  new  church  was  formed  in  Brunswick,  called  the 
Village  Church,  of  which  the  same  year  he  became  Pastor,  and  so  con- 
tinued, until  183G,  at  which  time  his  pastorate  ceased;  and  thenceforward 
till  his  death,  which  occurred,  September  30,  1848,  his  pulpit  labours  were 
occasional  only,  and,  I  believe,  ceased  entirely,  some  years  before  his 
decease. 

Of  his  wife,  who  long  shared  with  him  the  anxieties  and  cares  of  min- 
isterial life,  it  is  fitting  that  some  mention  should  be  made.  She  was  born 
in  Saco,  Me.,  May  22,  17G8,  and  was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Fair- 
field,* of  that  town.  She  was  married  to  Mr.  Titcomb  in  1786  ;  and,  from 
that  time  till  her  death,  July  24,  1838,  a  period  of  fifty-two  years,  they 
were  fellow-helpers  on  the  journey  of  life.  She  v.-as  of  the  number  of 
those  who  were  organized  as  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Portland,  just 
thirty-seven  years  before  her  death. 

In  his  latter  years,  Mr.  Titcomb  was  wont  to  speak  of  death  with  a 
smile.  A  Christian  friend,  who  had  called  at  his  house, — looking  at  the 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Titcomb,  inquired, — "  Is  she  living  ?"  "  Oh,  no,"  replied 
the  aged  man,  "  she  has  gone  home  long  ago;"  and,  with  a  smile,  added, — 
"  My  Master  will  send  for  me  soon,  and  I  am  all  ready."  His  death 
seemed  no  less  pleasant  than  his  anticipations  of  it  had  been.  He 
appeared  perfectly  sensible  in  the  last  conflict,  and  said, — "  This  is  death — 
I  shall  soon  be  discharged."  He  survived  almost  all  his  early  contem- 
poraries,  and  reached  the  great  age  of  eighty  seven. 

Mr.  Titcomb  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children, — six  sons  and  seven 
daughters,  nine  of  whom  survived  him. 

For  the  substance  of  what  I  am  about  to  state  in  respect  to  IMr.  Tit- 
comb's  personal  appearance  and  habits,  I  am  indebted  chiefly  to  two  of  his 
surviving  daughters. 

His  person  was  rather  above  the  ordinary  height  of  men.  In  his  coun. 
tcnance  there  were  peculiar  and  striking  lineaments  which,  once  setMi, 
would  not  soon  be  forgotten.  His  hair,  which  inclined  to  curl,  was  of  a 
chestnut  colour.  From  early  life,  the  crown  of  his  head  was  bald,  giving 
a  marked  conspicuousness  to  his  forehead.  His  eyes  were  bright,  and  of  a 
oK'ar  blue  colour.      His  complexion  was  florid,    his   frame    muscular,  his 

•John  Fairfield  was  ft  native  of  Boston;  wns  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1757;  was 
ordaineJ  Pastor  of  tho  Consjregational  Church  in  Saco,  October  27,  1762,  wa3  dismissed  in 
Julv,  1790,  and  died  in  1819. 


398  BAPTIST. 

temperament  sanguine  and  uervou3.  In  walking,  his  step  was  firm  and 
clastic,  his  head  tending  somewhat  forward,  and  his  pace  rapid.  His  dress 
was  plain  and  scrupulously  neat:  his  manners  were  dignified  and  somewhat 
reserved. 

As  may  be  said  of  almost  every  man  who  reaches  fourscore,  he  was  an 
early  riser.  He  loved  retired  life,  yet  did  he  heartily  enjoy  the  social 
circle  ;  enlivening  the  conversation  by  occasionally  relating  such  anecdotes 
as  he  had  stored  in  his  retentive  memory. 

He  loved  music ;  and  to  him  praise  was  a  delightful  part  of  worship  ; 
whether  public,  in  which  he  always  joined,  oy  private,  when  he  Jed  in  the 
service  with  a  clear  musical  voice.  "  One  of  my  earliest  recollections  of 
him,"  writes  his  daughter,  Sarah,  "  is,  as  he  walked  about  the  room, — 
his  hands  clasped  behind  him, — singing  hymns." 

A  kind  and  faithful  husband,  he  was  deeply  afflicted  by  the  death  of  his 
wife,  with  whom  he  took  sweet  counsel  for  more  than  half  a  centurj'.  His 
love  to  his  children  also  was  very  strong.  When  his  eldest  son,  Benjamin, 
died,  the  father  felt  the  stroke  severely.  His  strong  frame  shook,  and  he 
was  removed  from  the  bedside,  entirely  overcome.  When  he  recovered, 
he  said, — "I  went  down  into  the  dark  valley  Avith  him." 

As  a  Preacher,  his  style  was  plain,  simple  and  concise.  The  Bible  was 
his  daily  study.  He  was  never  known  to  decline  any  religious  service  on 
the  plea  of  not  being  prepared.  He  invited  a  young  minister,  who  was  at 
his  house,  to  preach  on  the  Sabbath;  but  the  reply  was, — "  I  am  not  pre- 
pared." "  Not  prepared,"  said  the  Elder  ;  "  a  soldier  should  always  have 
his  armour  on." 

Hoping  that  these  notices  of  one  of  our  most  useful  and  venerated  min- 
isters may  suit  your  purpose,  I  am  respectfully. 

Your  brother, 

THOMAS  B.  RIPLEY. 

FROM  THE  REV.  R.  W.  CTJSHMAN. 

Boston,  March  18,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  The  request  contained  in  your  note  received  yesterday,  is  one 
with  which  it  gives  mc  pleasure  to  comply, — not  only  because  it  furnishes  me 
with  an  occasion  to  express  my  gratification  with  the  laudable  work  in  which 
you  arc  engaged,  but  because  the  contribution  you  have  asked  from  me  re- 
calls the  mcniorj'  of  one  whom,  though  I  am  not  a  "  Churchman,"  I  love  to 
think  of  as  my  godfather.  It  was  as  one  of  the  lambs  of  his  flock  that  I 
learned  to  love  and  revere  him;  and,  for  a  series  of  years,  had  the  benefit  of 
his  shepherd  care. 

Father  Titcomb  was  then — at  least  to  the  eye  of  my  youth — an  old  man. 
1  remember  him  as  of  a  somewhat  tall  and  well-developed  frame,  though  not 
portly.  His  face  was  rather  sharp,  and  of  oval  contour,  with  prominent 
aquiline  nose.  His  brow  was  high;  his  head  quite  bald;  what  hair  he  had 
was  worn  quite  short.  His  voice  was  not  loud,  but  it  was  musical,  and  of 
manly  tone. 

I  believe  he  was  considered,  by  people  who  did  not  knoAV  him  intimately, 
as  distant  and  unsocial;  and  perhaps  this  notion  was  not  wholly  without 
foundation.  His  early  life  had  been  passed  amid  the  trials  of  a  pioneer  Bap- 
tist ministry — himself  a  convert  from  the  Pedobaptist  faith,  who  had  sundered 
dear  ties,  and  sacrificed  worldly  interests,  to  preach  a  faith  at  that  time  every- 


BENJAMIN  TITCOMB.  399 

where  spoken  against.  But  those  Avho  knew  liim  best  were  strongly  attached 
to  him,  and  could  testify  to  the  warmth  of  his  heart.  This  must  certainly 
have  been  true  of  his  own  people. 

In  all  my  intercourse  with  them, — and  it  was  very  extensive, — I  do  not 
remember  ever  to  have  heard  among  them  a  word  adapted  to  chill  my  own 
youthful  love  and  reverence  for  him. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  was  not  what  people  would  now  call  interesting:  no  ges- 
ticulation, uninipassioned,  monotonous.  lie  spoke  without  seeming  to  be 
sensible  of  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  wholly  absorbed  with  the  thought 
of  what  he  was  saying.  But  it  was  evident  from  his  whole  manner  that  he 
had  a  deep  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  his  own  responsibility.  He 
seemed,  however,  to  regard  the  simple  utterance  of  the  truth  as  all  that 
became  him.  He  seemed  to  look  on  himself  as  the  mere  vehicle — the  statue 
for  the  emission  of  the  Divine  oracle. 

He  was  a  doctrinal  and  expository,  rather  than  a  hortatory,  preacher.  His 
belief  was  that  Christ  had  a  people,  to  be  saved  by  the  word  spoken  through 
human  lips,  but  made  efficacious  solely  by  the  Spirit;  and  he  seemed  to  regard 
anything  beyond  its  simplest  enunciation  as  a  human  admixture.  This  idea, 
as  we  know,  was  very  much  a  characteristic  of  the  Baptist  ministry  of 
by-gone  days.  But,  as  the  people  of  those  days  were  imbued  with  deep  con- 
victions, strong  prejudices,  and  peculiar  notions,  in  reference  to  Divine  truth 
and  the  preaching  of  it,  there  was  the  less  need  of  the  adjuncts  of  eloquence, 
which  are  now  deemed  so  necessary  in  a  preacher.  Father  Titcomb's  minis- 
try, notwithstanding  the.se  deficiencies,  was  a  successful  one.  I  remember  to 
have  heard  him  say,  in  a  devotional  meeting  in  the  awakening  of  1810,  that 
it  was  the  iiimteerdh  "  reformation  "  in  which  he  had  laboured. 

Of  the  later  years  of  his  life  1  have  little  knowledge.  The  last  time  I  saw 
him  was  in  the  summer  of  1842.  He  was  then  very  aged;  yet  remarkably- 
active.  The  powers  of  his  mind  had  yielded  somewhat  to  the  weight  of 
years;  but  his  heart  had  certainly  grown  young.  He  was  much  more  social 
and  affable;  and  all  his  thoughts  were  of  the  home  to  which  he  was  approach- 
ing. It  was  at  his  own  hospitable  board,  on  an  Associational  occasion,  that  I 
last  remember  him.  He  was  surrounded  by  the  patriarchs,  Case,  Kendall,* 
and  others  with  whom  he  had  been  a  fellow-labourer  in  their  early  years,  in 
Church  planting  and  culture  in  the  wilds  of  Maine.  The  conversation  turned 
from  the  past — so  natural  for  old  warriors — to  the  future.  Father  Titcomb 
became  so  tilled  with  joy  at  the  thought  of  what  was  before  him,  that  his  face 
became  radiant  with  his  emotion.  He  dropped  his  knife  and  fork  on  his 
plate,  and  clapped  his  hands,  and  exclaimed:  "  I  shall  behold  the  land  that 
is  very  far  off" ;  and  mine  eyes  shall  see  the  King  in  his  beauty!" 
Very  respectfully  and  fraternally  yours, 

\{.  M\  CUSHM.\N. 

•IIenut  Kendall  was  born  in  Sanford,  Mc,  July  :?,  1771;  became  hopefully  rJo""  "' 
nineteen;  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1801 ;  was  ordained  at  Mount  Vernon,  Me.,  in  1S05;  and 
the  same  year  became  Pastor  of  tlie  Church  in  Litchfield.  Hero  he  remained  labouring 
acccptaMy  and  usefully  until  1818,  when  ho  removed  to  Topsham,  and  took  charge  of  the 
church  in  that  place.  In  1828,  he  resigned  this  charge,  after  which  he  devoted  himself  to 
missionary  labour,  and  was,  for  some  time,  employed  as  an  agent  of  the  Maine  Domestic 
Missionary  Society. 


400  BAPTIST. 

JOSHUA  BRADLEY.*= 

1799—1855. 

Joshua  Bradley,  the  youngest  son  of  his  parents,  was  born  in  Ran- 
dolph, Mass.,  July  5,  1773.  The  ancestors  of  his  family  are  traceable  to 
an  emigration  from  England  of  five  brothers,  in  the  year  1636.  One  of 
these  brothers  settled  in  Boston,  another  in  New  Haven,  and  the  other 
three  are  believed  to  have  settled  farther  South.  The  father  of  Joshua 
was  Hopestill  Bradley,  a  descendant  of  the  Boston  branch.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  He  died  at  the  house  of  his  son,  Hope  Bradley,  in  Randolph,  Vt., 
in  1813,  aged  one  hundred  years. 

The  parents  of  Joshua  Bradley  were  poor,  but  were  professedly  religious, 
and  members  of  a  Congregational  church  ;  and  he  was  taught  by  them  to 
repeat  a  form  of  prayer  every  night,  and  required  to  recite  a  portion  of  the 
Catechism  every  Sabbath.  He  was  accustomed  also,  at  the  close  of  every 
day,  to  go  through  a  certain  form  of  self-examination  ;  and  if  he  found 
that  he  had  done  anything  that  appeared  to  him  sinful,  lie  would  satisfy  his 
conscience  by  repeating  his  prayer  a  second  time.  At  the  age  of  fourteen, 
he  was  apprenticed  to  a  Mr.  Thayer,  a  shoemaker  in  his  native  town,  till 
he  was  twenty-one.  In  the  summer  of  1790,  he  was  awakened  to  an  awful 
conviction  of  his  sinfulness  by  a  dream  in  which  the  scenes  of  the  final 
judgment  were  made  to  pass  most  vividly  before  him.  After  struggling 
for  some  time  under  the  burden  of  guilt  and  fearful  apprehension,  he 
became,  on  the  8th  of  October  following,  suddenly  enraptured  by  a  view 
of  the  glory  of  the  Saviour,  and  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  forgiving 
mercy.  Shortly  after  this,  he  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in  Randolph,  then 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Briggs.  It  began  now  to  be  impressed 
upon  his  mind  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  but,  as  his  cir- 
cumstances seemed  altogether  adverse  to  it,  he  endeavoured  to  dismiss  the 
idea  as  a  temptation  of  the  adversary ;  but  it  would  still  return  upon  him 
with  irresistible  power ;  and  the  more,  as  he  saw  that  his  efforts  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  his  youthful  companions  and  others  around  him  to  the 
concerns  of  their  souls  were  manifestly  attended  with  tlie  Divine  blessing. 
At  length  he  made  an  arrangement  with  Mr.  T.,  to  whom  he  was  appren- 
ticed, to  go  to  school  four  weeks,  that  he  might  learn  to  read  the  Bible — 
for  until  then  he  was  unable  to  read  a  verse  in  it,  without  spelling  eacli 
word.  This  only  quickened  his  ambition  to  proceed  in  a  literary  course  ; 
and,  being  much  encouraged  by  his  teacher,  Mr.  Benjamin  Turner, — who 
had  then  (1791)  just  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  he  resolved  to  enter 
upon  a  course  of  study  with  a  view  to  a  liberal  education.  Obtaining  a 
Latin  Grammar,  he  hung  it  up  before  his  shoe-bench,  studying  as  he 
worked,  and  reciting  to  iMr.  Turner  as  lie  had  opportunity.  As  soon  as 
the  period  of  liis  apprenticeship  liad  expired,  he  devoted  himself  vigorously 
to  his  preparation  for  College,  studying  about  twelve  hours  daily,  besides 
making  a  pair  of  shoes  each  day  to  pay  for  his  board.     He   entered   the 

•MS.  Autobiog. — MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  Babcook. 


JOSHUA  BRADLEY.  401 

Academy  of  the  Rev.  William  Williams,  at  Wrentham,  in  1795,  and  two 
years  after  became  a  member  of  the  Junior  class  in  Brown  University. 
Too  poor  to  pay  the  full  price  for  his  board,  he  sat  at  the  second  table  for 
the  first  year,  at  a  very  reduced  rate,  and  taught  a  school  during  liis  vaca- 
tions, to  enable  him  to  pay  his  College  bills.  Jeremiah  Chaplin  (after- 
wards the  llcv.  Dr.  Chaplin,  first  President  of  Waterville  College)  was 
the  only  other  Baptist  student  in  the  College  at  that  time.  They  held 
a  prayer  meeting  in  their  roouj  every  Saturday  evening,  and  on  the  Sabbath 
between  meetings.  Tluy  road  together  Edwards  on  Hodcmplion,  Hopkins' 
Body  of  Divinity,  and  other  similar  works.  They  also  established  and 
conducted  a  Young  People's  prayer  meeting  in  Providence,  on  Wednesday 
evenings,  at  which  they  exhorted,  expounded  the  Scriptures,  &c.  They 
both  graduated  on  the  4th  of  September,  1799,  The  theme  of  Bradley's 
Oration  was  "  The  impossibility  of  exterminating  Christianity  from  the 
earth."  He  says  "The  clergy  seemed  pleased,  and  I  was  invited  to  visit 
some  of  them." 

Immediately  after  his  graduation,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  church 
in  his  native  town.  For  six  months,  he  divided  his  time,  as  a  supply, 
between  the  Baptist  Church  in  Attleborough,  Mass.,  and  a  new  Society  in 
Pawtucket,  11.  I. — the  latter,  encouraged  by  the  attendance  on  his  minis- 
trations, erected  their  first  meeting-house,  which  was  soon  filled.  Having 
completed  this  engagement,  he  travelled  some  weeks  in  New  Haiupshiro 
and  Maine.  He  was  invited  to  become  a  colleague  with  Dr.  Stillmau  of 
Boston,  and  with  the  Rev.  Isaac  Backus  of  Middlcboro' ;  but  he  finally 
accepted  an  invitation  to  share  with  the  venerable  Gardiner  Thurston  tin-. 
pastoral  care  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  R.  I.  He  was 
ordained  on  the  13th  of  May,  1801, — Dr.  Gano,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Luther 
Baker,  John  Pitman,  and  Joel  Briggs  taking  part  in  the  service.  A 
cheering  revival  immediately  commenced,  and  continued  for  six  years, 
during  which  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  were  added  to  the  church.  It 
extended  also  to  neighbouring  churches,  both  in  Rhode  Island  and  Massa- 
chusetts. Beside  his  abundant  labours  at  home  and  in  the  vicinity,  he 
was  accustomed  to  travel  and  preach  about  six  weeks  in  each  year,  wherever 
the  Providence  of  God  seemed  to  open  the  way ;  and  much  good  often 
resulted.  In  this  way,  during  his  six  years'  settlement  in  Newport,  he 
visited  nine  States,  attended  many  Associations,  and  became  extensively 
acquainted  with  ministers  and  churches.  In  1807,  finding  himself  wearied 
out  by  his  manifold  labours,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  removed  to  Mans- 
field, Conn.,  dividing  his  ministrations  between  that  place,  and  the  neigli- 
bouring  town  of  Tolland.  In  both  places  his  labours  were  highly  accepta- 
ble— in  Tolland  a  Baptist  church  was  soon  formed,  and  in  Maiisiicld  a 
Baptist  meeting-house  was  built  and  filled.  The  Baptist  Church  in  Mid- 
dletown  now  earnestly  requested  his  services ;  and  he  accordingly  went 
thither,  first  occupying  the  Court  House  as  a  place  for  preaching,  but,  as 
that  was  soon  filled,  they  erected  a  convenient  house  for  public  worship. 
In  1809,  by  the  solicitation  of  various  persons,  especially  of  some  young 
men  who  were  candidates  for  the  ministry,  he  opened  an  Academy  in  Wal- 
lingford,  Conn.,  and  the  next  year  a  fine,  commodious  edifice  was  buili, 
where  he   generally  had  about   one  hundred   pupils  from   several  different 

Vol.  VI.  51 


402  BAPTIST. 

States.  While  conducting  this  Academy,  he  preached  in  North  Haven, 
where  he  formed  a  Baptist  church,  and  also  officiated  Saturday  evenings  at 
New  Haven,  in  Masonic  Hall,  which  he  himself  hired  for  the  purpose. 
Here  he  was  subjected  to  a  severe  trial  in  being  prosecuted  for  the  alleged 
crime  of  forger}'.  He  Avas  charged  by  certain  parties  with  having  forged 
the  name  of  Dr.  Welch  of  Mansfield,  and  falsely  pretending  to  be  a  regularly 
ordained  minister — the  case  came  to  trial  before  the  Court,  in  August, 
1812,  and  he  was  triumphantly  acquitted.  A  narrative  of  the  whole  affair 
was  subsequently  published  and  widely  circulated. 

Several  families,  who  had  sat  under  Mr.  Bradley's  ministry  at  Newport, 
having  removed  to  Windsor,  Vt.,  sent  an  earnest  request  to  him  to  come 
and  preach  to  them.  He,  accordingly,  removed  thither,  in  October,  1813, 
and  commenced  preaching  in  the  Court  House.  As  this  was  soon  over- 
flowing, larger  accommodations  were  called  for,  and  a  commodious  brick 
church  edifice  was  erected.  Here  he  continued  about  four  years,  and  was 
occupied  at  the  same  time  in  teaching  a  school  in  his  own  house,  chiefly 
for  those  who  were  looking  forward  to  the  ministry.  In  1817,  he  started 
for  Ohio,  with  a,  view  to  establish  a  literary  institution  in  that  State  ;  but 
circumstances  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  his  purpose.  The  Baptist 
Church  in  Albany,  which  had  been  for  some  time  in  a  divided  state,  invited 
him  to  become  their  Pastor  ;  and  his  acceptance  of  their  invitation  was  the 
means  of  restoring  them  to  harmony.  As  their  small  meeting-house  soon 
became  inadequate  to  their  accommodation,  he  suggested  that  the  theatre 
should  be  purchased,  and  transformed  into  a  place  of  worship  ;  and  this 
was  accordingly  done,  at  an  expense  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  It  was  dedi- 
cated on  the  18th  of  January,  1819,  the  Sermon  on  the  occasion  being 
preached  by  President  Nott,  which  secured  a  large  collection  in  aid  of  the 
enterprise. 

In  November  following,  Mr.  Bradley  was  induced  to  accept  an  invi- 
tation from  Middlobury,  N,  Y.,  to  take  charge  of  a  new  Seminary,  and 
also  of  a  Baptist  church,  in  that  village.  A  revival  soon  commenced,  in 
connection  with  his  labours,  the  influence  of  which  was  widely  and  benignly 
felt.  He  remained  here  until  1824,  when,  on  account  of  Mrs.  Bradley's 
infirm  health,  he  resigned  the  place,  both  as  teacher  and  preacher,  and 
travelled,  preaching  as  he  had  opportunity,  in  the  Northwestern  part  of 
New  York.  In  Ellisburgh,  Jefi"orson  County,  he  established  a  Seminary, — 
obtaining  an  incorporation,  and  six  thousand  dollars  for  its  endowment.  Here 
also  he  was  successful  as  a  Pastor.  While  in  the  State  of  New  York,  he 
and  his  pupils  were  instrumental  in  establishing  six  new  churches  in  as 
many  years. 

In  1826,  he  was  invited  to  visit  Pittsburg,  Pa.  ;  and,  finding  the  Baptist 
church  there  much  distracted,  he  commenced  a  school  for  his  support.  He 
divided  his  labours  on  the  Sabbath  between  Pittsburg  and  Alleghany  City, 
and  his  influence  in  resuscitatiiig  the  Baptist  interest  in  that  neighbourhood 
soon  became  perceptible.  His  school  was  large,  consisting  of  a  hundred 
and  sixty  pupils  ;  and  a  considerable  revival  of  religion  attended  his  min- 
istry.     In  1827,  ho  was  earnestly  solicited  by  the  llev.  John  IM.  Peck*  t<t 

•John  Mason  Peck,  the  only  child  of  Asa  and  Hannah  Peck,  was  born  in  Litchfield, 
(South  Farms,)  Conn.,  October  31,  178y.     His  father  was  a  lineal  desconJaut,  in  tho  fourth 


JOSHUA  BRADLEY.  4Q3 

go  to  Illinois,  to  take  charge  of  a  new  Seminary  at  Rock  Spring, — which 
subsequently  grew  into  Shurtleff"  College  at  Upper  Alton.  The  fact  that 
it  was  to  be  a  jNIanual  Labour  Institution  was  the  circumstance  which  espe- 
cially attracted  Mr.  Bradley  to  it,  and  led  him,  without  much  hesitation, 
to  consent  to  become  its  Principal.  He  reached  St.  Louis  in  June,  1827  ; 
and,  as  the  Seminary  buildings  were  not  completed,  he  preached  there  and 
at  Edwardsville,  111.,  during  the  summer;  and  a  large  number  were  gath- 
ered into  the  church  through  his  instrumentality.  In  the  autumn,  llock 
Spring  Seminary  was  opened ;  and  within  one  year  it  numbered  a  hundred 
and  thirty  pupils.  To  secure  the  better  medical  aid  for  his  wife,  he  left 
the  Institution,  after  having  been  connected  with  it  about  a  year,  and  fixed 
himself  for  a  season  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  where  he  preached,  and  taught  a 
Young  Ladies'  School.     In  1829,  he  removed  to  Midilletown,  0.,  where  he 

generation,  of  Deacon  Paul  Peck,  who  came  from  Enfjland  in  the  Defiance,  in  1634,  and  accom- 
panieii  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  to  llartfoni,  and  was  an  officer  in  his  church  till  his  (iMr. 
Pecks)  death,  wliicli  occurred  on  the  2;id  of  December,  1695,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 
John  M.  enjoyed  no  other  advantages  of  early  education  than  those  which  were  furnished  by  the 
Common  .School ;  but  he  made  the  best  of  them,  and,  when  he  reached  manhood,  ho  spent  his 
winters  in  teaciiing  a  school,  and  his  summers  in  labouring  on  a  farm.  On  the  8th  of  May, 
180y,  he  was  married  to  Sarah  Paine;  and  about  this  lime  they  both  joined  the  Ccmgregational 
church  in  his  native  place.  Two  years  later,  he  removed  to  Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  and  there, 
after  much  consideration,  joined  a  Baptist  church,  bv  which,  the  next  year,  he  was  licensed  to 
preach.  Jle  wius  ordaimd  in  Catskiil,  N.  Y.,  on  the  0th  of  June,  1813.  The  year  following 
he  beciimo  Pastor  of  the  Pajitist  Church  in  .\uienia,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y. ;  and,  while  there, 
stu<lied  the  Greek  Testament,  under  Daniel  H.  Parnes,  in  Poughkeepsie,  twenty-five  miles  dis- 
tant. The  next  year,  (181,j,)  he  became  acquainted  with  Luther  Rice,  who  was  instrumental 
in  giving  a  fresh  impul.-ie  to  hi.s  mi.«sionary  zeal.  Py  his  advice,  Mr.  Peck  repaired,  early  in 
1816,  to  Pliiladelphia,  ami  entered  tlie  Theological  School  of  Dr.  Staughton,  where  he  pursued 
liis  studies  with  great  vigour  and  s'.iceess  for  one  year.  In  Mav,  1817,  he  was  set  apart  as  n 
Missionary  of  the  Paptist  General  Convention,  for  the  West;  and  ho  reached  his  destination 
(St.  Louis)  about  the  close  of  that  year.  Por  the  next  nine  years  he  was  engaged  as  an  itinerant 
missiouiiry,  and  a  teacher  of  a  select  school,  ranging  through  ."^lissouri  and  Illinois,  and  residing 
in  St.  Louis,  then  in  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  and  ultimately  fixing  his  home  at  Rock  Spring,  St. 
Clair  County,  III.  In  1826,  he  visited  New  England"  and  New  York,  .soliciting  aid  for  the 
West,  both  to  sustain  missionaries  and  to  assist  in  founding  a  Literary  and  Theological  Institu- 
tion for  educating  Common  School  teachers  and  IMinisters  of  the  Gospel.  This  object  was 
secured,  and  the  Rock  Spring  Seminary  was  built  on  ground  given  by  Mr.  Peck.  In  .April, 
182(1,  he  commenced,  as  both  editor  and  publisher,  "  The  Pioneer,"— the  first  Paptist  newspa- 
per established  in  the  Western  States.  This  paper  ho  continued  for  about  a  dozen  years,  at  an 
annual  expense  to  himself  of  some  two  hundred  dollars.  In  March,  183(1,  lio  was  obliged  to 
accept  the  Prineipalship  of  the  Seminary,  which  had  failed,  in  some  respects,  to  meet  public 
expectation;  but,  afier  an  experiment  of  some  fifteen  months,  his  health  fiiiled,  and  he  found 
it  necessary  to  return  to  more  active  life.  In  the  summer  of  1831,  he  spent  three  months  with 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Going,  in  planning  the  American  Paptist  Home  Missionary  Society.  Earlv  in 
1832,  he  published  a  small  but  very  useful  volume,  entitled  •'  The  Emigrant  s  Guide  ;'^  and, 
shortly  after,  commenced  a  nx.nthly  periodical,  entitled  "  The  Illinois  Sunday  School  Panncr.'" 
In  1834,  he  published  the  Gazetteer  of  Illinois.  In  1835,  Shnrtlefl' College  was  founded  at 
Upper  Alton,  III.,  to  take  the  |)lace,  and  carry  out  the  designs,  of  the  I'ock  Spring  Seminary; 
.and  in  this  enterprise  he  was  the  prineipiil  agent.  Tie  travelled  nearly  six  thousand  miles,  and 
collected  twenty  thons.nnd  dollars,  to  endow  the  institution.  In  watching  over  an<l  lielping  for- 
ward these  varied  interests,  and  ailing  in  the  estiiblishmnnt  of  a  Theological  Institution  at 
p?^i"T^"","-  •^"  '^'^  "•'I'  occupied  till  1843,  which  year,  with  the  two  following,  he  sp>mt  at 
1  hiladelplua,  as  Corresponding  Secretary  and  I'inancial  Agent  of  the  American  Paptist  Publi- 
cation Society.  Returning  then  to  hi.s  Western  home,  he  resumed  his  labours  in  that  field  with 
renewed  ardour.  He  was  Pastor  of  .several  importinit  churches  in  Missouri.  Tllimiis,  ami  Ken- 
tucUy;  was  a  large  contributor  to  R.-vicws  and  Newspapers;  wrote  the  Life  nf  Daniel  Poone 
for  Sparks'  American  Piograpliv;  edite.l  a  second  edition  of  "Annals  of  the  West, ---a  large 
octavo  volume:  compiled  the  Memoir  of  Father  Clark,  a  Western  preacher:  and  made  impor- 
tant conlributions  to  nearly  all  the  Historical  Societies  of  the  Northwestern  States  and  Territo- 
ries. He  died  in  great  peace,  at  his  home  at  Rock  Spring.  IMareh  15.  1858.  After  about  a 
month,  his  remains  were,  by  the  special  desire  of  many  of  his  friends,  removed  and  interred  in 
the  Pellcfontaine  Cemetery,  St.  Louis.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon 
l.im  by  Harvard  College  in  1852.  His  large  and  valuable  collection  of  newspapers  and  pam- 
phlets w.i.«  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years  before  his  death  ;  but  his  immense  manuscript  collcc- 
tion.s  wr-re,  by  his  will,  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  Rufus  Pabcoek,  D.  D..  from  whom  the 
public  are  expecting,  ere  long,  one  or  more  volumes  consisting  of  his  Life  and  Remains.  He 
was  the  father  of  ten  children,  six  nf  whom  survived  him.  He  km  undoubtedly  one  of  tho 
most  remarkable  self-made  men  of  his  day. 


404  BAPTIST. 

soon  had  several  hundred  pupils  under  his  care.  The  next  year,  he 
attended  the  Baptist  Convention  in  Lebanon,  and  awakened  an  interest  in 
behalf  of  education,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  Granville  Col- 
lege,— for  the  endowment  of  which  he  subsequently  obtained  about  two 
thousand  dollars.  In  visiting  Indiana,  where  there  were  about  three  hun- 
dred Baptist  churches,  and  no  Seminary,  he  was  invited  to  become  Princi- 
pal of  a  Seminary  in  Connersville,  the  capital  town  of  Fayette  County. 
He  opened  the  Institution  on  the  4th  of  October,  1830,  and  soon  had  about 
a  hundred  and  seventy  pupils.  He  was  invited  to  deliver  an  Oration,  on 
the  next  Fourth  of  July,  at  Indianapolis,  and  was  there  instrumental  in 
forming  an  Education  Society.  He  there  opened  a  School  in  the  Baptist 
meeting-house,  and  had  a  hundred  and  twelve  pupils  from  November  till 
the  following  May.  The  next  year,  (1833,)  Mrs.  Bradley  died  ;  and  her 
husband,  while  travelling  and  preaching  in  Kentucky,  took  the  fever  and 
ague,  and  suffered  severely  from  it  for  some  tin)e.  He  then  returned  to 
Pittsburg,  and  again  engaged  there  both  in  teaching  and  preaching.  In 
1835,  he  delivered  an  Address  on  Education  before  the  Monongahela  Asso- 
ciation, which  resulted  in  a  partially  successful  effort  to  establish  and  endow 
a  literary  institution  for  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  Western  Virginia. 
Such  a  College  was  finally  established  by  him  in  Harrison  County,  Va., 
since  called  Rector  College,  of  which,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  B.,  the  Rev. 
Charles  Wheeler  *  became  President.  During  his  agency  for  this  College, 
he  secured  the  purchase  of  a  valuable  site,  and  buildings  for  a  Female  Col- 
lege at  Bottetourt  Springs,  Va.,  in  May,  1843,  and  obtained  a  charter  for 
it  the  following  winter.  In  March,  1847,  he  visited  Brownsville,  Pa.,  and, 
by  desire  of  the  inhabitants,  opened  a  Seminary  in  the  Masonic  Hall.  The 
next  year  he  visited  the  scene  of  his  former  labours  iu  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island,  and  preached  several  mouths  for  the  Fourth  Baptist  Church 
iu  Newport.  In  1849,  he  visited  Lansingburg,  N.  Y.,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  forming  an  Education  Society,  of  which  he  became  General 
Agent.     In  September,  1850,  by  tlie  desire  of  his  son,  Joshua  T.  Bradley, 

•Chaules  Wheeler,  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Catharine  (Adams)  Wheeler,  was  born  at  Row- 
ley, Mass.,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1784.  His  father  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1771, 
and  was  licensed  to  proacli  in  the  Congregational  Church,  lie  (the  son)  became  hoiiefully 
pious,  about  the  year  1801,  and  joined  the  Congregational  church  in  his  native  place,  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Brauiin;  and  ho  began  to  prepare  for  College  under  his 
instruction.  While  he  was  prosecuting  his  studies^  ho  embraced  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  and 
transferred  his  relation  to  a  neighbouring  church  of  that  communion.  In  due  time  he  became 
a  member  of  Erown  University,  and  graduated  in  1807.  After  leaving  College,  he  was 
employed  for  some  time  in  toacliing  a  school,  first  in  Wiseasset,  ]Me. ;  afterwards  in  iSalem, 
Mass.;  and  subsequently  in  Middlcborough,  where  he  was  licensed  to  jjreach.  In  1812,  he 
supplied,  for  several  months,  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston.  His  mother  liaving,  about 
this  time,  removed  to  Pennsylvania,  induced  him  to  follow  her;  though  he  seems  to  have  con- 
sented very  reluctantly.  lie  left  Boston  for  Pittsburg,  in  June,  181.'i;  having  been  married, 
in  March  preceding,  to  a  daughter  of  the  liev.  Sauuiel  Nelson,  of  Jliddleborough ;  and  shortly 
after  opened  a  school  in  Washington,  twenty-five  miles  West  of  Pittsburg,  and  at  the  same 
time  commenced  preaching  to  a  large  congregation  in  the  Court  House.  In  October,  1814,  he 
was  ordained,  and  a  church  constituted  in  Washington,  of  which  he  became  the  Pastor.  Here 
he  continued  for  twenty-six  years,  preaching  not  only  to  his  own  church,  but  frequently  to  seve- 
ral other  churches  in  the  neighbourhood.  Meanwhile  he  also  continued  his  connection  with  the 
school.  In  1839,  ho  was  cho.scn  President  of  Hector  College,  and  about  the  same  time  visited 
Now  England  to  solicit  aid  in  its  behalf.  He  removed  his  family  to  Pruntytown,  the  scat  of 
the  College,  in  1840,  and  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  bring  forward  the  infant  institution. 
In  his  devotion  to  this  object  lie  overtasked  both  his  physical  and  intellectual  energies,  and 
brought  on  a  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  and  subsequently  an  enlargement  of  the  heart,  which 
terminated  in  death,  on  the  11th  of  .January,  1851 .  He  was  an  accomplished  soholar,  an  excel- 
lent teacher,  and  an  able,  earnest  and  successful  minister. 


JOSHUA  BRADLEY.  405 

Esq.,  of  St.  Louis,  lie  accompanied  liiiii  to  St.  Paul,  Min.,  where  he  made 
his  homo  till  his  death.  From  this  point  he  mado  occasional  excursions  to 
Illinois,  Iowa,  and  even  to  St.  Louis,  visiting  old  friends,  and  preaching 
and  performing  such  .services  as  his  strength  allowed. 

Mr.  Bradley  died  at  St.  Paul,  on  the  '22d  of  November,  1855,  in  the 
eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  had  for  several  weeks  been  confined  to 
his  bed.  but,  during  his  whole  illness,  exhibited  the  most  unqualified  resig- 
nation. Just  before  he  expired,  he  gave  utterance  to  his  feelings  in  strains 
of  the  most  intense  and  sublime  rapture,  decl.uing  his  full  assurance  that 
he  was  standing  on  the  verge  of  Heaven.  His  life  was  one  of  incessant 
but  diversified  labour,  and  eminent  usefulness.  His  remains  were,  by  his 
own  request,  removed  to  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  deposited  in  the  vault  of  his 
son-in-law,  Asa  P.  Childs,  near  those  of  his  beloved  daughter,  Mrs.  Fran- 
ces Childs. 

Mr.  Bradley  was  married,  in  the  year  1799,  or  1800,  to  Loah  Thayer, 
of  Massachusetts.  She  died  at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  on  the  5th  of  July, 
1833,  aged  fifty-one  years.  The  next  year,  he  married  Mrs.  Harriet  M. 
Brown, "who  still  (18.^9)  survives.  He  had  nine  children  by  the  first  mar- 
riage, and  two  by  (he  second.  All  his  children  are  now  deceased,  except 
two— a  son,  Joshua  T.,  and  a  daughter,  who  is  married  to  William  B. 
Collard,  of  Wyoming,  N.  Y. 

Besides  several  minor  productions  in  pamphlet  form,  Mr.  Bradley  pub- 
lished two  small  volumes, — one  on  "  Revivals,"  and  another  on  '•  Free- 
Masonry." 

FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

Paterson,  N.  J.,  February  10,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  earliest  recollections  of  the  Rev.  Joshua  Bradley  are 
connected  with  the  attendance  of  my  brotlier,  next  older  than  myself,  at  the 
Academy  taught  by  him  at  Wallingford,  Conn.,  in  the  year  1810.  More  than 
once,  in'that  and  the  following  year,  I  accompanied  this  brother  on  his  return 
to  the  Academy,  after  a  visit  at  home,  and  this  gave  me  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  something  of  the  Principal  in  his  relations  to  both  the  instruction  and 
the  management  of  his  school.  The  impression  he  then  made  upon  me  was 
too  deep  not  to  be  enduring.  He  Avas  between  thirty-five  and  forty  years  of 
age.  He  was  of  medium  height;  of  dark  complexion;  with  a  piercing  black 
eye,  and  a  rotund  face,  bearing  the  general  aspect  of  fine  health  and  spirits 
and  great  activity.  In  all  his  intercourse  with  his  pupils,  his  manner  seemed 
free  and  genial,  but  somewhat  decided  and  exacting.  lie  was  just  about  the 
last  man  you  would  think  of  taking  liberties  with,  and  yet  you  might  be 
assured  of  his  kindness  if  you  deserved  it.  You  felt,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
.school,  that  the  religious  man  and  the  minister  predominated  over  the  mere 
officialities  of  the  Preceptor.  On  one  occasion  1  was  present  at  the  semi- 
annual exhibition  of  the  Academy,  and  1  was  much  impressed  by  bi.i  unusual 
capability  and  tact  in  getting  up  and  managing  to  the  best  advantage  such 
showy  demonstrations  of  the  capacities  of  all  classes  of  his  pupils.  He  was, 
in  short,  a  very  popular  teacher,  and  within  his  own  range  a  very  good  one. 

In  the  autumn  of  1811,  my  mother  died  suddenly;  and,  as  my  brother  was 
.sent  for  to  attend  her  Funeral,  his  worthy  Preceptor,  Mr.  Bradley,  came  with 
him.  He  preached  the  Funeral  Sermon;  and  the  text  he  .selected,—"  Blessed 
are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,"  in  connection  with  the  occasion,  gave  fine 
.scope  to  his  sympathetic  nature,  while   it   made  him,  to   the  bereaved  circle, 


406  BAPTIST. 

emphatically  a  minister  of  consolation.  I  well  remember  that,  in  the  evening, 
after  the  Funeral,  he  interested  me  not  a  little  by  a  somewhat  detailed  account 
of  his  own  life;  and  1  can  recall  much  of  his  very  language  even  to  this  day. 
«'  My  earliest  recollections,"  said  he,  "  are  of  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
My  mother  held  me  up  in  her  arms,  and  Avhile  she  was  thrown  into  a  parox- 
ysm, bj'  the  Hashes  and  the  roar  of  artillery,  as  she  pressed  me  to  her  bosom, 
and  tlien  lifted  me  above  her  head,  she  cried, — 'There,  there,  child,  is  your 
father,  fighting  for  his  country.'  "  Then  he  gave  us  an  account  of  his  appren- 
ticeship, and  the  hardships  he  endured  in  connection  with  it.  He  related  the 
impressive  dream  he  had  of  the  final  judgment,  which  was  the  first  step  in 
that  process  of  mind  that  issued  in  his  conversion.  He  told  us  of  his  strug- 
gles to  obtain  an  education,  contrasting  his  early  condition  with  the  more 
favoured  lot  of  my  father's  sons,  who  had  all  the  requisite  paternal  aid.  The 
years  in  which  he  so  overtasked  his  energies  at  Newport,  and  the  various  per- 
secutions he  had  endured  in  my  native  State,  also  passed  under  review.  The 
story  was  told  without  the  semblance  of  ostentation,  and  it  W'as  hardly  pos- 
sible that  any  one  should  have  listened  to  some  portions  of  it  without  being 
moved. 

During  my  College  course, — probably  in  1819, — he  visited  Providence,  and 
spent  a  week  or  two  in  that  city  and  vicinity.  I  think  he  was  still  soliciting 
funds  for  defraying  the  expense  that  had  been  incurred  by  the  purchasing  and 
fitting  up  Q.f  the  Albany  theatre  as  a  house  of  worship.  He  had  still  many 
old  friends  in  that  city;  and  so  deeply  were  many  of  the  College  students 
interested  in  him,  that  they  were  sure  to  be  present  wherever  they  knew  he 
was  to  preach.  He  was,  probablj'',  at  that  time,  at  the  height  of  his  popula- 
rity as  a  preacher. 

Again  in  1824,  while  I  was  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Poughkeepsie, 
lie  passed  a  Sabbath  with  me,  preaching  once,  and  insisting  on  once  listening 
to  "  the  son  of  his  dear  friend  and  brother,"  as  he  called  my  father.  The 
next  day  I  accompanied  him  some  little  distance  out  of  town  on  his  way,  and 
t  well  remember  with  what  a  cordial  and  fatherly  spirit  he  made  various  use- 
ful suggestions  to  me, — the  result  of  his  own  ample  experience.  He  had  been 
a  very  active  Freemason;  and  I  had  a  little  before  declined  an  overture  to  be 
advanced  in  that  fraternity;  but  he  fully  approved  my  course.  In  speaking 
of  the  delivery  of  his  sermons,  I  remember  his  saying,  with  some  degree  of 
earnestness, — "If  your  heart  prompts  to  tears,  do  not  suppress  them;"  and 
this  advice  was  quite  in  harmony  with  his  own  practice.  After  this,  I  met 
him  casually  several  times,  North,  South,  and  West,  but  generally  only  in 
public  convocations,  where  there  was  little  opportunity  of  familiar  iiitercourse. 
But  I  was  kept  tolerably  well  informed  of  his  various  efforts  and  sacrifices, 
especially  in  promoting  the  nascent  educational  enterprises  of  our  Baptist 
communities.  Occasionally,  too,  we  corresponded.  Once  again,  in  the  winter 
of  1847-48,  I  met  him  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  was  regularly  ofHciating 
in  a  small  destitute  church.  We  passed  considerable  time  together  at  the 
house  of  an  intimate  mutual  friend.  His  heart  seemed  just  as  warm  and 
genial  as  when  I  had  first  known  him,  nearly  forty  years  before.  We  talked 
on  various  topics  connectoTtwith  the  great  progress  of  the  Baptist  cau.sc  during 
the  nearly  half  century,  in  which  he  had  been  publicly  identified  with  it. 
There  wf,»s  in  his  manner  a  delightful  absence  of  all  sourness  or  captiousness, — 
nothing  to  indicate  that  he  had  ever  been  ill-treated  or  slighted,  or  had  not 
always  been  walking  in  sunshine.  He  seemed  to  dwell  with  great  interest 
upon  the  past,  as  furnishing  matter  of  gratitude  to  God,  for  having  enabled 
him  to  do  and  to  sacrifice  so  much  for  the  promotion  of  a  cause  dearer  to  him 
than  life.  His  sermons  there  were  said  to  be  (for  I  did  not  hear  him  preach, 
being  engaged  in  another  church  at  the  hour  of  his  service)  highly  charac- 


JOSHUA  BliADLKV.  407 

teristic.  They  were  not  profound,  or  logically  very  coluTciit;  but  they  were 
full  of  the  marrow  of  the  Gospel,  abounded  in  touching  incidents,  and  were 
delivered  with  all  the  fervour  and  unction  of  his  youth.  Such  had  been  the 
whole  course  of  his  life  as  to  utterly  preclude  large  theological  or  biblical 
attainments.  Himself,  and  his  estimable  classmate,  Dr.  Chaplin,  were  fitting 
complements  of  one  perfect  circle, — one  having  very  fully  what  the  other 
lacked,  while  both  were  eminently  good  and  useful  in  their  respective  spheres. 
Trobably,  as  an  instructer,  he  might  now  be  deemed  lacking  in  the  e.xactness, 
thoroughness,  and  broad  compass  of  modern  scholarship,  boUi  literary  and 
scientific.  But  he  could  kindle  many  a  fire  Avhich  demanded  more  solid  fuel 
for  its  continuance,  but  which  would  never  have  begun  to  burn,  but  for  such 
appliances  as  he  could  furnish.  I  cannot  but  regard  him,  therefore,  as  one 
of  the  most  self-denying,  enterprising  and  useful  men  1  have  ever  known. 

Yours  most  fraternally, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


JOHN  STERRY. 

1800—1823. 

FROM  THE  REY.  FREDERIC  DENISON. 

Norwich,  Conn.,  February  22,  1859. 

Dear  Sir :  The  following  sketch  of  John  Sterry  has  been  drawn  from 
the  books  and  papers  that  emanated  from  his  pen,  from  letters  and  oral 
statements  communicated  to  me  by  his  children,  from  the  records  of  the 
church  over  wliich  he  presided,  and  from  recollections  furnished  by  persons 
who  knew  him  in  his  business  relations,  and  were  privileged  to  sit  under 
his  ministry.  I  am  unable  to  furnish  personal  recollections  of  him,  but,  as 
I  have  often  heard  him  described,  and  have  been  assured  by  many  who 
were  his  cotemporaries  to  whom  I  have  read  the  outline  of  my  sketch,  that 
I  have  fairly,  though  roughly,  pictured  his  life,  I  trust  you  will  accept  with 
confidence  what  I  have  been  able  to  gather. 

John  Sterry  was  born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1766.  His  father, 
Roger  Sterry,  was  an  Englishman.  His  mother,  Abby  Holmes,  was  from 
Stonington,  Conn.  The  family  was  every  way  worthy,  though  not  favoured 
with  wealth.  On  account  of  a  connection,  by  marriage,  with  the  family 
of  Gov.  Fenner,  the  childi'cn  were  favoured  with  unusual  educational 
advantages.  John  improved  his  opportunities  faithfully,  and  even  studied 
in  Brown  University,  though  he  did  not  take  the  full  collegiate  course. 
His  gifts  and  scholarship,  as  evinced  in  his  youth,  and  confirmed  by  the 
labours  of  his  life,  were  far  above  mediocrity.  He  was  a  superior  mathe- 
matician ;  as  was  also  hi.s  brother,  Consider  Sterry:  and  botli  brothers 
distinguished  themselves  not  only  as  mathematicians,  but  as  mechanics  and 
writers.  When  but  a  little  past  their  majority,  they  jointly  produced  and 
published  a  large  mathematical  work.  While  this  work  was  passing  through 
the  press,  under  the  supervision  of  John,  one  of  the  compositors  was  taken 
sick.  John  immediately  stepped  into  the  compositor's  place,  and  successfully 
handled  the  "  stick."     This  was  the  beginning  of  his  career  as  a  printer. 


408  BAPTIST. 

About  the  year  1790,  Mr.  Sterry  removed  to  Norwich,  Conn.,  and  soon 
established  himself  as  a  printer,  book-binder,  book-seller,  paper-maker, 
author,  and  publisher.  After  a  few  years,  he  entered  into  business  rela- 
tions with  Epaphras  Porter :  and  the  firm  of  Sterry  and  Porter  became 
very  widely  and  honourably  known. 

Mr.  Sterry  was  married  in  1792  to  Rebecca  Bromley  of  Preston,  Conn. 
Though  llebecca  was  but  sixteen  at  her  marriage,  she  proved  an  excellent 
wife,  fully  adequate  to  all  her  important  duties,  Mr.  Sterry  had  ten 
children, — six  sons  and  four  daughters,  all  respectable  and  useful.  His 
eldest  son  is  a  worthy  Deacon  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Utica,  N.  Y. 

Previous  to  Mr.  Sterry's  conversion,  he,  with  his  brother.  Consider, 
wrote  quite  a  large  book  in  favour  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salva- 
tion. Before  completing  the  volume,  John  thought  that  some  proof  of 
the  doctrine  should  be  drawn  from  the  Bible.  But,  in  searching  for  it, 
he  became  convinced  that  his  favourite  position  could  not  be  sustained. 
He  wished  to  drop  the  enterprise  of  publishing;  but  his  brother  urged  it 
forward,  especially  in  consideration  of  their  having  obtained  a  large  num- 
ber of  subscribers  for  the  work.  John  yielded  very  reluctantly,  and  went 
forward  till  the  sheets  were  ready  for  binding.  He  then  insisted  that  half 
the  volumes,  should  bo  set  out  to  him,  that  he  might  do  with  them  as  he 
should  choose.  Immediately,  upon  the  division,  he  took  his  portion  of  the 
sheets,  and  carrying  them  into  the  back  yard,  and  piling  them  up,  set  fire 
to  the  whole,  declaring  that  he  could  never  be  responsible  for  giving  to  the 
world  what  he  did  not  believe  to  be  true. 

Mr,  Sterry  was  converted  after  his  removal  to  Norwich,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  little  band  of  Baptists,  made  up  in  part  of  Separatists, 
then  maintaining  themselves  as  a  branch  of  the  Rev.  William  Northup's 
Church  in  Kingston,  R.  I.  Immediately  upon  his  conversion,  he  united 
with  this  little  company,  among  whom  his  gifts  and  graces  were  soon 
recognized  and  honoured.  They  selected  him  as  their  leader,  and  gave 
him  liberty  to  "improve  his  gift"  in  preaching.  Early  in  the  year  1800, 
this  little  band  took  measures  to  become  a  regular  and  independent  church  ; 
and  on  the  12th  of  July  they  were  publicly  recognized,  by  suitable  advice 
and  assistance  from  a  council,  as  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of 
Norwich,  As  Mr,  Sterry  had  already  won  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
church,  and  a  large  measure  of  popularity  as  a  preacher,  the  church,  in 
October  following,  called  him  to  ordination.  And,  on  the  25th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1800,  he  was  appropriately  set  apart  to  the  work  of  tlie  ministry. 
His  Ordination  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Silas  Burrows,  from 
Acts  XX.  28. 

As  the  church  was  at  first  very  small  and  very  poor,  worshipping  in  private 
houses,  a  school-house,  or  tt  rope- walk,  and  sometimes,  in  warm  weather, 
on  account  of  the  numbers  that  desired  to  attend,  in  a  grove, — the  meeting- 
house raised  in  1801  not  being  finished  till  1807;  and  as  the  religious 
usages  of  the  more  wealthy  portion  of  the  community,  together  with  the 
ecclesiastical  laws  of  Connecticut,  were  as  yet  quite  unfavourable  to  the 
Baptists,  Mr.  Sterry's  trials  and  toils  were  neither  few  nor  light.  A  less 
independent,  self-reliant,  trntli-loving,  and  persevering  man  would  have 
been  quite  disheartened.      And  such  was  the  poverty  of  the  church,  during 


JOHN    STERRY.  409 

the  whole  period  of  his  ministry,  though  greatly  prospcrei-l  under  liis 
labours,  that  in  no  year  did  they  pay  hiui  a  salary  exceeding  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  His  cireunistanccs,  therefore,  as  well  as  his  natural 
tastes,  prompted  him  to  continue  his  mechanical  and  literary  pursuits 
through  life.  Nevertheless,  he  was  the  devoted  Pastor  of  this  church  ; 
and  he  also  preached  much  in  adjoining  towns,  and  even  in  Rhode  Island 
and  Massachusetts.  For  a  time  he  preached  regularly,  once  a  month,  at 
Preston,  during  the  early  history  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  place. 

Several  memorable  revivals  were  enjoyed  by  the  chureli  under  Mr. 
Sterry's  ministry.  The  years  181G  and  1817  brought  largo  numbers  into 
it.  Another  happy  season  of  refreshing  was  experienced  in  1819.  The 
whole  number  received  to  the  church  by  Baptism,  during  the  twenty- 
three  years  of  his  ministry,  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven. 

Mr.  Sterry's  originality  of  mind  was  evinced  by  at  least  two  valuable 
inventions.  He  invented  the  art  of  marbling  paper, — an  art  which  has 
since  been  carried  to  great  perfection,  and  spread  over  the  civilized  world. 
His  patent  was  sold  for  a  consideration  to  Epaphras  Porter.  He  also  dis- 
covered an  improved  method  of  bleaching  cottons,  and  this  he  disposed  of 
to  Rhode  Island  manufacturers. 

Mr.  Sterry  also  distinguished  himself  as  an  author.  As  I  have  already 
intimated,  while  he  was  yet  a  very  young  man,  he,  with  his  brolher  Con- 
sider, had  prepared  a  large  mathematical  work — it  consisted  of  two  parts, 
an  Arithmetic  and  an  Algebra,  and  was  entitled  "  The  American  Youth.'* 
This  octavo  volume  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-seven  pages  was  put  tc 
press  in  1790,  and  was  not  only  highly  commended  by  teachers  and  Pro- 
fessors in  Colleges  in  this  country,  but  was  favourably  noticed  in  Europe. 
In  1795,  the  brothers  prepared  and  published  an  "Arithmetic  for  the  use 
of  Schools  in  the  United  States."  Mr.  Sterry  was  accustomed,  yearly,  for 
a  while  at  least,  to  assist  Mr.  Nathan  DaboU  in  the  preparation  of  his 
celebrated  Almanacs. 

Soon  after  he  entered  the  ministi-y,  he  rendered  important  aid  to  the 
Rev.  William  Northup  in  preparing  and  publishing  a  Hymn  Bouk,  entitled 
"  Divine  Songs," — a  Collection  that,  for  a  season,  was  widely  used  in  our 
Baptist  Churches.  In  June,  1804,  Sterry  and  Porter  (though  Mr.  Sterry 
was  the  prominent  writer)  edited  and  published  a  newspaper  called  "  The 
True  Republican," — a  very  spirited,  popular  and  useful  sheet.  Mr. 
Sterry  was  an  able  writer  and  editor.  He  was  a  democrat,  of  course,  and 
was  honest  to  the  core.  Though  his  paper  provoked  strong  opposition  from 
the  Federalists  of  the  day,  he  never  treated  his  opponents  otherwise  than 
with  respectful  consideration.  The  favourite  motto  of  his  political  papers 
was  indicative  of  the  man, — "Nothing  extenuate,  nor  aught  set  down  in 
malice."  He  contended  for  a  protective  tariff;  a  reform  in  the  mode  of 
conducting  elections,  so  as  to  secure  fairness  ;  and  especially  for  Religious 
Liberty  and  a  new  State  Constitution.  The  last  two  great  objects,  for 
which  he  wrote  vigorously  and  sacrificed  freely,  he  lived  to  see  happily 
secured  in  1818.  All  his  writings  are  clear,  well-tempered,  racy,  and 
abounding  in  great  and  sound  principles. 

The  last  few  years  of  Mr.  Sterry's  life  were  somewhat  clouded, — first,  on 
account  of  certain  unhappy  misunderstandings  in  his  church,  and  secondly, 

Vol..  YT.  52 


^10  BAPTIST. 

on  account  of  reverses  in  his  pecuniary  affairs.  He  experienced  a  great 
lo-ss  of  property  from  purchasing  in  Boston  a  large  quantity  of  Italian 
silk,  which  he  attempted  to  reel,  but  found  it  had  been  damaged  by  salt 
water.  This  loss  was  augmented  and  aggravated  by  the  unskilfulness  and 
deceit  of  an  Engli.sh  silk  manufacturer,  whom  he  employed  to  construct 
machinery,  and  aid  him  in  the  process  of  reeling. 

Mr.  Sterry's  naturally  studious  turn  of  mind  and  capability  of  mental 
abstraction  may  be  illustrated  by  an  amusing  anecdote.  One  of  his  busi- 
ness tours  to  Boston  he  made  on  horseback.  On  his  return,  when  he  rode 
up  to  his  house,  he  was  met  by  his  son,  who  informed  him  that  he  had 
somewhere  exchanged  horses.  The  fact  of  the  exchange  was  as  new  to 
Mr.  Stcrry  as  it  was  to  llobert,  while  the  horse  in  liand  was  but  half  as 
valuable  as  his  own. 

Mr.  Sterry  was  six  feet  in  height,  well  formed,  erect,  with  a  pleasant 
and  commanding  countenance.  His  mental  powers  were  suited  to  his 
physical, — strong,  solid,  well  proportioned.  As  a  speaker,  he  was  plain, 
usually  energetic,  sometimes  fervid.  His  preaching  was  logical  and 
forcible,  with  loss  of  the  hortative  than  marked  that  of  some  of  his 
brethren,  and  occasionally  nobly  eloquent.  He  was  executive  rather  than 
diplomatic.  In  sound  judgment  and  prudence  he  had  few  superiors. 
Hence  he  was  often  selected  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  for  duties  and 
stations  that  were  alike  honourable  and  responsible. 

In  short,  Mr.  Sterry  was  an  able  and  good  man.  He  was  laborious, 
faithful,  true  to  great  principles,  unambitious  of  place  and  preferments, 
glorying  only  in  the  Cross  of  Christ.  He  Avas  the  true  and  beloved  yoke- 
fellow of  John  Gr.  Wightman,  Roswell  Burrows,  Asa  Wilcox,  William 
Palmer,  the  worthy  Miners,  and  all  the  veteran  labourers  in  Eastern 
Connecticut.  For  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  he  was  a  workman  that 
needed  not  to  be  ashamed,  as  is  sufficiently  attested  by  his  writings,  found 
in  his  books  and  papers,  and  in  the  Circular  and  Corresponding  Letters 
he  prepared  for  the  Groton  Union  Conference  and  the  New  London  Baptist 
Association. 

His  wife  survived  him  ten  years.  She  died  of  consumption  in  October 
1833,  aged  fifty-seven. 

The  disease  that  terminated  Mr.  Sterry's  life,  was  an  affection  of  the 
liver.  He  suffered  severely  but  a  few  weeks.  On  the  5th  of  November, 
1823,  in  liis  own  house  in  Norwich  town,  and  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of 
his  age,  he  departed  triumphantly  to  his  rest.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was 
preached  to  a  mourning  community,  by  the  llev.  Wm.  Palmer,  from  Matt. 
XXV.  21.     His  remains  were  tearfully  buried  in  the  Town  Plot  Cemetery, 

where 

"  The  rude  forefathers  of  the  hamlet  sleep." 

Yours  fraternally, 

FREDERIC  DENISON. 


EZRA  BUTLER.  411 

EZRA  BUTLER  * 

1800—1838. 

Ezra  Butler,  tlic  third  son  of  Asapli  and  Jane  (McAllister)  Butler, 
was  born  in  Lancaster,  Mass.,  in  September,  17G3.  Ilis  mother,  who  was 
of  Scotch  parentage,  died  when  he  was  a  mere  boy  ;  but,  from  what  he  had 
heard,  as  well  as  from  what  he  remembered,  of  her,  he  suppo.sed  that  she 
was  a  truly  pious  person,  though  not  a  professor  of  religion.  His  father 
lived  to  a  somewhat  advanced  age,  and  in  his  later  years  not  only  made  a 
public  profession  of  his  faith,  but  was  apparently  a  devout  Christian.  The 
first  six  years  of  the  son's  life  were  spent  in  his  native  place,  and  in  War- 
wick, Mass.  After  the  death  of  his  mother,  his  father's  family  was  parti- 
ally separated,  and  he  lived  for  a  few  years  with  his  eldest  brother.  This 
brother  and  his  wife  were  both  exemplary  members  of  the  Congregational 
Church  ;  and  their  fidelity  to  his  spiritual  interests  seems  to  have  left  an 
enduring  impression  upon  his  mind.  Ilis  sister-in-law  especially  was 
careful  to  teach  him  forms  of  prayer,  which  he  found  of  use  many  years 
after,  when  his  own  diffidence  suggested  their  adoption,  to  some  extent,  in 
first  commencing  family  devotions.  Joel  Butler,  the  brother  referred  to, 
joined  the  Baptists  in  1780,  and  commenced  preaching  and  was  ordained 
at  Woodstock  in  1785.  He  moved  from  field  to  field,  through  the  State 
of  New  York,  Westwardly,  and  died  at  Geneva,  Ind.,  September  13,  1822, 
in  his  seventy-first  year.  His  eldest  son  {Ora)  was  also  a  Baptist  minister 
in  good  repute. 

At  the  age  of  about  fourteen,  Ezra  Butler  went  to  live  with  Dr.  Stearns, 
of  Clarcmont,  N.  H.  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  months,  remained 
there  during  the  rest  of  his  minority.  The  Doctor  soon  entrusted  to  him 
the  management  of  his  largo  farm,  while  he  himself  attended  to  the  duties 
of  his  profession.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  but,  after  having  served  about  six  months,  returned  to  his 
place  as  manager  of  Dr.  Stearns'  farm.  A  few  months  after  he  had  reached 
his  majority,  he,  with  his  brother  Asaph,  about  two  years  older  than  him- 
self, left  Weathersfield,  Vt, — to  wliicli  place  his  father  had  in  the  mean  time 
removed, — to  try  their  fortunes  in  the  Valley  of  Onion  River.  The  last 
twenty-five  miles  of  their  route  they  travelled  on  snow  shoes,  (the  snow 
being  about  four  feet  deep,)  transporting  the  few  articles  they  took  with 
them,  on  a  hand-sled.  Tiiey  reached  what  is  now  Waterbury,  their  place 
of  destination,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1785.  The  place  was  then  entirely 
new,  there  being  but  one  family  in  it,  and  not  more  than  half  a  dozen 
dwellings  for  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  both  above  and  below  the 
town,  on  Onion  River.  All  that  portion  of  the  State,  for  nearly  sixty 
miles,  extending  from  Lake  Cliami)lain  almost  to  White  River,  was  one 
dense  fnrest,  without  roads,  and,  with  the  above  exceptions,  without  inhabi- 
tants. Here  Mr.  Butler,  being  then  in  his  twenty-second  year,  commenced 
a  farm  for  himself,  depending  for  success  entirely  on  his  own  honest  indus- 
try, and  here  he  remained  till  he  was  summoned  to  his  long  home. 
•  Memoir  by  a  Lady.— MS.  from  his  son,  Russell  Butler,  Esq. 


412  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Buller  was  married  on  the  13th  of  June,  1785,  at  Wealhersfield, 
Vt.,  to  Trypliena  Diggins,  formerly  of  Windsor,  Conn.  ;  though  he  did 
not  move  his  family  to  Waterbury  until  September  of  the  next  year. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  became  hopefully  a  subject  of  renewing 
grace.  In  his  early  year.s  he  had  been  more  or  less  thoughtful  in  regai"d 
to  his  immortal  interests,  but,  after  his  removal  to  Waterbury, — exiled  as 
he  was  from  the  public  means  of  grace, — his  mind  settled  into  a  habit  of 
utter  indiiference  in  regard  to  spiritual  things.  Being  obliged  to  labour 
hard  during  the  week,  he  was  accustomed  to  spend  part  of  the  Sabbath  in 
sleep;  and,  on  a  certain  Sabbath,  as  he  woke  from  sleep,  he  observed  his 
wife  reading  a  pamphlet,  and  asked  her  to  read  it  aloud.  As  its  title-page 
was  gone,  he  never  knew  either  its  title,  or  the  name  of  its  author;  but 
the  subject  was  one  which,  in  former  years,  had  occasioned  him  great  per- 
plexity,— namely,  how  a  man  can  be  blameable  for  possessing  an  evil 
disposition  which  he  did  not  create  for  himself;  and  hence  he  listened  with 
earnest  attention.  After  she  had  read  aloud  for  some  time,  he  stopped  her 
with  the  simple  exclamation, — "  If  this  is  true,  we  are  undone.''''  Though 
he  said  nothing  more,  he  was  thrown  into  the  most  intense  agony  of  spirit, 
which  continued  until  the  Friday  following,  when  he  carried  his  wife  to 
pass  the  night  with  a  friend  whose  residence  was  four  or  five  miles  distant 
from  his  own.  Being  alone  that  niglit,  he  resolved  that  he  would  read  the 
Bible,  and  endeavoured  to  settle  the  question  intelligently  whether  his  condi- 
tion as  a  sinner  was  really  such  as  the  pamphlet  to  which  he  had  listened  had 
led  him  to  apprehend.  The  following  is  his  own  account  of  the  exercises 
of  his  mind  at  this  period,  given  by  a  friend  to  whom  he  communicated  it : — 

"  I  performed  my  necessary  labour  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  sat  down  with  luy 
Bible.  I  read  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans — it  all  condemned  me.  It  was  plain  that  I 
was  a  sinner,  utterly  condemned  before  God,  and  must  be  lost.  I  felt  as  sure  of  this 
as  if  iny  sentence  had  actually  been  pronounced  in  my  bearing  Sometimes  the 
thought  would  enter  my  mind  that  God  had  mercy  on  sinners — IJo  had  mercy  on  Saul 
of  Tarsus — lie  may  have  mercy  on  me.  But  no,  I  am  more  vile  than  any  other  sinner. 
Saul  had  not  the  light  that  I  have — he  did  what  he  thought  was  right — I  have  done 
what  I  knew  was  wrong. 

"  I  fiunliy  thought  that  T  would  fall  down  and  once  more  bemoan  my  condition 
before  God."  I  could  not  think  of  ■praying,  but  I  resolved  to  utter  my  lamentations  for 
the  last  time,  and  then  never  attempt  to  address  God  again.  I  had  many  tiuus  tried 
to  pray,  and  had  always  done  so  standing, — except  that  I  had  sometimes  i)rostratod 
myself  on  my  face;  but  now  I  fell  upon  my  knees  and  bemoaned  my  lost  state.  My 
mind  was  occupied  upon  myself.  My  own  case  was  the  engrossing  consideration. 
After  a  time  I  lost  sight  of  myself,  and  was  wiiolly  absorbed  in  contemplating  thi! 
glory  of  God.  Such  glory  and  excellency  as  I  beheld  I  had  never  conceived  of.  The 
room  seemed  filled  with  the  manifestation  of  God's  glory.  The  law  of  God  then 
appeared  to  me  exceedingly  beautiful  and  excellent  After  rising  from  iny  knees,  and 
being,  for  some  time,  rapt  in  these  contemplations,  my  mind  reverted  to  my  own 
state.  And  can  I  ever  be  permitted  to  behold  this  glory;  or  must  I  be  banished  from 
the  presence  of  God,  and  be  left  to  continue  his  enemy  ?— was  my  inwanl  inquiry. 
Again  I  took  up  my  Bible,  and  read  over  tlic  same  portions  I  had  been  reading  in  the 
early  part  of  the  evening;  but  J^did  not  find  the  same  things  that  I  had  then  discovered; 
and  I  read  on  with  all  haste  in  order  to  find  what  had  before  made  such  an  impres- 
sion upon  me.  I  came  to  the  expression, — '  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.'  Here  I 
paused — I  had  read  this  portion  of  Scripture  many  times  before,  but  I  never  before 
saw  this  expression — What  does  this  mean  ?  I  i)ondered.  Can  this  mean  that  love  to 
the  law  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  ?  I  see  not  but  it  does.  And  why  should  not  the 
law  be  love  I  ?  What  more  worthy  of  love  ?  And  do  I  not  love  this  law  ?  Here  some 
faint  idea  entered  my  mind  that  I'must  have  i)assed  the  change  called  regeneration; 
but  it  was  not  distinct  enough  for  me  to  fasten  ui)on. 

"  I  retired  to  my  bed,  but  soon  such  discoveries  were  made  to  mo  of  the  glory  of 
God  that  I  could  not  rest.  I  felt  as  if  surrounded  with  bis  visible  presence  and  glory. 
I  arose,  rekindled  the  fire,  and  lighted  a  candle;  and,  filled  with  these  overwhelming 


EZRA.  BUTLER.  413 

views,  I  sjient  most  of  tlic  night.  Towards  iiiorniiig  T  slept  a  short  time;  but  at  the 
dawn  of  day  I  arose  full  of  tlio  same  thoughts  and  feelings. 

"  Before  night  I  brougiit  my  wife  iiome,  and,  hastening  to  finish  my  usual  labours,  1 
sat  down  in  tlie  evening,  and  began  to  talk  to  her  of  the  glory  of  God,  as  being  every 
where  visible,  and  exceeding  every  thing  else.  I  talked  on  till,  alter  some  time,  she 
said  she  could  sec  notiiiiig  of  this.  In  my  a.stonishmeiit  I  exclaimed. — '  Why  you  are 
as  blind  as  the  cliimney-ljack  !'  But  it  occurred  to  mo  instantly  that,  a  few  days  ago, 
I  was  equally  blind. 

''  That  eviniinga  Baptist  minister,  by  the  name  of  Call,*  who  resided  at  Woodstock, 
and  \vhom  1  had  formerly  seen,  being  on  a  journey,  called  to  spend  the  night  with  me. 
I  never  wa.s  so  glad  to  see  any  man,  before  nor  since.  My  lirst  salutation  expressed 
the  state  of  my  mind,  lie  preached  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  inhabitants  the  next 
day,  which  was  Sunday;  and,  after  he  had  closed,  I  got  up,  and,  with  tears  and  sobs, 
tried  to  tell  my  neighbours  how  things  ap[)eared  to  me.  They  were  struck  with  won- 
der. Every  mouth  was  open,  and  all  hands  upraised  in  astonishment.  After  the 
Sabbath  was  passed,  I  was  again  left  without  any  human  being  near,  who  could  coun- 
sel me,  or  even  enter  into  my  feelings. 

"'As  yet 'I  observed, '  you  seem,  Sir,  not  to  have  had  a  manifestation  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  Saviour — how  and  when  did  this  take  i)lace  V 

"  True,"  he  replied,  ■' I  had  not;  but  during  Monday  morning  I  was  greatly  dis- 
tressed to  know  what  Cod  would  do  with  me.  And  now  I  think  I  exercised  submis- 
sion as  I  scarcely  have  at  any  other  time.  My  anxiety  was  extreme  to  be  permitted 
to  enjoy  the  presence  of  God,  and  behold  his  glory — still  I  felt  that  lie  would  do  right, 
and  I  could  acquiesce  in  his  disposal  of  me.  In  an  agony  of  feeling,  I  was  walking  to 
a  neighbour's,  and,  while  on  my  way,  Jesus  Christ  was  set  before  me  as  the  Saviour  of 
sinners.  This  was  my  first  apprehension  of  the  way  of  salvation.  The  Gospel  plan 
was  unfolded  to  my  view,  and  I  went  on  my  way  rejoicing  in  the  application  of  the 
atonement  to  my  soul,  my  views  of  the  glory  of  God  more  enrapturing  than  ever. 
The  views  I  then  had  of  Christ  as  my  Saviour  I  did  not  lose  for  many  years,  nor 
should  I  do  right  to  say  I  have  ever  lost  them.  On  arriving  at  my  neighbour's,  in  a 
flood  of  tears  1  tried  to  tell  him  my  feelings,  but  they  were  entirely  beyond  his  compre- 
hension." 

As  there  was  no  church  within  forty  miles  of  Mr.  Bi^tlcr's  residence,  he 
had  no  opportunity,  for  some  time,  of  making  a  public  profession  of 
religion.  Besides,  his  views  were  not  at  once  settled  in  respect  to  Bap- 
tism ;  though  the  result  of  his  reading  and  reflection  on  the  subject  was 
that  he  was  brought  into  full  sympathy  with  the  Baptists.  The  next  win- 
ter, about  one  year  from  the  time  of  his  former  visit,  Mr.  Call  again 
passed  through  Waterbury,  and  stopped  long  enough  to  preach  a  sermon 
and  baptize  Mr.  Butler.  During  the  service  preparatory  to  the  Baptism, 
his  mind  became  greatly  clouded,  and  he  was  led  to  fear  that  all  hi.s  pre- 
vious experiences  had  been  delusion ;  but  before  the  ordinance  was  actually 
administered,  the  cloud  par-sed  away,  and  he  went  down  into  the  water  full 
of  peace  and  joy. 

After  this,  Mr.  Butler  was  ready  to  avail  himself  of  every  opportunity, 
whether  in  public  or  private,  to  help  forward  the  cause  of  his  Master. 
About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1800,  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  by 
the  church  in  Bolton,  of  wliich  he  had  been  a  member  several  years.  As 
the  population  in  the  surrounding  country  increased,  new  churches  were 
established  ;  and  when  a  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  "Waterbury, 
towards  the  close  of  the  year  1800,  he  was  chosen  and  ordained  as  its 
Pastor, — an  office  which  he  continued  to  hold  thirty-two  or  three  years. 

Mr.  Butler  united,  at  different  periods,  various  civil  offices  with  that  of 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel — indeed  he  had  held  sonje  of  these  several  years 
previous  to  his  ordination.  After  tlie  organization  of  the  town  in  1790,  he 
was  the  first  Town  Clerk  ;  and  was   not  long  after  appointed  Justice  of 

•  Eldeu  Call  was  an  itinerant  preacher  or  evangelist,  who,  though  his  family  resided  at 
Woodstock,  travelled  extensively  in  Vermont,  and  it  is  believed  in  other  New  England  States 
also,  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministrj-. 


414  BAPTIST. 

the  Peace  ;  and,  about  1797  or  '98,  was  chosen  Representative  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  was  subsequently  several  times  re-elected.  In 
1806,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  Council  of  Censors,  and  about  the  same 
time, — perhaps  a  year  or  two  earlier, — was  appointed  a  Judge  of  the 
County  Court, — his  residence  then  being  in  Chittenden  Count}^,  and  the 
sessions  held  at  Burlington.  After  the  organization  of  Washington 
County, — his  residence  being  within  its  limits, — he  was  appointed  Chief 
Justice  for  Washington,  as  he  had  previously  been  for  Chittenden,  and  was 
reappointed  every  year,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  until  1825.  He  was. 
for  many  years  previous  to  this  date,  elected  by  the  State  a  member  of  the 
Legislative  Council.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress  two  years, — from 
1813  to  1815  ;  and  was  Governor  of  the  State  of  Vermont  for  an  equal 
period, — from  182G  to  1828.  His  administration  as  Governor  was  distin- 
guished chiefly  by  a  vigorous  and  successful  effort  for  the  suppression  of 
Lotteries,  and  by  some  essential  improvements  in  the  system  of  Common 
School  education.  The  last  public  act  he  performed,  was  to  ofSciate  as 
Elector  of  President  of  the  United  States,  in  1836  ;  having  been  appointed 
by  the  other  Electors  to  supply  the  place  of  an  absent  member  of  the  Elec- 
toral College. 

An  extensive  revival  of  religion  occurred  in  Waterbury,  during  the  time 
that  he  held  the  office  of  Governor,  which  resulted  in  considerable  addi- 
tions to  the  several  churches,  and  in  which  his  own  family  had  a  liberal 
share.  Notwithstanding  the  cares  and  burdens  incident  to  the  high  civil 
station  which  he  held,  he  sympathized  deeply  in  the  religious  movement, 
always  cherishing  an  intense  interest  in  the  progress  of  Christ's  Kingdom, 
and  never  losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  his  highest  office  was  that  of  a 
minister  of  Christ. 

Governor  Butler,  during  a  considerable  part  of  his  life,  was  the  subject 
of  much  bodily  infirmity  and  suffering.  For  several  years  previous  to  liis 
death,  his  decline  was  very  perceptible,  and  he  was  able  to-go  little  from 
home.  For  four  days  immediately  preceding  that  event,  he  had  been  con- 
fined to  his  room ;  and  for  the  last  day  or  two  was  evidently  aware  that 
he  was  approaching  his  end  ;  but  his  extreme  weakness,  accompanied  with 
a  degree  of  drowsiness,  rendered  him  incapable  of  much  conversation. 
Every  thing,  however,  indicated  perfect  composure  of  spirit  ;  and  these 
signs  were  confirmed  into  certainty  by  the  higher  testimony  of  a  long 
cO'urse  of  Christian  activity  and  devotion.  He  died  on  the  morning  of  July 
12,  1838,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Mrs.  Butler,  who  had  long  lived  an  exemplary  Christian  life,  died  on 
the  9th  of  March,  1843,  in  her  seventy-sixth  year.  They  had  eleven 
children,  three  of  whom  died  very  young ;  the  eldest  daughter  died  in 
1821,  aged  thirty-three ;  and  the  remaining  seven, — three  sons  and  four 
daughters  still  (1859)  survive,  scattered  in  four  different  States,  and  occu- 
pying different  positions  of  respectability  and  usefulness. 

When  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cox  and  the  llev.  Mr.  Hoby,  two  distinguished 
Baptist  ministers  in  England,  came  to  this  country,  a  few  years  since,  as 
a  deputation  to  the  American  Baptist  Churches,  the  latter  called  on  Gov- 
ernor Butler  ;  and  in  the  joint  Report  of  their  Travels,  which  they  subse- 
quently published,  Mr.  Holiy  thus  refers  to  the  interview : — 


EZRA  BUTLER.  415 

"  At  WatcM-buvy,  I  paid  a  visit  to  Governor  Butler,  who,  you  remember,  tliongh  a 
Pastor  in  our  (UMioiiiination,  had  once  the  lionour  of  being  Governor  of  ttie  State  of 
Vermont.  His  eye  is  not  so  dimmed  witli  age,  but  tliat  you  may  clearly  discern  it 
was  once  expressive  of  tlie  intelligence  and  energy  equal  to  the  respoiisibilitif.s  of  such 
an  oflice,  however  umlesirabie  it  may  be  to  blend  it  witii  ])astoral  engagements.  For- 
ever lot  his  name  l)e  iionoured  among  those  who  steadfastly  (lc!termin"d,  and  laboured 
with  untiling  zeal,  to  disencumber  the  State  of  the  burden  of  a  religious  establish- 
ment, and  religion  of  the  manifold  evils  of  State  patronage.  As  he  walked  towards 
the  town,  he  told  me  that,  tifty  years  ago,  he  cleared  tiie  lirst  spot  in  this  cultivated 
district,  which  was  then  all  wilderness — now  his  children's  children  are  growing  up 
around  him,  to  inherit  the  land  and  the  liberties  they  owe  so  literally  to  their 
fathers." 

FROM  TIIE  REV.  ALVAII  SABIN. 

Georgia  Plain,  Vt.,  October  24,  1857. 

Dear  Sir:  The  first  time  that  I  ever  saw  the  Rev.  Ezra  Butler  was  at  an 
Ecclesiastical  Council  convened  at  Morristown,  Vt.,  about  the  jear  1818.  He 
was  then,  and,  as  he  informed  me,  had  been  for  some  time,  in  very  infirm 
health,  his  disease  being  an  inveterate  asthma.  I  well  recollect  my  surprise 
'at  seeing  him  so  far  from  home,  when  he  was  manifestly  in  so  feeble  a  state. 
Some  one  asked  him  if  he  attempted  to  labour  at  all;  and  his  answer  was, — 
'<  Yes — not  that  my  labours  amount  to  anj^  thing;  but  if  I  did  not  tire  myself, 
I  could  not  rest."  He  was  of  about  the  ordinary  stature,  but  his  shoulders 
were  bowed,  and  his  gait  slow,  and  almost  tottering.  His  complexion  was 
dark;  his  hair  black;  his  forehead  prominent;  his  eyes  deeply  sunken,  but 
black  and  piercing;  and  when  engaged  in  debate,  he  would  raise  them  and  fix 
them  on  an  opponent  in  a  way  that  could  not  fail  to  convince  him  that  he  had 
a  clear  headed  man  to  deal  with.  I  noticed  that  he  was  evidently  fond  of 
debate,  though  he  always  treated  his  opponent  with  profound  respect. 

My  next  opportunity  for  gaining  a  personal  knowledge  of  him  was  in  Octo- 
ber, 1820; — the  year  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  and 
the  Rev.  Aaron  Leiand,  another  Baptist  minister,  was  Lieutenant  Governor. 
I  was  myself  that  year  a  Representative  in  the  Legislature  from  my  native 
town;  and  it  so  happened  that,  during  my  stay  in  Montpelier,  I  boarded  in 
the  same  hou.se  with  these  two  venerable  men,  and  became  quite  intimate  with 
Governor  Butler.  "When  he  had  got  his  annual  speech  printed,  as  was  cus- 
tomary, before  it  was  delivered,  he  asked  me  to  go  with  him  to  his  room;  and, 
putting  his  speech  into  my  hands, —  <  Now,"  said  he,  "  do  you  sit  down,  and 
read  that  speech  to  me,  and  let  me  see  how  it  appears."  I  did  so;  and  when 
I  had  finished  reading  it,  he  simply  remarked, — "  Well,  1  am  sure  that  little 
thing  cost  me  more  than  it  is  worth."  During  the  session,  the  members  had 
a  general  caucus  for  the  purpose  of  nominating  a  candidate  for  Governor  the 
succeeding  year;  and  some  of  his  opponents  advised  his  particular  friends  to 
suggest  to  him  that  he  had  better  take  himself  out  of  the  way,  as  he  would 
thereby  save  him.self  the  mortification  of  a  defeat.  After  the  meeting,  he 
inquired  what  was  done:  and  I  stated,  among  other  things,  what  some  of  the 
would  be  leaders  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  State  had  graciously  volunteered 
to  advise  in  respect  to  himself.  His  reply  was  illustrative  of  his  prodigious 
energy  of  will,  and  fearlessness  of  all  opposing  influences — "  If  ever}'^  man  in 
that  hou.se  were  opposed  to  my  next  election,"  said  he,  "  I  would  have  it, 
though  it  should  cost  me  every  cent  I  am  worth  on  earth."  Butler  and  Leiand 
were  often  engaged  in  animated  conversation:  the  former  Avas  lean  and  cool 
blooded;  the  latter  was  portly  and  corpulent.  As  they  would  walk  the  room 
together,  talking  earnestly,  Leiand  would  raise  the  latch,  and  jerk  the  door 
wide  open;  and,  after  a  turn  or  two,  Butler  would  walk  softly  and  close  the 
door:  after  a  turn  or  two  more,  Leiand  would  again  go  through  the  same  pro- 
cess of  raising  the  latch  and  flirting  the  door  open;  and  Butler  wouid  soon 


416  BAPTIST. 

proceed  to  close  it;  and  thus  they  would  alternately  open  and  close  the  dcor 
half  a  dozen  times  in  one  conversation, — neither  observing  what  the  other  had 
done,  but  each  indicating  the  temperature  of  his  own  blood. 

The  next  year  I  was  sent  for  to  spend  a  week  with  the  church  in  Waterbury. 
It  was  a  time  of  some  revival,  and  the  Governor  took  a  deep  interest  in  the 
work.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  tears  of  affection  and  joy  that  he  shed  on 
witnessing  the  Baptism  of,  I  think,  live  of  his  children,  and  two  or  three  of 
his  grand-children,  at  the  close  of  the  week  I  was  there. 

At  the  early  period  when  Governor  Butler  commenced  his  ministry,  there 
were  but  few  churches,  and  those  were  very  poor  and  small;  and  no  inconsid- 
erable portion  of  the  Baptists  had  scruples  as  to  paying  their  preachers  any 
thing  for  their  services.  Governor  Butler  told  me  that  he  Vv'ould  give  me  his 
whole  history  in  connection  with  the  matter  of  salary,  in  two  anecdotes. 
They  were  the  following : — 

At  one  time,  a  certain  brother  N ,  voluntarily,  and  from  his  own  convic- 
tion of  duty,  brought  him  two  bushels  of  wheat,  which,  of  course,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  receive.     The  next  year,  the  crops  of  the  farmers  being  somewhat 

stinted,  and  Brother  N 's  among  the  rest,  he  concluded,   in  order  to  help 

out  the  deficiency,  to  go  and  demand  of  his  minister  the  wheat  which  he  had 
gi'neroasly  given  him  the  year  before.  He,  accordingly,  did  go,  and  made  the 
demand  in  person;  alleging  that,  as  the  season  was,  Mr.  Butler  could  better 
afford  to  return  it  than  he  could  to  do  without  it.  Mr.  B.  remonstrated 
against  the  injustice,  to  say  nothing  of  the  indelicacy,  of  the  demand;  but  his 
parishioner  could  neither  be  convinced  nor  shamed,  and  even  shadowed  forth 
a  threat  that  if  the  wheat  was  not  returned,  he  would  bring  the  matter  to  the 
notice  and  adjudication  of  the  church.  Mr.  B.,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  finally 
yielded  to  the  strange  and  unrighteous  exaction,  and  the  man  Avent  off  with 
the  same  quantity  of  wheat  which  he  had  brought  the  year  before. 

The  other  case  was  this — A  parishioner  called  on  him  to  attend  a  Funeral  at 
his  house;  and^  after  the  service  was  over,  and  the  Governor  was  about  leaving 
for  home,  the  man  put  into  his  hands  one  silver  dollar;  "  and  that,"  said  he, 
"  is  the  sum  of  all  I  ever  received  for  preaching,  though,  for  a  great  manj" 
years,  I  preached  regularly  to  this  church,  and  answered  the  calls  that  were 
made  upon  me  far  and  near." 

I  regret  that  my  acquaintance  with  Governor  Butler  does  not  enable  me  to 
go  into  the  minute  details  of  his  character;  but  perhaps  what  I  have  written 
may  give  you  some  idea  of  its  more  prominent  features. 
With  great  respect, 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

ALVAH  SABIN. 


JEREMIAH  VARDE5IAN.  ^\*J 


JEREMIAH  VARDEMAN. 

1800—1842. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JOHN  MASON  PECK,  D.  D. 

Rock  Spring,  111.,  August  17,  1854. 

Rev.  and  dear  Brother:  I  will  state  briefly  my  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Vardeman,  of  whose  life  and  cdiaraeter  you  ask  me  to 
furnish  you  some  account.  My  personal  acquaintance  with  bira  commenced 
in  1817,  when  I  was  journeying  with  my  family  from  New  England  to 
Missouri,  as  a  Missionary.  My  colleague,  the  Rev.  James  E.  Welch,  who 
had  preceded  me,  was  at  his  father's  residence  in  the  settlement  of  David's 
Fork,  where  I  spent  between  two  and  three  weeks,  and  heard  Mr.  Varde- 
man preach,  and  learned  something  of  his  character,  habits,  and  influence 
among  the  people  of  his  charge.  I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  him, 
and  heard  him  again,  under  most  favourable  circumstances,  at  Edwards- 
ville.  111.,  in  October,  1830.  He  was  then  moving  from  Kentucky  to  Mis- 
souri, with  a  family  of  about  twenty-five  persons, — old  and  young,  and 
travelling  in  Western  frontier  style,  independent  of  taverns  or  hotels,  and 
encamping  out  at  night  in  the  forest,  or  on  the  borders  of  the  prairies.  It 
was  only  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  his  friends  that  he  could  be  induced, 
under  these  circumstances,  to  attempt  to  preach.  His  discourse,  entirely 
extempore,  was  both  instructive  and  impressive,  and  rarely  have  I  seen  so 
attentive  a  congregation.  I  was  with  him  for  several  weeks  in  1834, 
during  which  we  preached  alternately  through  several  counties  in  the  inte- 
rior of  Missouri.  Again  in  1836,  I  lay  sick  in  his  house  several  days, 
shared  and  fe/t  his  kindness  and  hospitality,  and  witnessed  the  order  and 
afi"ection  in  his  household,  and  (he  strong  attachment  of  his  servants,  who 
revered  and  loved  him  as  a  father.  The  last  visit  I  made  to  him  was  in 
1838,  when  he  was  still  active  and  successful  in  the  ministry. 

Jeremiah  Vardeman  was  the  youngest  of  twelve  children,  and  was 
descended  from  Swedish  ancestors  by  his  father,  and  from  Welsh  by  his 
mother.  Traits  of  character  peculiar  to  each  nation  were  conspicuous  in 
him.  He  was  born  on  the  waters  of  New  River,  in  what  is  now  Wythe 
County,  Va.,  on  the  8th  of  July,  1775.  Both  his  father  and  paternal 
grandfather  were  natives  of  Sweden.  The  latter,  John  Vardeman,  Senior, 
migrated  to  America  with  his  family  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  joined  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  his  adopted 
country,  and  was  esteemed  for  his  piety  and  moral  worth.  As  reported  by 
his  descendants,  be  died  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years. 

His  son,  John  Vardeman,  Jr.,  was  only  seven  years  of  age  when  he  left 
his  native  country,  but  recollected  many  incidents  that  occurred  in  Swe- 
den. While  living  in  South  Carolina,  he  married  Elizabeth  Morgan,  who 
was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  soon  after  removed  to  Virginia,  and  settled  in 
Bedford  County,  on  the  Eastern  slope  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  not  far  from  (he 
celebrated  Peaks  of  Otter.     Here  they  professed  religion,  and  united  with 

Vol.  VT.  53 


418  BAPTIST. 

the  Baptists,  at  a  period  of  violent  persecution  in  the  Old  Dominion, 
and  ever  after  maintained  an  exemplary  Christian  profession  to  extreme 
old  age. 

About  1767,  John  Vardeman,  Jr.  removed  his  young  family  to  the  set- 
tlement on  New  River,  where  Jeremiah  was  born.  Two  years  after,  the 
father  pushed  still  farther  into  the  Southwestern  corner  of  Virginia.  It 
was  then  a  time  of  trouble  with  the  Southern  and  Western  Indians,  and 
Mr.  Vardeman  and  his  neighbours  made  a  fort  at  Shadrach  White's  resi- 
dence, for  their  protection,  in  which  the  families  lived.  The  men  were 
engaged  in  scouting  parties,  and  were  obliged  to  be  armed  and  to  stand 
guard,  while  clearing  and  cultivating  their  fields. 

In  the  autumn  of  1779,  Mr.  Vardeman  and  family,  with  a  company  of 
emigrants,  removed  to  the  wilds  of  Kentuck}',  and  settled  near  Crab 
Orchard  in  Lincoln  County.  Both  the  father  and  the  sons  were  compelled 
to  perform  their  part  in  the  border  wars  for  the  defence  of  the  families  in 
Kentucky.  The  father  was  too  far  advanced  in  life  to  go  on  campaigns, 
as  he  had  done  in  former  years,  but  he  could  stand  guard  at  the  fort,  and 
hunt  game  in  the  woods.  His  four  eldest  sons  were  frequently  engaged  in 
defence  of  the  settlements  and  in  scouting  parties.  The  father  ultimately 
removed  to  Missouri,  and  died  there  about  1827,  aged  a  hundred  and  nine 
years. 

Jeremiah,  who  was  the  youngest  of  his  father's  five  sons,  was  old  enough 
to  take  some  part  in  the  Indian  wars  before  their  close  by  Wayne's  victory 
in  1794,  and  he  actually  served  more  than  once  as  a  scout.  Reared  from 
early  childhood  in  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky,  and  during  troublous  times, 
his  opportunities  for  education  were  limited  indeed.  And  the  very  little 
he  obtained  was  more  from  his  own  personal  efforts  at  home,  and  from 
assistance  derived  from  the  fumilj',  than  from  tlie  advantages  of  a  school. 
His  acquisitions  did  not  reach  beyond  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
W^hen  he  attained  to  manhood,  and  especially  after  he  commenced  speaking 
in  public,  he  read  just  enough  for  profitable  meditation.  He  acquired  the 
habit  of  exercising  deep  and  intense  thought,  while  riding,  walking,  or 
labouring  on  a  farm.  His  pious  parents  instructed  their  children  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  daily  offered  up  prayers  for  their  salvation. 

It  was  in  the  year  1792,  when  Jeremiah  Vardeman  was  seventeen  years 
of  age,  that  a  revival  of  religion  commenced  in  the  Baptist  Church  of 
Cedar  Creek,  in  Lincoln  County.  The  ministers  who  were  co-labourers, 
and  itinerated  througli  that  part  of  Kentucky,  were  John  Bailey,  Lewis 
Craig,  William  Marshall,  Peyton  Nowlin,  and  William  Bledsoe.  The 
meetings  were  not  continuous  or  protracted,  as  in  modern  tin)es.  The 
regular  periods  for  preaching  in  each  settlement  were  monthly,  when,  on 
ordinary  occasions,  the-iiieetings  would  be  held  on  Saturday  and  Sabbath ; 
in  seasons  of  special  revival,  more  frequently,  with  two  or  three  social 
prayer  meetings  during  each  week,  and  occasional  sermons  on  week  days  by 
some  visiting  preacher.  During  this  revival,  Jeremiah  Vardeman,  and  liis 
two  brothers,  Amaziah  and  Morgan,  with  many  otlier  persons  in  Lincoln 
County,  professed  to  be  converted,  were  baptized,  and  united  willi  tin- 
Cedar  Creek  Church.  Elder  William  Marshall  had  gathered  this  chiircli, 
but,  at   the   time  of  the   revival,  William  Bledsoe  was  Pastor  or  monthly 


JEREMIAH  VAKDEMAN.  419 

supply.      Sulisoqucntly,  Jolui    Bailry,  :i   loading   proac-licr   in   llii.s  di.-triet 
became  a  Universal    Restoratiunist,    and   was    deposed    from    the    ministry 
among  the  Baptists.      Bledsoe  also    apostatized,  first  to  Universalism,  and 
then  to  religious  indifference,  and  to  a  reckless  course  of  conduct. 

]Mr.  Yarden)an  always  protested  that  the  preaching  of  these  men  had  no 
effect  in  brinjxinfir  him  to  serious  reflection.  He  was  under  conviction  of 
his  sins  for  two  or  three  months,  during  which  the  instruction  and  prayers 
of  his  father  and  mother,  and  his  own  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  made  a 
powerful  impression  upon  his  mind. 

As  soon  as  he  indulged  the  hope  that  he  was  reconciled  to  God,  he  felt 
a  strong  conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  and 
to  engage  at  once  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  But  the  ordinary  objections 
rose  in  his  mind, — his  youth,  his  inexperience,  his  deficiency  in  knowledge, 
and  the  fear  that  he  should  dishonour  the  cause  if  he  should  make  the 
attempt.  And  these  objections  so  far  prevailed  with  him  that  he  came 
pretty  much  to  abandon  the  idea.  He  remained  in  the  church,  maintained 
secret  prayer,  and  paid  due  respect  to  his  Christian  obligations  for  about 
two  years.  He  was  a  mere  novice,  and  no  one  thought  of  calling  on  him 
to  pray  or  to  speak  in  public. 

Some  of  his  associates,  of  about  his  own  age,  made  frequent  attempts 
to  draw  him  into  circles  of  frivolity  and  wurldliness:  they  repeated  to  him 
the  words  of  Scripture,  without  regard  to  their  connection  and  meaning, — 
"  There  is  a  time  to  dance;"  which,  of  course,  as  they  applied  it,  meant 
the  period  of  youth.  Young  Vardeman's  natural  temperament  induced  in 
him  a  high  relish  for  social  pleasures  and  hilarity,  and,  by  the  urgent 
solicitations  of  his  ungodly  friends,  he  was  drawn  first  partially,  and  then 
wholly,  within  the  circle  of  their  influence.  The  next  downward  step  was 
in  yielding  to  their  entreaties,  much  against  his  own  conscience,  to  attend, 
as  a  mere  spectator,  a  dancing  school  that  had.  been  started  in  the  settle- 
ment of  Crab  Orchard.  He  thought  within  himself  that  it  should  be  only 
for  a  single  time,  and  after  that  he  would  resume  his  former  watchfulness 
and  spirituality.  Some  very  respectable  persons  were  there ;  and  they 
treated  the  young  professor  with  marked  attention.  Amidst  the  whirl  of 
excitement  and  gaiety,  and  against  the  convictions  of  his  own  conscience, 
he  was  finally  persuaded  to  sign  his  name  to  the  list  of  those  who  were  to 
constitute  the  school. 

Forty  years  after  this  false  step  was  taken,  I  heard  him  narrate  with 
pungent  feelings  of  regret  and  abhorrence  this  error  of  his  youth.  He 
told  me  that,  while  putting  his  name  to  the  subscription  list,  he  ftdt  like  a 
criminal  signing  liis  own  death  warrant  ;  but,  by  a  desperate  effort,  he 
braved  it  out,  and  went  through  a  regular  course  of  les-^ons  in  dancing. 
Up  to  this  time  he  had  never  attended  a  dancing  school,  or  a  country  frolic. 
Educated,  as  he  had  been,  under  the  constant  supervision  of  religious 
parent*,  and  habituated  to  the  universally  prevailing  sentiment  at  that 
period  that  dancing  and  all  kindred  amusements  were  inconsistent  with  a 
Christian  profession,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  should  regard  his  conduct 
as  a  forfeiture  of  Christian  fellowship  among  his  brethren,  and  suffer 
exclusion  from  the  Church.  His  parents  and  two  brothers  were  members 
of  the  same  church,  and  were  grievously  afflicted  by  the  conduct  of  Jere- 


420  BAPTIST. 

miali,  who  left  the  church  without  explanation  or  apology.  He  regarded 
himself  as  unworthy  of  the  Christian  name,  and  offered  no  apology  for  his 
folly  and  sin. 

Possessing, 'as  he  did,  unusual  energy  of  character,  he  engaged  with  his 
whole  soul  in  whatever  he  undertook.  He  even  tried  to  persuade  his 
brother  Morgan  to  look  on  and  see  how  well  he  could  dance.  This  brother, 
who  maintained  steadfastly  his  Christian  profession  to  old  age,  gave  to  a 
friend  of  mine  a  statement  of  the  waywardness  of  his  erring  brother,  and 
remarked,  with  deep  feeling,  that  he  would  rather  have  followed  him  to 
the  grave,  and  seen  him  buried  as  a  Christian,  than  to  have  seen  him  in  a 
dancing  school. 

While  learning  to  dance,  he  became  enamoured  with  the  niusic  of  the 
violin,  and  purchased  one.  He  had  an  ear  and  taste  for  music,  and  in  a 
few  weeks  became  a  successful  performer.  For  about  three  years,  he  spent 
much  of  his  time  in  plaj'ing  on  that  instrument,  greatly  to  the  grief  of 
his  parents  and  brothers. 

During  this  period  of  worldiness  and  hilarity,  he  became  attached  to  a 
young  lady, — Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  James,  Esq.  Her  parents 
were  both  devout  members  of  Cedar  Creek  Church,  and  regarded  young 
Vardemau  as  a  vain,  light-minded  fellow,  who  wasted  his  time  in  dancing 
and  playing  on  the  fiddle  ;  and  they  were  opposed  to  the  match.  The 
result  was  ^a  very  common  one  in  frontier  settlements)  an  elopement  to 
Pulaski  County,  and  marriage. 

His  young  wife,  though  religiously  trained,  had  made  no  profession  of 
religion,  and  inclined  to  the  ways  of  her  husband.  Her  excellent  parents, 
though  sorely  grieved,  had  the  good  sense  to  perceive  that  further  oppo- 
sition was  useless,  forgave  the  delinquents,  and  within  a  few  months 
followed  the  young  couple  to  Pulaski  County,  and  settled  on  Cumbeidand 
River.  There  Vardeman  became  the  leader  of  the  young  people  in  every 
species  of  mirth  and  amusement — none  could  sing  and  play  the  violin  so 
enchantingly, — none  so  jovial  and  frolicksome,  as  Jeremiah  Vardeman  ; 
and  his  young  wife,  much  to  the  grief  of  her  parents,  shared  in  all  his 
gaiety.  Thus  passed  nearly  three  years  of  his  life.  He  was  not,  in  the 
ordinary  acceptation  of  the  word,  immoral ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he 
abstained  from  profane  language,  was  temperate,  kind-hearted,  generous, 
and  honourable  in  his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men.  But  his  duty  to  God 
was  wholly  neglected,  and  he  lived  after  the  course  of  this  world.  Yet 
he  was  far  from  being  a  happy  man.  He  had  his  seasons  of  deep  depress- 
ion and  bitter  remorse,  which  always,  sooner  or  later,  overtake  the  gross 
backslider.  Conviction  of  his  sin  and  folly  often  drove  him  back  to  sinful 
pleasures  for  temporary  relief.  His  religious  friends,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion, gave  him  up,  under  the  impression  that  he  was,  humanly  speaking, 
irreclaimable.  That  exception  was  his  pious  mother.  She  clung  to  him 
with  a  mother's  love,  strengthened  by  faith  in  the  Divine  promises,  and  in 
the  power  and  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  She  was  a  woman  of 
persevering  prayer  ;  and  the  more  thoughtless  and  worldly  he  became,  the 
more  fervently  she  prayed.  It  seemed  to  others  presumptuous,  when  she 
would  say, — "I  know  Jerry  will  be  reclaimed.  God  is  faithful,  and  I 
feel  assured  He  is  a  prayer-hearing  God." 


JEREMIAH  YARDEMAN.  421 

There  was  a  plain,  unlotteretl  Baptist  preacher  in  Pulaski  County,  by 
the  name  of  Thomas  Hansford, — a  man  of  fervent  zeal  and  devout  niau- 
ncrs,  who  was  very  successful  in  liis  labours,  especially  in  awakening  the 
consciences  of  his  hearers.  This  man  had  made  a  profession  of  religion 
about  the  same  time  with  Vardeman,  and  soon  after  commenced  preaching 
the  Gospel.  Vardeman  had  much  confidence  in  the  sincerity  and  zeal  of 
Hansford,  and  was  not  so  hardened  but  that  he  v.'Ould  attend  meetings 
with  his  wife.  A  revival  was  in  progress  under  his  ministrations.  It  was 
the  beginning  of  the  series  of  extraordinary  religious  excitements,  that 
commenced  simultaneously,  and  at  various  and  quite  distant  places  in 
Kentucky,  and  other  States,  at  the  close  of  the  last,  and  the  beginning  of 
the  present,  century,  and  called  the  great  revival. 

On  a  certain  Sabbath  in  1799,  Mr.  Hansford  had  an  appointment  in  a 
private  house,  (for  seldom  had  a  church  there  a  house  of  worship,)  about 
six  miles  from  Mr.  Vardeman's  residence.  It  was  no  great  feat,  at  that 
time,  for  a  young,  athletic  man  and  his  wife  to  ride  or  even  walk  that  dis- 
tance through  the  forest  to  hear  the  Gospel  preaclied.  -Mr.  Hansford  was  led 
to  preach  from  II.  Peter,  ii.  22.  "  But  it  has  happened  unto  them,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  proverb,  the  dog  is  turned  to  his  vomit  again,  and  the  sow 
that  was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire."  The  preacher  expounded 
the  preceding  verses,  and  applied  the  text  in  a  most  pungent  and  feeling 
manner  to  the  consciences  of  those  who  had  professed  religion,  and  had 
apostatized.  Vardeman  was  present  in  one  room,  and  his  wife  in  another. 
He  was  convinced  suddenly  and  powerfully  of  the  sin  of  backsliding ; 
she  was  made  conscious  of  her  sin  and  guilt ;  while  neither  knew  until 
afterwards  that  the  other  was  affected.  In  relating  this  to  me,  in  the  year 
1834,  he  remarked,  while  the  big  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks, — "If 
Brother  Hansford  had  poured  coals  of  fire  over  my  naked  body,  they  would 
not  have  burned  me  worse  than  that  sermon  did."  Both  went  home  from 
the  meeting  under  pungent  distress.  Vardeman  could  not  labour,  had  no 
appetite,  end  spent  most  of  his  time  for  two  or  three  days  in  the  woods, — 
sometimes  on  his  knees,  and  then  prostrate  on  the  ground,  confessing  and 
deploring  his  sins,  and  pleading  with  God  for  mercy.  He  compared  him- 
self to  Jonah,  who  fled  from  his  duty  to  Tarshish,  and  was  cast  overboard 
in  the  storm.  The  impressions  he  had  received  in  regard  to  preaching  the 
Gospel,  when  he  first  made  a  profession  of  religion,  now  rolled  on  his 
conscience  with  crushing  force.  He  felt  great  distress  for  turning  back 
from  his  Christian  profession ;  but  he  was  constrained  to  refer  this  sad 
delinquency  to  his  refusal  to  follow  Christ  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  His 
feelings  on  the  subject  became  more  and  more  intense,  until  he  at  length 
said,  both  in  his  heart  and  with  his  lips, — "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do  ?  I  will  do  anything  the  Lord  requires,  though  it  be  at  the  sacrifice 
of  my  life."  As  he  was  reading  and  meditating  on  Malachi,  IV.  2, — 
"But  unto  you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arise 
with  healing  in  his  wings  ;  and  ye  shall  go  forth,  and  grow  up  as  calves  of 
the  stall," — he  found  some  relief,  and  solemnly  vowed  to  the  Lord  that  he 
would  break  off  from  his  sinful  course,  and  devote  himself  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel. 


422  BAPTIST. 

A  prayer  meeting  Lad  been  appointed  in  the  neiglibourliood,  at  night, 
the  same  week;  and  the  change  in  Mr.  Vardeman  and  his  wife  had  become 
known,  and  a  rumour  had  gone  forth  that  he  would  preach.  Of  this,  how- 
ever, he  knew  nothing,  but  went  to  the  meeting,  with  his  wife,  in  liis 
working  dress.  It  being  in  the  midst  of  summer,  he  was  clad,  like  other 
labouring  men,  in  a  shirt  and  pants,  and  was  bare-footed.  This  was  all 
well  enough  ;  fur  plain,  frontier  people  never  think  of  putting  on  finery  to 
attend  a  neighbourhood  meeting  on  a  week  day. 

There  was  no  preacher  present,  but  the  general  interest  that  was  felt  in 
religion,  and  the  rumour  that  Vardeman  was  to  preach,  had  brought  out 
the  men,  women,  and  children  for  several  miles  around.  Some  of  the 
church  members  conducted  the  social  meetings  without  much  formality. 
They  sang  hymns,  prayed  and  talked,  as  they  were  inclined,  or  as  impres- 
sions moved  them.  Towards  the  close,  one  of  Vardeman's  neighbours, 
who  knew  the  eifect  of  the  sermon  and  his  struggle  during  the  week,  invi- 
ted him  to  speak.  He  arose  to  explain  the  mistake,  and  fell  into  a  strain 
of  passionate  exhortation.  In  narrating  the  circumstance,  he  told  me  that 
he  never  could  remember  what  he  said,  how  long  he  spoke,  or  whether  he 
said  any  thing.  All  that  he  recollected  was  that  the  people  were  weeping 
and  sobbing  around  him.  The  weather  was  hot,  the  room  crowded,  and 
the  preternatural  excitement  and  effort  in  speaking  caused  him  to  perspire 
profusely,  until  his  light,  thin  garments  were  drenched. 

The  next  Sal)])ath  he  was  at  meeting  again,  where  a  crowd  of  people 
had  gathered.  He  was  expected  to  speak,  but  waited  for  older  persons  to 
take  the  lead;  after  which,  with  deep  emotion  and  the  tears  gushing  from 
his  eyes,  he  gave  an  exhortation,  mingled  with  confessions  of  his  own  back- 
slidings,  and  entreated  his  young  associates  to  forsake  the  sinful  amuse- 
ments into  which  he  had  led  them,  and  follow  Christ.  To  his  great  surprise, 
young  and  old  pressed  forward  to  offer  him  their  hands,  and  with  audible 
voices  exclaimed, — "  Oh,  Mr.  Vardeman,  pray  for  me  ;  "  and  one  said, — 
"  Do  pray  for  me,  Mr.  Vardeman,  for  I'm  a  heap  bigger  sinneV  than  j-ou 
ever  was."  Probably  there  were  twenty  or  more  standing  around  him,  or 
urging  their  way  throufjli  the  crowd,  and  in  various  phraseology  confessing 
their  sins  and  begging  him  to  pray  for  them.  As  Mr.  Vardeman  had  never 
attempted  to  pray  in  public,  this  call  took  him  wholly  by  surprise  ;  but 
there  was  no  time  for  reflection — he  thought  of  his  vow  to  the  Lord  when 
he  obtained  relief,  and  without  hesitation  fell  on  his  knees,  and  with  the 
crowded  assembly  around  him  dissolved  in  tears,  and  pleading  for  mercy, 
he  attempted  for  the  first  time  to  pray  in  public  ;  what  he  said,  or  whether 
there  was  any  coherency  in  his  language  or  thought,  he  was  unable  to 
recollect.  ^ 

These  social  meetings  M'cre  continued  on  each  successive  Sabbath,  and 
two  or  three  times  during  the  week,  with  similar  effects  ;  though,  l)efore 
they  closed,  he  gave  an  invitation  to  all  who  felt  conscious  of  their  sinful- 
ness and  need  of  the  power  and  grace  of  Christ,  and  who  desired  the 
prayers  of  God's  people,  to  come  forward  and  give  him  their  hands,  and 
he  would  offer  special  prayer  to  God  in  their  behalf.  This  practice  became 
very  common,  especially  in  seasons  of  revival,  with  most  religious  denomi- 
nations through  this  Valley.     Large  meetings  were  frequently  held  in  the 


JEREMIAH  VARDEMAN.  423 

open  air,  uiKler  tlio  uinbragcons  forest,  or  in  sehool-lioiises,  dwelling-houses, 
or  other  shelters  in  bad  wcatlier.  I  liave  not  been  a1)le  to  trace  the  prac- 
tice beyond  tlio  social  meeting  described,  of  the  people  spontaneously 
moving  forward  and  entreating  the  speaker  to  pray  for  them. 

Connected  as  it  was  witli  his  first  effort  to  exhort  sinners  to  forsake  their 
sins  and  flee  to  Christ,  he  always  observed  the  practice,  when  he  saw  those 
signs  of  seriousness  and  anxiety  which  he  was  so  (^uick  to  disceru.  He 
was  opposed  to  all  artifice  and  all  preternatural  excitements  and  contri- 
vances to  work  on  the  passions  of  the  people,  and  cautiously  guarded  his 
eonirregations  from  mistaking  willingness  on  their  part  to  have  the  prayers 
of  Christians,  for  submission  to  the  terms  of  the  Gospel. 

It  was  not  many  days  before  his  former  associates  in  worldly  pleasure 
gave  evidence  of  a  saving  conversion  to  Christ  ;  his  own  wife  being  one  of 
the  first.  News  of  the  revival,  and  of  the  change  in  the  course  of  Mr. 
Vardenian,  and  of  his  preaching,  as  the  people  called  it,  reached  Lincoln 
County  ;  and  his  parents,  brothers  and  friends  urged  him  to  visit  them. 
His  father  and  brothers  were  fearful  that  he  would  make  a  failure  ia 
attempting  to  speak  in  their  presence.  But  he  disappointed  their  fears, 
speaking  with  great  freedom,  and  wanting  neither  words  nor  thoughts. 

The  church  of  which  he  had  been  a  member  restored  him  to  fellowship, 
and  gave  him  a  license  in  the  old  Baptist  form  ;  a  certificate,  merely  stat- 
ing he  had  "  a  gift  "  of  usefulness,  and  had  liberty  to  use  it,  wherever 
Providence  opened  the  door.  He  now  gave  out  appointments,  and  preached 
several  times  in  quick  succession.  All  classes  came  out  to  hear  him,  and 
in  a  short  time  more  than  twenty  of  his  former  associates  in  Lincoln 
County,  and  members  of  the  dancing  school  that  had  led  him  astray, 
became  the  humble  and  obedient  disciples  of  Christ. 

It  would  exceed  the  limits  of  this  communication  to  give  any  thing  like 
a  complete  narrative  of  Mr.  Yardeman's  ministerial  labours  and  eventful 
life.  At  the  time  he  commenced  public  speaking,  he  laboured  on  a  rented 
farm  to  support  his  family,  and  had  no  expectation  of  or  desire  for  the 
public  career  to  which  he  was  destined.  He  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods, 
and  expected  to  remain  so,  but  resolutely  determined  to  cast  himself  on 
Divine  Providence,  perform  the  necessary  labour  required  for  a  subsist- 
ence, and  devote  all  the  time  he  could  to  preaching  the  Gospel.  He  was 
ordained  about  1801,  and  soon  found  himself  called  to  the  Pastorate,  or 
rather  monthly  supply,  of  four  churches.  Providence  favoured  him,  and 
his  l)rethren  whom  he  served  aided  him,  and  in  a  few  years  he  was  ena1)led 
to  devote  himself  to  the  Gospel  ministry  in  a  sphere  of  great  usefulness. 
He  met  with  annoyances  from  some  of  the  parties  or  divisions  that  then 
existed  among  the  Baptists  in  Kentucky  ;  but  he  used  pleasantly  to  say  in 
reference  to  their  altercations, — "  I  cannot  come  down  from  the  walls  to 
engage  on  the  plains  of  Ono." 

He  purchased  a  small  farm  in  Lincoln  County,  on  which  he  resided, 
while  his  labours  extended  into  several  counties  abroad.  Early  in  1810, 
he  was  called  to  the  monthly  Pastorate  of  David's  Fork  Church,  in  Fayette 
County,  ten  miles  East  of  Lexington,  where  he  resided  until  his  removal 
to  Missouri  in  1830.  At  the  same  period,  and  for  several  years  after,  he 
attended  monthly  the  churches  of  Lulbegrud  and  Grassy  Lick  in  Mont- 


424  BAPTIST. 

gomery  County,  where,  in  three  successive  years,  he  admiuisteretl  Baptism 
to  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  professed  converts.  The  Church  in 
Bryant's  Station,  but  a  few  miles  from  his  residence,  claimed  his  services 
one  fourth  of  the  time  for  nineteen  years,  during  which  period  more  than 
three  hundred  were  baptized  in  that  church.  His  labours  were  not  con- 
fined to  these  localities.  The  churches  he  regularly  supplied,  though  very 
strongly  attached  to  him,  obtained  temporary  supplies  and  released  him  for 
weeks  and  even  for  months  at  a  time,  to  labour  in  distant  and  more  desti- 
tute places.  He  usually  attended  several  Associations  annually,  which 
always  included  a  Sabbath  each,  on  which  he  was  uniformly  chosen  one  of 
the  preachers.  As  early  as  1804,  we  have  the  account  of  a  tour  for 
preaching  he  made  to  Lexington,  Lewistown,  (now  Maysville,)  and  other 
places.  In  1816,  we  find  him  in  the  city  of  Lexington,  holding  a  series 
of  meetings,  and  the  Church  at  Bryant's  Station  holding  a  church  meeting 
to  examine  converts.  Next  year,  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Lexington 
appears  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Elkhorn  Association  with  thirty-eight 
members. 

In  the  winter  of  1815-16,  Mr.  Yardeman  made  his  first  visit  to  Bards- 
town,  in  Nelson  County,  then  the  seat  of  Roman  Catholic  influence.  I 
have  had  the  particulars  of  this  and  subsequent  visits  to  Bardstown,  and 
vicinity,  and  the  effects  of  his  preaching  there,  from  the  late  Col.  Samuel 
McKay.  The  Catholic  Priest,  who  resided  there,  was  unwise  enough  to 
enter  the  lists  against  him,  and  lost  several  of  his  congregation.  Varde- 
man  disrelished  controversy,  but  in  bringing  the  whole  armament  of  Gos- 
pel truth  to  bear  with  tremendous  effect  on  error,  no  man  that  I  ever  knew 
was  his  superior.  He  visited  that  part  of  Kentucky  three  times,  and  with 
his  accustomed  success  ia  winning  souls  to  Christ. 

The  same  year,  1816,  he  commenced  a  series  of  meetings  in  Louisville. 
The  Hon.  Judge  Rowan,  then  at  the  head  of  the  Kentucky  Bar,  but  not  a 
church  member,  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Vardeman,  and  regarded 
him  as  one  of  the  greatest  pulpit  orators  he  had  heard.  There  were  but 
few  professors  of  religion  in  Louisville,  and  but  one  house  of  worship,  aud 
that  owned  and  occupied  by  the  Methodists.  This  was  obtained,  and  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Rowan  brought  out  a  large  congregation,  and  a  class  of 
persons  not  accustomed,  on  ordinary  occasions,  to  attend  worship.  Col. 
McKay,  who  was  present,  says,  (1842,)  "His  fame  as  a  preacher  brought 
out  immense  congregations,  for  several  successive  days,  to  whom  he 
preached  with  great  effect ;  and  to  these  meetings  the  city  of  Louisville  is 
indebted,  in  a  great  measure,  for  its  flourishing  churches.  .  .  .  Imme- 
diately a  large  Presbyterian  church  arose,  then  the  First  Baptist 
Church, — and  so  on." 

In  1818,  the  churches  hel-egularly  served  released  him  for  eight  months, 
and  provided,  in  each  case,  a  substitute.  His  first  wife  had  died  suddenly, 
and  he  became  so  depressed  as  to  alarm  his  friends,  who  wisely  thought 
that,  if  he  could  be  enlisted  in  a  series  of  revivals  by  itinerant  labours,  his 
despondency  would  pass  away.  During  this  period,  he  visited  Bardstown 
again,  and  then  made  along  tour  into  the  Southern  part  of  Kentucky,  aud  on 
the  borders  of  Tennessee.  The  preceding  year,  he  had  laboured  with  other 
ministers  in  raising  up  a  church  called  Providence,  in  Jessamine  County, 


JEREMIAH  YARDEMAN.  425 

of  seventy  members.  Another  scries  of  meetings,  in  1825,  gave  this 
church  an  addition  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  members.  He  raised 
up  another  cluiroli  at  Paris,  the  scat  of  Justice  of  Bourbon  County  ;  and 
at  various  periods  attended  the  Churches  at  Boone's  Creek,  Cane  llun, 
and  Silas. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1820,  Mr.  Vardeman  made  a  visit  to  Nashville, 
the  capital  of  Tennessee.  There  were  but  three  Baptists  in  the  place,  and 
they  belonged  to  Mill  Creek  Church,  four  miles  distant.  At  first,  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  Methodist  Church,  but  soon  removed  to  the  Court 
House.  He  usually  had  one  or  two  brethren  to  aid  him  in  these  protracted 
meetings.  On  this  occasion,  the  meetings  commenced  with  the  aid  uf  the 
Rev.  Isaac  Hodgen,  another  very  successful  itinerant.  Of  Mr.  Varde- 
man's  labours  here,  which  were  continued  through  several  weeks,  I  liave  a 
very  interesting  sketch  from  the  late  Col.  William  Martin,  who  was  present  ; 
but  have  room  only  to  add  that  his  usual  success  attended  him,  that  a 
Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  that  city,  and  by  the  20th  of  September 
of  that  year,  it  numbered  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  members,  and  had 
commenced  the  erection  of  a  large  house  of  worship. 

It  was  in  the  winter  of  1828  or  1829,  that  he  was  invited  to  hold  a 
series  of  meetings  in  Cincinnati ;  and  here  also  a  rich  blessing  attended 
his  labours.  More  than  one  hundred  persons  professed  to  be  converted. 
His  family  had  become  large,  and  his  servants,  for  whose  welfare  he 
appeared  as  anxious  as  a  good  man  should  be,  could  do  far  better  in  a  new 
country  ;  young  ministers  of  promising  talents  and  usefulness  had  been 
raised  up  ;  and  the  denomination  had  made  such  advances  that  he  thought 
his  labours  might  be  spared  in  Kentucky.  Age  was  creeping  over  him, 
and  young  children,  by  a  third  marriage,  were  gathering  around  his  board. 
Kentuckians,  by  many  hundreds  annually,  for  a  dozen  years,  had  been 
moving  Westward.  So  he  sold  his  farm,  then  much  too  small  for  his  large 
family,  made  a  farewell  excursion  through  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and 
in  October  had  pitched  his  habitation  on  the  borders  of  a  beautiful  prairie 
in  Ball's  County,  Mo.  Here,  in  a  short  time,  he  had  comfortable  houses 
for  his  own  family  and  dependants,  and  more  than  two  hundred  acres  of 
rich  land  under  cultivation.  Nor  was  he  neglectful  of  the  moral  wilder- 
ness around  him.  His  labours  in  the  ministry  were  abundant,  and  gratu- 
itously bestowed.  Several  churches  grew  up  under  his  immediate  efforts, 
one  of  which  was  in  Palmyra,  the  County  seat  of  Marion  County. 

For  some  years  he  had  been  growing  corpulent,  and  his  accustomed 
weight  was  three  hundred  pounds ;  yet  his  muscular  frame  was  well  pro- 
portioned, and  his  personal  appearance  graceful  and  commanding.  His 
voice  was  powerful,  sonorous  and  clear,  his  enunciation  distinct,  and  he 
could  be  heard  in  the  open  air  to  a  great  distance.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  bringing  the  Baptist  denomination  in  Missouri  into  harmonious  co-ope- 
ration in  benevolent  efforts.  In  August,  1834,  he  presided  in  a  Conven- 
tion to  organize  a  system  of  Domestic  Missions  in  that  State,  at  which 
time  I  spent  several  weeks  in  his  company  and  assisted  him  in  his  labours. 

Still  the  infirmities  of  age  were  creeping  over  him,  and  his  giant  frame 
and  vigorous  constitution  showed  signs  of  decay.  Yet  he  allowed  no 
relaxation  in  his  ministerial  labours.     Nearly  two  years  before  his  death, 

Vol.  VI.  54 


426  BAPTIST. 

lie  became  unable  to  stand  wbile  preaching,  but  sat  in  an  arm-chair,  while 
he  addressed  the  people  with  deep  pathos.  Only  two  weeks  before  his 
departure,  in  company  with  another  minister,  he  visited  Elk  Lick,  a 
Sulphur  watering  place,  in  the  hope  of  deriving  benefit  from  the  water. 
The  (wo  ministers  commenced  preaching  to  the  people,  and,  before  they  left, 
baptized  several  persons  and  constituted  a  church, — a  thing  which  they  had 
not  contemplated.  Notwithstanding  his  enfeebled  condition,  Mr.  Yarde- 
man  baptized  five, — the  last  service  of  that  kind  he  ever  performed.  He 
had  then  baptized  a  greater  number  than  any  Baptist  minister  in  the  United 
States — the  exact  number  cannot  be  ascertained ;  but  it  probably  exceeded 
eight  thousand. 

On  the  Lord's  day  before  his  death,  he  attended  the  service  conducted 
by  another  preacher  in  the  church  in  his  immediate  neighbourhood.  He 
was  free  from  pain ;  his  appetite  was  good ;  and  his  mind  clear  and  calm. 
After  the  first  sermon,  he  spoke  with  his  usual  impressiveness  half  an  hour 
from  Hebrews  ii.  3.  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salva- 
tion ?"  The  following  week  he  grew  worse  ;  though  neither  himself  nor 
his  family  apprehended  his  speedy  dissolution.  But,  on  Saturday  morning, 
the  '28th  of  May,  1842,  he  called  his  family  around  him,  gave  them  some 
directions,  bade  them  farewell,  and  sunk  in  death,  like  a  child  falling 
asleep, — all  within  fifteen  minutes,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

In  regard  to  Mr.  Vardeman's  character,  doctrine,  and  manner  of  preach- 
ing, I  borrow  the  following  paragraphs  from  a  sketch  written  by  my  friend, 
the  Rev.  James  E.  Welch,  now  of  Warren  County,  Mo.,  who  was  con- 
verted and  baptized  under  Mr.  Vardeman's  ministry,  and  commenced 
preaching  under  his  pastoral  training,  and  is  well  known  throughout  the 
United  States  for  his  Agency  of  twenty  years  in  the  American  Sunday 
School  Union.     He  writes  as  follows : — 

"  The  R.ev.  Jeremiah  Vardeman  was  one  of  the  most  laborious  preachers 
Kentucky  ever  had ;  for,  although  he  lived  on  a  farm,  he  was  at  home  not 
more  than  half  his  time  ;  but  rode  on  horseback  from  neighbourhood  to 
neighbourhood,  from  county  to  county,  preaching  almost  every  day  and 
night.  His  manner  of  preaching  was  ready,  and  always  without  notes 
before  him,  and  apparently  extempore.  His  style  was  fervid,  and  his 
thoughts  clear,  yet  simple  and  always  directed  to  the  heart  rather  than  the 
mere  intellect.  His  sermons  were  calculated  to  leave  the  impression  upon 
an  unprejudiced  mind  that  he  was  more  anxious  to  do  good  than  to  be 
thouglit  a  great  preacher.  And  hence,  if,  at  any  time,  he  thought  he 
could  do  more  good,  and  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  guilty  sinner,  he 
would  break  off  from  the  regular  discussion  of  his  subject,  and  make  a 
pathetic  appeal  to  the  ui4godly  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  As  a  gene- 
ral thing,  his  preaching  was  better  calculated  to  arouse  the  thoughtless, 
than  to  confirm  the  souls  of  the  disciples.  He  seemed  to  labour  as  though 
God  had  sent  him  specially  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  and  hence, 
the  depravity  of  our  nature,  the  helpless  condition  of  the  sinner  without 
the  immediate  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convince  him  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment ;  the  necessity  of  repentance  towards  God 
and   faith    in   our    Lord    Jesus    Christ ;     the    willingness   of    the   exalted 


JEREMIAH  YARDEMAX. 


427 


Redeemer  to  save  the  vile.st  of  the  vile,  who  iiu reservedly  cast  themselves  on 
his  mercj,  were  the  themes  upou  whicdi  he  delighted  to  dwell. 

*'  During  seasons  of  special  revival,  his  custom  was  to  direct  about  one 
third  of  his  discourse,  warm  and  pointed,  to  professors  present,  and  tlien 
turn  to  the  unconverted,  and  in  a  hortatory  manner  pour  upon  them,  in 
awful  strains,  as  from  Sinai  itself,  the  terrors  of  the  Divine  law  ;  and  no 
minister  I  ever  heard  possessed  equal  power  in  exhortation.  His  manner 
was  easy  and  popular,  and  no  man  could  obtain  larger  congregations  than 
he  did,  whether  he  preached  in  town  or  country.  He  wajs  open,  frank  and 
sociable  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  both  in  and  out  of  the  church.  He 
was  unsuspicious,  never  harboured  malice,  and  made  not  the  least  effort  to 
control  or  govern  others.  When  assailed  himself  amidst  the  party  conflicts 
that  prevailed  in  Kentucky,  he  seemed  never  to  think,  as  most  men  do,  of 
the  most  successful  means  of  self-defence.  On  such  occasions,  his  most 
intimate  friends  and  brethren  would  advise  him  to  keep  quiet,  and  they 
would  defend  his  character  from  assaults.  He  was  not  a  man  of  war, — of 
controversy.  Preaching  the  Gospel  was  his  delight,  and  the  employment 
best  suited  to  his  talents,  and  for  which  God  specially  designed  him.  In 
the  pulpit  he  was  at  home.  No  man  could  preach  longer,  or  louder,  or 
with  less  apparent  fatigue  than  he.  He  had  a  broad  chest,  a  clear  and 
sonorous  voice,  a  free  and  expressive  countenance.  He  was  full  of  anima- 
tion, fond  of  company,  and,  in  moments  of  relaxation,  abounded  in  anec- 
dotes. These  things  made  him  one  of  the  most  agreeable  companions, 
especially  on  a  journey. 

"In  doctrine  he  was  moderately  Calviuistic.  His  views  of  the  doctrine 
of  atonement  corresponded  with  those  of  Andrew  Fuller  in  his  'Gospel 
worthy  of  all  acceptation.'  He  delighted  to  defend  the  essential  Divinity 
of  the  Son  of  God;  God's  sovereignty  and  man's  free  agency  and  ac- 
countableness  ;  the  vicarious  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  the  Cross, 
with  all  the  other  leading  doctrines  held  by  the  denomination  to  which  he 
belonged. 

"  His  success  in  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  was  perhaps  unequalled  by 
that  of  any  other  man  West  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  This  must  be 
attributed,  under  God,  to  the  sympathy  of  his  own  heart  with  the  uncon- 
verted. 'Knowing  the  terrors  of  the  Lord'  himself,  he  felt  deeply  for 
poor  sinners,  already  condemned.  He  threw  his  soul  into  his  sermons,  while 
lie  would  plead  with  and  for  them,  as  though  he  could  take  no  denial.  This 
earnestness  of  manner  was  calculated  to  convince  the  sinner  that  the 
preacher  felt,  and  felt  deeply,  for  him.  When  he  perceived  that  his  preach- 
ing had  interested  the  feelings  of  the  unconverted,  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
proposing  to  pray  with  them.  All  that  he  would  do  was  to  make  them  the 
offer,  that  if  they  came  forward  for  prayer,  they  might  regard  it  as  a  privi- 
lege. He  never  urged  them  forward,  nor,  as  in  modern  times,  did  he  go 
through  the  congregation,  persuading  persons  to  occupy  the  '  anxious 
seats,'  and  by  such  means  induce  those  under  the  influence  of  excited 
feelings,  to  make  a  profession  of  religion,  and  thus  introduce  into  the  church 
those  whose  zeal  prompts  them  to  '  run  well  for  a  time,'  but  passes  away 
'like  the  morning  cloud  and  early  dew.'  " 


428  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Yardeman  was  married  three  times.  The  marriage  aud  d-eccasc  of 
his  first  wife  I  have  already  noticed.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children, — 
four  sons  and  six  daughters.  His  second  son,  Amlrosc  Dudley,  was  born 
October  25,  1804,  studied  for  the  medical  profession,  joined  the  Church  in 
his  youth,  and  commenced  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  giving  promise  of 
extensive  usefulness ;  but  was  smitten  with  fever,  while  his  father  was  absent 
on  a  preaching  tour,  and  died,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  in  the  twenty-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  Another  of  his  sons  has  been  in  the  ministry  fur  some 
years,  and  is  now  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  St.  Charles  Couuty.  Mo. 
Mr.  Vardeman  married  for  his  second  wife  Miss  Elizabeth  Bryant,  in  1821, 
who  died,  leaving  one  daughter,  near  the  close  of  1822.  His  third  wife 
was  Miss  Lucy  Bullock,  daughter  of  Thomas  Bullock,  Esq.,  of  Woodford 
County,  Ky.,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1823.  She  still  survives,  a  pious 
widow;  and  has  charge  of  his  numerous  dependents.  She  was  the  mother 
of  four  children. 

I  have  thus,  my  dear  Sir,  given  you  a  pretty  full  outline  of  the  life  and 
character  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  Baptist  ministers  by  whose  labours 
the  Southwestern  part  of  our  country  has  been  blessed.  His  name  well 
deserves  to  be  held  in  perpetual  remembrance. 

I  am,  with  sincere  regard, 

Your  friend  and  brother, 

J.  M.  PECK. 


JACOB  WALKER. 

1800—1846. 

FROM  THE  REV.  TT.  T.  BRANTLT,  D.  D. 

Philadelphia,  April  11,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  am  glad  that  you  have  asked  me  to  supply  a  brief  memo- 
rial of  the  Rev.  Jacob  Walker,  a  coloured  Baptist  minister  of  Georgia,  for 
the  forthcoming  volume  of  your  Pulpit  Annals.  The  occasion  enables  me 
to  offer  a  slight  tribute  to  one  who  stands  as  the  representative  of  a  very 
large  class  of  labourers  in  the  vineyard  of  our  Lord,  in  the  Southern 
States.  If  extensive  learning,  or  commanding  eloquence,  or  uncommon 
endoAvments  of  any  kind  were  conditions  precedent  to  a  place  in  the  record 
of  honoured  names  which  you  are  collecting,  Mr.  Walker  could  offer  no 
claim  to  such  distinction.  But  if  sincere  and  unaffected  piety,  shining  in 
the  humblest  walks  of  life,^^^if  an  intense  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
and  an  influence  over  his  brethren,  which  was  at  once  most  powerful  and 
salutary,  joined  to  remarkable  success  in  winning  souls,  justify  the  intro- 
duction of  a  name  upon  your  roll,  the  subject  of  this  letter  is  entitled  to 
this  honour. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Walker  commenced  in  1840,  when  I  became 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Augusta,  Ga.  He  was  at  that  time  the 
minister  of  what  is  known  as  the   Springfield  African  Church  in  that  city, 


JACOB  WALKER.  429 

eiubnicing  a  membership  of  about  one  thousand  coloured  persons.  His 
appearance  would  have  arrested  attention  in  almost  any  company.  He  waa 
then  seventy  years  of  age  ;  but  his  frame  was  large,  vigorous  and  erect,  his 
countenance  dignified  and  serious,  and  his  whole  mien  such  as  to  impress 
any  one  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  no  common  man.  I  very  soon 
learned  that  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  entire  community.  Masters 
believed  him  to  be  a  worthy  Christian,  and  the  servants  who  thronged  his 
churcli  listened  to  his  instructions  with  the  uti^ost  attention  and  respect. 
He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  year  1800  ;  but  it  was  not  until  about  the 
year  1820  that  he  was  ordained  by  the  late  Dr.  Brantly,  who  was  at  that 
time  a  minister  in  the  town.  Though  a  native  of  Maryland,  he  became  a 
resident  of  Augusta  in  1798.  By  a  long  continued  course  of  well  doing, 
he  had  established  a  character  for  integrity  and  piety  not  inferior  to  that 
which  is  attained  by  our  best  men  in  the  most  conspicuous  positions  in 
society. 

I  cannot  say  that  there  was  any  thing  in  Mr.  Walker's  natural  endow- 
ments of  mind,  which  was  extraordinary.  His  education,  too,  was  limited 
to  the  ability  of  reading  the  Scriptures  and  plain  English  books.  This  is 
about  the  extent  of  the  education  of  most  of  the  coloured  ministers  of  the 
South.  Some  of  them — I  might  say  many  of  them — are  able  to  write  as 
well  as  read.  Mr.  Walker  had  ample  opportunity  for  improving  his  intel- 
lect ;  but  he  was  contented  to  proceed  with  his  work  with  the  simple  acqui- 
sition which  I  have  mentioned.  Though  he  was  nominally  a  slave,  his  legal 
owners  required  no  service  of  him  for  many  years  before  his  death.  His 
whole  time  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  church  ;  and  he  was  by  them 
supported  as  comfortably  as  he  desired.  The  Communion  service  occurred 
four  times  during  the  year,  and  on  these  occasions  there  was  an  under- 
standing that  each  men»ber  should  bring  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Pastor.  It  was  thought  that  there  was  no  one  in  the  church 
who  could  not,  if  disposed,  contribute  such  an  amount.  I  believe  the  full 
amount,  per  caputs  was  never  realized,  but  they  made  very  comfortable 
provision  for  his  support. 

Tlie  preaching  of  Mr.  Walker  was  marked  by  no  peculiar  features.  It 
was,  like  that  of  most  coloured  persons  of  piety,  very  largely  experimental. 
He  could  speak  of  God's  dealings  with  his  own  soul  in  such  a  way  as  to  be 
interesting,  encouraging,  and  instructive.  These  counsels,  coming  fresh 
and  warm  from  his  own  heart,  were  always  well  received;  and,  tliough 
they  did  not  embrace  much  variety  of  topic,  the  earnestness  and  sincerity 
with  which  they  were  presented  relieved  his  preaching  from  what,  under 
different  circumstances,  might  have  been  an  oppressive  monotony.  Tried  by 
those  rules  of  sermonizing,  which  the  schools  have  prescribed,  my  friend's 
discourses  would  have  been  very  obnoxious  to  criticism.  There  was  rarely 
anything  which  couM  be  called  method  in  the  arrangement  of  his  thoughts, 
whilst  his  phraseology  was  both  redundant  and  defective.  His  inlorpreta- 
lions  of  Scripture,  too,  like  those  of  most  of  his  brethren,  were  often  more 
fanciful  than  just ;  and  he  had  perhaps  the  common  fault  of  that  class  in 
whom  the  imagination  has  been  but  little  tutored,  of  spiritualizing  facts 
and  expressions  of  the  Scriptures — and  thus  gathering  from  them  a  mean- 
ing which  they  were  never  intended  to  convey.     But,  with  all  these  faults, 


430  BAPTIST. 

his  preacliing  commanded  attcution.  His  sympathies  were  easil}^  stirred. 
What  he  delivered  was  more  the  product  of  the  heart  than  of  tlie  head ; 
and  his  words  reached  and  quickened  the  emotions,  where  those  f>i'  more 
gifted  but  less  fervent  speakers  would  have  produced  no  impression.  If 
the  results  of  preaching  form  the  best  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  its 
power,  few  men  could  claim  a  higher  rank  than  he.  The  accessions  to  the 
church  throughout  his  entire  Pastorship  were  uniformly  large.  There  were 
not  many  years  in  which  he  did  not  receive  from  forty  to  fifty  persons,  on 
the  profession  of  their  faith. 

Perhaps  it  was  as  a  Counsellor  that  Mr.  Walker's  services  were  most 
highly  appreciated.  In  most  of  the  Southern  churches,  the  servants  and 
masters  are  formed  in  the  same  membership.  In  these  cases,  the  blacks 
have  the  benefit  of  the  advice  and  direction  of  their  bi'ethren  of  superior 
intelligence  ;  and  the  discipline  is  maintained  as  easily  and  as  efficiently 
as  in  any  of  our  Northern  churches.  But  Mr.  Walker's  church  was  com- 
posed entirely  of  blacks.  They  received  and  dismissed  members,  and 
administered  various  forms  of  discipline,  and  managed  the  secular  interests 
of  the  church,  without  responsibility  to  any  human  tribunal  for  their  acts. 
It  will  readily  be  conjectured  that  in  a  large  body  of  persons,  very  few 
of  whom  were  even  able  to  read,  whilst  all  of  them  had  the  passions  and 
infirmities  incident  to  our  nature,  there  must  have  been  many  occasions 
demanding  great  prudence  on  the  part  of  the  Pastor.  An  indiscreet 
leader  could  easily  plunge  such  an  ignorant  and  inflammable  mass  into  dis- 
cord and  chaos.  At  these  trying  times, — and  I  know  that  they  were  not 
infrequent, — Mr.  Walker's  forbearance  and  patience,  together  with  his  fore- 
sight and  weight  of  character,  rendered  his  influence  truly  invaluable. 
More  than  once,  when  it  seemed  that  a  complex  and  difiicult  case  of  disci- 
pline, in  which  diiferent  parties  were  supported  in  their  clashing  views  by 
numerous  and  violent  adherents,  must  rend  the  church  into  fragments,  the 
wise  course  of  the  Pastor  controlled  the  storm,  and  restored  peace  to  the 
troubled  elements.  At  one  time,  some  turlmlent  spirits  in  his  congrega- 
tion sought  to  eject  him  from  his  office.  Though  aware  of  their  purpose, 
he  treated  them  witli  uniform  kindness.  When  one  of  his  Deacons 
reproved  him  for  his  want  of  spirit  in  not  resenting  some  indignity  which 
was  offered  him,  he  very  meekly  replied, — "  My  brother,  God  will  fight  my 
battles  for  me."  At  another  time,  when  it  seemed  that  he  must  be 
crushed  by  his  opponents,  he  observed, — "  If  God  designs  that  I  should  be 
trodden  down,  I  am  willing  to  be  trodden  down." 

Nominally  Jacob  Walker  was  a  slave  :  but  he  was  the  Lord's  freeman  ; 
and  for  all  practical  purposes  he  was  politically  free.  For  many  years 
before  his  death,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  he  was  as  much  at  lil>erty 
to  devote  himself  to  his  charge  as  any  other  minister.  Being  informed 
that  his  congregation  was,  at  one  time,  about  to  purchase  his  freedom, 
he  thanked  them  for  their  intended  kindness,  but  firmly  declined  the  offer, 
remarking, — "I  have  a  kind  mistress,  who  has  always  been  indulgent  to 
me  :  should  I  become  sick  or  helpless  from  old  age,  I  have  in  her  a  friend 
who  will  never  let  me  want." 

The  good  man  continued  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Pastor  of  the 
church  for   more  than   twenty-five   years,  growing  constantly  in  the  confi- 


JACOB  WALKEIi.  431 

dence  anil  love  of  his  brethren.  Wliilst  preaching  one  Sunday  morning  in 
the  nioiidi  of  June,  1S4G,  he  was  .smitten  with  paralysis.  He  was  repeating 
the  words,  "  Knowing  tlie  terror  of  tlie  Lord,  we  persuade  men."  Ou  the 
word  Itrror  his  voice  faltered  ;  lie  tried  to  pronounce  it,  failed,  and  soon 
fell  in  tlie  pulpit.  In  the  afternoon,  the  congregation  assemldcd  for 
prayer.  I  was  present  on  the  occasion.  All  were  in  tears.  Audible  sobs 
filled  the  house,  as  they  wrestled  with  God  for  his  recovery.  But  the  time 
had  come  for  the  veteran  to  enter  upon  his  reward.  He  lingered  in  per- 
fect cnniposuro  and  resignation,  until  the  2(3th  day  of  July,  184G,  and  then 
peacefully  passed  to  his  eternal  rest. 

This  minister  was  esteemed  in  Augusta  by  all  classes.  He  had  the 
confidence  alike  of  master  and  servant.  His  funeral  cortege  wa^  one  of 
the  longest  and  most  imposing  ever  seen  in  the  city.  A  friend  of  mine 
counted  eight  hundred  persons  in  the  procession,  besides  those  who  rode  in 
the  carriages,  which  were  kindly  offered  in  large  numbers  by  their  owners. 
As  evidence  of  regard  for  his  memory,  his  interment  was  allowed  within 
the  city  limits,  a  privilege  which  had  been  granted,  since  the  creation  of 
the  cemetery,  to  only  two  individuals. 

With  great  regard,  your  brother  in  Christ, 

"W.  T.  BRANTLY. 


JOHN  PECK.^ 

1800—1849. 

John  Peck  was  born  September  11,  1780,  in  Stanford,  then  known  as 
Great  Nine  Partners,  in  Dutchess  County,  X.  Y.  He  was  the  fifth  son 
and  eighth  child  of  John  and  Sarah  (Northrup)  Peek,  and  a  lineal  descend- 
ant in  the  sixth  generation  of  William  Peck,  a  merchant,  and  in  the  fifth 
generation  of  the  Ptev.  Jeremiah   Peek  ;t  the   former  of  whom   emigrated 

•  Mr.  Peck's  Hist.  Disc— Mem.  by  Rev.  Dr.  G.  W.  Eaton.— Mem.  of  Mrs.  S.  Peck,  and 
P.  B.  and  L.  M.  Peck.— Hist.  Rapt.  Miss.  Conv.— MS.  from  Hon.   D.  Peck. 

t  Jkremiah  Pkck  whs  tlie  eldest  son  of  William  and  J^lizabcth  Peck,  and  was  bornin  the 
city  of  London,  about  the  year  H)2.''>.  At  tlie  nj;e  of  about  fifteen,  lie  migrated  with  his 
father  to  this  country,  arriving  at  Poston  in  the  ship  Hector,  .lune  2().  KiM".  He  went  from 
Boston  to  New  Haven  with  liis  fatlier;  but  little  is  known  of  his  early  history  except  th;it  he 
had  a  good  education.  He  is  said  by  Cotton  Mather  to  have  been  a  student  at  Harvard  Tollege; 
but  his  name  does  not  apjiear  in  the  catalogue  of  graduates.  He  married  Johanuah  Kitchell, 
a  dauirhter  of  P,obert  Kitchell,  of  (inilford,  Conn.,  Xovcmbor  VI,  Ifiofi.  He  was  then,  and 
for  some  time  previous  had  Vieen.  teaching  a  sctinid  at  (inilford,  and  continued  to  be  thus 
engaged  until  llif.ll.  He  then  removed  from  (inilford  to  New  Haven,  where  he  taught  the 
Cobmy/irammar  School  until  the  autumn  of  1()(il,  when  he  commenced  preaching,  and  soon 
after.  r<-moving  from  New  Haven,  settled  as  a  Congregational  minister  at  Sayhrook.  Conn.  He 
was  the  owner  of  consideralile  veal  estate  at  Paybrook;  and,  while  residing  there  in  li'.Ol,  he, 
with  seventy-eight  others,  primipally  from  Connecticut  and  Long  Island,  purcliascd  of  the 
Indians  a  large  tract  of  biu'l.  now  embracing  several  towns  in  the  .'^tate  of  New  .lersey,  on  a 
part  of  which  Kli/.abethtown  is  sitiuited.  He  was  probably  ordained  at  S.aybrook.  He  ciuitinned 
the  minister  at  Saybrook  until  .Tanuary,  Ifiti'l,  wlien,  having  sold  and  co"nveyed  his  real  estate 
there  to  Itobert  Chapman  and  others,  he  removed  to  (inilford,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  HKil)  or 
spring  of  1667,  with  liis  father-in-law,  Robert  Kitclull.  Kev.  .Abraham  Pierscm,  and  many 
others  who  were  irreconcilably  opposed  to  the  union  of  the  Connecticut  and  New  ILiven  Colo- 
nies under  the  charter  of  Charles  tlie  Socond,  removed  from  (inilford  to  Newark.  N.  .1.  In 
1674,  be  removed  from  Newark  to  Klizabethtown,  where  lie  resided  imlil  1f>7.'^.  No  evidence 
is  founil  of  his  having  been  a  settled  minister  in  New  .Tersey.  Tn  1li7(i,  and  ajrain  in  l'">7.i,  he 
was  invited  by  the  people  of  Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  to  preach  for  them,  but  declined.     In  1072, 


432  BAPTIST. 

from  London  to  this  country  in  1G37,  being  one  of  the  company  of  the 
Rev.  John  Davenport,  Thcophilus  Eaton  and  others,  and  one  of  the 
founders  and  first  settlers  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  in  the  spring  of  1638, 
and  until  his  decease  in  1694,  a  Deacon  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church  in  New  Haven. 

His  father,  though  a  moral  and  seriously  disposed  man,  was  not  con- 
nected with  any  church,  except  that,  for  a  short  time,  during  middle  life,  he 
was  in  communion  with  the  Methodists.  He  had  only  limited  advantages  for 
education,  but  superior  natural  ability,  great  energy  of  character,  and  much 
knowledge  derived  from  observation  and  experience.  He  was  in  the  army, 
during  the  French  War,  for  several  years  previous  to  its  close  in  1763,  when 
he  removed  with  his  family  to  the  town  of  Hunter,  Greene  County,  N.  Y. 
Thence,  in  1795,  he  removed  to  Shelburne,  Chenango  County,  N.Y.,  arriving 
there  in  March  of  that  year,  where,  and  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Norwich  in 
the  same  county,  he  resided  until  his  decease  in  1819,  being  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  that  part  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

His  mother  was  a  native  of  North  Salem,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y., 
and  a  devout  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Her  pious  example  and 
instructions,  blended  with  uncommon  native  force  of  mind,  and  great  pru- 
dence, cheerfulness,  and  affection,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  the 
formation  of  his  character.  She  early  taught  him  how  to  pray,  and 
inspired  him  with  a  love  of  the  Bible  and  an  eager  desire  for  knowledge, 
thus  laying  bi'oad  and  deep  the  foundation  of  that  intelligence  and  piety 
for  which  he  was  afterwards  distinguished. 

His  early  years  he  spent  in  assisting  his  father  in  felling  the  forest,  and 
cultivating  his  land,  in  the  frontier  settlements  in  which  he  lived.  On 
attaining  his  majority,  he  purchased  a  small  farm,  and,  during  his  life,  a 
portion  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  moderate  labour  upon  it,  as  well  as  to 
its  general  superintendence. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  removal  to  Chenango  County,  in  1795,  he 
was  in  his  fifteenth  year.  As  the  country  in  which  he  lived  was  then  an 
almost  unbroken  wilderness,  and  as  his  father's  occupation  required  the 
constant  labour  of  his  sons,  his  advantages  for  early  education  were  not 
great.  He  had,  however,  an  intense  desire  for  intellectual  improvement, 
and  early  resolved  to  supply,  as  far  as  possible,  the  defects  of  his  educa- 
tion ]iy  the  studies  of  mature  life;  and,  on  attaining  his  majority,  he  com- 
menced, and  for  many  years  continued,  with  such  aid  as  could  be  derived 
from  appropriate  books,  a  systematic  course  of  self-education.  Possessing, 
naturally,  good  common  sense,  a  quick  perception,  and  a  retentive  memory, 
a  mind   vigorous,    well   balanced,   and   of  much   reflective   and   analytical 

ho  and  several  others  purchased  of  the  Indians  a  large  tract  of  land  then  called  Horse  Neck, 
and  since  known  as  West  (Jreenwich;  and,  removing  there  with  his  family  from  Elizabethtown, 
he  became  the  first  settled  uiinister  of  that  town,  and  continued  his  residence  and  ministry 
there  until  11)89.  In  that  ycnr  he  received  the  unanimous  invitation  of  tlie  people  of  AVatcr- 
bury,  ("onn.,  to  settle  with  them  in  the  ministry;  and.  having  accepted  their  call,  removed 
{•hither,  ;ind  wns  tlie  fir.«t  settled  minister  of  the  church  in  that  town  on  its  organization  in  1691. 
He  continued  liis  official  duties  there  until  a  short  time  before  his  decease,  which  occurred  at 
Waterbury  on  the  7th  of  June,  10!)!),  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-seven  years.  His  wife  and 
all  his  children  (six  in  number)  survived  him.  His  wife  died  at  Waterbury  in  1711.  Ha 
appenrs  to  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  ability,  energy,  and  enterprise;  and,  though  hirgelj' 
interested  in  lands  both  in  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey,  he  was  extensively  useful  both  as  a 
teacher  and  a  minister. 


JOHN  PECK. 


433 


power,  his  struggles  with  the  di.saJvantugcs  of  his  position  were  eminently 
successful  in  the  aequirenient  of  an  unusual  power  of  thought  and  argu- 
ment, and  the  substantial  knowledge  requisite  in  the  vocation  of  a  Christian 
minister. 

He  became  the  subject  of  religious  impressions,  and  it  is  believed  of  a 
spiritual  renovation,  in  his  early  boyhood  ;  but  he  did  not  make  a  public 
profession  of  his  faith  until  he  had  reached  his  eighteenth  year,  when  he 
was  baptized  (August  25,  1798)  by  the  Rev.  Peter  P.  Roots,*  and 
admitted  to  the  Baptist  Church,  then  recently  constituted  at  Norwich,  N. 
Y.  He  commenced  preaching  occasionally  as  a  licentiate  in  the  year 
1800,  in  Norwich  and  the  adjoining  town  of  Sherburne  ;  but  the  next 
year  he  became  so  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  want  of  the 
requisite  qualifications  for  the  ministry  that  he  suspended  all  his  public 
labours  in  that  capacity,  and  made  arrangements  for  devoting  his  life  to 
the  pursuits  of  agriculture.  He  was  soon  made  to  feel,  however,  by  some 
personal  trials,  and  the  expostulations  of  his  Christian  brethren,  that  he 
had  forsaken  the  path  of  duty  ;  and,  with  his  characteristic  firmness  of 
purpose,  he  resolved,  early  in  the  year  1803,  to  devote  himself  fully  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Shortly  after  this,  he  again  commenced  preaching, 
and,  during  the  remainder  of  that  year,  officiated  one  half  of  the  time  in 
the  Church  at  Norwich,  and  the  other  half  in  Sherburne,  with  much 
acceptance  and  success. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  1801,  he  was  married  to  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Deacon  Israel  Ferris,  of  Norwich,  and  sister  of  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Ferris. t 
In  this  lady  he  found  a  prudent  and  excellent  wife,  who  was  spared  to  be 
a  sharer  in  his  joys,  and  sorrows,  and  labours,  for  almost  half  a  century. 
She  died  September  21,  1847,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  her  age. 

About  the  first  of  January,  1804,  Mr.  Peck  received  a  unanimous  call 
from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  to  settle  with  them  as 
their  Pastor.  This  call  he  accepted,  and  in  March  following  removed 
tliither   with  his  family  and    entered  upon   his   stated   labours.     He   was 

•Peter  Philanthropos  Roots  was  a  son  of  the  Per.  Benajah  Roots,  who  was  graduated 
at  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  175-1,  was  settled  as  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in 
i^iiusbury,  Conn.,  August  Id,  1757;  was  dismissed  in  1772;  was  installed  first  Pastur  of  the 
(-ongregaiional  Church  in  Paitland,  Vt.,  in  177:^;  and  died  in  1787.  lie,  (the  sun,)  when  he 
was  eight  years  old,  removed  with  his  father  to  Rutland,  where  ho  spent  his  youthful  days.  In 
Ills  nineteenth  year,  a  revival  of  religion  occurred  under  his  fatlicr  s  minishy,  of  which 
he  was  hopefully  a  subject,  lie  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  178'.l,  and  was 
licensed  as  a  Congregational  minister  in  March,  1790.  After  continuing  in  this  connection 
about  two  years,  his  views  of  Baptism  underwent  a  change,  which  led  him  to  connect  himself 
with  the  Baptist  denomination,  in  which  he  ever  afterwards  continued  an  earnest  and  fnithful 
minister,  lie  was  baptized  in  Boston  by  Dr.  Stillman,  and  united  with  the  First  Church  in 
that  town,  in  May.  1793.  In  September  following,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist. 
Immediately  after  liis  ordination,  he  travelled  by  land  to  Savannah,  Ga.,  and  performed  an 
exten.-ive  missionary  tour  in  that  region.  For  eighteen  years  he  was  emjiloyed  as  an  itinerant 
preacher,  during  which  time  he  preached  in  seventeen  of  the  United  States  ami  in  Canada. 
lie  died  at  MenJon,  Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  December  26,  1828,  in  the  sixty-fourth  j-car  of 
his  age. 

t  Jonathan  Ferris  was  bom  in  Stanford,  Dutchess  Connty,  N.  Y.,  on  the  25th  «r  April, 
1778.  From  a  child  he  was  a  subject  of  serious  impressions;  and  in  1796  he  was  baptizeil  by 
the  Rev.  I.'lkanah  Holmes,  then  a  missionary  among  the  Indians.  On  the  20th  of  May,  lS(i;!, 
he  was  licensed  by  the  Church  in  Norwich  "  to  improve  his  gift  in  preaching;''  and  on  the  25tli 
of  August,  IHdS,  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  the  Church  in  North  Norwich. 
Here  he  continued  labouring  very  succepsfully  until  October  25,  1817,  when  he  resigiic<l  his 
charge,  and  removed  to  Milo,  in  Yates  County,  N.  Y.  He  took  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Church 
in  that  place,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  cr)ntinHed  in  this  charge  till  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was 
struck  dead  by  lightning  on  the  17th  of  June,  1823,  while  watching  the  movement  of  a  fearful 
thunder  cloud. 

Vol.  VI.  55 


434  BAPTIST. 

ordaiuoJ  on  the  lltli  of  June,  180G  ;  and  his  pastoral  relation  with  that 
church  continued  until  November,  1834. 

In  1820,  the  church  having  now  become  numerous  and  strong,  and  there 
being  an  increasing  demand  for  a  church  in  Cazenovia  village, — ninety 
of  its  members  were  amicably  dismissed  to  form  the  new  body.  Mr.  Peck 
continued  his  pastoral  labours  to  both  churches  until  1822,  when  the  new 
church  called  another  Pastor,  Mr.  P,  preferring  to  remain  with  the  mother 
church. 

In  1821,  he  performed  an  important  service  in  behalf  of  the  Hamilton 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  by  a  visit  to  Washington  City,  with  a  view  to 
obtain  aid  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  sustaining  the 
Mission  and  School  at  tho  Oneida  Station.  But,  though  happily  successful 
iu  accomplishing  the  object  of  his  mission,  he  was  grieved  to  find,  on  his 
I'eturn  to  his  people,  that  a  serious  dissension  had  sprung  up  in  his  church, 
which  had  hitherto  been  the  scene  of  entire  and  unbroken  harmony.  He 
was,  however,  enabled,  by  his  prudent  management  and  kindly  and  for- 
bearing spirit,  to  quell  the  agitation,  after  a  short  time  ;  and  it  was  quickly 
succeeded  by  a  shower  of  Divine  influences  which  brought  a  goodly  number 
into  the  church.  In  1831,  another  revival,  of  much  greater  power, 
occurried,  as  the  result  of  which  he  admitted,  within  a  few  months,  seventy- 
nine  new  members,  among  whom  were  three  of  his  own  children.  Every 
year,  subsequently,  until  the  dissolution  of  his  pastoral  relation  in  the 
autumn  of  1834,  the  church  enjoyed  an  uncommon  measure  of  Divine 
influence,  so  that,  in  four  years,  a  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  added  to 
it,  a  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  whom  were  received  by  Baptism. 

Mr.  Peck  resigned  his  pastoral  charge,  with  great  reluctance  and  much 
to  the  regret  of  his  people,  that  he  might  give  his  whole  time  to  the 
service  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention.  He  had  been  appointed 
the  General  Agent  of  this  Body  as  early  as  October,  1824,  and  had 
travelled  very  extensively  in  this  capacity,  soliciting  co-operation  and 
contributions.  And  his  labours  had  been  eminently  successful.  But  from 
the  beginning  of  1835,  he  gave  himself  solely  to  this  work,  and  all  the 
energies  of  his  mind  and  body  were  put  in  requisition  to  carry  it  forward. 
In  this  cause  he  laboured  with  a  degree  of  success  not  disproportioned  to 
his  zeal  and  ability,  for  fifteen  years. 

In  3Iay,  1839,  he  received  the  appointment  of  General  Agent  of  the 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  which,  after  much  deliberation  and  prayer, 
he  concluded  to  accept.  What  he  accomplishod  in  connection  with  this 
Society  may  be  seen  from  the  following  statement  from  his  own  pen,  cover- 
ing the  period  included  between  November,  1830  and  February,  1847. 

"  I  liave  been  enabled,  by  the  blessinp;  of  God,  to  travfl  twenty-six  tliousand  eight 
Imudred  and  forty  inik's7-in  eighteen  of  tlie  United  States;  mostly  in  tlu'  Noitliern  ; 
have  delivered  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-one  sermons  and  ])ublic  addresses, 
and  collected  for  the  Home  Mission  Society,  thirty-two  tliousand  four  hundred  and 
s(!venty-eigiit  dollars,  twenty-seven  cents:  also  tor  the  Jv'ew  York  State  Convention, 
four  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  dollars,  seventeen  cents;  in  all  for  Ilomfc 
Mission  and  Convention,  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty  six  dollars,  forty- 
four  cents.     For  this  amount  I  have  the  receijjts  of  tlie  Treasurers  of  those  Societies. 

''  1  have  also,  besides  the  special  duties  of  my  agency,  been  called,  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  to  the  ix'rforniance  of  missionary  and  pastoral  labours,  in  visiting  the 
sick  and  afllioted,  settling  difliculties  and  healing  divisions  among  Churches  and  indi- 
vidual brethren,  and  assisting  Pastors  in  revivals  of  religion.     I  think  the  Lord  has 


JOUN  PECK.  435 

owned  my  linperloct  labours  for  his  glory  and  tla-  good  of  Zion,  in  these  dei>«rtnient3 
of  Christian  effort." 

^Ir.  Peck  had  naturally  a  vigorous  constitution;  but  it  was  gradnully 
undermined  by  his  incessant  ministerial  labours  "  in  season  and  out  of 
season,"  and  his  consequent  frequent  exposures  in  a  rigorous  and  some- 
what variable  climate.  For  s<  mo  years  prior  to  his  death,  he  exhibited 
symptoms  of  a  pulmonary  disease,  which,  from  extraordinary  care,  and  an 
occasional  resort  in  the  winter  months  to  a  more  Southern  climate,  was 
only  very  gradually  developed.  But,  notwithstanding  his  bodily  feeble- 
ness, his  labours  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  were  unremitted  until  within 
a  few  days  of  his  decease.  Scarcely  a  Sabbath  occurred  during  his  long 
career  in  which  he  did  not  preach,  besides  holding  frequent  public  services 
on  other  days  of  the  week. 

He  arrived  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  making  his 
annual  collections  for  the  Home  Mission  Society,  on  the  9th  of  November, 
1849,  at  which  time  his  health  seemed  as  good  as  usual.  He  became  the 
guest  of  Mr.  Griffith  Thomas,  who  resided  nearly  opposite  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  llooms  in  Broome  Street.  On  the  last  Sabbath  in 
November,  he  preached  at  the  Mariners'  Church,  where,  to  gratify  an  old 
friend  who  was  deaf,  he  exerted  himself  so  much  in  speaking  that  he  was 
apprehensive  of  serious  injury.  On  the  Saturday  following,  he  complained 
of  chills  and  faint ness,  but,  by  the  speedy  application  of  remedies,  he  soon 
obtained  relief,  and  the  next  day  (Sunday)  preached  with  more  than  his 
accustomed  vigour.  He  was  engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  agency  during 
the  following  week  until  Saturday  the  8th,  when  he  again  complained  of 
indisposition,  but  expected  to  be  able  to  preach  the  next  day.  In  this, 
however,  he  was  disappointed ;  and  from  this  time  he  gradually  failed, 
though  his  case  was  not  considered  alarming  until  the  following  Thursday, 
when  a  change  took  place  that  seemed  to  indicate  the  near  approach  of 
death.  He  died  on  Saturday,  the  15th,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age, 
having,  during  his  illness,  exhibited  a  spirit  of  most  serene  and  unqualified 
trust  in  his  Redeemer.  Suitable  Funeral  services  took  place  at  the  Oliver 
Street  Baptist  Church  in  New  York,  which  were  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Doctors  Cone  and  Magoon,  after  which  his  remains  were  brought  to  his 
home  at  New  Woodstock,  (Cazenovia,)  where  an  appropriate  Funeral  Dis- 
course was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Alfred  Bennett,  from  Acts  xiii.  36. 

Mr.  Peck  was  an  associate  editor  of  a  religious  periodical  called  "  The 
Vehicle,"  and  afterwards  "The  Western  Baptist  Magazine."  This  was 
commenced  in  May,  1S14,  and  was  continued  for  about  twelve  years.  It 
was  finally  merged  in  the  New  York  Baptist  Register. 

He  published  also  "A  Scriptural  Catechism,"  intended  as  a  Manual  of 
Christian  Doctrine,  which  was  exhibited  in  scriptural  answers  to  the  ques- 
tions propounded. 

In  18.37,  in  connection  with  the  Rev.  John  Lawton,  he  published  "An 
Historical  Sketch  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  embracing  a  Narrative  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  Central  and  Western  New  York,  with  Biographical  notices 
of  the  Founders  of  the  Convention,  &c." 


436  BAPTIST. 

He  published  also,  iu  1845,  Two  Discourses,  the  former  containing  the 
History  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  iu  Cazenovia ;  the  latter,  the  History 
of  the  Baptist  Church  iu  Cazeuovia  village. 

Mr.  Peck  had  six  children, — four  sons  aud  two  daughters.  His  second 
son  died  in  infancy.  Darius,  his  eldest  son,  was  graduated  at  Hamilton 
College  in  1825,  adopted  and  pursued  the  legal  profession,  and  now  (1858) 
resides  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  where  he  has  held  several  judicial  stations. 
and  is  at  this  time  County  Judge  of  that  County. 

His  third  son,  Philetus  B.,  was  born  in  Cazenovia,  November  29,  1809 
and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  was  placed  at  the  Hamilton  Academy,  where  ho 
prosecuted  his  studies  until  the  failure  of  his  health  compelled  him  to 
return  home,  and  abandon  the  hope  of  a  liberal  education.  After  spending 
several  years  in  agricultural  pursuits,  during  which  time  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church  of  which  his  father  was  Pastor,  and  at  a  later  period 
was  licensed  to  preach,  he  entered  the  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological 
Institution,  now  Madison  University,  in  the  spring  of  1834,  and,  having 
gone  through  the  regular  course,  graduated  in  August,  1838.  In  March, 
1839,  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  at  New  Woodstock, 
(Cazenovia,)  and  about  the  same  time  accepted  a  call  from  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  and  commenced  his  labours  as  their  Pastor. 
After  an  uncommonly  successful  ministry,  he  died  suddenly  of  dysentery 
on  the  6th  of  October,  1847.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  benevolence, 
frankness,  and  decision  ;  was  an  instructive  aud  earnest  Preacher,  and  an 
affectionate  and  devoted  Pastor. 

His  youngest  sou  and  child,  Lhmn  M.,  was  born  in  Cazenovia,  on  the  3d 
of  February,  1818,  At  the  age  of  about  fifteen,  he  became  hopefully 
pious,  during  a  revival  in  the  church  of  which  his  father  was  Pastor,  and 
was  baptized  and  joined  the  church  shortly  after.  He  fitted  for  College 
partly  at  New  Woodstock,  and  partly  at  Brockport ;  and  joined  the  Sopho- 
more class  in  Hamilton  College  in  September,  1838.  Having  maintained 
a  high  rank  as  a  scholar  during  the  whole  course,  he  was  graduated  in 
July,  1841,  on  which  occasion  he  received  a  highly  honourable  appoint- 
ment. After  leaving  College,  he  pursued  the  study  of  Law  about  a  year 
and  a  half,  and  taught  a  year  in  the  Hamilton  Academy.  On  the  3d  of 
August,  1844,  he  was  licensed  to  preacli  the  Gospel  by  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Cazenovia.  In  October  following,  he  entered  the  Junior  Tlieo- 
logical  class  in  the  Hamilton  Institution,  where  he  took  the  regular  course 
of  two  years.  In  the  summer  of  1845,  he  was  appointed  a  Tutor  in  Ham- 
ilton College,  but  thought  it  his  duty  to  decline  the  appointment,  as  it 
•would  prevent  his  immediate  entrance  on  the  duties  of  the  ministry.  After 
his  graduation  at  the  Theological  Institution,  he  preached  several  months 
in  Lebanon;  but  in  July,  1847,  he  commenced  preaching  to  the  Hamilton 
Church,  and  continued  his  labours  there,  with  great  acceptance,  until  they 
were  terminated  by  death.  On  the  16th  of  September,  he  went  with  his 
wife  to  New  Woodstock,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  care  of  his  elder 
brother,  Philetus,  who  had  been  attacked  with  a  malignant  dysentery, 
while  visiting  among  his  friends,  and  now  lay  ill  at  the  residence  of  his 
brother-in-law,  about  two  miles  from  Cazenovia  village.  On  the  day  that 
Linus  arrived,  his  motber  was  seized  with  the  same  disease,  and  the  next 


JOHN  PECK.  437 

day  was  removed  to  her  own  house.  Liiuis  iiuiuediately  took  lier  jilucc  at 
his  brother's  bedside,  while  his  fatlier  was  occupied  at  home  with  the  care 
of  Mrs.  Peck.  His  niotlior  lingered  until  tlie  21st,  and  her  Funeral  was 
attended  on  the  '2'2d.  On  the  28d  3Irs.  (Linus  M.)  Peck  returned  to 
Hamilton  to  resume  the  care  of  her  father,  (the  Rev.  Dr.  Kcndrick,)  then 
iu  a  very  feeble  state,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  her  husband 
was  attacked  with  the  same  disease  of  which  his  mother  had  died.  His 
symptoms  became  so  alarming  that  Mrs.  Peck  was  sent  for,  and  on  her 
arrival  the  next  day  at  Cazenovia,  she  found  him  in  an  almost  helpless  and 
hopeless  condition.  He  lingered  in  a  state  of  entire  resignation  to  the 
Divine  will  till  the  4th  of  October,  (1847,)  when  he  sunk  calmly  into  the 
arms  of  death.  He  possessed  a  vigorous  and  logical  mind ;  was  aftectionate 
and  confiding  in  his  disposition  ;   and  was  a  zealous  and  laborious  minister. 


FROM  PROFESSOR  ANDREW  TEN  BROOK. 

Utica,  July  17,  1858. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  Yours,  asking  a  letter  giving  mj'  recollections  of  tliclate 
Rev.  John  Peck,  has  been  received ,  and  I  hasten  to  obey.  My  opportunities  of 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Peck  extended  from  1833  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
The  first  half  of  this  time  was  the  entire  period  of  my  academic  and  theological 
studies,  during  which  time  I  generally  saw  him  several  times  a  ^-ear  at  Hamil- 
ton, and  in  one  of  the  vacations  of  each  year,  I  almost  always  met  him  once 
at  an  Association  which  he  attended  as  an  Agent  of  the  State  Convention  of 
New  York  Baptists,  or  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  I  was 
accustomed  to  meet  him  on  public  occasions,  and  in  private  circles,  after  that 
time.  I  saw  him  once  at  his  own  house,  in  August  of  1847,  less  than  a  month 
before  that  visitation  which  deprived  him  at  once  of  a  wife  and  two  sons,  the 
latter  both  among  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

Mr.  Peck  was  a  little  above  the  middle  stature,  slightly  stooping,  slender, 
of  very  thin  features,  with  mild  blue  ej'es,  and  a  voice  and  entire  manner 
which  fully  confirmed  the  impression  made  by  his  features.  His  voice,  though 
weak,  was  clear,  his  enunciation  was  distinct  and  exceedingly  deliberate,  but 
strongly  nasal,  and  with  little  variation  in  volume,  tone,  or  time.  Indeed,  1 
never  knew  a  man  Mhose  whole  manner  was  so  perfectly  monotonous  as  his. 
Pleasantry  in  the  social  circle,  warning  or  rebuke  in  public  or  private,  encour- 
agement to  the  penitent  and  consolation  to  the  dying,  were  all  alike,  so  far  as 
manner  and  tone  were  concerned.  His  monotony,  however,  had  its  abundant 
compensations  in  the  exhaustless  variety  of  his  brief  but  happy  generaliza- 
tions, and  his  apt,  concrete  illustrations.     To  these  there  seemed  to  be  no  end. 

Some  will  wonder  how  such  uniformity  of  tone  and  manner  on  all  subjects, 
as  I  have  attributed  to  Mr.  Peck,  is  possible.  Regarding  this  as  connected 
with  his  most  marked  characteristic,  which  was  a  very  rare  and  important  one, 
I  will  attempt  an  analysis.  With  him  every  thing  was  incidental  to  his  desire 
to  soothe  and  console, — a  fact  which  sometimes  gave  him  the  name  of  "the 
beloved  disciple;  "  and  so  whatever  else  he  did,  being  subsidiary  to  this,  was 
without  change  of  tone  and  manner.  He  could,  for  instance,  reprove  excessive 
forwardness  in  the  young  by  some  pleasant  inquiries  in  regard  to  their  age  and 
advantages,  and  so  leave  upon  them  all  the  power  of  the  most  cutting  rebuke, 
without  one  of  its  words  or  tones.  An  illustration  will  be  found  in  the  cour.se 
which  he  has  been  known  to  take  in  instances  in  which  men  have  refused  to 
respond  to  his  personal  applications  in  behalf  of  the  cau.se  of  Home  Missions, 
alleging  special  objections  to  the  Society.     Finding  that  his  plea  was  of  no  use. 


438  BAPTIST. 

and  suspecting  covetousness,  he  would  yield  their  right  to  hold  special  objec- 
tions to  the  Society  which  be  represented,  and  then  suggest  to  them  that  they 
would  have  the  more  to  give  to  Foreign  Missions,  or  the  Bible,  or  some  other, 
Society.  Thus,  step  bj'  step,  before  they  were  aware  of  it,  he  would  make 
them  confess  similar  objections  to  all  other  benevolent  Societies.  He  would 
finally  finish  up  his  rebuke,  which  in  the  end  had  become  too  cutting  to  be 
unfelt,  and  yet  too  mild  and  innocent  to  be  resented,  by  taking  leave  of  his 
penitent  with  the  same  imperturbable  mildness  and  gravity  with  which  he  had 
proceeded  to  make  him  confess  his  sin.  Reproof  from  him  had  a  wonderful 
effect,  and  he  had  a  wonderful  facility  in  giving  it,  simply  because  there  was 
nothing  in  tone,  manner,  or  words  which  could  indicate  what  he  was  about, 
and  this,  too,  deprived  the  sufferer  of  all  that  relief  sometimes  felt  in  showing, 
and  even  feeling,  resentment.  This  characteristic  made  all  subjects  about 
equally  easy  for  him  to  introduce,  as  he  reached  all  ends  by  a  slight  modifica- 
tion of  the  same  means. 

Father  Peck  (for  so  he  came  to  be  called)  could  jirobably  do  the  great  part 
of  his  studying  to  better  advantage  riding  about  the  country  than  in  his  study. 
Every  fact  which  he  observed  was  made  to  do  service  somewhere.  His  know- 
ledge of  the  Bible,  which  he  studied  closely  in  its  vernacular,  current  events 
which  he  gathered  in  his  intercourse  with  the  world  and  from  the  newspapers, 
and  his  own  observations  in  social  and  public  life,  made  up  the  exhaustless 
store,  from  which  he  always  drew  just  the  article  and  the  quantity  of  it 
needed  for  each  occasion.  His  generalizations  were  brief,  shrewd  and  quaint; 
his  illustrations  copious  and  apt.  Extended  processes  of  abstract  reasoning 
he  never  attempted,  and  if  he  had  done  so,  he  would  have  failed.  He  eschewed 
all  questions  of  Philosophy  and  Philology.  But  truths  which  he  could  not 
prove  abstractly,  he  could  infallibly  perceive,  clearly  state,  and  happily  illus- 
trate, and  emotions  which  he  could  not  analyze,  he  could  delineate  with  great 
accuracy  and  effect.  He  was  a  man  so  made  by  nature,  that  no  education 
could  have  made  him  what  would  have  been  called  a  great  Philosopher,  or  a 
great  Theologian,  and  no  luant  of  education  could  have  made  him  less  than  a 
remarkable  man.  But  although  he  was  not  what  has  ever  been  called  a  great 
man,  few  who  knew  his  qualities  will  foil  to  rank  them  higher  than  those  to 
which  that  epithet  applies. 

I  have  now  given  you  a  brief  estimate  of  the  character  of  Father  Peck.  His 
services  to  the  cau.se  of  religion  have  been  beyond  calculation, — partly  because 
they  would  at  any  time  have  been  of  great  value,  but  especially  on  account 
of  the  great  need,  at  the  time  of  his  early  ministry,  of  such  pioneer  labour  as 
he  was  able  to  perform.  If  this  can  aid  you  at  all  in  the  work  which  you  are 
about  to  publish,  and  for  which,  I  will  add,  the  public  will  look  with  interest, 
you  are  at  liberty  to  make  such  use  of  it  as  shall  best  serve  your  purpose. 
Very  truly  and  faithfully  yours, 

ANDREW  TEN   BROOK. 


CHARLES  ODINGSELL  SCREVEN.  439 


CHARLES  ODINGSELL  SCREVEN,  D.  D.* 

1801—1830. 

Charles  Odingsell  Screven  was  a  son  of  General  James  Screven, 
a  patriot  of  the  Kevolution,  wlio  was  killed  by  a  party  of  Indians  and 
Tories,  near  Midway  Meeting-House,  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  in  April,  1778. 
His  more  remote  ancestor  was  William  Screven,  who  came  early  to  this 
country,  settled  in  the  District  of  Maine  at  a  place  called  Piscataqua.  (now 
Kittery,)  and  afterwards  removed  to  South  Carolina,  and  founded  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Charleston. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  was  born  in  1774  ;  and  of  course  was  left  an 
orphan  in  early  childhood.  In  February,  1786,  when  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  he  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Furman  in  Charleston,  and  united  with  the 
Baptist  Church  in  that  place.  He  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1795. 
He  was  heir  to  a  handsome  estate,  and  owned  a  plantation  in  Bryan 
County,  called  "the  Retreat,"  opposite  Sunbury,  where  he  resided,  tempo- 
rarily, after  his  return  from  College.  Having  been  licensed  by  the  Charles- 
ton Church,  he  visited  Sunbury  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1801,  and 
volunteered,  with  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  people,  to  preach  to  them. 
His  services  gave  much  satisfaction,  and  a  wish  was  expressed  that  they 
might  be  continued,  to  which  he  readily  consented.  At  that  time  the 
state  of  morals  in  the  place  was  exceedingly  low,  and  there  was  no 
Baptist  church  there,  nor  a  single  individual  belonging  to  the  denomi- 
nation. 

His  first  ministrations  here  were  attended  by  many  discouraging  circum- 
stances ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  several  coloured  persons  were  hopefully 
converted  through  his  instrumentality.  He  had  been  in  the  habit  of  deliv- 
ering but  one  sermon  each  Sabbath,  on  account  of  the  feeble  state  of  his 
health  ;  but  the  interest  in  his  preaching  gradually  increased,  so  that  a 
desire  was  expressed  by  several  members  of  his  congregation  tliat  they 
might  have  two  sermons  instead  of  one  ;  and.  notwithstanding  his  bodily 
debility,  ho  acceded  to  their  wish.  On  the  29th  of  May,  1804,  he  was 
ordained  at  Charleston,  by  Dr.  Furman  of  that  city,  Mr.  Botsford  of 
Georgetown,  and  Mr.  Clay  of  Savannah.  About  the  same  time,  he  was 
married  to  a  Mrs.  Jones,  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  Charles  B.  Jones,  late  of 
Savannah, — who  died  after  about  a  year  from  their  marriage,  leaving  one 
child  who  has  since  arrived  at  maturity  and  entered  the  ministry, — the 
Rev.  James  0.  Screven.  In  1813,  he  formed  a  second  matrimonial  con- 
nection with  a  Mrs.  Holmes,  (whose  maiden  name  was  Galphin,)  by  whom 
he  had  several  children.     Two  sons  and  a  daughter  survived  him. 

Mr.  Screven  was  not  allowed  to  discharge  his  ministerial  duties  without 
much  opposition.  Something  of  what  he  had  to  encounter  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following  anecdote :  While  sitting  with  his  wife  beside  the  fire 
on  a  winter  evening,  a  large  stone  was  thrown  at  his  head,  which  barely 
missed  their  infant,  which  he  was  holding  in  his  arms.     Handing  the  babe 

•  Campbell's  Georg.  Bapt. 


440  BAPTIST. 

to  his  wife,  he  instantly  rose,  and  walking  out  into  the  piazza,  called  out 
to  the  miscreant  in  the  dark, — "If  I  am  the  object,  here  I  am."  The 
wretch  shrunk  away  into  his  hiding  place,  without  offering  any  other  insult, 
or  attempting  any  other  injury.  Many,  however,  who  at  first  were  fierce 
opposers  to  his  ministry,  afterwards  not  only  laid  aside  their  opposition, 
but  became  active  and  exemplary  members  of  his  church.  His  labours, 
during  iHOst  of  his  life,  were  confined  to  Liberty  County,  and  the  counties 
immediately  contiguous. 

In  1802,  a  painful  disease  began  to  develope  itself  in  one  of  his  eyes, 
which  turned  out  to  be  a  cancer,  and  rendered  the  whole  of  his  subsequent 
life  a  scene  of  physical  suffering.  For  many  years,  it  was  slow  in  its  pro- 
gross ;  and  until  1821  he  continued  to  prosecute  his  labours  with  little 
interruption.  The  last  sis  years  of  his  life  were  years  of  intense  and 
almost  uninterrupted  pain. 

In  1806,  he  was  elected  President  of  Mount  Enon  College,  some  four- 
teen miles  Southwest  of  Augusta,  where  he  seems  to  have  resided  and 
taught  a  year  or  two :  it  was  rather  an  Academy  than  a  College,  but  fur- 
nished instruction  to  a  number  of  boys,  some  of  whom  afterwards  became 
quite  famous  in  the  State  ;  but  he  returned  to  Sunbury.  In  April,  1802, 
he  delivered  a  Discourse  on  the  Organization  of  the  "  Savannah  Associa- 
tion "  froin  Kphesians  iv.  4,  6  ;  a  synopsis  of  which  is  preserved  in  Hol- 
comb's  Repository  of  that  year. 

He  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Brown  Uni- 
versity in  1826. 

Dr.  Screven,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  often  advised  by  his 
physicians  and  friends  to  give  up  preaching,  and  to  visit  other  places  with 
a  view  to  seek  a  cure  for  his  malady.  He  actually  went  once  to  Savannah, 
and  once  to  Philadelphia,  to  avail  himself  of  the  best  medical  skill,  but  it 
was  all  to  no  purpose.  At  length,  in  the  year  1830,  he  consented,  by  the 
earnest  request  of  his  friends,  to  visit  New  York ;  but  he  distinctly  stated 
that  he  should  leave  home  without  the  least  expectation  of  ever  returning. 
The  evening  before  he  left,  he  had  a  most  affectionate  interview  with  his 
coloured  people  who  came  to  bid  him  fiirewell,  and  towards  whom  he  cher- 
ished an  affection  almost  jDarental.  He  suffered  much  on  his  way  to  Savan- 
nah, as  well  as  on  the  voyage  from  Savannah  to  New  York  ;  but  he  evinced 
throughout  the  most  cheerful  submission.  On  his  arrival  at  New  York,  he 
had  three  physicians  to  attend  him,  one  of  whom  was  regarded  as  particu- 
larly skilful  in  the  terrible  malady  of  which  he  was  the  subject.  For  a  few 
days,  the  effect  of  the  applications  seemed  favourable  ;  but  it  was  quickly 
found  that  the  disease  had  lost  none  of  its  power,  and  that  it  was  advancing 
rapidly  towards  a  fatal  hime.  His  last  days  were  full  of  joyful  hope  and 
confidence  in  the  Saviour.  __  He  died  at  New  York,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1830, 
aged  fifty-six  years. 

Dr.  Screven's  only  publications,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  are  a  Sermon 
on  Ephcsians  iv.  4,  5,  6 ;  and  a  Charge  at  the  Ordination  of  a  minister, 
from  I.  Timothy  iv.  16. 


CHARLES  ODINGSELL  SCREVEN.  44^ 


FROM  THE  REV.  ADIEL  SHERWOOD,  D.  1). 

Capk  Girardeau,  Mo.,  May  18,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  cheerfully  res|)oiiil  to  your  reiiue.st  for  some  recollections  of 
my  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Screven.  The  distance  of  our  residence  from  each 
other — some  two  hundred  miles — did  not  allow  us  to  meet  often:  then  the 
acute  pain  lie  suflVred  prevented  his  heing  much  from  home,  thougli  he  was 
occasionally  Moderator  of  tlie  Association.  I  passed  several  days  at  liis  hou.sc 
in  the  fall  of  IS'2'^,  when  we  had  a  meeting  of  some  interest,  and  he  delivered 
the  Charge  at  the  Ordination  of  a  minister. 

He  was  tall  and  slender, — not  so  commanding  in  his  appearance  as  some  of 
less  attainments  and  intellectual  strength.  Indications  of  goodness  were  the 
lineaments  that  would  first  arrest  the  heliolder.  The  pare  in  heart  shall  see 
God:  such  a  man  a  stranger  would  think  stood  before  him,  when  ho  first  cast 
his  eyes  upon  Dr.  Screven. 

The  prominent  traits  of  his  character,  I  should  say,  were  Christian  meek- 
ness and  fraternal  kindness.  As  might  be  expected  from  one  in  the  higher 
walks  of  life,  he  was  a  man  of  great  urbanity  of  manners:  this  was  natural 
and  without  any  affectation;  for  he  made  no  .show  only  by  his  mental  power 
in  the  pulpit.  Tf  a  benevolent  heart  was  ever  found  in  one  of  our  fallen  spe- 
cies,— a  heart  full  of  the  '<  milk  of  human  kindness," — that  heart  was  in  the 
frail  tenement  of  Charl"s  Odingsdl  Screven. 

In  his  pulpit  performances,  I  should  sa}-  that  tenderness  Avas  the  prevailing 
characteristic.  One  would  be  impres.sed  with  this  sentiment  in  listening  to  his 
discourses — if  he  cannot  persuade  his  people  into  the  paths  of  virtue,  he  will 
love  them  into  her  peaceful  waj-s.  Of  his  hearers  generallj^,  three-fourths  to 
five-sixths  were  coloured  persons — such  was  the  population  in  Liberty  and 
the  adjoining  counties;  j'et  the  white  portion  of  his  congregations  were  of  the 
most  refined  and  literary  class.  By  the  coloured  people  particularly  he  was 
regarded  with  a  respect  that  bordered  on  reverence.  His  labours  among  them 
were  blessed  to  their  moral  and  intellectual  elevation.  Hundreds,  it  is  pre- 
sumed, related  to  him  their  internal  historj',  and  were  baptized  on  a  profession 
of  faith  in  the  all-atoning  Redeemer.  When  he  was  called  up  higher.  Rev.  J. 
S.  Law  M'as  raised  up  to  fill  his  place;  but,  like  Elisha,  he  soon  followed  the 
elder  teacher. 

I  hardl}-  need  say  that  his  great  solicitude  for  the  salvation  of  the  coloured 
people,  and  his  labours  among  them,  when  he  was  able,  day  and  night, 
awakened  the  admiration  of  all.  All  saw  that  his  ruling  passion  was  that  of 
a  true  minister  of  the  Gospel, — to  save  souls.  The  College  gave  him  its  high- 
est titles,  but  in  his  humble  efforts  to  bring  sinners  to  God,  for  a  third  of  a 
centurj',  a  monument  has  been  erected  that  Avill  stand  when  academical 
honours  are  forgotten,  and  the  places  of  marble  mausoleums  are  not  to  be 
found.  He  was  a  Baptist  from  principle — he  thought  that  no  article  should 
find  a  place  in  our  creed,  except  on  Divine  authority;  yet  he  was  no  bigot — he 
loved  good  men  of  all  denominations,  and  cheerfully  co-operated  with  them  in 
their  eflfoits  to  do  good.  His  house  was  the  home  of  the  pious,  especially  min- 
isters, for  weeks  and  months  at  a  time. 

Allow  me  to  conclude  this  brief  communication  by  an  extract  from  a  Charge 
which  he  delivered  to  a  minister,  and  which  mav  serve  to  illustrate  sojuewhat 
the  type  of  his  own  Christian  and  ministerial  character.  It  is  as  follows: — 
««  Tak,"  heed,  my  Brother,  that  love  be  in  constant  exercise.  Our  religion  is 
a  S)'stem  of  love  and  good  will.  It  manifests  not  only  the  unsjieakable  love 
of  God  to  a  fallen  world,  but  also  tends  to  fill  the  hearts  of  men  with  holy 
afiections  towards  their  Creator  and  one  another.     The  man  whose   lieart  is  a 

Vol..  VI.  5G 


442  BAPTIST. 

stranger  to  compassion,  or  cannot  adopt  the  language  of  <  being  affectionately 
desirous  of  you,'  is  a  most  unsuitable  person  to  dispense  that  Gospel,  every 
sentiment  of  which  emanates  from  love.  We  are  to  carry  our  people,  as 
Moses  did  the  Israelites,  in  our  bosom,  as  a  nursing  father,  &c.,  to  the  Ileavenlj- 
Canaan.  The  celestial  flame  of  love  must  mingle  with  all  our  preparations, 
and  burn  on  every  acceptable  sacrifice.  Think  not  any  immortal  being,  how- 
ever lowly  in  rank,  beneath  your  notice." 

Respectfully  yours, 

ADIEL  SHERWOOD. 


HOSEA  HOLCOMBE.=^ 

1801—1841. 

HosEA  HoLCOMBE,  a  SOU  of  Hosea  and  Phebe  (Smith)  Holcombe, 
was  born  in  Union  District,  S.  C,  July  20,  1780.  He  was  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  until  the  year  1800,  when  he  made  a  profession  of  his 
faith  in  Christ,  and  united  with  the  Padget's  Creek  Baptist  Church,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  place  in  which  he  was  born.  On  the  7th  of 
January,  1801,  he  was  married  to  Cassandra  Jackson,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Martha  Jackson,  and  about  the  same  time  received  license  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  from  the  church  with  which  he  was  connected. 

Mr.  Holcombe  continued  to  exercise  his  ministry  in  his  native  region, 
preaching,  as  opportunity  presented,  in  different  churches,  until  the  year 
1812,  when  he  removed  to  North  Carolina.  Here,  in  the  Counties  of  Lin- 
coln and  Mecklenburg,  he  laboured,  in  at  least  two  or  three  different 
churches,  for  six  years.  During  liis  residence  here,  he  baptized  the  greater 
portion  of  the  members  of  a  Methodist  church,  together  with  their 
preacher ;  and  both  were  thus  introduced  into  a  new  connection.  In  the 
fall  of  1818,  he  removed  to  Jefferson  County,  Ala.,  where  he  made  his 
home  during  the  residue  of  his  life.  Here,  also,  he  had  the  care  of  a 
number  of  churches,  among  which  were  those  of  Canaan,  Rufus  Valley, 
Rock  Creek,  Elyton,  and  Rhewhamy.  From  1831  to  1834,  he  baptized 
not  less  than  five  hundred  persons.  He  died  of  bilious  fever,  after  an 
illness  of  a  single  week,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1841,  in  the  sixty-second 
year  of  his  age.  In  the  prospect  of  death,  though  he  had  the  deepest 
sense  of  his  own  unworthiness,  his  confidence  in  the  merits  of  Christ  never 
faltered. 

Mr.  Holcomb  was  untiring  in  his  labours  during  the  whole  period  of  his 
ministry.  Besides  haviiTg  the  care  generally  of  from  two  to  four  churches, 
he  travelled  extensively,  preaching  in  destitute  regions  as  he  had  opportu- 
nity. Happily  for  him,  he  had  a  wife  of  kindred  spirit  with  his  own,  who, 
while  he  was  labouring  among  the  churches,  laboured  at  home,  night  and 
day, — spinning  and  weaving,  in  order  to  provide  clothing  for  her  children. 
He  was  a  warm  friend  to  the  various  objects  of  public  benevolence,  espe- 
cially  to    the   cause  of   Domestic   and    Foreign    Missions,  of   Ministerial 

•  MS.  from  his  son.  Rev.  W.  H.  Holcombe. 


IIOSEA  llOLCOMBE.  443 

Education,  and  of  Temperance  ;  and  liis  efforts  in  the  promotion  of  each 
were  as  earnest  as  they  were  well  directed. 

!Mr.  llulconilie  puMisIieil  a  CuUectioii  of  Sacred  Hymns,  1815  ;  a  work 
on  IJaptism,  entitled  "A  lleply  to  the  Kev.  Finis  Ewing,  of  the  Cuniher- 
land  Presbyterian  Society,"  1832;  A  llefutation  of  the  Rev.  Joshua 
Lawrence's  Patriotic  Discourse,  or  Anti-mission  Principles  exposed,  1836; 
and  The  History  of  the  Alabama  Baptists,  1840. 

Mr.  llolcombe  was  the  father  of  eleven  children,  to  ten  of  Avhoni  he 
administered  the  ordinance  of  Baptism.  Three  of  his  sons  became 
Ministers,  and  one  a  Deacon.  Mrs.  Holcombe  survived  her  husband  a  few 
montlis  over  seven  years. 

FKOM  THE  KEY.  WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 

PRESIDENT   OF    SEMPLE    BIIOADDUS    COLLEGE. 

Semple  Broaddus  College,  Centre  llill, 
De  Soto  County,  Miss.,  January  25,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Ilosea  llolcombe  commenced 
at  the  Ockmulgce  Church,  Perrj^  County,  Ala.,  Xovember,  1839.  He  was 
then  President  of  the  Alabama  Baptist  State  Convention.  lie  had  previously 
been  known  to  me,  through  the  religious  periodicals,  as  one  of  the  most  labo- 
rious, self-denying,  intrepid  and  holy  men,  which  our  Southern  Church  then 
afforded,  yiy  intercourse  with  him  at  that  Convention  impressed  me  strongly 
with  his  singleness  of  purpose,  and  freedom  from  all  disposition  to  self- 
aggraiidiy.ement.  The  next  time  we  met  was  at  Montgomery,  in  the  same 
State,  where  we  had  a  most  pleasant  interview,  which  served  only  to  bind  me 
yet  closer  to  him,  as  a  revered  father  in  Israel,  in  whom  there  was  no  guile. 
He  was  then  activelj'  engaged,  travelling  in  the  sultry  beat  of  summer,  and 
corresponding  extensively,  in  order  to  bring  out  as  speedily  as  possible  the 
"  History  of  Alabama  Baptists."  We  had  another  very  agreeable  meeting  at 
the  session  of  the  State  Convention  at  Greonsborough,  Ala.,  where  his  heart 
seemed  to  be  overfloM'ing  Avith  love  and  zeal  for  his  Master's  cause.  This  was 
his  last  attendance  upon  that  Convention.  He  was  its  father,  and  had  been 
its  main  support  from  its  origin;  and  with  him,  mainly,  originated  those  mea- 
sures which  issued  in  the  present  prosperous  benevolent  enterprises  that  form 
a  crown  of  glory  to  the  Baptists  of  Alabama,  lie  had  seen  the  evils  result- 
ing from  the  anti-missionary  spirit,  and  he  not  only  deplored  them  bitterly, 
but  laboured  with  all  his  strength  to  counteract  tbem.  No  man  ever  valued 
the  true  missionary  spirit  and  an  intelligent  ministry  more  than  he  did;  and 
hence,  in  his  desire  to  promote  these  objects,  be  seemed  utterly  oblivious  of 
all  personal  considerations.  When  the  Alabama  Convention  met  at  Talladega, 
in  1841,  it  was  with  deep  sorrow  that  we  received  the  intelligence  that  be  had 
bidden  farewell  to  all  our  earthly  assemblies.  But  we  felt  assured  that  he 
had  exchanged  the  turmoils  and  struggles  of  earth  for  the  serene  triumphs 
of  Heaven.  The  Convention  passed  unanimously  Resolutions  expressive  of 
their  high  estimate  of  his  life  and  labours. 

As  a  Writer,  he  was  simple,  perspicuous  and  earnest.  His  "  Ilistor}-  of  the 
Alabama  Baptists  "  evinces  great  labour;  and,  though  it  makes  no  pretensions 
to  classical  diction,  it  is  well  arranged,  and  embraces  a  ma.ss  of  important 
facts,  covering  the  first  settlement  of  the  State,  and  the  rise  and  progress  of  its 
Baptist  Churches.  His  letters  and  essays,  communicated  to  newspapers,  bear 
strongly  the  marks  of  a  mind  intent  on  doing  good.  As  a  Preacher,  he  was 
far  from  being  showy,  but  he  presented  the  great  truths  of  the  Bible  in  a  clear 
and  impressive  manner,  and  never  left  any  of  his  hearers  to  doubt   in  regard 


444  BAPTIST. 

to  his  perfect  sincerity.     Of  the  early  ministry  in  Alabama  he  stood  in  the 
front  rank,  as  an  able  divine  and  effective  preacher. 

Of  liis  Christian  character  the  leading  elements  were  humility,  benevolence, 
and  seif-denying  activity.     None  who  knew  him  could  doubt  that  it  was  his 
meat  to  do  his  Master's  will.     AVherever   he  recognised   the   image  of  Christ, 
thither  his  affections  were  strongly  attracted. 
With  Christian  regard. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 


JOHN  KERR. 

1801—1842. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JEREMIAH  B.  JETER,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  Va.,  September  19,  1848. 

Dear  Sir :  The  Rev.  John  Kerr,  concerning  whom  you  inquire,  I 
reckoned  among  my  intimate  acquaintances,  and  it  will  cost  me  little  cflFort 
to  comply  with  your  request  in  furnishing  you  with  a  brief  sketch  of  his 
life  and  character,  as,  in  consequence  of  having  preached  his  Funeral 
Sermon,  the  facts  are  all  familiar  to  me. 

John  Kerr  was  of  Scottish  descent,  and  was  born  in  Caswell  County, 
N.  C,  August  4,  1782,  shortly  after  the  British  army,  under  Lord  Corn- 
wallis,  had  passed,  like  a  desolating  tornado  through  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia.  His  father  is  represented  as  having  been  a  man  of  most  amiable 
character,  and  his  mother  as  a  lady  of  great  intelligence  and  energy ;  and 
both  of  them  were,  for  many  years,  exemplary  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church.      They  were  the  parents  of  a  numerous  family. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  an  active  and  promising  boy,  naturally 
volatile  in  his  disposition,  but  not  vicious.  He  was  also  a  good  scholar 
and  a  favourite  with  his  teachers.  Beyond  this,  little  is  known  of  the 
history  of  his  boyhood. 

At  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  he  took  charge  of  a  common  English 
school,  near  the  residence  of  his  uncle,  General  Azariah  Graves,  in  the 
county  in  which  he  was  born.  The  time  of  his  conversion  to  God  was  now 
approaching.  About  the  year  ISOO,  there  was,  in  the  adjoining  county  of 
Orange,  a  Presbyterian  congregation  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev. 
William  Paisley,  who,  as  late  as  1843,  was  living  at  a  very  advanced  age, 
and  discharging  with  great  fidelity  the  duties  of  his  office.  For  a  long 
season,  great  insensibility  in  respect  to  religion  had  prevailed  in  tliat 
church.  A  visiting  miuister  from  the  State  of  Tennessee,  preaching  for 
them,  took  occasion  to  denounce  religious  excitement.  The  pious  Pastor 
was  deeply  affected.  He  arose  to  counteract  the  deadening  influence  of  the 
sermon  by  a  warm  and  stirring  exhortation.  But  his  heart  was  too  full 
for  utterance.  He  stood  in  his  pulpit,  and,  looking  in  solemn  silence  on 
his  congregation,  burst  into  tears.  The  effect  was  electrical.  The  excite- 
ment had  now  begun.  God  was  in  very  deed  in  that  place.  A  most 
impressive  scene  ensued.     The  mingling  sounds  of  praise  and  of  lamenta- 


JOHN  KEUU. 


445 


Hon,  as  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  second  temple,  were 
heard  throughout  the  congregation.  This  was  tlie  beginning  of  an  exten- 
sive and  glorious  revival  of  religion. 

Many  persons,  from  various  motives,  were  now  attracted  to  the  meetings 
at  the  Cross  Roads.  Among  those  who  went  to  be  amused  was  young 
John  Kerr.  God,  having  designs  of  mercy  towards  him,  directed  him  to 
the  hallowed  place.  As  he  approached  it,  his  mind  was  solemnly  impressed 
by  the  sighs  and  prayers,  which,  from  every  side,  he  heard  ascending  to 
Heaven.  He  was  quickly  seized  with  an  overwhelming  sense  of  guilt,  and 
falling,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  prostrate  on  the  earth,  he  continued  all  night 
to  implore  the  mercy  of  God. 

Not  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood,  Mr.  Kerr,  though  but  a  stripling, 
began  immediately  to  recommend  to  others  the  Saviour  whom  he  had  found 
so  precious  to  himself.  For  a  year  or  two,  he  seems  to  have  pursued  an 
irregular  and  unauthorized,  but  popular,  ministry.  He  was  probably  bap- 
tized on  the  I'ith  of  August,  1801,  ami  was  forthwith  duly  licensed  to 
preach  the  Gospel. 

Determined  to  avail  himself  of  every  means  in  his  power  to  render  his 
ministry  efficient  and  useful,  the  young  evangelist  travelled  to  South  Caro- 
lina to  see  the  excellent  Marshall  and  listen  to  his  preaching;  and  thence 
to  Georgia,  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  the  distinguished  and  venerable 
Mercer.  Returning  from  the  South,  he  visited  Virginia,  and  became 
personally  known  to  the  lamenteil  Semple,  and  other  valuable  ministers  of 
that  State.  Wherever  he  went,  his  preaching  produced  a  thrilling  eflfect. 
His  youthful  appearance,  the  ardour  and  gracefulness  of  his  manner,  and 
the  beauty  of  his  diction,  attracted  universal  attention.  There  are  not  a 
few  who  still  remember  his  visit  to  Eastern  Virginia,  with  lively  emotion, 
after  the  lapse  of  almost  half  a  century. 

In  April,  1805,  Mr.  Kerr  was  married  to  Mrs.  Williams,  an  estimable 
and  pious  lady  of  Halifax  County,  Va.  This  union  proved  a  great  bless- 
ing to  him.  From  this  event  until  his  death,  he  was  a  citizen  of  the  Old 
Dominion.  For  several  years,  he  pursued  his  ministry  in  Halifax  and  the 
adjoining  counties,  with  great  acceptance,  but  I  know  not  witli  what  success. 

But  an  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Kerr  was  now  at  hand.  In 
1811,  he  embarked  on  the  stormy  sea  of  politics,  consenting  to  become  a 
candidate  for  Congress.  That  he  was  influenced  to  this  measure  by  con- 
siderations that,  at  the  time,  seemed  to  him  sufficient  to  justify  it,  I  have 
no  doubt  ;  but  it  may  perhaps  reasonably  be  questioned  whether,  survey- 
ing them  as  he  now  does,  by  the  light  of  eternity,  he  does  not  perceive 
that  he  erred  in  his  estimate  of  their  importance,  and  that  even  his  country 
had  no  right  to  call  him  away  from  the  appropriate  duties  of  his  vocation. 
He  was  twice  elected  to  Congress,  and  was  a  member  of  that  Body  during 
the  War  of  1812;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  served  his  country,  at 
that  critical  period,  with  a  fervent  and  eidightened  patriotism.  At  the 
close  of  his  Congressional  career,  he  continued  to  reside  in  Halifax,  and 
to  preach  to  the  Churches  at  Arbor  and  at  Mary  Creek,  until  Providence 
removed  him  to  another  and  more  important  field  of  labour. 

During  his  abode  in  Halifax,  an  event  of  which  I  have  several  times 
heard  Elder  Kerr  speak,  took  place.    He  was  strongly  tempted  to  abandoD 


446  BAPTIST. 

tbe  ministry,  and  to  enter  on  the  practice  of  the  Law, — a  profession  for 
which  he  had  a  strong  predilection.  The  necessities  of  a  growing  family 
seemed  to  him  not  only  to  justify  but  to  demand  the  measure.  One  day 
he  was  riding  home,  perhaps  from  preaching,  revolving  in  his  mind  the 
question  of  duty.  The  emoluments  and  honours  of  the  legal  profession 
were  temptingly  spread  before  his  mind.  His  purpose  was  suddenly  formed, 
and  ho  rejoiced  that  the  question  of  duty  was  at  length  decided.  But  his 
Master  did  not  design  to  discharge  him  from  the  Gospel  ministry.  His 
horse  took  fright,  he  was  thrown  from  his  gig,  and  the  bones  of  one  leg 
were  dreadfully  fractured.  For  several  weeks  he  lay  in  excruciating  pain, 
and  all  hope  of  saving  the  limb  had  nearly  vanished.  One  night  he  fell 
asleep  and  dreamed  that  the  Saviour  came  to  him,  and,  with  benignant 
countenance,  laying  his  hand  gently  on  the  wound,  healed  it.  He  awoke 
in  an  ecstacy.  Calling  his  family  around  him,  he  declared  that  his  limb  was 
healed,  and  insisted  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  rise  and  walk.  In  this, 
however,  he  was  mistaken  ;  but,  from  that  moment,  he  never  experienced 
the  slightest  pain  in  the  fractured  member,  and  it  healed  with  an  astonishing 
rapidity.  The  end  of  the  affliction  had  been  attained.  All  desire  to  enter 
the  practice  of  the  Law  had  vanished  ;  and  never  had  the  work  of  preaching 
Christ  .to  guilty  men  seemed  to  him  so  important,  delightful  and  glorious. 

In  March,  1825,  Elder  Kerr  removed  to  the  city  of  Ilichmond,  and 
became  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.  This  was  the  scene  of 
his  brightest  and  of  his  gloomiest  days.  Here  he  was  called  to  bury  the 
wife  of  his  youth,  the  companion  of  his  riper  years,  and  the  fond  mother 
of  his  children.  Here  his  fine  pulpit  talents  were  brought  into  active  and 
successful  operation.  Crowds  hung  with  delight  on  his  ministry.  In  the 
years  1826  and  1827,  the  church  enjoyed  a  precious  revival,  which  resulted 
in  the  addition  of  more  than  two  hundred  members.  During  a  series  of 
meetings  in  1831,  a  revival  still  more  powerful  and  glorious  ensued.  In 
less  than  a  year,  more  than  five  hundred  members  were  added  to  the  church  ; 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  of  whom  were  white. 

The  church  appeared  now  to  have  reached  the  highest  point  of  pros- 
perity. But  troubles  and  divisions  were  at  hand.  Mr.  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, spending  a  winter  in  the  city,  as  a  member  of  the  Convention  for 
remodelling  the  State  Constitution,  was  invited  to  occupy  the  pulpit.  His 
peculiar  views  were  then  but  partially  developed  ;  but  the  consequence  of 
his  occasional  labours  there  was,  that  about  seventy  members  of  Mr.  Kerr's 
church  adopted  Mr.  C.'s  system,  and  were  subsequently  excluded  from 
communion.  Throughout  this  trying  season,  the  Pastor  conducted  with 
creat  firmness  and  moderation,  and  showed  that  his  convictions  of  truth 
and  duty  were  paramount  to  all  other  considerations. 

During  Mr.  KerrV  residence  in  Richmond,  he  exerted  an  important 
influence  on  the  Baptist  denomination  throughout  the  Commonwealth.  He 
generally  took  an  active,  and  frequently  a  controlling,  part  in  the  various 
schemes  designed  to  promote  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom. 
He  succeeded  the  venerable  Semple  as  IModerator  of  the  General  Associa- 
tion of  Virginia,  and  for  several  years  he  presided  over  the  Baptist  Edu- 
cation Society,  and  I  may  add,  few  men  ever  presided  with  greater 
promptness,  dignity,  and  url)anity. 


JOHN  KERR.  447 

At  the  close  of  1832,  he  resigned  his  charge  in  Richmond;  and  though, 
at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  people,  he  consented  to  remain  until  they 
should  obtain  a  successor,  he  performed  but  little  service  in  the  church 
afterwards. 

Mr.  Kerr  was  a  man  of  noble  person,  strong  constitution,  and  excellent 
health.  It  was  fondly  hoped  that  his  life  would  be  preserved  many  years, 
and  that  in  a  green  old  age  he  would  stand  forth  as  the  representative  of  a 
departed  generation.  But  Heaven  decreed  otherwise.  For  a  considerable 
time  previous  to  his  death,  he  had  been  manifestly  ripening  for  glory.  In 
1839,  he  wrote  to  a  Cliristian  friend  thus: — 

"  I  think  I  love  Christianity  more  than  ever  I  did.  I  see  more  harmony, 
and  beauty,  and  glory  in  the  Gospel  than  ever  I  have  before  seen  ; — the 
Christianity  which  Jesus  taught  and  exemplified  in  his  life ; — the  Christi- 
anity embodied  in  the  two  great  commandments  ; — the  Christianity  which 
the  angels  published  and  sung  at  the  birth  of  our  beloved  Saviour, — 
"  Beliold  I  bring  you  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all 
people." 

"  Will  it  surprise  you,  my  brother,  to  hear  that  I  have  turned  reformer? 
Not  a  reformer  that  comes  forth  declaring  and  waging  war  upon  the  opin- 
ions and  doctrines  of  all  other  men  ; — not  a  reformer  who  comes  forth  with 
new  dogmas,  new  versions,  new  hymn  books,  new  litanies  and  formulas, 
willi  all  tlic  habiliments  of  a  new  sect — a  new  party  to  add  to  the  number 
of  fiery  combatants  in  the  contests  for  pre-eminence  and  party  fame.     No  I 

0  my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  their  secret !  I  am  engaged,  I  trust,  in  the 
great  work  of  getting  and  keeping  my  own  heart  right  in  the  sight  of 
God  ; — '  keeping  it  with  all  diligence ;  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.' 

1  know,  if  I  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  I  am  none  of  his, — however 
orthodox  my  opinions  may  be, — however  great  my  fame  in  the  Church  and 
in  the  world." 

For  some  months  previous  to  his  death,  he  conversed  much  with  his 
friends  on  the  subject  of  his  decease,  assuring  them  that  he  had  no  more 
dread  of  dying  than  of  undressing  himself  for  a  night's  repose.  His  jour- 
ney from  the  cradle  to  the  tomb,  occupying  a  little  more  than  sixty  years, 
closed  peacefully  on  the  29th  of  September,  1842. 

Mr.  Kerr  was  naturally  of  a  frank,  generous  and  disinterested  disposi- 
tion. Incapable  of  artifice  himself,  he  was  not  always  guarded  against  it 
in  others.  His  temperament,  peculiarly  ardent,  sometimes  perverted  his 
judgment.  His  manners  were  uniforn)ly  bland,  gentle  and  conciliating. 
In  social  intercourse  he  was  highly  gifted,  never  failing  to  impart  an 
interest  and  a  charm  to  conversation.  He  was  dignified  without  ostenta- 
tion, and  cheerful  without  levity. 

As  a  Christian,  he  imbibed  in  a  high  degree  the  spirit  of  his  Master. 
His  piety  was  not  the  dwarfish  and  stunted  growth  of  sectarianism, — 
morose,  censorious  and  persecuting  ;  but  the  product  of  enlarged  and  liberal 
views, — cheerful,  candid  and  conciliatory.  Though  he  was  firm  to  his 
convictions  as  a  Baptist,  he  was  remarkably  free  from  bigotry,  and  was  a 
lover  of  good  men  of  every  communion. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  possessed  oommanding  talents.  A  fine  person,  a 
sonorous  voice,  and  a  graceful  manner  at  once  prepossessed  his  hearers  in 


448  BAPTIST. 

his  favour.  His  apprehension  was  quick,  his  perception  clear,  and  his 
imagination  remarkably  vivid.  He  did  not  enjoy  in  early  life  the  advantages 
of  a  careful  and  thorough  mental  culture, — a  defect  which  he  never  ceased 
to  lament.  He  had,  however,  read  much  ;  thought  closely  on  many  sub- 
jects ;  and  been  a  careful  observer  of  men  and  things.  Had  his  applica- 
tion been  equal  to  his  genius,  the  depth  of  his  judgment  to  the  brilliancy 
of  his  fancy,  and  his  powers  of  ratiocination  to  his  powers  of  description, 
he  would  have  been  a  preacher  of  well-nigh  unequalled  talents.  As  it  was, 
he  was  among  the  most  popular  preachers  of  his  day  in  Virgiuia.  For 
more  than  thirty  years,  he  rarely,  if  ever,  failed  to  be  appointed,  at  Asso- 
ciations and  other  important  meetings,  to  preach  on  occasions  of  the  greatest 
interest.  At  such  times,  standing  in  the  open  air,  and  addressing  large 
assemblies,  he  was  on  his  favourite  theatre.  No  matter  how  wearied  and 
disorderly  the  congregation,  he  never  failed  to  command  silence,  and  to 
awaken  deep  interest.  Under  his  stirring  appeals,  I  have  seen,  I  think  I 
may  say  thousands,  at  one  time,  bathed  in  tears.  His  sermons  were 
marked  by  striking  excellencies  and  striking  defects.  They  were  rather 
interesting  and  impressive,  than  argumentative.  But  they  were  eminently 
adapted  to  be  useful,  especially  with  the  great  mass  of  hearers.  Wher- 
ever he  .preached,  especially  in  his  latter  days,  a  rich  blessing  seemed  to 
attend  his  ministrations.  Churches  received  from  his  earnest  and  pathetic 
appeals  a  fresh  and  mighty  impulse.  The  cause  of  Missions,  of  Ministerial 
Education,  and  of  Temperance,  were  each  much  indebted  to  his  untiring 
and  disinterested  efforts.  I  cannot  doubt  that  he  will  be  found  at  last 
among  those  who  have  turned  many  to  righteousness,  and  who  shall  shine 
as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. 

I  am,  very  sincerely. 

Your  friend  and  brother, 

J.  B.  JETER. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  HOOPER,  LL.  D. 

MnRFREESBORO',  N.  C  ,  JuiiC  1,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  am  called  upon  by  j-our  kind  importunity  for  a  sketch  of  my 
impressions  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Kerr  of  Virginia,  as  a  pulpit  speaker.  My 
desire  to  be  excused  on  the  ground  of  mj'  verj'  transient  acquaintance  with 
him,  and  very  limited  opportunity  of  hearing  him,  has  not  been  accepted  by 
you.  I  tliercfore  yield  to  your  request,  under  the  unpleasant  conviction  that 
the  dim  portrait  1  am  about  to  draw  will  not  be  worthy  of  the  subject,  or  of 
the  permanent  work  into  which  it  may  be  interwoven. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Kerr  was  formed  during  the  summer  of 

when  I  was  invited  to  join  him  in  a  preaching  tour  through  some  of  the 
churches  lying  in  the  Northern  part  of  North  Carolina.  As  we  rode  to  the 
places  appointed  for  nMjeting,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  some  extraordinarj- 
attraction  was  producing  a  confluence  of  the  population  to  one  spot.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  whole  country,  far  and  near,  seemed  to  be  in  motion.  This 
•spectacle  itself  is  sufficient  to  kindle  the  soul  of  any  man  who  has  in  himself 
the  elements  of  that  ardent  spirit  which  gives  birth  to  high  efforts  of  eloquence. 
As  the  preacher  rides  along  amidst  this  vast  moving  mass,  and  sees  the  eager- 
ness, the  haste,  the  bustle,  all  to  reach  the  spot  where  they  may  hang  upon 
his  lips  with  the  silence  of  death,  and  listen  to  truths  on  Avhich  their  eternal 
destiny  depends,  his  mind  catches  inspiration,  his  intellect  expands  with  the 


JOHN  KERR.  449 

noblest  conceptions,  and  his  heart  warms  and  molts  with  Divine  charity  for 
those  who  are  so  anxiously  looking  to  him  for  the  br^ad  of  life. 

Permit  me  here  to  transcribe  some  remarks  from  a  public  address  which  1 
delivered  about  this  time, — remarks  which,  if  1  recollect,  were  suggested  by 
the  scenes  of  that  preaching  excursion: — 

"  The  bulk  of  our  population  may  be  called  an  unreading  people.  They  are 
too  busy  to  read,  and  that  is  not  the  channel  by  which  they  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  receiving  knowledge  and  enjoying  its  acquisition.  Their  stock  of 
knowledge,  whatever  it  be,  has  been  acquired  through  the  ear.  It  has  been 
caught  spontaneously  without  study  and  without  trouble — in  the  social  group, 
talking  over  the  news  and  the  politics  of  the  day;  at  the  muster  ground  or 
tax  gathering,  from  the  speeches  of  political  candidates;  but,  above  all,  at  the 
great  religious  convocation  from  the  mouth  of  a  favourite  preacher.  In  all 
these  cases,  it  is  the  living  voice,  dropping  from  living,  glowing  lips,  upon  the 
greedy  ear  of  the  expectant  multitude,  that  reaches,  and  controls,  and  fashions 
the  popular  mind,  and  guides  the  mighty  momentum  of  the  popular  doings. 
This  instrument  of  wielding  the  public  will  is  seized  and  made  fearful  use  of 
by  sellish  and  ambitious  men,  who  employ  the  popularity  they  thus  acquire 
for  their  own  personal  advantage.  The  same  instrument  must  be  wrenched 
from  their  grasp  by  the  people's  real  friends;  the  cannon  must  be  taken  from 
the  enemy,  and  used  in  the  people's  cause.  Our  people  are  not  fond  of  reading, 
but  they  are  fond  to  excess  of  public  speaking.  Witness  the  avidity  Avith 
which  they  throng  to  places  where  public  speaking  is  to  be  heard,  whether 
sacred  or  secular.  Let  an  eloquent  preacher  pass  through  the  country,  and 
the  whole  population  settle  like  a  swarm  of  bees  under  the  boughs  of  the 
trees  where  the  scent  of  the  honey  is  dilTused.  Tiie  family  that  have  not  time 
or  patience  to  read  a  newspaper  or  a  printed  sermon,  can  spare  time  to  sit  for 
three  or  four  successive  days  under  the  sound  of  the  preacher's  voice.  .  .  . 
He  was  a  wise  man,  and  had  a  deep  insight  into  human  nature,  who  said: 
<  Let  me  make  a  nation's  ballads,  and  I  care  not  who  may  make  its  laws' — * 
such  sway  have  national  airs  which  strike  the  chord  of  national  feeling,  that 
those  who  wish  to  rule  a  nation's  will,  and  wield  a  nation's  strength,  have  not 
overlooked  or  neglected  this  powerful  engine.  Who  does  not  know  how  the 
populace  of  Scotland  may  be  wrought  up  to  an  ecstasy  of  patriotism  by  the 
strains  of  Burns,  when  Bruce  or  Wallace  is  the  theme!  If  those  strains  make 
the  heart  even  of  an  American,  in  another  hemisphere,  beat  like  the  sound  of 
a  trumpet,  what  must  be  their  effect  upon  the  heart  of  a  Scotsman!  Who 
can  wonder  that  an  army  should  conquer  and  sweep  their  enemies  before  them, 
as  a  hurricane  sweeps  the  trees  of  the  forest,  when  ten  tliousand  hearts  are 
wrought  up  to  a  frenzy  of  patriotism  bj-  such  strains  as  tliese.' 

And  if  tkis  country  is  ruled  by  the  popular  will,  and  the  popular  will  can 
be  reached  by  eloquence,  does  it  not  at  once  appear  how  important  the  posses- 
sion of  eloquence  is; — how  studiously  and  ardently  it  ought  to  be  cultivated, 
especially  by  the  occupiers  of  the  sacred  desk.  There  are  the  demands  for  its 
highest  efforts;  there  are  the  themes  for  its  sublimest  inspirations;  there  are 
the  incentives  to  its  greatest  achievements,  in  the  consequences  both  to  the 
speaker  and  his  hearers.  There  is  a  sublimity,  a  pathos,  in  high  moral  senti- 
ment, when  poured  forth  from  the  lips  of  an  unsuspected  orator,  which  has  a 

•  This  famous  saving  is  attributed  to  Cardinal  Mazarin.  I  remember  that  Mr.  Burke,  found- 
ing his  theory  on  this  admitted  phenomenon,  the  amazing  sway  of  popular  ballads  over  a  nation  a 
feelings  and  movements,  contends  against  the  truth  of  the  celebrated  lloratian  rule  of  criticism  : 
Segnius  irritant  animos  demissa  peraurem, 
Quaiii  quic  sunt  oculis  subjecta  fidelibus. — A.  P.  ISO. 
He  insists  that  no  visible  objects  have  near  the  same  mastery  over  the  human  mind,  as  those 
that  addrtsi'  themselves  to  the  ear.  Perhaps  he  cites,  as  a  further  instance,  the  magical  power, 
of  military  music  over  armies. — See  Burke  on  the  Sublime  and  IS i aid i Jul.. 

You.  YI.  57 


450  BAPTIST. 

soul-subduing  power;  the  hearers  jaeld  themselves  to  the  inspiration  of  the 
moment;  the  breast  feels  proud  of  the  magnanimous  emotions  which  swell  and 
influence  it;  while  selfishness  and  venality,  with  all  their  ugly,  dwarfish 
retinue  of  cunning  arts,  stand  rebuked  and  abashed  in  the  presence  of  awful 
virtue.  They  even  forget  their  nature,  for  a  time;  become  ashamed  of  their 
baseness  and  deformity,  catch,  in  sjjite  of  themselves,  the  contagion  of  mag- 
nanimity, and,  hurried  along  by  the  tide  of  general  sympathy,  join  in  the 
burst  of  acclamation,  and  strew  laurels  in  the  path  of  the  conqueror.  So 
have  I  seen  a  mass  of  rotten  wood  and  rubbish,  lifted  by  a  freshet  from  its 
muddy  bed,  and  floating  on  the  swollen  bosom  of  some  majestic  river.  For  a 
time  it  keeps  its  place,  lifeless  and  motionless,  near  the  shore  —  pushed  back, 
as  it  were,  into  a  corner  by  the  very  vehemence  of  the  noble  stream  which 
rushes  along  in  the  middle.  By  and  by  it  begins  to  partake  of  the  general 
agitation;  it  ventures  tremulously  near  the  edge  of  the  current,  but,  as  if  yet 
afraid  to  trust  itself  to  the  furious  tide,  it  starts  back,  and  wheels  and  wheels 
again,  in  reluctant  eddies,  until,  coming  at  last  within  the  central  influence, 
away  it  dashes,  like  a  race-horse,  down  the  foaming  flood,  as  if  proud  of  its 
coerced  velocity,  and  glorj'ing  in  the  might  of  the  waters  which  bear  it  along. 
So  does  the  mean  and  little  soul  yield  itself  to  the  resistless  torrent  of  virtuous 
eloquence,  surprised  at  its  own  unnatural  elevation,  proud  in  feeling  itself 
capable  of  a  momentary  generosity."  Such  delightful  and  sublime  emotions  are 
always  enjoyed,  and  such  moral  changes  are  always  witnessed  under  extra- 
ordinary exhibitions  of  oratory,  and  they  constitute  so  great  a  mental  luxury, 
that  no  one  would  willingly  miss  them;  no  one  but  would  make  violent  exer- 
tions to  put  himself  under  their  dissolving  influence.  Door  posts  and  floors 
give  way  before  the  irrepressible  appetite  of  human  masses,  pressing  to  drink 
in  the  droppings  of  the  honied  tongue.  Such  scenes  are  always  witnessed  when 
some  great  worldly  interest  rouses  the  passions  of  men;  and  similar  efi"ects 
are  seen  when  the  great  interests  of  the  soul  have  seized  with  due  force  upon 
some  man  of  fervid  temperament  and  keen  sensibility.  Such  scenes  astonished 
Great  Britain  and  America,  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  this  sacred  "  fire 
glowed  in  the  very  marrow  of  the  bones  of  Whitefield,  making  him  the  greatest 
of  preachers,  drawing  twenty  thousand  people  within  the  magic  circle  of  his 
enchantments,  and  melting  them  down,  one  and  all,  Greek  and  barbarian, 
learned  and  unlearned,  aged  and  young,  philosopher  and  artisan,  male  and 
female,  in  the  furnace  of  his  consuming  eloquence."*  Such  interesting  specta- 
cles so  honourable  to  human  nature  —  both  to  the  vanquisher  and  the  van- 
quished— were  re-enacted  in  our  father-land,  when  Irving  and  Chalmers  shook 
its  sacred  edifices;  and  such  spectacles  are  now  going  on  in  the  metropolis  of 
England,  where  a  young  man,  of  scarce  twenty-four,  without  any  advantages 
of  fortune,  birth,  education,  or  position,  is,  by  virtue  of  his  tongue  alone, 
attracting  day  by  day,  crowds  which  no  house  can  hold,  and  thus  this  strip- 
ling, endowed  with  the  single  gift  of  sacred  eloquence,  is  perhaps  an  object  of 
notice  and  interest  to  more  people  than  any  other  human  being,  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken. 

John  Kerr,  of  whom  you  ask  for  my  recollections,  had  powers  and  produced 
effects,  which  warrant  us  in  believing  that,  had  he  been  blessed  with  equal 
preparation,  and  figured  on  as  conspicuous  a  theatre,  he  might  have  taken  his 
place  among  these  Boanerges  of  the  pulpit. 

Forsiian  et  ejus  nomen  miscebitur  istis. 

A  gentleman,  himself  now  a  powerful  preacher,  when  I  mentioned  to  him 
my  high  estimate  of  Mr.  Kerr's  eloquence,  fully  concurred  with  me,  attri- 
buting to   him  flights  such    as   he    never   heard   approached   by   any   other 

•See  a  Sermon  of  the  writer  on  "The  ministry  of  Reconciliation,"  p.  28. 


JOHN  KEKR.  45] 

speaker;  at  tho  same  time  admitting  his  performances  to  liave  been  very 
unequal,  sometimes  not  rising  above  ordinary  capacity.  At  the  time  men- 
tioned above,  he  was  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers,  and  in  the  lull 
career  of  his  popularitj'.  He  rode  from  one  country  church  to  another, 
carrying,  as  it  were,  the  whole  population  in  his  train,  llis  sermons 
were  often  protracted  to  three  hours'  length,  yet  the  people  continued  to 
sit  with  unsated  ears;  and  the  same  throng  who  heard  him  yesterday 
would  ride  miles  to  hear  him  to-day.  Though  invited  to  participate  with 
him  in  the  labours  of  the  pulpit,  I  felt  myself  paralyzed  in  his  presence.  To 
speak  first,  followed  by  Mr.  Kerr,  would  only  provoke  mortifying  comparison; 
and  to  come  after  him,  no  preacher  Avould  feel  any  inclination,  choosing  rather 
to  sit  and  mingle  his  tears  with  those  of  the  congregation,  than  to  reduce  the 
glowing  temperature  of  the  house  by  his  own  lukewarm  etfusions.  As  fine  a 
pulpit  effort  as  I  ever  heard, — perhaps  the  most  dissolving, — was  that  of  Mr. 
Kerr's  Funeral  Sermon  on  Luther  Rice,  the  missionary  to  India.  News  of  the 
death  of  Mr.  Rice  in  South  Carolina  reached  the  Baptist  Convention,  while  in 
session,  near  Yanceyville  in  North  Carolina.  The  decea.sed,  from  his  missionary 
services  in  India,  but  still  more  from  his  labours  at  home  in  the  mission  cause, 
had  exceedinglj'-  endeared  himself  to  the  Baptist  public.  The  intelligence  of 
his  sudden  and  unexpected  death  was  received  with  much  emotion  by  the 
large  body  of  ministers  and  people  there  assembled;  and,  after  an  interchange 
of  condolence,  and  after  resolutions  expressive  of  their  high  appreciation  of 
the  dead,  Mr.  Kerr  was  appointed  to  preach  his  Funeral  Sermon,  before  the 
Convention  on  Sunday.  It  was  near  the  end  of  the  week,  and  there  was  very 
little  time  for  preparation — indeed,  I  doubt  whether  even  that  short  time  was 
made  use  of — so  accustomed  was  Mr.  Kerr  to  confide  in  the  extemporaneous 
resources  of  his  mind,  and  the  momentary  inspiration  of  the  pulpit.  He  rose 
with  that  commanding  dignity  of  presence,  and  that  fine  mixture  of  tender- 
ness and  seriousness,  for  which  he  was  so  remarkable,  and  announced  his 
text:  '<  The  priest's  lips  should  keep  knowledge, — and  they  should  learn  the 
law  at  his  mouth;  for  he  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  I  do  not 
recollect  the  particular  manner  in  which  he  treated  his  subject  and  do  not 
suppose  that  if  any  one  had  been  able  to  retain  his  calmness,  and  to  judge  the 
sermon  by  its  reasoning,  or  by  the  deep,  original  thought  it  contained,  ho 
would  have  considered  it  anything  extraordinary.  But  the  truth  is,  that  the 
man  soon  put  his  auditors  in  such  a  frame  that  all  criticism  was  ashamed  of 
itself,  aud  nothing  appeared  appropriate  to  the  time  and  place  but  to  let  the 
heart  grow  liquid  under  his  ardent  breath,  and  pour  itself  out  like  water. 
Such  I  acknowledge  was  the  eflfect  on  myself.  T  wanted  to  do  nothing  but 
remain  on  my  seat,  and  indulge  without  restraint  the  luxury  of  tears, — a  fresh 
gush  being  drawn  forth  at  each  stroke  of  the  magician's  wand.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  pathos  was  the  forta  of  Mr.  Kerr,  and  that  the  most  favouralde 
circumstances  for  rousing  it  in  his  own  breast,  and  transmitting  it  to  the 
breasts  of  his  audience,  were  the  circumstances  which  then  surrounded  him: 
a  vast  country  audience  of  plain  people,  gathered  from  all  distances  into  and 
around  a  country  meeting-hon.sc !  Then,  if  ever,  the  sacred  speaker  will  feel 
the  influence  of  a  large  sympathetic  multitude,  hanging  with  mute  attention 
upon  his  lips,  v,'hile  the  greatness  of  his  theme  and  the  heavenly  authority  of 
his  office  set  him  above  the  petty  anxieties  of  self,  and  the  ignoble  fear  of  man. 
Place  the  same  man  in  a  city  pulpit — surround  him  with  frivolous  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  or  frigid,  philosophic  literati,  and  immediately  Samson  is  shorn 
of  his  hair,  and  you  hear  on  all  sides  expressions  of  disai)i)ointment  and 
chagrin.  This  may  account  for  the  failure  of  Mr.  Kerr's  preaching  at  Charles- 
ton. I  understood  that,  when  he  visited  that  citj',  no  sensation  was  excited. 
no  one  talked  of  him  as  anything  uncommon.     Ilis  long  sermons  themselves, 


452  BAPTIST. 

which,  in  the  country,  are  patiently  heard,  and  even  greedily  devoured,  where 
pulpit  services  are  enjoyed  only  once  a  month, — these  themselves  would  he 
intolerable  to  a  city  audience,  however  otherwise  attractive  they  might  be.  It 
was  to  be  lamented  that  Mr.  Kerr  was  ever  drawn  off  from  his  sacred  busi- 
ness to  expend  his  powers  upon  secvilar  subjects.  But  such  was  his  over- 
whelming popularity,  that  he  was  sometimes  persuaded,  in  opposition  to  his 
taste  and  his  better  judgment,  to  lend  himself  to  a  political  party,  as  their 
onl_Y  available  candidate.  He  told  me  he  was  in  the  Congress  of  1812,  which 
declared  war  against  Great  Britain,  and  he  described  that  Congress  as  being 
like  that  Roman  Senate  which  the  Gauls  found  sitting  when  they  entered 
Rome,  and  which  they  mistook  for  a  council  of  gods! — so  much  did  they  seem 
to  him  above  the  Congresses  of  our  day. 

And  now,  dear  Sir,  I  have  done.  How  jejune  is  this  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  John  Kerr,  I  am  painfully  sensible.  How  much  more  worthy  a 
portrait  would  have  been  drawn  of  him  by  a  daily  companion,  or  even  by  me, 
had  my  acquaintance  with  him  been  for  a  few  years,  instead  of  a  few  weeks. 
It  is  one  of  the  infelicities  of  genius,  that  it  sometimes  finds  no  kindred  sjiirit 
to  fix  and  record  its  achievements;  and  especially  doomed  to  this  early  obli- 
vion are  the  airy  syllables,  the  eTtea  Ttzenoevra  of  the  popular  preacher. 
I  am,  dear  Sir, 

With  great  respect  and  regard,  yours, 

TV.  HOOPER. 


HORATIO  GATES  JONES,  D.  D.=^ 

1801—1853. 

Horatio  Gates  Jones,  a  sou  of  the  Eev.  David  Jones,  was  born  in 
Eastown,  Chester  County,  Pa.,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1777.  He  passed 
his  early  youth  at  Southampton,  where  he  attended  a  Latin  School,  and  at 
Eastown,  where  he  spent  part  of  his  time  labouring  on  a  farm,  and  thus 
acquired  habits  of  industry  and  early  rising,  which  continued  with  hira 
through  life.  In  1796,  he  was  placed  at  tlie  Bordentown  Academy,  then 
under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Burgess  Allison.  During 
\his  connection  with  this  Institution,  the  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  William 
Staughton  became  one  of  its  teachers,  and  young  Jones  formed  an 
acquaintance  with  him,  which  ripened  into  an  intimate  and  enduring  friend- 
ship. Having  gone  through  his  course  of  study  at  the  Academy,  he 
returned  to  the  paternal  roof,  and  resumed  the  business  of  farming.  He 
mingled  also  somewhat  in  politics ;  and,  being  a  fluent  speaker,  liad 
acquired  a  prominent  position  before  he  had  reached  his  majority. 

But  about  this  time  his  mind  underwent  an  important  change  in  refer- 
ence to  religious  things,  which  gave  a  decisive  complexion  to  his  subsequent 
life.  Believing  himself  to  have  been  the  siiliject  of  a  spiritual  renovation, 
he  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  on  the  24th  of  June,  1798,  tlie 
ordinance  of  Baptism  being  administered  to  him  by  the  Rev.  John  Boggs, 
who  was  at  that  time  his  father's  colleague  in  the  ministry. 

Not  long  after  tl)is,  he  began  to  exercise  his  gifts  in  the  way  of  public 
exhortation  ;  and,  as  liis  efforts  proved  highly  acceptable,  his  thoughts  were 

*  Bapt.  Mem.,  1854.— MS.  from  his  eon,  II.  G.  Jones,  Esq.. 


HORATIO  GATES  JONES.  453 

soon  directed  towards  the  uiiuistry  as  his  profession.  Though  ho  had 
every  prospect  of  political  preferment,  if  he  would  consent  to  remain  in 
civil  life,  his  convictions  of  duty  overpowered  all  considerations  of  worldly 
interest,  and  brou<j;ht  him  to  the  determination  to  spend  his  life  in  preach- 
ing the  Gospel.  The  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  having  requested 
him  to  preach  before  them  with  a  view  to  granting  him  a  license,  he  com- 
plied with  their  request,  and  preached  also  to  some  other  churches  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  After  having  been  thus  engaged  for  about  a  year, 
he  was  duly  licensed  on  the  2(ith  of  September,  1801.  He  now  supplied 
destitute  churches  in  Chester  and  Delaware  Counties,  Pa.,  and,  during  one 
of  his  visits  to  the  Marcus  Hook  Church,  he  was  informed  that  he  was 
appointed  to  supply  the  Church  in  Salem,  N.  J.,  then  vacant  by  the  death 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Skillman.*  On  the  17th  of  June,  1801,  he  com- 
menced his  labours  there,  and,  having  proved  acceptable  to  the  people, 
received  a  call  to  become  their  Pastor,  and  was,  accordingly,  ordained  on 
the  13th  of  February,  1802.  His  father,  whose  strong  sense  was  some- 
what qualified  by  a  vein  of  eccentricity,  gave  him  the  Charge,  and  is  said 
to  have  addressed  him  as  follows — "  My  son,  in  your  preaching,  don't  put 
the  rack  too  high.  Some  ministers  put  the  rack  so  high  that  the  little 
lambs  can't  get  a  bit.  Put  the  rack  low,  and  then  the  old  sheep  can  get 
the  fodder,  and  the  lambs  too." 

Mr.  Jones  entered  upon  his  work  with  great  zeal,  and  not  only  preaclied 
twice  on  the  Sabbath, — which  was  all  that  he  stipulated  for  at  the  time  of 
his  settlement, — but  preached  often  at  private  dwellings  and  school-houses, 
up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability.  His  labours  were  attended  witli  a 
manifest  blessing,  and  the  church  grew  rapidly  under  his  ministry.  At 
the  close  of  his  first  year,  he  wrote  in  his  "  Sermon  Note  book," 

"  Great  and  arduous,  yet  delightful  is  the  labour, 
"  Great,  glorious  and  never  failing  is  the  assistance." 

He  continued  in  his  charge  at  Salem  till  April,  180.5,  when  he  was 
obliged  to  retire  from  it  on  account  of  enfeebled  health.  He  now  removed 
to  his  farm  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Schuylkill,  about  five  miles  above 
Philadelphia,  in  the  township  of  Roxborough  ;  and,  without  taking  charge 
of  any  church,  preached  on  the  Sabbath,  as  his  health  permitted,  and 
opportunity  oiFered.  Among  other  places  at  which  he  ofliciated  was 
''Thomson's    meeting-house."   situated    in    Lower    i^Ierion,    Montgomery 

*  Isaac  Skillman  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  the  year  1740,  and  was  sent  into  the  ministry 
by  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  New  York.  He  studied  first  at  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton"s  school 
at  Hopewell,  N.  J.,  and  then  entered  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  which  he  was  graduated 
in  17G0.  In  1773,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  as  successor 
to  the  Rev.  .lohn  Davis.  lie  remained  at  Boston  fourteen  years,  and  in  1787  retiirncd  to  New 
Jersey.  On  the  18th  of  September,  1790,  he  was  called  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Salem,  N.  J.,  and,  having  accepted  the  call,  entered  upon  his  duties  in  November 
following.  He  continued  Pastor  at  Salem  until  the  close  of  his  life.  He  died  very  suddenly, 
on  the  8th  of  June.  1799,  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  He  received  the  degree  of  Mas- 
ter of  Arts  from  Rhode  Island  College  in  1774,  and  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the 
same  institution  in  1798.  Dr.  Benedict  says,. — "Dr.  Skillman  was  a  man  of  learning -and 
abilities,  but  never  very  popular  as  a  preacher."'  During  his  Pastorate  at  Salem,  fifty-seven 
members  were  added  by  Baptism.  When  his  death  was  known  to  the  Philadelphia  Baptist 
Association,  which  included  the  Salem  t'hurch,  it  was  thus  noticed  by  the  liev.  Dr.  Samuel 
Jones,  in  the  Circular  Letter  for  1799: — '•  Dr.  Skillman  is  no  more.  He  has  been  removed, 
we  trust,  from  his  labours  in  the  Church  militant  to  that  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people 
of  God;  and,  though  we  feel  and  lament  the  loss  we  sustain  by  this  heavy  visitation,  yet  we 
desire  to  be  resigne<l  to  the  Divine  will,  in  a  eomfortalilc  a.esurance  that  our  loss  is  his  gain.'' 
Dr.  Skillman  is  interred  in  the  Baptist  burying-ground  at  Salem. 


454  BAPTIST. 

County,  and  belonging  to  the  Hon.  Charles  Thomson,  Secretary  to  the 
Continental  Congress.  Mr.  Thomson  was  a  highly  educated  man,  a  tho- 
rough Greek  scholar,  and  is  well  known  as  a  translator  of  the  liible. 
Though  he  belonged  to  another  communion,  (Presbyterian,)  he  was  a  man 
of  large  views  and  catholic  feelings,  and  his  meeting-house  was  open  to 
clergymen  of  different  denominations.  Mr.  Thomson,  having  made  Mr. 
Jones'  acquaintance,  gave  him  a  cordial  welcome,  partly  from  Christian 
feeling,  and  partly  from  his  regard  to  his  father,  whom  he  had  known  as  a 
Chaplain  in  the  Revolution. 

Mr.  Jones  was  occupied  on  his  farm  at  lloxborough  during  the  week, 
and  when  the  Sabbath  came,  he  was  at  his  post  in  Merion.  Here  he 
lal)0ured  till  1808,  without  much  apparent  success;  but,  in  May  of  that 
year,  he  was  privileged  to  baptize  his  first  convert.  As  there  were  no 
accommodations  for  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, he  erected  a  dam  with  his  own  hands  in  a  stream  called  Mill  Creek, 
and  the  next  day  led  into  the  water  this  person  who  was  the  first  fruits 
of  his  labours.  Other  hopeful  conversions  took  place,  and  other  Baptisms 
succeeded,  at  intervals,  until,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1808,  the  Lower 
Meriuu  Baptist  Church  was  constituted,  with  nineteen  members, — Doctors 
Rogers  and  Staughtou  of  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Jones,  ofiiciating  on  the 
occasion. 

The  newly  formed  church  had  no  place  of  worship  of  their  own  ;  but 
the  Pastor,  aided  by  his  excellent  friend,  Mr.  Thomson,  set  about  procuring 
the  erection  of  one;  and  in  April,  1810,  the  building  was  completed,  and 
dedicated  to  the  service  and  worship  of  God.  From  that  time,  he  statedly 
supplied  the  pulpit,  unless  prevented  by  illness,  until  within  a  few  weeks 
of  his  death.  His  church  was  regularly  attended  by  Episcopalians,  Luthe- 
rans, and  Presbyterians.  He  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  at  the  head  of 
his  pew,  every  Sunday,  his  venerable  friend,  Mr.  Thomson,  who,  for  the 
sake  of  example,  attended  church  for  a  long  time  after  he  had  become  so 
deaf  as  to  be  incapable  of  hearing  any  thing  that  was  said  ;  and,  after  he 
had  reached  the  age  of  ninety,  and  was  unalde  to  go  out,  he  regularlj'  sent 
an  invitation  to  the  Pastor  to  come  and  dine  with  him. 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Jones  was  a  laborious  minister,  and  devoted  him- 
self with  great  zeal  to  the  interests  of  his  flock,  he  had  something  to  do 
with  civil  affairs,  filling  to  the  close  of  life  some  important  posts  of  honour 
and  usefulness,  but  never  any  of  profit.  For  more  than  twenty  years  he 
was  a  Director  of  the  Germantown  Bank,  and  for  nearly  thirty,  was  Direc- 
tor and  Controller  of  the  public  schools.  Previous  to  the  War  of  1812, 
he  was  elected  Chaplain  of  a  regiment  in  Roxborough,  and  when  war  was 
declared,  he  rendered  every  service  which  his  circumstances  would  permit 
in  aid  of  his  country's  cause. 

In  1814,  when  the  ]>a"ptist  Board  of  Missions  was  established  at  Pliila- 
delphia,  Mr.  Jones  was  present  and  assisted  in  its  organization.  He  was 
elected  one  of  the  first  Board  of  Managers,  and  served  as  Recording 
Secretary  for  many  years.  He  was  also  a  warm  friend  to  the  cause  of 
education,  especially  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry.  It  was 
chiefly  through  his  influence  that  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association  Avas 
induced  to  organize  a  manual   labour  school  at    Haddington,  which  finally 


HORATIO  GATES  JONES.  455 

became  Haddington  College.  So  long  as  that  institution  existed,  he  was 
President  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  and  spared  neither  time  nor  money  in 
the  promotion  of  its  interests.  He  was  elected  the  first  Chancellor  of  the 
University  at  Lewisburg ;  and  they  conferred  upon  hlni  their  first  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Ho  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from 
Brown  University,  in  1812. 

In  1S*29,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  rhiladclphia  Baptist  Associa- 
tion, in  its  corporate  capacity,  and  he  held  the  place  until  the  year  1853,  a 
period  of  twenty-four  years. 

Dr.  Jones  continued  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  various  public  duties 
until  the  year  1845,  when  his  constitution  received  a  shock  from  which  it 
never  fully  recovered.  He  was  making  a  morning  call  on  the  Pastor  of 
the  Church  at  Roxborough.  where  he  resided,  when  he  was  suddenly 
stricken  with  paralysis,  which,  however,  affected  only  one  side,  and  hap- 
pily did  not  reach  the  brain.  This  occasioned  a  temporary  interruption  of 
his  Sunday  labours  at  Merlon ;  but,  as  soon  as  his  health  would  any  way 
admit,  he  resumed  them,  in  connection  with  his  other  duties,  with  as  much 
alacrity  and  diligence  as  ever. 

In  the  autumn  of  1848,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  eldest  sou  in  Sullivan 
County,  N.  Y.,  intending,  on  his  return,  to  preside  at  the  Commencement 
of  the  University  at  Lewisburg,  he  received  a  blow  from  a  horse,  which 
was  supposed  to  have  put  his  life  in  serious  jeopardy.  During  the  severe 
illness  which  resulted  from  this  casualty,  he  was  the  subject  of  a  striking 
mental  phenomenon.  He  had  been  accustomed,  while  at  school  in  Borden- 
town  in  early  life,  to  converse  in  Latin  ;  and,  though  the  practice  had  been 
discontinued  for  so  many  years,  he  spoke  Latin  now  continually  to  his  phy- 
sician and  attendants  for  several  days. 

The  first  visit  of  Dr.  Jones  to  his  church  after  this  confinement 
awakened  their  deepest  sensibilities.  They  gathered  around  him,  while  he 
was  leaning  on  his  staff  with  patriarchal  simplicity  and  affection,  to  express 
their  joy  that  they  were  once  more  permitted  to  see  his  face.  Shortly 
after  this,  he  attempted  again  to  supply  his  pulpit,  but  quickly  found  that 
his  strength  was  inadequate  to  so  much  labour,  and  tendered  the  resigna- 
tion of  his  office  as  Pastor,  which,  however,  the  church  refused  to  accept. 
He  continued,  after  this,  to  preach  occasionally,  though  he  availed  himself 
of  the  services  of  an  assistant,  and  of  occasional  supplies. 

In  September,  1852,  he  had  another  attack  of  paralysis,  which  still  fur- 
ther prostrated  his  physical  energies  ;  but  he  maintained  habitually  a  spirit 
of  unqualified  submission  to  the  Divine  will.  When  the  Association 
met  in  October,  185.8,  in  the  Tabernacle  Church  in  Philadelphia,  he  was 
present  for  two  days,  but  declined  to  take  any  part  In  the  exercises,  except 
to  preside  over  the  Corporation.  On  the  first  Sunday  of  November,  he 
went,  as  usual,  to  Merion  ;  and,  as  the  Communion  was  to  be  administered, 
he  was  urged  to  have  a  supply  ;  but  he  insisted  on  preaching  himself.  He 
preached  with  great  fervour  and  energy,  and  then  administered  the  ordi- 
nance with  uncommon  pathos.  This  proved  to  be  his  last  public  effort. 
On  the  following  Thursday,  (November  6th,)  he  had  another  stroke  of 
paralysis,  which  left  little  doubt  that  his  end  was  near.  He  said  to  a 
brother  clergyman  who  asked  him  if  he  wished  to  recover, — "  I  would  not 


456  BAPTIST. 

live  alway.  I  do  not  murmur,  for  that  would  be  wicked ;  but  I  wish  to 
wait  and  abide  the  Lord's  time."  His  last  words  were, — "  My  days  are 
numbered.  I  am  like  the  grass  of  the  field  which  perisheth.  I  have  had 
sore  trials,  but  they  will  soon  be  over.  Safe  at  last.  Safe  at  last."  He 
died  oil  the  morning  of  December  12,  1853,  in  the  seventy-seventh  year 
of  his  age,  and  the  fifty-third  of  his  ministry,  and  after  having  been  the 
first  and  only  Pastor  of  Lower  Morion  Church  more  than  forty-five 
years.  At  his  Funeral,  which  took  place  at  Roxborough,  an  appropriate 
Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  D.  Gillette,  of  New  York ;  and 
another  Commemorative  Discourse  was  subsequently  delivered  to  his 
bereaved  flock,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Winter,  of  Roxborough. 

Dr.  Jones  was  married  on  the  3d  of  September,  1801,  to  Esther, 
daughter  of  John  and  Eleanor  Righter,  of  Roxborough.  Mrs.  Jones  died 
on  the  29th  of  December,  1808,  having  been  the  mother  of  four  children. 
On  the  9th  of  April,  1811,  he  was  married  to  Deborah,  daughter  of  Nathan 
and  Sarah  Levering,  of  Roxborough.  By  this  marriage  he  had  six  child- 
ren. The  second  Mrs.  Jones  died  on  the  9th  of  September,  1823.  Two 
of  his  sons  by  the  second  marriage  were  graduated  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  admitted  to  the  Philadelphia  Bar,  One  of  them  has 
been  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  City  and  County  of 
Philadelphia,  and  the  other  is  now  (1855)  a  practising  lawyer,  and  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  only  work  which  Dr.  Jones  ever  published  was  "A  History  of  the 
Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,"  in  the  year  1823,  He  was  also  a 
co-editor  of  the  "Latter  Day  Luminary," — an  early  Baptist  Missionary 
Magazine ;  and  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  several  religious  periodicals. 

FROM  THE  REV,  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

PouGHKEEPSiE,  Fcbruaiy  15,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  Though  I  had  heard  much  and  read  something  of  Dr.  Jones, 
and  felt  an  almost  reverential  regard  for  him  as  the  early  Secretary  of  our  For- 
eign Mission  Board,  the  intimate  friend  of  Doctors  Staughton,  Allison,  Rogers, 
and  other  worthies  who  had  already  passed  away,  I  had  never  personally 
met  with  him  till  he  was  very  nearly  threescore  years  old. 

On  my  introduction  to  the  Pastorship  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia,  Mhich 
had  been  accustomed  to  regard  him  with  peculiar  deference,  affection,  and 
gratitude,  for  his  counsels  and  labours  in  their  behalf,  it  was  very  natural 
that  I  should  be  favourably  introduced  to  him.  There  was  one  other  reason — 
he  was  now  President  of  a  Board  of  Managers  for  educational  purposes,  espe- 
cially the  education  of  candidates  for  the  ministry;  and  my  connection  with 
Waterville  College  as  President,  up  to  this  period,  he  evidently  thought  might 
be  made  useful  to  the  cause  he  had  so  much  at  heart.  Our  first  interview 
was  at  the  meeting  of  that  Board,  and,  as  he  presided,  and  I  was  a  merely 
invited  guest,  witli  nothing"  to  do  but  look  on,  my  point  of  observation  was 
eminently  favourable. 

He  came  into  the  city,  as  was  his  custom,  from  his  suburban  residence,  his 
Ciucinnatus-like  toils  and  cares,  with  a  kind  of  Virginian  simplicity,  truly 
primitive.  It  reminded  one  of  the  manner  in  Avhich  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
in  the  early  years  of  his  riding  the  circuits,  used  to  appear.  Yet,  with  this 
simplicity,  there  was  a  dignity  which  secured  the  most  profound  respect.  His 
person,  nearly  six  feet  high,  well  nnide,  erect,  Avith  rather  florid  countenance, 


HORATIO  GATES  JONES.  457 

to  which  either  sternness  or  playfulness  was  almost  equally  natural  or 
becoming,  aided  this  impression.  So  did  his  exact  punctuality.  Rarely  M'as 
he  ever  a  moment  heliind  liis  appointments,  or  absent  from  tiiem.  Then,  more- 
over, ho  had  the  most  delicate  .sense  of  order.  Every  member  sliould  have 
his  right  vithout  confusion  or  interruption.  As  presiding  ofBcer,  he  would 
seldom  give  any  indication  of  his  own  preference,  in  any  matter  under  debate, 
unless  he  formally  put  some  one  else  in  the  chair.  Without  impatience  he 
heard  and  weighed  all  that  was  said  on  both  sides.  All  these  things  conspired 
to  give  him  much  inlluence  with  his  brethren. 

You  would  readily  see,  M'ith  his  quick  perceptions,  his  rather  sanguine 
temperament,  his  earlier  and  more  thorough  acquaintance  with  men  and 
things  in  that  locality  than  those  around  him  possessed,  that  it  was  next  to 
impossible  for  him  to  avoid  being  regarded  as  an  active  partisan.  The  posi- 
tive in  his  nature  greatly  predominated  over  the  negative.  In  earlier  life  he 
had  rather  shunned  than  courted  the  position  of  a  leader;  but  he  was  always 
an  unfaltering  coadjutor,  and  well  knew  how  to  ignore  the  trifling  infelicities, 
slights,  misconceptions,  which  often  turn  away  adherents  from  an  important 
cause.  When,  at  length,  pushed  into  the  front  rank,  and  obliged  to  hold  the 
first  place,  he  expected  of  men,  Avorthy  to  be  associated  in  a  noble  cause, 
that  they  would  do  this,  and  felt  instinctive  scorn  for  changelings.  Such 
doubtless  regarded  him  as  inveteratel}'  pertinacious.  lie  must  indeed  have  a 
good  reason  for  changing  a  position  Avhich  he  had  deliberately  taken;  and  he 
must  have  time  and  space  enough  for  a  safe  and  somewhat  graceful  evolution. 
A  sudden  somerset  excited  his  utmost  contempt.  Yet  let  him  see  any  course 
he  had  been  pursuing  to  be  wrong,  and  he  would  stop  immediately;  and,  in 
time,  you  might  be  sure  of  the  amplest  and  most  cordial  recantation  and 
amends. 

I  saw  much  of  him,  subsequently,  in  his  family.  The  respect  and  venera- 
tion which  he  there  universally  inspired  hardly  had  a  limit.  He  happily  com- 
bined in  this  relation  the  dignity  of  a  sage  with  the  playful  simplicity  of  a 
child.  The  little  ones  loved  him  as  much  as  they  feared  him,  and  the  measure 
of  either  was  not  small.  Order  reigned  in  his  household.  AThen  I  first 
visited  it,  he  had  been  a  widower  for  more  than  a  dozen  years,  and  remained 
so  to  the  end  of  life.  But  there  were  few  dwellings  which  seemed  less  to  have 
suffered  for  the  lack  of  competent  housewiferj^;  and  that  deficiency,  in  the 
outset  at  least,  he  must  have  personally  met  with  consummate  wisdom  and 
prudence. 

The  way  in  which  God  was  honoured  and  served  in  the  morning  and  even- 
ing devotions  of  that  family,  was  a  rebuke  to  many  a  professedly  Christian 
household.  Xor  was  the  indirect  benefit  of  it  trifling  or  evanescent.  Long 
as  his  tongue  could  articulate,  or  his  palsied  limbs  totter  to  the  fomilj'  room, 
he  every  morning  read  God's  word,  devoutly,  and  with  intelligent  earnestness, 
and  then  led  his  household  in  prayer.  They,  and  even  the  transient  guests, 
will  never  forget  those  seasons,  when,  with  such  touching  appropriateness 
and  pathos,  he  spread  out  the  wants  of  all  before  a  common  Heavenly  Father. 

His  double  duty  of  supplying  the  part  of  both  parents,  to  his  daughters 
especially,  may  possibly  have  put  him,  towards  the  end  of  life,  and  when  he 
could  less  easily  bear  the  thought  of  change,  in  a  somewhat  false  position 
towards  them.  Perhaps  this  was  the  only  defect  or  imperfection  noticealde  in 
all  his  domestic  relations.  There  was  no  danger  that  .servants,  or  children, 
or  more  casual  associates  in  the  family  circle,  would  ever  trifle  witli  him.  Yet 
there  was  no  grievous  galling  yoke  impo.sed  on  an}'.  How  beautiful  as  well 
as  how  powerful  was  here  the  influence  of  holy  lore! 

Such  as  he  was  as  the  head  of  the  family,  he  was  also,  and  in  much  the 
same  manner  and  degree,  as  Pastor  of  the   church.     Few  men  were   ever  so 

Vol.  YI.  58 


458  BAPTIST. 

full)^  entitled  to  say  "  my  church."  While  he  probably  never  used  this 
phraseology,  the  idea  which  Dr.  Johnson  has  so  forciblj'  expressed  of  the 
yearning  aifection  of  a  good  father,  struggling  to  support  a  family  so  large 
that  it  overtasked  his  utmost  powers — as  being  the  fittest  exponent  of  a  true 
Pastor's  feelings  and  efforts  for  his  flock,  was  in  him  most  fully  illustrated. 
To  be  a  good  Father  and  a  good  Pastor  was  certainly  the  great  aim  of  his  life. 
The  distinction  which  the  Chief  Apostle  makes,  when  to  the  Corinthian 
Church  he  says  "  For  though  ye  have  ten  thousand  teachers,  yet  have  ye  not 
many  fathers,"  was  strikingly  suggested  in  his  case.  He  was  one,  where 
there  certainly  are  "  not  many."  How  he  bore  all  the  members  on  his  heart 
in  sickness  and  health,  in  youth  and  age,  in  summer  and  winter,  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  has  left  an  ineffaceable  impression.  He  must  have  fed  them 
well,  or  they  would  not  have  been  led  so  easily. 

This  naturally  suggests  the  last  point  1  shall  advert  to, — namelj',  his 
intellectual  furniture  and  habits.  In  early  youth,  he  had  fine  opportunities 
for  grounding  himself  thoroughly  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics — these, 
especially  the  former,  were  favourites  with  him  through  life.  Of  modern 
languages  he  used  the  French  with  great  facility,  the  German  with  less.  On 
this  vantage  ground,  he  made  available  for  himself  and  for  the  benefit  of 
those  to  whom  he  ministered,  the  most  important  treasures  to  which  his 
linguistic  lore  furnished  the  key.  Though  not  deficient,  for  the  age  in  which 
he  was  educated,  in  general  scientific  attainments,  you  could  easily  perceive 
that  his  inclination  was  for  literature  rather  than  science;  and  he  expatiated 
chiefly  in  the  former  field. 

Probably,  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry,  he  was  a  hard  student, 
writing  out  his  sermons  nearly  at  full  length,  and  so  far  committing  them  to 
memory  as  entirely  to  dispense  with  his  manuscript  in  the  pulpit.  Of  course 
this  limited  the  range  of  his  reading;  and  indeed  till  considerably  after  the 
middle  of  his  course,  his  use  of  books  conformed  to  the  Latin  rule,  "  Non 
multa,  sed  multum."  A  few  choice  authors  well  coursed,  yielded  him  more 
profit  than  a  mere  cursory  use  of  many  would  have  done.  Later  in  life,  and 
when  neither  his  necessities  nor  tastes  so  rigidly  confined  him  to  close 
study,  he  became  a  more  miscellaneous  reader,  and  relished  a  somewhat 
extensive  range  of  general  as  well  as  theological  literature. 

He  early  formed  an  exalted  estimate  of  what  preaching  should  be,  which 
made  him  somewhat  impatient  with  the  flii^pant  superficialities  in  which  many 
young  men,  and  some  who  are  older,  are  prone  to  indulge.  A  rigid  adherent 
himself  to  the  high  points  of  Calvinism,  he  may  have  been  sometimes  unjust 
in  his  estimate  of  those  whom  he  thought  defective.  Hence  it  was  a  principle 
with  him  con.scientiously  and  laboriously  to  prepare  himself  for  each  Sabbath's 
ministrations. 

His  early  failure  of  health,  leading  him,  for  its  restoration,  to  the  invigor- 
ating pursuits  of  husbandry,  for  several  hours  each  day,  when  the  weather 
was  favourable,  manifestly  tended  to  more  of  mental  independence,  freedom, 
originality;  and  while  he  went  from  the  field  to  the  study,  and  from  the 
studjr  to  the  field,  he  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  more  thoroughly  digesting 
and  sifting  the  principles  and  opinions  which  books  suggested.  "Nullius 
addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri,"  came  to  be  his  motto.  While,  with  com- 
mendable conservatism,  he  gave  due  heed  to  what  the  wise  and  good,  both 
ancients  and  moderns,  have  taught,  he  bowed  with  unquestioning  defereiKC 
only  to  the  infallible  Guide-Book.  Such  at  least  was  his  purpose  and  endeavour. 
But  we  can  get  a  better  and  more  comprehensive  view  of  the  Man,  the 
Pastor,  the  Student,  the  Preacher,  if  we  follow  him  through  a  week's  routine. 
Begin  with  oMonlay  morning.  Though  he  might  plead  some  indulgence  from 
the  extra  fatigue  of  yesterday,  he  is,  as  ever,  early  to  rise.     His  first  half- 


HORATIO  GATES  JOXKS.  459 

hour  is  uniformly  given  to  secret  conimuuion  Mith  God  and  his  word.  lie 
then  looks  abroad  over  liis  well  tilled  acres,  directs  the  labour  on  the  farm  or 
in  the  garden,  and  sometimes  engages  in  it.  Tlie  breakfast  hour  has  now 
nearly  arrived,  and  the  entire  household  are  assembled  for  prayers.  After 
breakfast,  lie  gratifies  himself  and  the  grandchildren,  if  any  are  in  the 
family,  with  a  few  moments'  relaxation,  recounts  to  them  any  matters  of 
interest  in  the  services  of  the  Sabbatli,  or  in  relation  to  other  children  he  has 
lately  seen,  and  gives  himself  for  the  forenoon  to  general  reading  or  to  writing 
letters.  The  afternoon  he  devotes  to  visiting  the  sick,  the  aged,  the  bereaved, 
or  any  having  special  claims  to  his  attention. 

Tuesday  and  Wednesday, — on  one  or  both  of  which  days  he  probably  has 
calls  to  town,  to  meet  with  some  Board  or  Committee,  or  to  carry  out  some 
executive  service  devolved  on  him, — in  other  respects  pass  away  in  ranch  the 
same  manner. 

But  the  middle  of  the  week  has  now  come,  and,  by  this  time,  if  not  earlier, 
he  has  the  theme  of  his  principal  and  most  elaborate  sermon  selected  for  the 
ensuing  Sabbath. 

The  next  morning,  soon  after  breakfast,  he  is  in  his  librar}',  and  gives  several 
hours  of  continuous  study  to  the  topic  selected  for  his  discourse;  and  rarely 
will  he  leave  the  room  till  the  outline  of  what  he  intends  to  say  is  strongly 
fixed  in  his  mind.  Then,  whether  in  the  field  or  the  garden,  or  on  the  broad 
piazza  of  the  family  mansion,  he  revolves,  analyzes,  recasts  the  several  parts 
of  the  proposed  discourse,  till  he  feels  assured  thej^  cannot  be  arranged  by 
him  more  satisfactorily.  If  new  investigations  of  certain  points  have  to  be 
made,  he  has  still  time  for  them,  and  when  all  has  assumed  the  place  and  form 
in  his  mind  which  please  him,  then,  and  not  ordinarily  till  then,  he  commits 
the  full  outline  to  paper.  Some  scintillations  and  offshoots  have  been  evolved 
in  this  process  of  mental  elaboration,  which  probabl}'  will  ripen  into  distinct 
themes  for  less  elaborate  afternoon  and  evening  exercises.  Sometimes,  these 
last  are  slightly  sketched  by  the  pen;  and,  perhaps,  as  often  they  are  only  in 
his  mind.  Thus  is  the  last  half  of  the  week  filled  up,  varied,  perhaps, 
oftener  than  otherwise,  with  Funerals,  or  Marriages,  or  the  diversilied  duties 
of  his  Pastorate. 

But,  ordinarily,  before  the  evening  of  Saturday,  all  is  ready,  and  never 
does  tlie  man  of  God  appear  to  more  advantage  in  his  family  circle,  than  when 
the  closing  hours  of  the  week  find  him  with  the  happy  consciousness  of  due 
preparation,  and  resting  in  anticipation  of  the  time  of  public  service.  IIow 
tender,  solemn,  holy  is  the  spirit  he  now  breathes  and  diffuses!  The  bow  is 
unbent,  but  in  hand;  the  .shafts  are  chosen  and  ready;  and  the  arm  is  becom- 
ing more  vigorous  by  the  temporary  relaxation  now  enjoj'ed. 

The  Sabbath  daAvns,  and  there  is  a  rousing  up  to  all  its  high  engagements. 
No  bustle,  nor  confusion,  nor  perturbation  is  manifest,  as  he  goes  forth  on  the 
long  ride  of  six  miles,  which  brings  him  to  the  House  of  God.  From  far  and 
near,  from  city  and  country,  from  the  poor  man's  cottage  and  the  mansions 
of  the  opulent,  the  population  gather  on  the  margin  of  that  noble  grove  of 
ancient  oaks.  Singly,  in  pairs,  and  by  families,  they  find  their  way  within 
the  hallowed  walls.  That  patriarchal  man  slowly  ascends  the  sacred  desk. 
He  read.s  God's  word,  directs  to  sing  his  praise,  and  calls  on  all  to  l>ow  before 
his  mercy-seat.  The  voice  of  prayer  is  reverent,  but  yet  natural,  and  seems 
to  indicate  the  freedom  of  one  who  has  often  been  encouraged  to  come  very 
near,  and  ask  with  great  assurance.  Numerous  as  are  the  objects  for  which 
he  is  called  to  plead,  none  are  forgotten,  but  all  are  suitably  and  adequately 
presented.  The  sermon  follows.  It  is  characterized  by  method  without  form- 
ality,— it  has  unity,  power,  and  practicalness.  "Wliile  less  elaborate,  artificial, 
refined  than  some  require,  it  leaves  the  impression  that  the  preacher  does  not 


460  BAPTIST. 

regard  it  for  its  own  sake,  but  only  as  the  channel  of  important  truth.  He 
reads,  perhajis,  one  half  of  what  he  utters,  and  the  whole  fills  up  nearly  an 
hour  in  the  delivery.  His  action  is  always  impressive  and  appropriate,  and 
not  lacking  in  gracefulness.  The  afternoon  and  especially  the  evening  servi- 
ces are  not  ordinarily  in  the  church  ediiice,  but  in  some  school-house  or  hall, 
or  more  rarel}'  in  some  grove  or  private  dwelling.  Here,  with  little  or  no  use 
of  Avritten  notes,  he  yet  has  a  distinct  plan,  a  definite  point  which  he  keeps 
constantly  in  view,  and  often  takes  brilliant  flights,  and  deals  in  melting 
pathos,  thus  imparting  to  these  exercises  the  deepest  interest.  In  eai'ly  and 
middle  life,  many  of  his  sermons  were  reckoned  eloquent,  and  his  funeral  ora- 
tions and  addresses  have  been  much  extolled.  Eminently  evangelical  in  all 
his  themes,  as  well  as  in  his  treatment  of  them,  there  was  no  tedious  mono- 
tony in  his  discourses,  but  inther  great  freshness  and  vivacity,  until  he  was 
fully  threescore  and  ten.  In  his  last  years,  as  might  be  expected,  he  became 
more  dogmatic. 

In  him,  as  in  his  distinguished  father,  there  was  a  vein  of  humour  and  even 
sarcasm,  which  discovered  itself  when  he  thought  occasion  required.  He  was 
full  of  genial  warmth,  but  he  kept  his  sjiortive  wit  for  the  fireside.  It  never 
lessened  the  effect  of  his  public  ministrations. 

Few  men  of  that  day  hare  written  so  much  and  so  well,  and  published  so 
little.  It  was  not  for  want  of  importunity,  but  he  seems  to  have  taken  an 
early  dislike  to  seeing  himself  in  print,  and  to  have  resolutely  declined  the 
numerous  applications  that  were  made  for  the  productions  of  his  pen. 

His  devotion  to  Merion  Church,  as  its  Founder,  and  only  Pastor  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  will  be  his  noblest  monument.  Never  can  I  forget  the  last 
time  I  saw  him,  in  feeble  health,  too  weak  to  preach,  but  resolute  to  make  his 
accustomed  Sabbath  visit  to  his  much  loved  flock;  and  when,  at  niglit,  he 
reached  his  own  dwelling,  too  much  wearied  to  walk,  or  talk  but  with  extreme 
difficulty,  he  slowly  uttered  words  indicative  of  his  undying  interest  in  their 
welfare.  "  I  shall  worship  with  them  while  this  faltering  frame  can  be  car- 
ried to  the  place  where  they  assemble."  Four  months  later,  the  very  day  of 
his  decease,  while  his  mind  wandered,  he  said  to  the  loved  daughter  who 
attended  him, — "  Come,  come,  let  us  go  to  Merion."  Thus  was  the  ruling 
passion  strong  in  death.  Take  him  all  in  all,  not  soon  shall  we  look  upon  his 
like  again.  Yours  truly, 

KUrUS  BABCOCK. 


SALMON  MORTON. 

1802—1822. 

FROM  0.  N.  WORDEN,  ESQ. 

Lewisburg,  Pa.,  July  17,  1858. 

Dear  Sir :  The  worthj^-servant  of  the  Most  High  whose  name  is  above 
written,  was  called  home  in  the  height  of  his  usefulness,  and  although  his 
new  and  sparse  field  of  labour  gave  him  a  comparatively  small  circle  of 
acquaintance,  his  memory  is  fondly  cherished  by  very  many  who  knew  him. 

Salmon  Morton,  a  son  of  Deacon  Abner  Morton,  was  born  in  Athol, 
Mass.,  May  11,  1767.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  regeneration,  but  did  not  realize  the  evidence  of  that 
blessing  until  he  had  attained  his  majority.     His  experience  is  an  interest- 


SALMON  MORTON.  461 

ing  display  of  Divine  grace,  and  the  first  impulses  of  bis  renewed  heart  led 
him  to  pass  from  house  to  house  among  his  neighbours,  telling  tbcni  the 
good  news,  and  exhorting  them  to  repentance.  As  he  had  not  bccju  form- 
ally licensed  to  preach,  however,  his  eflforts  were  deemed  out  of  character, 
and  be  was  so  coldly  received  as  to  cause  him  to  cease  from  all  public 
religious  labours.  About  1797,  he  removed  with  bis  parents  into  Central 
New  York,  where  he  was  again  awakened  to  bis  duty  by  the  labour  of 
Elder  Joel  Butler,  and  was  the  first  subject  of  the  ordinance  of  Baptism 
in  the  new  Church  at  Madison,  in  1799,  when  he  had  reached  bis  thirty- 
third  year.  Not  long  afterwards,  an  assembly  had  gathered  to  hear  a 
sermon  from  Elder  Stephen  Parsons,*  but  he  disappointed  them.  It  was 
not  then  customary  to  meet  for  worship  without  engaging  in  it,  and  if  no 
preacher  appeared,  other  members  improved  their  gifts.  By  some  seeming 
accident,  "  Brother  Morton  "  was  desired  to  "  try  to  lead  the  meeting." 
He  ventured  to  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  but  had  not  finished  it  when 
his  long  imprisoned  soul  claimed  its  full  liberty — he  commenced  speaking 
"  sermon-wise,"  and  proceeded  with  such  freedom  and  efi'cct  as  to  astonish 
his  hearers  and  greatly  relieve  his  own  mind.  Thus  introduced  to  the 
great  work  of  his  after-life,  he  was,  by  the  advice  of  a  Presbytery  com- 
posed of  brethren  Bacon, t  Butler,  Hosmer,!  Parsons,  and  Roots,  ordained, 
in  June,  1802.  Shortly  after,  he  was  married  to  Polly,  daughter  of  Dea- 
con Jeremiah  Richardson,  of  Newton,  jMass.  She  proved  a  true  helpmeet, 
and  survived  him,  with  sis  children,  all  of  whom  became  members  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  and  one  of  them  a  minister. 

For  eleven  years,  Salmon  Morton  was  Pastor  at  Madison,  and  realized 
his  full  share  of  the  sufferings  and  joys  of  that  heroic  band  of  pioneer 
Baptist  preachers,  who  founded  so  many  of  the  churches  in  Central  and 
Western  New  York.  In  1816,  he  became  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Mar- 
cellus,  Onondaga  County,  where  he  was  succeeded,  in  1818,  by  Jesse  B. 
Worden,  and  then — without  removing  his  family — devoted  himself  wholly 
to  the  more  congenial  and  fruitful  employment  of  itinerant  or  home  mis- 
sion labour.  While  thus  engaged,  his  ardour  overtasked  bis  constitution, 
and  death  ensued,  at  Marcellus,  22d  of  January,  1822,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age  and  the  twenty-fourth  of  his  ministry. 

In  person.  Elder  Morton  was  about  five  feet  ten  in  height,  stoutly  built, 
with  a  large  head,  high  forehead,  pleasant  blue  eyes,  and  a  cast  of  counte- 
nance indicating  great  energy  and  decision  of  character.  His  demeanour 
was  grave  and  dignified,  and  excited  in  strangers  perhaps  more  of  venera- 
tion than  love;  but  in  conversation  his  eyes  and  face  beamed  with  friendly 
and  gentle  feelings. 

•  Stephen  Parsons,  born  in  Connecticut,  September  5,  1748,  was  licensed  to  preach  ly  the 
Separatist  Branch  ol  li.i  Congregatioralists  in  1788,  and  served  a  church  of  that  ilenouiination 
in  Middletown,  Conn.,  .vix  years,  but,  in  1791,  joined  the  Baptists.  He  laboured  in  Central 
New  York  from  17l»G  until  his  death,  which  was  occasioned  by  failing  from  a  beam  iu  his  barn, 
in  the  Black  River  country.     He  had  reached  his  seventy-first  year. 

t  Jamks  Bacon,  originally,  it  is  believed,  a  Separatist,  from  Connecticut,  was  for  some  time 
Pastor  at  Cazcnovia,  N.  Y.,  and  died  after  pa.=sing  eighty  years. 

+  AsHUKL  HosMER  was  born  in  West  Hartford,  Conn.,  April  ?.0,  1758.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen, he  entered  the  American  army  in  the  War  of  the  Kevolution,  and  received  a  severe 
wound.  At  thirty  years  of  age,  while  residing  at  Canaan,  he  was  converted  and  baptized,  and 
began  to  preach.  In  1792,  he  was  ordained  at  ^Vallingford.  In  1795,  ho  removed  to  Burling- 
ton, N.  Y.,  and  subsequently  to  Hamilton,  where  ho  died,  April  2,  1812,  in  the  midst  of  his 
prosperity,  aged  fifty-three  years. 


4G2  BAPTIST. 

The  character  of  his  preaching  was  strongly  doctrinal,  and  better  adapted 
in  some  respects  to  feed  the  saint  than  to  alarm  the  sinner ;  and  yet  he 
was  searchingly,  scripturally,  evangelically  practical  as  well  as  experi- 
mental. He  was  truly  a  "self-made  man,"  but  his  good  taste  and  com- 
plete mastery  of  a  few  of  the  best  books  enabled  him  to  be  correct  and 
often  elegant  in  his  choice  of  language,  and  his  quotations  were  frequent 
and  apposite. 

By  the  rural  population  among  whom  his  strength  was  spent,  he  was 
considered  the  first  of  preachers.  Of  those  better  able  to  fix  his  rank  by 
comparison,  was  the  late  Alexander  McWhorter  Beebe,  LL.  D.,  so  long  the 
able  editor  of  the  Utica  "  Baptist  Register."  In  a  series  of  his  Bemin- 
iscences,  Mr.  Beebe  referred  to  Salmon  Morton  as  one  whose  natural 
oratory,  displayed  in  the  pulpit  upon  some  subject  which  aroused  the  full 
powers  of  his  soul,  was  hardly  excelled  by  John  M.  Mason,  the  renowned 
preacher  of  New  York.  Mr.  Beebe  had  often  heard  them  both,  and  was 
a  competent  judge. 

An  obituary  notice  of  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch,  adds : — 

"In  point  of  intellect  and  scriptural  knowledge,  he  had  few  equals;  in 
nobleness  of  spirit,  few  superiors ;  and  his  zeal,  in  a  day  of  persecution, 
would  have  brought  him  speedily  to  the  martyr's  stake.  Though  valiant  in 
soul,  he  was  often  tender  and  humble  as  a  child.  Seldom  did  he  preach 
without  tears  flowing,  under  a  sense  of  the  condition  of  the  impenitent,  or 
the  infinite  depths  of  Divine  compassion.  With  all  these  excellences,  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent  was  not  always  blended  with  the  harmlessness  of 
the  dove.  But,  beyond  all  doubt,  he  now  sweeps  the  heavenly  lyre  with  a 
seraph's  energy." 

My  personal  recollections  of  Elder  Morton  are  unimportant  to  your 
purpose.  I  only  add  a  regret  that  his  limited  pecuniary  means,  by  harass- 
ing him  with  too  much  bodily  labour  and  family  care,  hindered  the  full 
accomplishment  of  all  of  which  so  fine  a  mind  and  so  noble  a  heart  were 
capable.     But  he  tried  to  do  his  full  duty ;  and  Heaven  asks  no  more. 

Yours  truly, 

0.  N.  WORDEN. 


JEREMIAH  CHAPLIN,  D.  D. 

1802—1841. 
FROM  THE  REV.  THOMAS  J.  CONANT,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY   OF  ROCHESTER. 

Rochester,  June  18,  1853. 

Dear  Sir:  I  send  you,  agreeably  to  your  request,  the  following  brief 
sketch  of  my  venerable  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Jeremiah  Chaplin. 

He  was  a  son  of  Asa  and  Mary  (Bailey)  Chaplin,  and  was  born  in  Bow- 
ley,  (now  Georgetown,)  Mass.,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1776. 

He  was  serious  and  thoughtful  on  the  subject  of  religion  from  very  early 
childhood.  His  parents  were  strict  in  observing  the  duties  of  family 
religion,  and  cherished  a  sacred  regard  for  the  Sabbath  and  its  ordinances. 


JEREMIAH  CHAPLIN.  403 

The  secular  business  of  the  week  was  invariably  dosed  before  Saturday 
evening,  in  order  that  it  might  be  spent  by  the  family  as  a  season  of  pre- 
paration for  the  Sabbath.  Under  these  favouring  circumstances,  he 
became  the  subject  of  deep  religious  impressions,  and  at  the  early  age  of 
ten  years  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  Itecame  a  member  of  tlie  Bap- 
tist church  in  his  native  place. 

He  continued  with  his  father,  assisting  in  the  labours  of  the  farm,  until 
he  was  nearly  of  age.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  his  love  of  study,  and  his 
extraordinary  proficiency  in  it,  had  marked  him  out  for  another  spliere  of 
life.  Having  qualified  himself  for  admission  to  College,  he  entered  15rown 
University,  and  was  graduated  in  1799,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  with 
the  highest  honours  of  the  institution.  After  spending  a  year  as  Tutor  in 
the  University,  he  commenced  his  studies  in  Theology,  and  prosecuted  them 
^for  some  time,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston. 
His  first  pastoral  charge  was  the  Baptist  Church  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  \vhere 
it  is  believed  that  he  commenced  his  labours  in  the  summer  of  18U2.  This 
ch'arge  he  retained  (with  the  exception  of  a  short  absence)  for  a  period  of 
fourteen  years,  and,  in  connection  with  his  pastoral  duties,  gave  instruction 
to  young  men  who  were  preparing  for  the  ministry.  His  labours  here 
were  greatly  blessed  ;  and  he  became  widely  known  and  highly  esteemed 
for  his  piety,  learning,  and  sound  judgment. 

In  the  year  1817,  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge,  and  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  become  the  Principal  of  a  School  for  theological  instruction  in 
Waterville,  Mc.  In  1820,  Waterville  College  was  chartered.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Presidency,  and  held  the  office  thirteen  years.  Under  his 
■wise  and  efficient  administration  of  its  affairs,  the  College  was  provided 
with  the  necessary  buildings,  library,  philosophical  and  chemical  apparatus, 
and  the  foundation  laid  of  permanent  prosperity  in  the  confidence  and 
attachment  of  its  numerous  friends. 

He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  College  of  South 
Carolina  in  1819. 

In  18.33,  he  resigned  the  Presidency  of  the  College,  and  returned  to  his 
labours  as  a  Pastor,  for  which  he  had  always  felt  a  strong  preference,  and 
to  which  the  remainder  of  his  public  life  was  devoted.  After  preaching 
for  some  time  at  Rowley,  Mass.,  and  also  at  Willington,  Conn.,  he  went  to 
live  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  where  he  spent  the  residue  of  his  days.  He 
died  there,  suddenly,  of  measles,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1841. 

He  was  married  to  Maria  O'Brien,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  by  whom 
he  had  ten  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Of  the  eight  who  are 
yet  living,  three  are  sons,  all  of  whom  have  received  a  collegiate  educa- 
tion. Two  of  them  studied  Tlieology,  and  one  has  been  for  many  years  a 
Professor  in  the  Columbian   College,  D.  C.     Mrs.  Chaplin  still   survives. 

Dr.  Chaplin  published  a  small  work,  entitled  "  The  Evening  of  Life ; 
or  Light  and  Comfort  amidst  the  Shadows  of  Declining  Years.'' 

Dr.  Chaplin  was  one  of  the  most  learned  theologians  of  his  time.  His 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  he  studied  in  the  original  lan- 
guages, was  profound ;  while  the  views  and  the  modes  of  reasoning  of  the 
most  eminent  theologians  of  every  age  were  familiar  to  him,  and  always 
at  his  command.     For  the  writings   of  Edwards,    particularly,  he   had  a 


464  BAPTIST. 

high  regard.  But  he  thought  for  liimself ;  and  while  he  held  firmly  to  the 
received  doctrines  of  the  Calvinistic  school  in  Theology,  his  manner  of 
investigating  and  stating  them  was  altogetlier  original.  Hence  there  was 
a  freshness,  an  air  of  novelty,  in  his  mode  of  exhibiting  and  defending  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible,  which  held  the  attention  unwearied,  through  long 
and  elaborate  discussions.  Unhappily,  he  had  not  the  advantages  which 
grace  of  manner  and  finished  oratory  give  to  the  public  speaker,  especially 
in  the  pulpit.  Hence  his  life  as  a  Pastor,  and  the  rich  fruits  of  his  piety 
and  learning,  were  expended  among  small  churches  in  rural  districts. 

He  was  fond  of  illustrating  scriptural  truth  by  familiar  imagery  and 
similitudes.  As  a  specimen  of  his  manner,  I  give  the  following  passage, — 
an  incidental  illustration  of  the  words  in  John  xiv.  9.  "  He  that  hath 
seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father;  and  how  sayest  thou  then,  show  us  the 
Father." 

"  To  illustrate  the  meaning  of  this  passage,  let  us  suppose  that  you 
descend  into  one  of  the  salt  mines  of  Poland,  some  of  which  are  said  to 
be  four  or  five  hundred  feet  beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  that  you 
converse  with  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  subterranean  world, — one  who 
was  born  there,  and  had  never  seen  the  light  of  the  sun.  You  undertake 
to  give'  him  a  description  of  fields,  and  mountains,  and  forests,  and  a  variety 
of  other  objects  to  be  seen  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  You  attempt  also 
to  give  him  some  idea  of  the  heavens,  the  azure  vault,  and  of  the  worlds  of 
light  with  which  it  is  bespangled  and  adorned.  You  speak  particularly 
of  the  sun  ;  of  the  splendour  and  majesty  with  which  he  marches  through 
the  expanse  of  heaven  in  a  clear  day.  The  man  listens  with  deep  atten. 
tioD,  and  at  length  exclaims, — 'Show  me  that  glorious  sun,  and  I  shall 
be  satisfied  !'  Suppose  now  you  point  him  to  one  of  the  lamps,  which  burn 
with  a  faint  and  feeble  light  in  his  dreary  cavern,  and  say  to  him, — 'Do 
you  see  that  lamp?'  'I  do,'  he  replies;  'but  what  of  that?'  'Why,' 
say  you,  'he  that  hath  seen  that  lamp  hath  seen  the  sun;  why,  then  do 
you  say  to  mc,  show  me  the  sun?'  The  application  is  easy.  The  simili- 
tude is,  I  acknowledge,  imperfect ;  but  that  very  imperfection  is  in  favour 
of  the  doctrine  I  would  establish.  There  is  some  proportion  between  the 
light  of  a  lamp  and  that  of  the  sun.  Both  are  created,  and  both  of  course 
are  finite.  But  if  Jesus  Christ  be  not  truly  and  properly  God,  there  is  an 
infinite  disproportion  between  Him  and  the  Eternal  Father.  Hence,  if  it 
would  be  absurd  to  say  that  he  that  hath  seen  a  lamp,  hath  seen  the  sun  ; 
much  more  absurd  would  it  be  to  say,  he  that  hath  seen  Christ  hath  seen 
the  Father,  unless  He  be  truly  and  properly  Divine." 

Hoping  that  the  above  may  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed, 
I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

"~  Faithfully  yours, 

T.  J.  CONANT. 

FROM  THE  HON.  JAMES  BROOKS. 

"Washington  City,  June  17,  1850. 
Dear  Sir:  A  letter  from  you,  inquiring  as  to  some  of  the  leading  character- 
istics of  Dr.  Chaplin,  was    sent  to   me  some  days   ago,  which,  in  the  pres- 
sure of  business,  I  have  not  been  able  to  answer  before. 


JEREMIAH  CHAPLIN.  4g5 

Dr.  Cliapliii  was  rrcsiikiit  of  AVaUivillo  College  when  I  was  a  .student 
there,  but  1  did  not  see  as  much  of  him  as  many  others,  as  my  recitations 
never  happened  to  l)e  to  him.  The  most  I  remember  was  the  simple  but 
.severely  logical  character  of  his  sermons,  which  were  studies  for  youth,  from 
their  almost  mathematical  character,  and  the  irresistible  Iiold  they  made  upon 
the  reason,  the  judgment,  if  not  upon  the  heart.  It  was  impossible  to  hear 
him,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  and  not  to  have  every  irreligious  or  inlidel  suspi- 
cion driven  from  the  mind.  His  di.scourses  were  as  clear,  as  cogent,  as  irre- 
sistibly convincing  as  problems  in  Euclid.  He  indulged  in  little  or  no  ornament, 
but  pursued  one  train  of  thought,  without  deviation,  to  the  end.  I  attribute 
to  him  more  than  to  any  one  else,  the  fixture  in  my  own  mind  of  religious 
truths,  which  no  subsequent  reading  has  ever  been  able  to  shake,  and  M'hich 
have  principally  influenced  my  pen  in  treating  of  all  political,  legal  or  moral 
subjects,  the  basis  of  which  was  in  the  principles  of  the  Bible. 

Dr.  Chai)lin  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  man  of  books,  rather  than  a  man  of  the 
world.  His  learning  in  belles-lettres,  as  well  as  in  Divinity,  was  extensive. 
He  was  a  highly  linished  classical  .scholar,  and  his  knowledge  of  Greek,  I 
have  heard  the  students  who  recited  to  him  speak  of  with  admiration. 
Indeed  his  knowledge,  and  his  remarkable  simplicity  of  character  and  manner, 
inspired  a  respect  among  all  the  students,  who,  looking  up  to  him  as  one  not 
of  them,  yet  always  Mt  him  to  be  one  far  above  them,  and  Avhom  it  was  for 
tunate  they  had  to  guide  them. 

The  personal  appearance  of  Dr.  Chaplin  was  that  of  a  thin,  spare,  tall  man, 
of  features  somewhat  sharp,  Avith  a  penetrating  eye,  and  he  had  rather  a 
sepulchral  voice,  which,  in  his  sermons  or  prayers,  went  out  in  cadences,  that 
rose  and  fell  with  a  singular  eflect  upon  the  ear.  His  gestures  were  perpen- 
dicular with  his  right  arm,  keeping  time  to  the  changing  cadences  of  his 
voice,  without  much  reference  to  the  subject  matter  of  his  discourse,  and  made 
as  if  it  were  a  rhetorical  duty  to  gesticulate,  rather  than  because  there  was 
any  use  in  it.  Physical  ornament  or  emphasis,  indeed,  he  had  but  a  very  lit- 
tle idea  of,  trusting  solely  to  his  intellect  and  his  logic.  Nevertheless,  I  never 
heard  a  man  speak  with  more  satisfaction  or  instruction,  though  others  have 
often  given  more  jjleasure.  When,  in  the  College  Chapel,  in  the  autumn,  at 
morning  prayer,  we  heard  this  sepulchral  voice  at  break  of  day,  we  often  felt 
as  if  it  were  a  voice  from  the  tombs,  some  pure  abstraction,  .setting  forth  in. 
the  plainest  word.s  what  was  right,  and  warning  us  of  what  was  wrong. 

Yours  respectfully, 

JAMES  BROOKS. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  LAMSON,  D.  D. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H..  July  14,  1855. 
Dear  Sir:  Dr.  Chaplin,  concerning  whom  you  inquire,  is  associated  with  my 
earliest  recollections.  His  form,  his  gait,  the  expression  of  his  countenance, 
the  tones  of  his  voice,  the  awful  sanctity  with  which  he  seemed  invested, — all 
these  come  before  me  with  the  most  life-like  freshness,  as  I  now  cast  my 
thoughts  back  over  a  period  of  nearly  fortj^  years.  He  was  at  that  time  the 
beloved  and  revered  Pastor  of  a  small  Church  in  Danvers,  Mass.;  and,  at  the 
pame  time,  the  teacher  of  a  small  class  of  theological  students  whom  he 
received  into  his  own  family.  It  was  in  my  earliest  childhood, — when  I  could 
have  but  just  commenced  to  attend  upon  public  worship, — and  yet  it  seems  to 
me  my  recollections  of  that  venerable  man  at  that  time  are  more  distinct  than 
of  any  other  Pastor  of  my  very  early  years.  There  are  .sentences  which  I 
then  heard  from  his  lips  that  no  lapse  of  time  nor  changes  of  subsequent  life 
have  effaced  from  my  memory.     But  a  short  time  after  the  farthest  period  to 

Vox     Vr.  5P 


466  BAPTIST. 

which  my  memory  carries  me,  the  question  was  agitated  of  his  removal  from 
the  little  church  at  Danvers  to  take  charge  of  the  Theological  School,  which 
has  since  grown  into  the  College  at  Waterville,  Me.  Most  distinctly  do  I 
remember  the  deep  gloom,  the  cause  of  which  I  could  not  then  compre- 
hend, which  rested  on  the  community,  when  it  became  known  that  Mr.  Chap- 
lin had  decided  to  leave.  It  was  a  sadness  so  intense  that  even  a  cliild  could 
not  but  share  in  it.  I  remember  the  season  with  some  such  impressions  as 
we  have  of  a  dark  and  cloudy  day  succeeding  a  day  of  bright  sunshine. 

For  3"ears  after  the  good  man  had  removed  to  Waterville,  he  was  accustomed 
to  make  an  annual  visit  to  the  people  of  his  former  charge,  and  though  some- 
times it  would  be  limited  to  a  day  or  two,  yet  in  that  brief  period  he  would 
find  time  to  make  his  way  through  the  village,  and  call  on  each  of  the  more 
aged  members  of  the  church,  and  especially  on  any  who  were  sick  and  likely 
soon  to  die.  I  have  ne\"er  seen  the  man  who  awakened  such  feelings  of  rever- 
ence in  my  breast;  who  caused  me  to  look  upon  him  as  I  think  I  should  look 
upon  Peter  or  Paul, — as  did  this  man,  when  making  these  hurried  visits  to  his 
beloved  friends  and  former  parishioners.  To  be  recognised  by  him  in  any  way 
was  a  pleasure  to  be  remembered  for  weeks.  Once,  when  quite  a  lad,  it  was 
my  privilege  to  occupy  a  seat  in  the  corner  of  the  chamber  of  a  sick  man  upon 
whom  he  called.  The  man  was  sinking  slowly  but  surely  to  the  grave :  but 
he  was  a  good  man,  and  was  closing  a  life  of  uncommon  devotion  and  Chris- 
tian a,ctivity.  The  train  of  remark  upon  which  Dr.  Chaplin  entered  by  that 
bedside,  has  come  up  to  my  recollection  many  times  since,  as  uncommonly 
appropriate  and  felicitous.  The  theme  was  the  higher  eniplo_ymcnts  upon 
which  he  sujipo-sed  the  redeemed  were  i)ermitted  to  enter  immediateh^  after 
death.  They  might,  he  thought,  l»c  .sent  forth  as  ministering  spirits  on  errands 
of  mercy  to  those  who  were  still  toiling  on  earth.  And,  as  his  feelings  warmed, 
his  countenance  lighted  up  with  animation,  and  he  drew  a  picture  of  what 
might  be  the  employment  of  a  redeemed  soul  in  the  spirit  world,  now  sent  to 
some  kind  and  tempted  believer,  now  to  some  sick  and  dying  Christian,  and 
then  over  oceans  and  continents  to  some  lonely  and  disheartened  missionary — 
a  picture  which  made  it  indeed  seem  "  far  better  to  depart."  The  interview 
closed  witli  prayer;  and  though  the  Miiole  call  had  occupied  but  a  few  min- 
utes,— what  a  train  of  elevated  thought  he  had  started  in  the  mind  of  that 
dying  Christian!  It  had  been  a  cause  of  sadness  to  him  that  lie  was  laid  aside, 
and  was  about  to  be  called  away  in  the  midst  of  uncompleted  plans  of  useful- 
ness, and  that  interests  dear  to  his  heart  must  apparently  suffer  by  his  remo- 
val. But  there  were  here  placed  before  him  occupations  and  paths  of  usefulness 
to  which  death  would  introduce  him,  elevated  incomparably  above  any  which 
he  had  ever  entered,  or  could  hope  to  enter,  while  in  the  bodj'.  I  have  been 
in  many  a  chamber  of  sickness  and  of  death  since  that  time,  but  never  in 
one  in  which  the  death  of  the  Christian  was  made  to  appear  more  glorious. 

Years  passed  away,  during  which,  with  the  exception  of  these  brief  visits 
of  Dr.  Chaplin  to  the  people  of  his  former  charge,  I  never  saw  him.  He  was 
accustomed,  at  these  visits,  if  practicable,  to  attend  a  prayer-meeting,  or 
deliver  a  sermon  in  the  evening.  It  was  a  rich  treat  to  all,  but  especially  to 
the  old  members  of  fhat  Village  Church,  to  hear  again  the  tones  of  his  pecu- 
liar but  much  loved  voice,  to  look  again  upon  the  form  of  him  who  held  such 
a  large  place  in  their  affections,  and  to  gatlier  around  him  at  the  clo.se  of  such 
a  service  with  their  inquiries  and  expressions  of  affection.  All  who  remember 
the  good  man,  will  readily  recall  a  peculiar  expression  of  his  small,  quick 
eye,  when  lighted  up  by  some  striking  thought,  or  Avhen  some  lively  emotion 
shone  forth  from  it.  It  is  to  these  little  prayer-meetings,  and  to  the  greetings 
whicli  succeeded  them,  that  I  look  back  for  the  most  striking  remembered 
instances  of  this  peculiarity.     It  happened  that  one  of  these  visits  was  made 


JEREMIAH  CIIAPLLV.  467 

during  a  season  of  special  religious  interest, — :i  revival  more  extensive  tlian 
the  church  had  ever  before,  or  has  ever  since,  enjoyed.  Many  of  the  children 
and  of  the  grandchildren  of  those  to  whom  he  had  formerly  ministered  had 
been  converted.  As  one  after  another  of  these  young  converts  was  introduced 
to  him,  at  the  close  of  the  prayer-meeting,  I  remember,  as  though  it  were  but 
yesterday,  with  what  a  peculiar  smile  of  atlectiou  he  looked  upon  them,  giving 
to  each  a  word  of  counsel  or  of  caution.  The  whole  impression  which  the 
connection  of  Dr.  Chaplin  with  that  people  has  left  on  my  mind  is  this, — that 
I  have  never  known  an  instance  in  which  a  Pastor  was  regarded  with  such 
mingled  reverence  and  aliection  b\-  his  people,  nor  in  which  these  sentiments 
continued  so  fresh,  years  after  a  separation  took  place.  Good  Pastors  suc- 
ceeded him;  but  there  was  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  that  people  which  no  one 
could  fill  as  he  had  filled  it. 

In  process  of  time,  myself  and  another  lad,  both  members  of  the  Village 
Church,  had  become  fitted  for  College,  and  were  revolving  the,  to  us,  momen- 
tous question,  to  which  of  the  New  England  Colleges  we  should  direct  our 
steps.  For  months  the  question  was  looked  at,  and  discus.sed  by  ourselves 
and  our  friends,  but  still  undecided.  Just  at  this  time,  and  while  the  ques- 
tion was  still  open,  Dr.  Chaplin,  in  one  of  his  journeys  into  Massachusetts, 
stopped,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do,  for  the  night,  among  his  old  friends,  and 
attended  the  prayer-meeting.  We  were  both  introduced  to  him  as  boj's  who 
were  fitted  for  College,  and  were  still  doubtful  which  College  to  choose.  A 
few  words  from  him  there,  and  in  the  hearing  of  our  friends,  decided  the  ques- 
tion, and  a  few  weeks  afterwards  we  were  both  on  our  way  to  the  then  dis- 
tant College  in  Waterville.  AVe  arrived,  after  several  days  travel,  late  one 
evening,  homesick,  weary,  and  filled  with  anxiety  in  prospect  of  an  examina- 
tion at  the  College  premises.  There  was  not  an  individual  there  whom  we 
had  ever  seen  but  Dr.  Chaplin — therefore  we  directed  our  steps  at  once  to  his 
door.  "We  were  cordially  received,  and  soon  lost  both  our  home-sickness 
and  our  fears  in  the  kind  sympathy  and  interest  which  were  manifested 
toward  us.  Here  commenced  a  new  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Chaplin,  upon 
which  is  founded  my  more  mature  and  permanent  judgment  of  his  talents  and 
character. 

M3'  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  Dr.  C.  in  College  wei'e 
chief!}-  these:  he  always  conducted  the  Chapel  services  in  the  morning;  the 
discipline  of  the  College  was  chiefly  committed  to  him;  and  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  time,  while  the  Church  at  Waterville  was  destitute  of  a  Pastor,  he 
attended  their  weekly  prayer-meetings,  and  frequently  supplied  the  pulpit. 
The  morning  services  of  the  Chapel  consisted  of  reading  a  portion  of  Scripture 
and  prayer.  I  remember  them  as  impressive,  deeply  so.  Nothing  is  more 
diflBcult  than  to  conduct  devotional  .services  in  such  a  place  as  a  College  Chapel, 
da}'  after  day,  without  their  degenerating  into  the  sameness  and  heartlessness 
of  a  mere  form.  But  I  remember  nothing  like  this  during  the  three  years  that 
I  attended  upon  these  services  as  conducted  by  Dr.  Chaplin.  An  incident 
occurs  to  me  in  this  connection  which  happily  illustrates  his  familiarity  with 
the  Scriptures.  The  hour  for  Chapel  i^ervice  in  the  winter  Avas  so  early  that 
it  was  frequently  difficult  to  see  to  read,  especially  if  the  morning  was  cloudy. 
During  several  days  of  dull  weather  in  one  of  these  winter  terms,  I  was 
curious  to  know  how  the  Doctor  was  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  a  room  in 
which  you  could  hardly  discern  the  countenance  of  a  friend  across  it.  liut, 
morning  after  morning,  he  opened  the  Biljle,  and,  naming  the  book  and  chapter, 
read  as  usual.  At  length,  one  morning,  having  nearly  completed  the  chapter, 
he  hesitated  and  remarked  that  it  was  too  dark  to  see,  and  the  remaining  por- 
tion had  escaped  his  memory.  I  had  no  doubt  then  that  he  had,  for  several 
mornings,  been  repeating  from  memory  the  chapters  which  he  apparently  read. 


468  BAPTIST. 

He  pursued  a  systematic  reading  of  the  Scriptures  iu  private,  and,  in  commend- 
ing this  habit  on  one  occasion  to  a  young  man,  he  said  he  had  for  many  years 
found  little  or  no  need  of  a  Concordance. 

As  a  Disciplinarian,  Dr.  Chaplin  was  always  firm,  dignified,  perhaps,  at 
times,  severe.  If  there  was  a  fault  in  his  government,  it  was  in  keeping  the 
young  men  at  too  great  a  distance  from  him.  But  he  entered  upon  his  duties 
before  the  modern  no-government  principle  had  become  so  prevalent  in  the 
Family,  the  School,  and  the  State;  and  he  still  clung  to  the  now  antiquated 
notion  that  children  should  obey  their  parents,  and  pupils  obey  their  teachers. 
He  always  demanded  the  outward  signs  of  respect  and  deference  from  his  stu- 
dents. He  thought  it  a  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  insisted  on,  that 
a  student  should  raise  his  hat  on  passing  him,  and  remove  his  hat  while  speak- 
ing to  him.  He  never  regarded  it  unimportant  that  the  young  men  should  be 
constantly  reminded  that  officers  and  students  were  not  exactly  on  a  level. 
Still  there  were  evidences  enough  of  paternal  affection  and  sympathy  for  the 
young  men  under  his  care;  and  he  was  ever  ready  to  counsel  and  encourage 
them  in  any  exigency.  One  great  excellence  of  his  government  was  its  perfect 
freedom  from  all  management.  There  were  no  tricks,  no  mere  expedients  in 
it.  It  was  straight-forward,  open,  honest.  If  any  motives  were  addressed  to 
students  in  private,  they  were  such  as  might  be  proclaimed  in  public  without 
injury. 

I  I'egret  my  inability  to  speak  more  fully  of  Dr.  Chaplin  as  a  Preacher. 
There  were  none  of  the  graces  of  oratory  about  him.  Nature  had  not  formed 
him  to  exhibit  them,  and  he  was  far  enough  from  aiming  to  do  it.  The  tones 
of  his  voice  were  so  peculiar  that  the  ear  that  once  heard  them  would  recog- 
nise them,  if  heard  the  next  time  years  afterwards,  and  in  the  most  distant 
land.  His  gestures  were  few  and  by  no  means  varied.  And  j'et,  though  it 
has  been  my  privilege  to  listen  to  some  of  the  most  able  and  some  of  the  most 
jjopular  preachers  in  my  own  denomination  and  in  others,  I  have  seldom 
heard  the  man  who  could  more  closely  confine  my  attention.  I  never  heard  a 
sermon  from  him  which  did  not  interest  me.  There  was  the  greatest  evidence 
of  sincerity;  the  sceptic  could  not  for  a  moment  doubt  that  he  was  uttering 
the  honest  convictions  of  his  own  heart.  There  was  nothing  like  dullness  in 
his  pulpit  services.  Though  the  voice  was  so  little  varied  as  to  be  almost 
monotonous,  and  the  gestures  were  so  few  and  so  much  alike,  yet  there  was 
somehow  imparted  to  the  whole  service  an  air  of  animation.  The  style  was 
chaste,  simple,  suited  to  the  subject,  and  remarkable,  I  should  think,  for  its 
puritj'.  His  discourses  were  often  enlivened  by  striking  illustrations,  drawn 
most  frequently  from  the  commonest  relations  of  life,  and  yet  so  presented  as 
to  fully  sustain  the  dignity  of  the  place  and  the  subject.  It  is  striking  as 
showing  the  importance  of  this  power  of  illustration  in  the  preacher  that  now, 
at  this  distance  of  time,  I  can  recall  some  illustrations  used  by  him,  while 
every  other  portion  of  the  sermons  of  which  they  were  a  part  is  irrecoverably 
lost. 

Very  truly  yours, 
-  W.  LAMSON. 


TUOMAS  BROWN.  4(39 

THOMAS  BROWN.^ 

ISO)}— 1831. 

Thomas  Brown,  the  only  child  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Brown,  was 
born  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  on  the  1st  of  November,  1779.  When  he  was 
two  3'ears  old,  his  father,  who  was  a  respectable  citizen  and  magistrate, 
died;  leaving  him  sole  heir  to  a  considerable  estate.  Out  of  this,  however, 
he  was  wronged  through  fraud  or  mismanagement  ;  and  in  due  time  he  was 
apprenticed  by  his  mother  to  a  Mr.  Ayrcs,  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Newark,  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade.  He  became  hopefully 
pious  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  two  years  after  united  with  the  church 
of  which  Mr.  Ayres  was  a  member,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  McWhorter.  Shortly  after  he  attained  to  his  majority,  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  Baptism  underwent  a  change,  and  he  became  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church  in  Newark.  Here  he  found  his  church  relations 
most  agreeable  and  profitable,  and  he  never  ceased  to  cherish  the  remem- 
brance of  them  with  great  satisfaction. 

Mr.  lirowu  was  licensed  to  preacli  the  Gospel  by  the  church  with  which 
he  thus  became  connected,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1803.  He  was,  however, 
deeply  sensible  of  his  deficiency  in  respect  to  intellectual  acquirements,  and 
could  not  think  of  engaging  permanently  in  his  work  until  his  stock  of 
general  knowledge  at  least  was  somewhat  increased.  Accordingly,  he 
engaged  in  teaching  a  private  school  at  Amboy, — at  the  same  tin)e  occa- 
sionally exercising  his  ministerial  gifts, — in  the  hope  that  he  might  thereby 
secure  the  means  of  resorting  for  a  while  to  some  literary  institution. 
Here  he  improved  every  moment  of  leisure  he  could  command  in  reading 
the  best  authors  in  different  departments  of  literature,  and  especially  in 
Theology.  At  this  period,  too,  his  mind  was  much  exercised  in  reference 
to  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions;  and  he  read  with  so  much  interest  the 
periodical  accounts  of  the  Baptist  Missions  in  India  that  his  heart  yearned 
to  go  and  join  Carey  and  his  associates  in  carrying  forward  their  great 
work  ;  and,  had  the  way  been  open,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  become  a 
foreign  missionar}'.  This  was  some  ten  years  before  any  one  in  America 
was  known  to  entertain  the  idea  of  devoting  himself  to  Missions  in  the  East. 

After  remaining  a  few  months  at  Amboy,  he  entered  the  Academy  at 
Pennepek,  Pa.,  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Jones  was  Principal.  Here 
he  remained  most  of  the  time  until  1805,  when  he  was  invited  to  take  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Salem,  N.  J.  lie  accepted  the 
invitation,  though  not  without  many  misgivings,  on  the  ground  of  what  he 
deemed  an  inadequate  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Early  in 
the  year  180G,  he  was  regularly  ordained  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton,  the 
Rev.  Henry  Smalley,  and  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Jones,  the  last  of  whom  had 
just  before  retired  from  the  Pastorate  of  the  same  church. 

Mr.  Brown's  connection  with  the  Church  at  Salem  continued  nearly  three 
years,  and  his  labours  were  attended  in  no  small  degree  with  the  Divine 
blessing.  In  1808,  he  received  a  unanimous  invitation  from  the  Church 
•  Bapt.  Mem.  XTV.— Locke's  Cent.  Diac— MS.  from  hia  son.  Rev.  J.  I'.  Brovm. 


470  BAPTIST. 

at  Scotch  Plains,  N.  J.,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respectable  churches 
in  the  State,  to  succeed  the  Rev.  William  Van  Horn*  as  its  Pastor :  he 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  removed  thither  in  June  of  that  year.  With 
this  church  he  remained  twenty  years ;  and  they  were  years  of  usefulness 
and  honour.  His  ministrations  were  eminently  blessed  not  only  to  the 
enlargement  and  general  efficiency  of  the  church,  but  especially  in  awaken- 
ing and  cherishing  a  deep  interest  in  the  Foreign  Missionary  enterprise. 
No  one  hailed  with  livelier  satisfaction  than  he  the  formation  of  the  Tri- 
ennial Convention  ;  and  for  several  years  he  was  a  member  from  New 
Jersey  of  its  Board  of  Managers. 

In  tlie  year  1828,  he  was  invited  to  the  Pastorate  of  the  Church  at 
Great  Valley,  Pa.,  under  circumstances  which  left  no  alternative  to  his 
conscience  but  to  accept  it.  Though  the  disruption  of  the  tie  which  had 
bound  him  to  his  people  was  a  severe  trial  both  to  him  and  to  them,  he 
yielded  to  his  convictions  of  duty  and  made  the  sacrifice.  At  Great 
Valley  his  sphere  of  labour  was  somewhat  enlarged,  and  he  occupied  it 
with  unceasing  industry,  and  to  great  advantage.  The  church  was  highly 
prosperous  under  his  ministry,  and  knew  how  to  appreciate  both  his 
character  and  his  labours.  After  a  Pastorate  here  of  a  little  more  than 
two  years,  he  was  struck  by  a  disease  which  no  medical  skill  could  arrest, 
and  which,  after  some  weeks  of  suifering,  terminated  his  life.  He  died  on 
the  17th  of  January,  1831,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age.  His  last 
hours  were  cheered  by  the  most  precious  tokens  of  his  Redeemer's  presence. 
The  upward  pointing  of  his  hand,  and  the  exclamation, — "All  is  Avell,  all 
is  well,"  were  among  the  indications  that  he  was  making  a  glorious  change. 

His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dagg,  then  Pastor 
of  the  Fifth  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  from  II.  Timothy  iv.  6-8. 
His  death  was  the  occasion  of  general  mourning  in  the  several  churches, 
of  which  he  had  successively  had  the  charge. 

Mr.  Brown  was  married,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1809,  to  Mary  K., 
daughter  of  John  and  Sophia  Lewis,  of  Perth  Amboy  N.  J.,  by  whom  he 
had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom,  with  their  mother,  survived  him. 
Two  of  the  sons  graduated, — the  one  at  the  Columbian  College,  D.  C,  the 
other,  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  both  are  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  One  occupies  the  pulpit  at  Scotch  Plains,  which  his  father  left 
in  1828;  the  other,  and  the  eldest  of  the  children,  is  Pastor  of  the 
Seventh  Day  Baptist  Church  at  Little  Genesee,  N.  Y.,  and  Associate 
Editor  of  the  Sabbath  Recorder,  published  in  New  York  City.  Another 
son  is  a  graduate  of  a  Medical  institution,  and  practises  Medicine  in 
Philadelphia. 

•William  Van  Horn,  son  of  Peter  Van  Horn,  vias  born  in  1746,  and  ordained  at  South- 
ampton, in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued  thirteen  years.  In  1785,  he  settled  at  Scotch 
Plains,  where  be  remained  until  1807,  when  be  resi;i;ned  his  charge,  and  set  out  with  his  family 
for  the  State  of  Oliio,  with  a  view  of  settling  on  a  plantation  which  be  bad  purchased,  near  the 
town  of  Lebanon,  between  the  j\liami  Ifivers.  Previous  to  his  leaving  New  Jersey,  he  had 
been  affected,  for  some  time,  with  dropsical  complaints,  which,  on  his  reaching  Pittsburgh, 
confined  bitn  to  his  bed,  and  he  died  on  the  .Slst  of  October.  1807,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his 
age;  leaving  a  widow  and  seven  children,  six  of  whom  were  daughters,  to  pursue  their 
lonely  journey  to  the  place  of  their  destination.  Mr.  Van  Horn  received  his  education  at 
Dr.  .Tones'  Academy,  at  l^cnnepek,  and  in  1774  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  from  the  College  of  Rhode  Island.  During  the  lU'volutionary  War,  he  was  Chaplain  to 
one  of  the  Brigades  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  also  a  member  for  Bucks  County, 
Pa.,  of  the  Convention  which  met  in  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  framing  the  first  Civil 
Constitution  of  the  State. 


THOMAS  BROWN.  47 ^ 


FROM  THE  REV.  THOMAS  WINTER. 

•  RoxBOROUGU,  Philadelphia,  March  20,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Thomas  Brown  commenced  in 
the  spring  of  1820,  when  I  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  and  a  few  months 
after  1  arrived  in  this  country.  1  was  at  that  time  supplying  a  small  JJaptist 
Church  at  Perth  Amhoy,  where  some  of  the  members  of  Mr.  Brown's  church 
resided.  In  Maj-  of  that  year,  I  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Xew  York 
Baptist  Association,  at  Piscataway,  near  New  Brunswick;  and  among  the 
ministers  present  I  noticed  one  who  appeared  to  me  "  pre-eminent  above  the 
rest," — so  calm,  so  dignified,  so  intelligent.  He  spoke  but  little;  but  when 
he  did  speak,  it  was  the  utterance  of  both  mind  and  heart.  My  eye  rested  on 
him.  I  knew  him  not  then,  but  determined  that  1  would  know  him;  and  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting,  an  acquaintance  commenced  between  us,  whix;h  quickly 
ripened  into  a  strong  mutual  affection  that  continued  till  the  close  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Brown  was  fully  of  medium  size,  dignified  in  his  bearing,  intellectual 
yet  kind  in  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  and  remarkably  courteous  in 
his  demeanour.  He  was  a  man  of  much  mental  culture,  and  of  the  most 
refined  natural  sensibilities.  His  most  intimate  friends  and  members  of  his 
church,  while  they  loved  him  most  sincerely,  never,  I  believe,  approached  him 
but  with  unfeigned  respect.  He  delighted  in  intellectual  intercourse  with  his 
friends,  and  would  often,  by  a  single  pith}^  or  striking  remark,  illuminate  a 
dark  subject,  or  settle  a  difficult  question. 

His  character  was  remarkably  transparent  and  ingenuous.  He  abhorred 
duplicity.  What  he  was  he  appeared  to  be;  and  as  he  appeared,  so  he  was.. 
He  was  Avithout  guile ;  and  frank  and  open  himself,  he  expected  the  same  in 
others.  When  he  preached,  he  preached  wluit  his  own  heart  felt;  and  was 
almost  always  sure  to  make  other  hearts  feel  too.  His  chaste,  sententious 
style;  his  sound,  clear,  deep  tones,  with  their  musical  undulations;  and  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  glorious  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  which  he  knew 
how  to  bring  out  in  their  just  proportions,  made  his  sermons  a  rich  intellectual 
and  spiritual  repast.  When  he  was  warmed  with  his  subject,  there  was 
unusual  impressiveness  and  meaning  in  the  glance  of  his  eye  ami  the  play  of  his 
features:  nor  less  in  what  little  of  gesticulation  he  had.  But  it  was  when  he 
prayed,  I  used  to  think,  that  his  character  was  most  justly  and  delightfuUy 
revealed.  At  the  family  altar  especiallj^,  when  surrounded  by  his  beloved 
ones,  it  might  with  great  truth  be  said  that 

"  The  prayer  of  the  sire  hath  raised  us  to  Heaven." 

Allow  me  to  relate  two  well  authenticated  anecdotes  concerning  him,  which 
may  serve  to  illustrate  certain  features  of  his  character. 

While  he  was  Pastor  at  Scotch  Plains,  a  stranger  of  respectable  appearance 
was  announced  at  the  parsonage  door.  Mr.  Brown  went,  and,  with  his 
characteristic  blandness,  invited  him  in;  and,  on  learning  that  he  was  a 
Baptist  minister,  assured  him  of  a  welcome  to  the  well  known  hospitality  of 
the  old  stone  mansion.  It  was  Saturday  afternoon,  and,  as  the  stranger  had 
no  engagement  for  the  next  day,  Mr.  Brown  requested  him  to  remain  at  his 
house;  and  the  invitation  was  readily  and  gratefully  accepted.  Matters  being 
thus  far  settled,  the  Pastor  sat  down  to  have  a  brotherly  colloquy  with  his 
stranger  guest.  Mr.  Brown  was  remarkably  communicative  where  propriety 
allowed  it;  and  he  delighted  to  have  his  friends  so  too.  He  never  wished  to  be 
'<  all  tongue  and  no  ear."  But  he  found  his  visiter  remarkably  taciturn.  He 
broached  a  number  of  different  topics, — doctrinal,  ethical,  statistical,  domes- 
tic and  foreign.     But  on  each  and  all  the   guest   was   provokingly   silent  and 


472  BAPTIST. 

apparently  uninformed.  He  could  not  or  he  Avould  not  be  brought  out.  He 
was  all  ear  and  no  tongue.  Mr.  E.  was  finally  driven  to  the  conclusion  that, 
though  he  might  be  a  very  good  brother,  he  did  not  know  much. 

The  arrangements  for  the  services  of  the  next  day  were  now  quietly  settled 
in  the  Pastor's  own  mind.  It  certainly  would  not  do  for  the  stranger  to 
preach  in  the  morning.  The  congregation  was  usually  large  and  very  intelli- 
gent; and  strangers  might  be  there.  He  might  occupy  the  pulpit  in  the  after- 
noon, for  the  second  service,  after  the  half  hour's  intermission.  All  this  was 
settled;  and  in  due  time  the  arrangements  were  kindly  revealed  to  the  stran- 
ger, who  modestly  consented  to  help  his  brother  as  best  he  could,  if  his  help 
was  desired. 

The  next  morning  came,  and  INIr.  Brown  preached — no  doubt,  as  usual — to 
the  great  satisfaction  of  his  people.  He  had  to  preach  again  at  a  station  about 
four  miles  distant,  at  five  o'clock;  and  the  stranger  was  announced  for  the 
pulpit  in  the  afternoon,  after  the  usual  intermission.  There  he  was,  accord- 
ingly; and  the  Pastor  behind  him,  with  no  little  anxiety  respecting  the  issue. 
The  man  prayed,  and  Mr.  Brown  was  exceedingly  struck  with  his  prayer — he 
could  not  forbear  saj'ing  to  himself, — "This  man  can  certainly- pray,  if  he 
cannot  preach."  In  due  time,  he  began  his  sermon;  and,  as  the  Pastor  lis- 
tened, he  was  astonished,  confounded,  mortified,  delighted.  The  most  pre- 
cious truths  of  the  Gospel  were  brought  out  in  a  style  and  manner  which  not 
only  chained  the  attention,  but  deeply  aflfected  the  hearts,  of  the  people.  At 
the  close  of  the  service,  the  stranger  was  urged  to  preach  the  five  o'clock  ser- 
mon also;  to  which  he  modestly  consented.  "  And  then,"  said  Mr.  B.,  with 
his  loud,  hearty  laugh  of  irrepressible  delight,  "  he  went  far  ahead  of  his 
first  sermon!     I  never  was  more  astonished  in  all  my  life." 

The  other  anecdote  to  which  I  referred  is  the  following: — 

When  Mr.  Brown  was  yet  a  young  man,  he  went  from  Perth  Amboy  to 
fulfil  a  preaching  appointment,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  South  Amboy,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Earitan  River.  He  had  to  cross  it  in  a  small  ferry-boat 
worked  by  oars.  The  mouth  of  that  river,  in  the  channel,  is  sometimes  very 
dangerous,  and,  for  such  craft,  unnavigable;  especially  so,  when  the  wind  sets 
down  the  river,  or  the  reverse,  and  meets  the  tide.  On  the  occasion  referred 
to,  the  wind  was  boisterous,  and  the  waves  were  high.  In  the  little  boat 
were  a  aiumber  of  young  persons;  and  one  in  whom  the  voyager  felt  a  special 
interest.  There  was  also  another,  then  a  child,  who,  some  years  subse- 
quently, became  known  to  me,  and  from  whom  I  received  the  account.  Well 
the  wind  blew,  and  the  waves  tossed  about  at  pleasure  the  tiny  vessel.  The 
danger  seemed  great,  and  the  terror  of  the  passengers  was  proportionally 
great.  In  the  midst  of  the  cry  of  distress,  Mr.  Brown  broke  out  with  his 
strong,  musical  voice,  to  the  good  old  tune,  I  think,  of  Shirland: 

"  The  God  tliat  rules  on  hi^b, 

"  And  thunders  when  He  please, 

"  That-rides  upon  the  stormy  sky, 

"  And  manage.s  the  seas: 

"  This  awful  God  is  ours, 

"  Our  Father  and  our  Love,  &c." 

All  were  hushed,  and  there  was  a  great  calm  in  their   feelings.     And  with 

the  vigorous  strokes   of  the  oarsmen,   the  boat  was  safely  brought  to  the 

welcome  beach,  and  all  gladly  stepped  on  terra  firma. 

I  am  very  fraternally  yours, 

THOMAS  WINTER. 


THOMAS  BROWN. 


473 


FROM  THE  REV.  J.  L.  DAGG,  D.  D. 

CuTiiBERT,  Ga.,  April  C>,  1858. 

Dear  Sir:   *Tho  information  which  you  received  from  my  friend  J)r.  II , 

needs  but  little  correction.     So  far  as  concerns  the  great  business  of  nij^  life, 

the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  my  days  Averc  numbered  in  1834,  when  I  was 
silenced  in  the  pulpit  by  a  bronchial  disease  from  which  I  have  never  recovered. 
Other  parts  of  the  mortal  tenement  have  so  far  failed,  that  I  have  for  two 
years  past  retired  from  all  public  employment,  and  am  much  inclined  to  num- 
ber myself  among  the  persons  who  have  been.  My  want  of  connection  with 
the  things  around  me  extends  to  books  also.  A  weakness  of  sight  renders  me 
unable  to  read;  and,  although  I  had  heard  of  the  work  in  which  ^-ou  are 
engaged,  mj-  first  information  that  you  had  intended  to  honour  mc  with  a 
notice,  was  received  in  your  letter  which  arrived  yesterday. 

My  acquaintance  with  the  Kev.  Thomas  Brown  commenced  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention  in  1823,  at  "Washington  City.  He  was  then 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Scotch  Plains,  N.  J.  About  December,  1828, 
he  removed  to  the  Great  Valley,  Pa.,  where  he  closed  his  life,  I  think  in  less 
than  two  years.  During  this  time,  I  was  frequently  in  his  company,  and 
esteemed  him  an  excellent  man,  and  an  able  minister  of  Christ.  He  was 
much  beloved  as  a  Pastor,  and  was  a  favourite  among  the  ministers  with 
whom  he  associated.  His  aspect  was  grave  and  dignified;  but  in  conversa- 
tion he  was  pleasant,  and  sometimes  facetious.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  solemn 
and  impressive;  and  few  men  were  heard  Avith  more  attention.  I  can  scarcely 
trust  my  memorj^  to  attempt  a  description  of  his  person;  but  if  you  have  no 
information  more  reliable,  you  maj^  represent  him, — a  man  rather  above  the 
medium  stature,  with  a  square  built  frame,  not  heavily  clad  M'ith  flesh;  his 
complexion  somewhat  sallow;  and  his  features  regular,  and  expressive  espe- 
cially' of  benevolent  emotion. 

Hoping  that  your  life  may  be  long  spared,  to  finish  the  work  in  which  you 
are  engaged,  and  render  much  other  valuable  service  to  the  world, 

I  am,  with  very  high  regard,  yours, 

J.  L.  DAGG. 

•The  first  paragraph  of  this  letter  requires  explanation.  One  of  my  friends,  vrho  had  also 
been  an  early  friend  of  Dr.  Dagg,  had,  by  some  means,  got  the  impression  that  the  Doctor  had 
deceased,  iind  of  course  had  become  a  suitable  subject  for  commemoration.  I,  accordingly, 
included  his  name  in  a  printed  list  of  my  subjects,  which  I  sent  ail  over  the  country  with  a 
view  to  secure  other  important  names  which  had  not  come  within  my  knowledge.  It  was  very 
soon  intimated  to  me,  and  from  different  quarters,  that  I  had  prcmatiireh' included  one  name — 
that  of  Dr.  Dagg;  who,  though  he  would  well  deserve  to  be  commemorated  when  the  proper 
time  should  come,  was  still  living  and  able  to  jierform  good  service  in  embalming  the  memo- 
ries of  others.  Availing  myself  of  this  hint,  I  iuimediately  wrote  to  him,  acknowledging  my 
awkward  and  somewhat  ludicrous  mistake,  and  asking  him  for  a  letter  of  personal  recollections 
concerning  the  I'ev.  Thomas  Brown.  The  manner  in  which  he  complied  with  the  request 
shows  that  it  was  little  to  say  of  him,  at  that  date,  that  he  was  a  liuing  man. 

Vol.  VI.  60 


474  BAPTIST. 

LUCIUS  BOLLES,  D.  D.=^ 

1803—1844. 

Lucius  Bolles  was  a  descendant  of  Joseph  Bolles,  who  emigrated 
from  England  to  America  in  1637-38,  and  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Saco,  in  Maine,  in  1639.  His  son,  Thovias,  was  induced,  by  the  solicita- 
tion of  Governor  John  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut,  to  remove  from  Maine 
to  New  London  in  1667.  Here,  in  1678,  his  wife  and  two  young  children 
were  murdered,  but  his  son,  John,  then  an  infant,  escaped,  and,  after  he 
had  reached  maturity,  became  dissatisfied  with  the  Congregational  system, 
in  which  he  had  been  educated,  and  adopted  the  views  of  the  Baptists.  He 
was  baptized  by  John  Rogers,!  the  founder  of  the  "  Rogerene  "  sect,  and 
engaged  very  zealously,  with  both  tongue  and  pen,  in  the  theological  dis- 
putations  of  that  day.  He  died  in  his  ninetieth  year,  in  1767, — having 
had  fourteen  children,  thirteen  of  whom  survived  him.  He  was  a  man  of 
vigorous  mind  and  earnest  character,  and  wrote  and  publi^^hed  several 
books  and  tracts,  some  of  which  show  his  intense  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
religious  liberty.  His  son,  Eiioch,  though  he  walked  in  the  footsteps  of 
his  father's  faith,  did  not  inherit  his  father's  zeal  in  urging  and  spreading 
his  peculiar  views.  He  had  ten  sous,  one  of  whom,  David,  was  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  born  in  New  London,  on  the  14th 
of  January,  1743.  He  was  married  to  Susannah  Moore,  of  New  London, 
on  the  10th  of  January,  1765,  and  removed  to  Ashford,  (now  Eastford,) 
Conn.,  where  he  died  on  the  14th  of  February,  1807.  Until  he  was  more 
than  fifty  years  old,  he  remained  in  active  business,  as  farmer,  tanner,  har- 
ness-maker, &c.  In  October,  1797,  when  he  was  in  his  fiftieth  year,  he 
was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  old  Stoning- 
ton  Baptist  Association.  From  that  time  until  his  death, — a  period  of 
more  than  nine  years,  he  laboured,  most  of  the  time,  as  an  Evangelist, 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  destitute  churches  in  the  vicinity  of  Ashford.  In 
June,  1801,  he  accepted  the  call  of  tlie  First  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford, 
Conn.,  and  for  two  years  ofliciated  as  their  Pastor.  He  was  then  dismissed 
at  his  own  request,  preferring  to  reside  in  the  country,  and  preach  without 
salary  or  any  other  reward  than  the  satisfaction  of  working  for  his  Divine 
Master.  xVt  his  death  he  left  four  sons,  one  of  whom,  the  late  Judge 
David  Bolles,  of  Ashford,  was  a  lawyer,  and  three  of  whom,  like  their 
father,  bor-ame  Baptist  preachers. 

Lucius  Bolles  was  admitted  a  member  of  Brown  University  in  1797, 
and  was  graduated,  under  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Maxcy,  in  1801.     Though 

*  Dr.  Sharp's  Fun.  Serm. — Bapt.  IMem.,  V. — MS.  from  John  A.  Bolles,  Esq. 

t  John  Roghus  was  the  son  of  James  Rogers,  who  was  a  respectable  Quaker,  and  died  in 
1688.  It  was  a  provision  in  his  will — ''there  shall  bo  no  lawing  among  my  children  " — he 
required  them  to  decide  any  difference  by  lot.  His  injunction,  however,  seems  to  have  been 
disregarded.  He  married  Elizabeth  (Jriswold,  of  Lyme,  but  she  obtained  a  divorce,  and  subse- 
quently married  Peter  I'rutt.  His  son  John,  was  the  father  of  twenty  children.  This  fanati- 
cal family  worked  on  the  Sabbath,  and  sometimes  disturbed  the  worship  of  others,  and  drew 
upon  themselves  various  penalties.  On  one  occasion,  John  Rogers  sent  in  a  wig  as  a  contribu- 
tion for  the  support  of  a  wigged  ministry;  but  he  repented  it  afterwards.  John,  the  second, 
died  in  1721,  an-ed  seventy-three,  and  was  buried  on  the  Maraacock  farm,  on  the  River  Thames 
He  pui)lished  A  Midnight  Cry,  from  the  Temple  of  God,  to  the  Ten  Virgins  Slumbering  and 
Sleeping,  Awake,  Awake,  Arise,  &c. ;  also  an  Epistle  to  the  Churches  of  Christ  called  Quakers. 


LUCIUS  BOLLES.  475 

he  had  had  the  benefit  of  a  religious  education,  his  mind  seems  never  to  have 
taken  a  decided  religious  direction  until  after  ho  had  become  a  member  of 
College.  It  was  during  a  visit  at  Hartford,  in  one  of  his  college  vacations, 
that  he  became  deeply  sensible  of  the  importance  of  religion,  and  was  led, 
as  he  believed,  to  a  cordial  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  offer.  Before  his 
return  to  Providence,  he  was  baptized  by  the  llev.  Stephen  S.  Nelson,  then 
Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  city,  and  received  into  their 
connection.  From  this  time  his  purpose  was  definitely  formed  to  devote 
himself  to  the  Christian  ministry. 

After  being  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  he  placed  him- 
self, as  a  theological  student,  under  the  care  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Stillman, 
of  ]3oston.  Here  he  continued  for  about  three  years ;  enjoying  not  only 
the  benefit  of  Dr.  Stillman's  instructions,  but  the  greatest  intimacy  with 
him,  and  frequent  opportunities  of  accompanying  him  on  his  pastoral  vis- 
its and  hearing  his  admirable  counsels  to  the  sick  and  dying.  During  a 
part  of  this  time,  Mr.  Bolles  himself  was  a  preacher,  and  often  officiated 
in  Dr.  Stillman's  pulpit,  and  other  pulpits  in  the  neighbourhood. 

At  this  period,  a  few  Baptists,  residing  in  Salem,  but  members  of 
churches  in  other  towns,  thought  it  their  duty  to  associate  for  public  wor- 
ship, and  form  a  distinct  religious  Society.  Mr.  Bolles,  having  occasion- 
ally preached  to  them  with  great  acceptance,  was  invited,  in  November, 
1804,  to  supply  them  in  the  capacity  of  a  Pastor,  until  there  should  be  a 
church  regularly  organized.  Having  taken  a  few  weeks  to  consider  this 
invitation,  he  signified  his  acceptance  of  it.  The  church  was  constituted 
almost  immediately  after,  ami,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1805,  Mr,  Bolles 
was  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  pastoral  office,  the  sermon  being  preached  by 
Dr.  Stillman,  and  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellowship  given  by  the  llev.  Elisha 
Williams,  of  Beverly, 

In  the  year  1824,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  Union  College. 

He  continued  sole  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Salem  twenty-two  years  ;  and 
had  an  uncommonly  happy  and  successful  ministry.  The  accessions  to  the 
communion  of  his  church  were  large  and  frequent.  The  nuu)ber  added 
during  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  ministry  was  five  hundred  anu  twelve. 

In  1824,  Dr.  Bolles  first  became  connected  with  the  Baptist  General 
Convention  for  Foreign  Missions,  as  one  of  its  Executive  officers.  He  was 
first  elected  Assistant  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board,  then  located 
at  Washington  City,  and  associated  with  the  "  Eastern  Committee,"  who 
were  charged  with  the  general  superintendence  of  the  Burman  Mission. 
When  the  Board  was  transferred  to  Boston,  in  1826,  he  was  chosen  Cor- 
responding Secretary. 

Dr.  Bolles  had,  on  various  occasions,  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the 
missionary  cause  during  nearly  the  whole  period  of  his  ministry.  When 
about  to  attend  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Domestic  Missionary  Society  at 
Boston  as  early  as  1806,  he  records  in  a  private  memorandum  that  he 
"  could  no  longer  refrain  from  asking  something  of  his  people  for  that 
object,  although  they  had  been  so  often  called  upon  to  defray  their  numer- 
ous expenses  as  a  new  Society."  In  the  autumn  of  1811,  he  was  visited 
by  the  Kev.  William  Johns,  a  missionary  of  the  English  Baptist  Mission- 


476  BAPTIST. 

ary  Society,  then  on  his  way  to  ludia,  and  assisted  him  to  the  extent  of 
his  ability,  in  obtaining  pecuniary  contributions  in  aid  of  the  Serampore 
translations.  In  1812,  he  was  active  in  the  formation  of  the  Salcni  Bible 
and  Translation  Society.  Shortly  after  this,  he  attended  the  ordination  of 
Mr.  Judson  and  his  associates  to  their  missionary  work,  and,  from  a  con. 
versation  then  held  with  Mr.  Judson,  seems  to  have  received  afresli  impulse 
in  favour  of  the  cause  of  Missions.  It  was  not  strange,  therefore,  when 
his  heart  had  long  been  so  much  in  the  work,  that  he  was  disposed  to 
regard  with  favour  an  appointment  that  was  to  identify  him  so  directly 
with  the  missionary  operations  of  his  denomination  ;  and,  notwithstanding 
the  severe  trial  involved  in  a  separation  from  a  people  to  Avhom  he  was 
devotedly  attached,  and  who  had  the  highest  appreciation  of  his  ministry, 
be  still  felt  it  his  duty  to  break  this  tie,  with  a  view  to  entering  what 
seemed  to  him  a  more  extended  field  of  usefulness.  Accordingl}',  he 
accepted  the  office  of  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  continued  to  discharge 
its  duties,  greatly  to  the  acceptance  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  and  of 
the  denomination  at  large,  during  a  period  of  more  than  sixteen  years. 

In  the  year  1841,  Dr.  Bolles  made  a  missionary  tour  beyond  the  Alle- 
ghany Jlountains  ;  and,  on  his  return,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  the 
disease  of  which  he  ultimately  died,  first  began  to  develope  itself.  He 
hoped,  for  some  time,  that  he  should  be  able  to  overcome  it ;  but,  at  the 
end  of  a  year,  it  had  made  such  progress  that  he  felt  constrained  to  with- 
draw from  all  public  engagements.  The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Board, 
on  the  resignation  of  his  office,  showed  their  high  appreciation  of  his  long 
continued  services,  and  their  deep  regret  at  being  deprived  of  them. 

Dr.  Bolles  lived  more  than  a  year  after  he  retired  from  active  labour. 
During  the  earlier  part  of  the  time,  he  suffered  comparatively  little  pain, 
and  was  able  to  converse  freely,  and  always  in  an  edifying  manner,  with 
his  friends  who  called  upon  him  ;  but,  as  his  disease  advanced,  and  espe- 
cially as  it  approached  its  fatal  termination,  his  suffering  became  intense  and 
almost  uninterrupted.  But  his  confidence  in  his  Redeemer  never  forsook 
him;  his  interest  in  his  cause  never  declined  ;  and  so  long  as  he  had  breath 
to  use,  he  used  it  in  humble  and  devout  supplication.  He  died  convulsed 
with  bodily  pain,  luit  full  of  faith  and  hope,  January  5,  1844.  His  Funeral 
took  place  on  the  8th,  and  a  Sermon  was  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the 
llev.  Dr.  Sharp,  which  was  printed. 

Dr.  Bolles  published  a  Sermon  at  the  Dedication  of  the  New  Brick 
Meeting  House  in  Salem,  Mass.,  1806  ;  a  Sermon  before  the  Salem  Female 
Charitable  Society,  1810  ;  a  Sermon  delivered  in  Newburyport  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Meeting  House,  Tct  the  Ordination  of  the  Bev.  Hosea  Wheeler, 
to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in  Newbury  and 
Newburyport,  1818;  The  Importance  of  the  Scriptures  to  a  Teacher  in 
E elision  :  A  Discourse  delivered  in  the  Meeting  House  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  before  the  Boston  Baptist  Association,  1822. 

Dr.  Bolles  was  married  in  1805  to  his  cousin,  Lydia  Bolles,  daughter 
of  Jolm  and  Lydia  Bolles,  of  Hartford,  Conn.  One  of  his  sons, — Lucius 
Stillma7i,  ultimately  became  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  He  was  born  at 
Salem,  July  G,  1808  ;  was  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1828  ;  studied 
Medicine,  first  in  Salem,  and  afterwards  in  Boston,  and,  during  his  residence 


LUCIUS  BOLLES.  477 

ill  the  latter  city,  became  the  subject  of  a  hopeful  renovation,  and,  on  the 
first  Sabliath  in  July,  1831,  was  admitted  a  member  of  Dr.  Sharp's  church. 
On  complotiiig  his  medical  course,  he  commenced  the  study  of  Hebrew, 
and  tlie  next  fall  became  a  member  of  the  Theological  Institution  at  New- 
ton. When  he  had  been  there  two  years,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  on 
account  of  failing  health.  He  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Lynn,  Mass.,  November  20,  1833,  and  continued  to  discharge  tlie  duties 
of  the  place  with  much  acceptance  for  nearly  three  years,  when  tlie  return 
of  ill  health  caused  an  interruption  of  his  labours,  and  a  separation  from 
his  people,  in  order  that  he  might  avail  himself  of  a  milder  climate.  He 
had  quite  a  successful  ministry,  and  baptized,  at  one  time,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  his  father,  thirty  persons.  His  last  days  were  passed  in  his 
father's  house  in  Boston,  whore  he  died  on  the  24th  of  July,  1837.  He 
was  married  in  December,  1833,  to  Sarah  Noyes,  a  distant  relative,  who 
was  at  that  time  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  the  Hon.  Nicholas  Brown,  of 
Providence.  He  left  two  infant  sons.  Mrs.  Bolles,  the  widow  of  Dr. 
Bolles,  died  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1851.  Dr.  Sharp,  on  the 
first  Sabbath  of  the  year  1852,  paid  the  following  tribute  to  her  memory  : — 

"There  was  one  summoned  from  us,  during  the  year  just  closed,  whose 
father  was  loved  and  respected  for  his  superior  and  consistent  piety,  his 
hospitality  to  strangers,  his  fervent  zeal,  his  church-going  punctuality,  and 
his  family  religion. 

"  She,  in  early  life,  felt  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  consecrated  her- 
self unreservedly  to  God.  By  a  wise  and  gracious  ordination  of  Provi- 
dence, she  became  the  wife  of  an  eminently  pious  and  devoted  minister  of 
Christ,  who,  having  spent  the  evening  of  his  days,  directing  and  furthering 
the  cause  of  Missions,  died  in  the  midst  of  us  ;  was  brought  into  this  house 
of  worship,  and  was  borne  hence  to  his  final  resting  place. 

"  As  a  Pastor's  wife,  she  Avas  an  example  in  every  thing  that  was  lovely 
and  excellent.  In  looking  after  the  temporal  and  spiritual  concerns  of  the 
members  of  her  husband's  congregation,  and  in  conversing  with  the  serious 
and  the  sick,  as  well  as  in  encouraging  meetings  for  devotion  among  females, 
she  contributed  essentially  to  her  husband's  success,  during  a  Pastorate  of 
twenty  years.  No  one  doubted  her  piety,  her  goodness,  her  usefulness. 
It  was  constant,  untiring,  for  a  long  succession  of  years.  But  how  myste- 
rious are  the  ways  of  Providence  I  By  a  disease  pressing  upon  the  brain, 
and  affecting  the  nervous  system,  a  settled  melancholy  rested  upon  her. 
Perhaps  for  seven  years  she  did  not  smile ;  and  when  her  dying  husband 
expressed  a  hope  to  meet  her  in  Heaven, — "  No,"  said  she,  "you  will  be 
there,  but  I  shall  be  lost."  It  pleased  God,  however,  iu  his  good  provi- 
dence, some  eighteen  months  ago,  to  modify  her  disease.  Her  spirits 
gradually  revived.  She  dared  to  hope,  and  then  to  express  it.  She 
became  herself  again,  and  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  January,  1851,  she  came 
into  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  commemorating  with  us — for  the  first  time 
in  seven  years — the  dying  love  of  our  common  Lord. 

"From  that  period  to  the  end  of  her  days,  which  were  very  few, — .she 
was  spiritually  minded,  .sociable  and  happy.  The  last  day  of  her  life  was 
spent,  as  the  chief  part  of  her  life  had  been,  in  Christian  conversation,  and 
in  public  religious  services.     At  midnight,  the  cry  was  heard,   '  Behold  the 


478  BAPTIST. 

bridegroom  cometh  ;'  and  she  heard  the  cry  in  the  triumph  of  Christian 
faith  and  hope." 

Dr.  Bolles'  two  brothers,  who  entered  the  ministry,  were  Mattheiv  and 
Augustjis. 

Matthew  Bolles,  the  eldest  of  the  three,  was  born  at  Ashford,  April 
21,  1769.  He  was  married  to  Anna  Hibbard,  daughter  of  Eliphaz  and 
Jerusha  (Pride)  Hibbard,  of  Mansfield,  Conn.,  September  1.5,  1793,  and 
died  at  Hartford,  of  typhus  fever,  in  his  seventieth  year,  September  26, 
1838.  Like  his  father,  David  Bolles,  he  was  engaged  in  his  earlier  man- 
hood in  active  secular  business,  having  married  and  become  the  father  of 
a  large  family  before  he  made  a  public  profession  of  religion.  He  began 
to  preach  at  Lyme  (Pleasant  Valley),  Conn.,  in  1812,  and  was  ordained 
and  settled  there  in  June,  1813.  There  he  remained  until  late  in  1816, 
his  labours  being  blessed  with  a  revival  of  religion,  and  the  addition  of  many 
to  the  church  of  which  he  had  the  pastoral  charge.  From  the  beginning  of 
1817  until  his  death  in  1838,  he  was  successively  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Churches  in  Fairfield,  (Fairfield  Woods,)  Conn.,  Milford,  N.  H.,  and 
Marbleheadand  West  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  and  preached  to  the  Church  in 
New  Britain,  Conn.,  in  which  latter  place  he  delivered  his  last  discourse 
about  ten  days  before  he  died.  He  was  an  eloquent  and  effective  preacher, 
and  was  particularly  gifted  in  prayer. 

Augustus  Bolles,  the  secon  1  of  the  three  sons  of  David  ]iolles,  who 
entered  the  ministry,  was  born  at  Ashford,  December  28,  1776  ;  began  to 
preach  in  February,  1810  ;  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Tolland,  Conn.,  in  May,  1814;  was  settled  in  May,  1818,  over  the 
Baptist  Church  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Bloomfield,  Conn.;  removed,  in 
1825,  after  a  long  course  of  exhausting  labour,  which  had  greatly  injured 
his  health,  to  Hartford,  Conn.,  where  he  lived  several  years,  preaching 
only  as  a  supply  for  destitute  churches,  and  conducting,  for  about  four  years, 
"The  Christian  Secretary," — a  religious  newspaper;  removed  to  Indiana 
in  1837,  and  collected  and  organized  a  Baptist  Church  in  the  town  of  La 
Porte;  began  to  preach  at  Colchester,  Conn.,  in  1839,  and  continued  to 
supply  the  church  there  for  two  years ;  and  since  that  time  has  served 
various  churches  in  that  region  as  a  supply,  but  has  declined  accepting  a 
pastoral  charge.     He  still  (1859)  survives  in  a  green  old  age. 

FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

PouGHKEEPsiE,  Novcmbcr  8,  1851. 
My  dear  Sir:  My  first  personal  intercourse  with  Dr.  Bolles  was  during  the 
meeting  of  the  Triennial  MissTonary  Convention  at  New  York,  in  April,  1826. 
He  had  been  one  of  its  original  founders  a  dozen  years  before,  and  uniformly 
attended  its  sessions.  In  1820,  he  had  acted  the  part  of  a  mediator,  and 
saved  the  Body  from  threatened  convulsion.  I  liad  heard  much  of  his  pru- 
dence, wisdom,  discreetness,  and  was  fuUj^  prepared  to  appreciate  his  worth 
and  influence.  It  was  the  first  time  I  liad  ever  taken  my  seat  in  that  Bodj' — 
my  youth  and  inexperience  would  have  dictated  entire  silence  on  my  part; 
but  one  of  those  contingencies  that  cannot  be  anticipated,  occurred  very 
early  in  the  session,  to  occasion  a  necessity  for  a  different  course.  My  right 
to  a  seat  was  contested  by  some  abstractionist,  and  a  debate  suddenly  sprung 
up,  which  consumed  some  time,  and  incidentally  drew  out  many  of  the   older 


LUCIUS  BOLLES.  479 

and  more  experienced  members.  The  question  seemed  about  to  be  taken,  with 
obvious  inobabiiity  of  a  decision  adverse  to  my  right  to  sit.  Under  a  strong 
conviction  that  the  merits  of  the  question  were  not  properly  understood,  I, 
with  some  foar  and  trembling,  made  my  first  speech,  occupying  perhaps  fifteen 
minutes.  Dr.  IJolles  sat  not  remote,  but  beliind  me,  and  kindly  inquired  of  those 
near  him  "  wiio  Avas  that  young  man?"  His  interest  in  me  then  commenced; 
he  sought  an  introduction,  and,  before  the  close  of  the  session,  invited  me  to 
visit  him  at  .*^alem.  He  was  then  contemplating  the  Secretariship  of  the  Con- 
vention, which,  a  few  months  later,  led  to  his  resignation  of  the  active  duties 
of  his  Pastorsliip. 

His  manasement  in  bringing  about  my  introduction  to  his  pulpit,  and  to  the 
favour  of  his  Hock,  was  perfectly  characteristic.  So  shrewdly  was  it  all  con- 
ducted, tiiat  I  had  three  or  four  times  preached  for  him,  and  he  had  taken  time  to 
feel  the  pulse  and  learn  the  general  sentiments  of  the  church  and  congregation, 
before  he  even  intimated  to  me  what  was  his  purpose.  This  course  would  have 
avoided  the  awkwardness  of  apology  and  explanation,  had  a  retreat  been  nec- 
essary. Four  or  five  of  us  were  brought,  in  the  same  quiet  and  covert  manner, 
before  his  Hock,  and  the  undeclared,  but  real,  competition  was  both  amusing 
and  instructive.  The  evident  desire  of  the  cautious  Doctor  to  retain  the  good- 
will of  all  of  ns,  and  say  nothing  to  either  which  would  in  the  least  commit 
himself,  called  forth  our  special  admiration. 

That  incidental  visit  led  on  to  another  more  formally  procured,  and  to  my 
settlement  as  Associate  Pastor  with  the  Doctor  in  the  following  August.  Until 
the  removal  of  ni}'  family,  I  was  a  boarder  with  him,  thus  enjoying  peculiar 
facilities  for  gaining  earlv,  intimate  and  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  man, 
and  his  methods  of  fulfilling  his  pastoral  duties.  I  had  most  satisfactory 
evidence  that  he  earnestl}'  desired  mj-  success.  This  Avon  mj'  confidence,  and 
induced,  on  my  part,  a  more  docile  and  vigorous  effort  to  learn  of  him  than 
might  have  been  otherwi.se  so  readily  secured.  Thus  many  of  those  scenes 
and  incidents  have  been  most  indelibly  impressed  on  my  mind. 

Early  in  that  intercour-se,  at  a  little  family  gathering  where  both  Pastors 
were  invited,  he  occupied  a  half  hour  with  some  instructive  reminiscences  of 
his  first  Christian  experience.  Though  interesting  to  all  the  circle  of  a  dozen 
or  more  persons,  I  felt,  at  the  time,  assured  they  were  principally  intended  for 
my  benefit.  After  adverting  very  brief!}'  and  generally  to  his  advantages  as 
the  son  of  religious  parents,  he  frankly  acknowledged  how  far  and  fearfulh' 
he  had  wandered  from  God.  Youthful  gaiety  and  folly,  and  particularly  a 
disposition  to  look  at  even  religious  things  from  that  point  of  view  which 
would  minister  to  his  own  and  his  young  associates'  love  of  ridicule  and 
jocoseness,  had  become  in  a  degree  habitual  with  him.  At  the  time  he  now 
referred  to,  he  was  a  student  in  Brown  University,  and  was  spending  a  por- 
tion of  his  spring  vacation  in  Hartford.  It  pleased  God  to  awaken  him 
thoroughly  to  a  sense  of  his  sinfulness.  Day  after  day,  so  full}-  sen.^ible  was 
he  made  of  his  ill-desert,  that  he  seemed  walking  on  the  crumbling  verge  of 
the  everlasting  abyss.  One  night,  the  venerable  relative,  (Deacon  John 
BoUes,)  with  whom  he  was  a  guest,  conducted  the  usual  family  devotions. 
And  this  service  brought  so  fully  before  his  mind  his  deep  hypocrisy,  on 
former  similar  occasions,  in  seeming  to  join  in  these  devotions  wlicn  lie  only 
sought  to  turn  them  into  ridicule  and  merriment,  that  he  hastened  away  to 
his  chamber,  as  the  family  circle  rose  from  praj'er,  anxious  to  hide  his  per- 
turbation from  their  notice.  But  that  chamber  was  no  place  of  rest.  Har- 
rowing remorse  drove  slumber  from  his  pillow.  Deeper  and  more  oppressive 
became  the  surrounding  gloom,  until  a  semi-frenzy  took  pos.session  of  his 
mind.  He  fancied  that  God,  in  righteous  indignation  for  his  long  and  aggra^ 
vated  career  of  wickedness,  was  about,  that  very  night,   to  execute  summary 


480  BAPTIST. 

judgment  upon  liim.  The  form  of  that  impending  judgment  seemed  to  flash 
before  his  eyes.  Either  the  thunderbolt  of  wrath  Avould  rive  that  dwelling, 
or  the  earth  would  cleave  and  swallow  it  up  for  his  sake!  He  thought  of  the 
danger  of  its  other  inmates,  who,  unconscious  of  what  a  viper  they  were  sliel- 
tering,  would  inevitably  be  smitten  down  on  his  account.  This  he  could  not 
bear,  and,  quick  as  thought,  he  stealthily  escaped  from  the  house,  so  as  not 
to  involve  these  loved  friends  in  his  doom.  He  walked  up  and  down  the 
streets  in  anguish  unutterable  for  nearly  an  hour.  The  chill  damp  air  of  mid- 
night began  to  make  itself  felt  upon  his  slightly  clad  frame,  and  suggested  the 
necessity  of  his  seeking  a  shelter. 

Once  and  again  he  thought  of  regaining  his  deserted  chamber.  But  no!  the 
same  reasons  which  drove  him  from  it  forbade  his  return.  He  would  not  be 
so  base  and  ungrateful  as  to  imperil  those  whose  hospitality  and  abundant 
kindness  he  had  always  shared.  What  then  should  he  do?  There  Avas  the 
stable — he  might  enter  that,  and  lie  down  in  the  manger,  if  God  should  please 
to  spare  him  till  the  returning  light;  or  if  he  there  met  the  fearful  doom 
which  80  justly  impended  over  him,  his  kindred,  at  least,  would  not  be 
involved.  He  turned  his  steps  toward  it,  and,  as  he  did  so,  revolving  the  fit- 
ness of  the  humble  shed  for  his  purpose,  aloud  he  exclaimed,  "  the  stable—- 
the  manger,"  and  the  words  seemed  to  lead  to  a  familiar  and  sacred  associa- 
tion. Again  he  relocated,  "  the  stable — the  manger!  Why  Jesus  was  born  in 
a  stable,  and  cradled  in  a  manger.  His  name  was  called  Jesus,  Saviour, 
because  He  should  save  his  people  from  their  sins.  Oh!  why  then  may  He  not 
save  me  ."'  His  Avild  and  despairing  convictions  yielded  to  this  new  turn  of 
thought.  His  heart  was  melted.  His  eyes  were  suffused  with  tears.  He  fell 
down  on  his  knees,  less  to  supplicate  the  Divine  mercy,  than  to  pour  forth 
his  thanksgivings  that  such  mercy  in  such  a  way  had  been  made  available  for 
the  chief  of  sinners.  Hurriedlj'  he  returned  to  the  dwelling  from  which  so 
lately  he  was  a  self-exile,  aroused  its  inmates,  opened  to  them  his  whole  heart, 
and  they  together  joined  in  adoring  thankfulness  for  God's  unspeakable  gift, 
for  another  brand  plucked  from  the  burning. 

T  have  ever  since  regarded  this  case  as  a  happy  illustration  of  the  readiness 
with  which  the  sinner,  Avhen  brought  to  the  right  state  of  mind,  properly 
broken  off  from  all  self-righteousness,  and  duly  humbled,  may  be  led,  by  the 
slightest  thread,  to  a  believing  appreciation  of  that  Gospel  plan  of  salvation, 
the  objective  fiicts  and  theory  of  which  may  have  long  been  familiarly  known, 
but  inoperative. 

Nor  was  this  incident  less  characteristic  of  the  individual  in  whose  expe- 
rience it  occurred.  The  susceptibilitj^  it  manifested  of  being  readily  led  by 
the  heart  rather  than  the  intellect;  the  transcendent  power  over  his  own 
nature  of  whatever  stronglj-  appealed  to  his  gratitude,  and  melted  its 
way  down  into  the  depths  of  his  soul,  Avas  the  index  of  the  man  and  the 
minister  through  his  whole  course.  That  which  had  been  paramount  in  his 
own  experience  of  its  effieacy,  he  chiefly  relied  on  in  his  efforts  for  the  spirit- 
ual benefit  of  ethers. 

The  oilier  leading  traits  of  his  mind  were  in  harmony  with  this.  There  was 
obvious  in  him  much  more  of  delicate  refinement  and  gentleness  than  of 
massive  strength;  more  of  a  disposition  to  draw  his  hearers  with  cords  of 
love  than  to  use  the  fire  and  the  hammer  to  break  the  flinty  rock  in  pieces. 
It  should  be  stated,  however,  that  the  period  of  my  intimate  acquaintance 
with  him  was  after  a  severe  attack  of  disease  had,  in  a  great  degree,  broken 
down  his  youthful  force,  and  rendered  his  ministrations  much  less  energetic 
than  they  had  been  in  his  earlier  years.  During  nearly  eight  years  that  I 
held  the  relation  of  Associate  Pastor  with  him, — the  active  duties  and  emolu- 
ments being  mine,  and  only  the  nominal  relation  his,  I  heard  him  preach  but 


LUCIUS  BOLLES.  481 

once  in  our  own  pulpit.  The  sermon  was  certainly-  highly  respectable,  but 
of  the  character  above  indicated.  It  sliowed  plainly  enough  how  it  liud  come 
to  pass  that  his  brethren  in  the  ministrj',  nianj'  of  them  unpolished  stones, 
liad  commonly  spoken  of  him  as  cultivating  the  taste  of  his  people  almost  to 
fastidiousness — "  The  velvet-cared  congregation  "  was  their  frequent  but  not 
unfriendly  designation. 

He  greatly  excelled,  I  shouhl  think,  in  the  quiet,  i)rudent,  forbearing 
administration  of  church  discipline.  Whenever  a  bad  case  occurred,  where 
he  was  fully  convinced  of  the  unworthiness  of  a  suspected  party,  if  any  of  his 
l»rincipal  brethren  could  not  agree  with  him,  he  had  such  self-command  that 
he  preferred  patiently  to  wait  for  fuller  and  more  universally  satisfactory 
developments.  In  one  instance  of  this  kind,  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  Pasto- 
rate, which  he  and  others  related  to  me,  his  forber.rance  saved  the  church 
from  schism,  probably  from  ruin,  while,  eventually,  the  unworthiness  of  the 
party  implicated  became  obvious  to  all,  and  he  was  unanimously  put  away. 

His  attention  to  the  sick,  the  poor,  the  aged  and  infirm,  won  for  him  the 
highest  regard,  as  a  good  Pastor,  and  made  him  in  these  respects  an  almost 
faultless  model. 

He  feared  and  guarded  against  the  influence  of  subordinate  oiBccrs,  or  other 
leaders  in  the  church,  unduly  assuming  more  than  pertained  to  them,  and 
thus  forming  parties.  For  this  reason,  probably,  he  declined  having  more 
than  two  Deacons  in  a  large  church;  and  those  were  such  quiet,  unassuming 
men,  so  engrossed  with  their  own  sccul.ar  cares  and  toils,  as  to  give  them  no 
opportunity  to  become  leaders.  To  my  intimation  that  more  "  helps"  of  this 
kind  were  really  important,  he  replied  that  I  had  better  c-'nfine  my  utte- 
rance of  such  a  sentiment  to  his  cars;  and  then  very  fully  indicated  the  ojunion 
above  expressed.  When  the  church,  in  his  absence,  doubled  the  number  of 
their  Deacons,  he  accommodated  liimself  to  the  new  order  of  things  with  great 
cheerfulness.  It  was  one  of  his  characteristics  to  make  the  best  of  things  as 
they  were,  and  not  to  worry  at  Avhat  was  irreparable. 

The  circumstances  under  which  he  was  introduced  to  Salem,  the  strong 
prejudices  of  the  old  "  Standing  Order  "  churches  and  ministers  against  the 
innovation  of  having  a  Baptist  church  and  minister  intrude  into  their  circle; 
his  decided  and  rapid  success,  and  that  kind  of  displacency  which  not  unna- 
turally it  awakened,  together  with  the  counteracting  efiforts  of  several  of  the 
ministers,  necessarily  aroused  in  his  mind  more  of  suspicion  than  would  be 
reasonably  tolerated  in  our  altered  circumstances.  Still  he  was  a  lover  of  all 
good  men,  and  ready  to  co-operate  for  worthj'  objects,  when  fully  convinced 
of  the  purity  and  disinterestedness  of  his  proposed  coadjutors. 

In  his  office  of  first  Secretarj'  of  our  Foreign  Mission  Society,  I  mean  the 
lirst  devoted  entirely  to  this  work,  he  evinced  commendable  prudence,  eco- 
nomy, order,  and  regularity,  but  lacked,  physicalh'  and  mentally',  some  of  the 
essential  attributes  of  a  leader  in  such  an  enterprise.  The  boldness,  energy, 
and  wide-reaching  views,  and  the  self-oblivious  devotedness,  so  essential  to 
arouse  and  sustain  a  great  movement  of  the  masses  of  our  very  democratic 
communities,  were  scarcely  to  be  expected  in  one  of  his  physical  condition,  or 
the  habits  of  whose  life  had  led  to  so  much  timid  cautiousness.  In  his  per- 
sonal as  well  as  his  official  relations,  a  circumspect  and  scheming  economy 
engrossed  much  of  the  time  and  mental  effort  that  were  rcall}'  required  in  a 
loftier  and  wider  range.  Yet  he  was  prudently  generous,  wisely  hospitable, 
and  cautiously  confiding. 

In  person  he  was  somewhat  below  medium  size.  His  manners  were  bland 
and  conciliatory.  He  was  a  faithful  husband,  a  judicious  father,  a  wise  coun- 
sellor, a  resolute,  persevering  friend. 

Vol.  VI.  CI 


482  BAPTIST. 

Before  the  existence  of  any  of  our  Theological  Schools,  he  had  several  can- 
didates for  the  ministry  residing  with  him,  or  pursuing  their  studies  under 
his  direction.  Many  excellences  they  would  learn  from  his  example;  but  his 
mind  was  not  well  fitted  to  guide  the  studies,  or  duly  stimulate  the  mental 
activitj^  of  such  a  class.  He  reflected  much,  but  never  read  extensively.  He 
wrote  laboriously  and  slowly,  and  never  but  from  necessity.  Most  of  his  ser- 
mons were  but  slightly  sketched  with  the  pen.  Matthew  Henry  was  his 
favourite  commentator,  and,  though  early  in  his  ministry,  he  had  inclined  to 
the  higher  doctrinal  sentiments  of  Dr.  Gill,  yet  he  ultimately  acquiesced  in 
the  views  of  Fuller  and  Magee  on  the  atonement  and  other  kindred  doctrines. 

The  fervency,  elevation,  and  melting  power  of  his  piety,  were  never 
doubted,  and  these  won  for  him  the  highest  consideration.  They  were  of 
course  most  appreciated  by  those  most  assimilated  to  his  own  habits  and  tem- 
perament. On  so  tempting  a  theme,  and  with  abundant  recollections  crowd- 
ing on  mjr  mind,  I  have,  with  some  difficulty,  confined  myself  within  your 
prescribed  limits,  and  can  only  ofler  the  above  as  a  truthful  specimen  of  much 
more  of  a  similar  character,  which  is  necessarily  excluded. 

Yours  respectfully, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


NATHANIEL  KENDRICK,  D.  D.^ 

1803—1848. 

Nathaniel  Kendrick  was  born  in  Hanover,  N.  H.,  on  the  22d  of 
April,  1777.  His  parents,  Samuel  and  Anna  Kendrick,  who  were  among  the 
first  settlers  of  the  town,  were  persons  of  excellent  character,  and  loth 
members  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He  was  the  eldest  of  nine  child- 
ren, and,  in  his  earliest  developments,  gave  indications  of  a  mind  of  much 
more  than  ordinary  vigour.  He  laboured  on  the  farm  till  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age  ;  and  then,  having  obtained  his  father's  consent  that  he  should 
act  for  himself,  he  divided  his  time  between  teaching  a  school  and  attend- 
ing an  Academy,  still,  however,  occasionally  assisting  his  father  in  his 
agricultural  labours. 

About  this  time,  a  religious  awakening  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood, 
in  connection  with  a  small  Baptist  church,  which  was  without  a  Pastor  or 
place  of  worship,  and  held  its  meetings  in  school-houses.  This  work  became 
quite  extensive,  and -resulted  in  the  addition  of  more  than  forty  now 
members  to  that  church.  Nathaniel  Kendrick  was  a  subject  of  thi.'^ 
revival  ;  but,  as  his  education  had  been  with  the  Congregationalists,  he 
was  not  prepared  at  once  to  surrender  the  views  of  Baptism  in  which  he 
had  been  educated.  To  assist  him  in  forming  a  correct  judgment  on  the 
subject,  he  procui'ed,  both  from  a  Congregational  and  a  Baptist  minister,  a 
statement  of  the  reasons  of  their  respective  opinions  ;  but,  not  satisfied 
with  this,  he  resolved  to  examine  every  passage  in  the  New  Testament  in 
which  the  subject  is  mentioned,  and  endeavour  to  arrive  at  an  impartial 
result.  After  having  prosecuted  this  investigation  for  about  nine  months. 
*  Wright's  Hist.  Shafts.  Bapt.  Assoc— MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick. 


NATIIAMKL  KENDIIICK.  483 

he  came  to  the  conclusion  tliat  the  Baptist  tlicory  was  ^^^s^ain(■(l  hy  Scrip- 
ture ;  and,  accordingly,  was  himself  baptized  1)y  immersion  in  April.  1798, 
being  then  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

During  the  four  years  immediately  succeeding  his  baptism,  bis  mind  was 
not  a  little  exercised  on  the  question  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  devote 
himself  to  the  ministry  ;  but  he  shrunk  from  the  responsibility  which  the 
sacred  office  involves.  At  length,  however,  he  became  satisfied  that  he  was 
called,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  preach  the  Gospel, — though  not  until 
he  had  made  what  he  deemed  a  suitable  intellectual  preparation.  He 
first  spent  four  months  under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Burroughs, 
the  Congregational  minister  of  Hanover,  in  studying  some  of  those 
branches  which  usually  form  part  of  a  College  course  ;  and  then  com- 
menced his  theological  studies  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Burton,  of  Thetford, 
Vt.,  a  well  known  divine  and  teacher  of  Theology  in  the  Congregational 
Church.  Here  he  remained  for  six  months.  His  own  church  offered  to 
give  him  a  license  to  preach  ;  but  he  preferred  not  then  to  receive  it,  and 
requested  them  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  Woodstock  Baptist  Associa- 
tion at  its  next  session.  They  did  so  ;  but  the  Association  referred  it  back 
to  the  church,  which  they  regarded  as  being,  in  connection  with  the  counsel 
of  other  churches,  the  appropriate  jurisdiction.  Meanwhile,  he  continued 
his  studies,  and  spent  three  months  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons,  of  Frank- 
lin, Mass.,  and  after  that,  a  year  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston, 
whose  church  licensed  him  to  preach  in  the  spring  of  1803,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six. 

Soon  after  he  was  licensed,  he  began  to  preach  to  the  Baptist  Society  in 
Bellingham,  Mass.,  and  continued  to  supply  them  a  year;  and  so  accepta- 
ble were  his  services  that  they  gave  him  a  unanimous  call  to  become  their 
Pastor.  This  call,  however,  he  declined,  and  subsequently  accepted  one 
from  Lansingburg,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  ordained  in  August,  1805.  The 
church  to  which  he  here  ministered  was  very  feeble,  so  that  he  was  obliged 
to  devote  a  portion  of  his  time  to  teaching,  in  order  to  make  out  a  compe 
tent  support  for  his  family.  After  remaining  here  five  years,  he  settled, 
in  1810,  at  IMiddlebury,  Vt.,  over  another  feeble  church;  and  the  next 
seven  years  he  spent,  dividing  his  labours  between  this  church,  and  the 
churches  at  Monkton,  Bridport,  and  New  Haven,  in  that  vicinity.  Here, 
too,  notwithstanding  so  many  churches  enjoyed  his  services,  he  was  obliged 
to  resort  to  teaching  in  order  to  eke  out  a  scanty  support.  During  his 
residence  here,  he  suffered  severe  afflictions,  among  wliich  was  the  death 
of  his  wife  ;  and  these,  with  the  incessant  labour  inci<lent  to  his  charge,  so 
■wore  upon  his  energies,  that  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  remove  to  some 
place  that  would  not  so  severely  task  his  powers  of  exertion  and  endurance. 
Receiving  a  call  in  the  spring  of  1817,  from  the  Baptist  Churches  in  Eaton, 
N.  Y.,  to  become  their  Pastor,  he  laid  the  case  before  the  Cliurch  in  Mld- 
dlebury,  requesting  them  to  advise  him  in  respect  to  liis  duty.  Though  at 
first  they  expressed  a  wish  that  he  would  remain,  an<l  manifested  some  dis- 
position to  render  him  more  comfortable  in  his  worldly  circumstances,  yet 
they  took  no  decisive  steps  in  the  case  ;  and  the  result  was  that  he  accepted 
the  call  of  the  f]aton  Churches,  and  in  July,  1817,  removed,  and  took 
charge  of  them. 


484  BAPTIST. 

In  1822,  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Theology  and  Moral  Philosophy  in 
the  Seminary  then  recently  established  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.  ; — an  institution 
in  which  he  felt  the  deepest  interest,  and  with  which  he  was  in  a  great 
measure  identified  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  preached  the  first  Annual 
Sermon  before  the  New  York  Baptist  Education  Society,  in  1818,  at  San- 
disfield,  and  was  early  an  active  member  of  the  Board  of  that  Society,  and 
of  its  Executive  Committee  ;  as  he  was  also  its  Corresponding  Secretary  and 
Collecting  Agent,  during  many  of  his  later  years.  In  1823,  he  was  hon- 
oured with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  from  Brown  University.  In 
182.5,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  Overseers  of  Hamilton  College,  and  held 
the  office  until  1837.  In  1824,  he  removed  his  residence  to  the  village  of 
Hamilton,  though  he  continued  to  supply  the  Church  at  Eaton  Village  for 
several  years  afterwards.  His  great  work,  however,  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  of  his  life,  was  in  sustaining  and  advancing  the  interests  of  the 
Institution  at  Hamilton,  which  has  already  done  so  much  in  elevating  the 
standard  of  theological  education  among  the  Baptist  ministers  of  this 
country.  His  own  lack  of  early  opportunities  for  high  improvement  served 
greatly  toheighten  his  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  Institution  ;  and  he 
ceased  not  to  labour  for  it  with  untiring  assiduity,  until,  by  a  distressing 
casualty,  he  was  rendered  incapable  of  any  exertion. 

In  1845,  he  had  a  severe  fall,  that  injured  his  hip-joint,  causing  the  bone 
to  decay,  and  rendering  him  perfectly  helpless.  He  lingered  about  three 
years,  experiencing  great  bodily  suffering,  but  large  measures  of  the  Divine 
favour,  and  died  on  the  11th  of  September,  1848,  aged  seventy-one  years. 
His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Alfred  Bennett,  an  old  friend 
and  follow  labourer,  and  his  remains  were  deposited  in  the  Cemetery  of 
the  Institution,  which  he  had  so  long  and  so  faithfully  served. 

Dr.  Kendrick  published  two  or  three  occasional  sermons,  one  of  which 
was  on  the  death  of  his  cousin,  the  Rev.  Clark  Kendrick,  and  of  the  Rev. 
T.  Obed  AVarren.  He  was  the  author  of  various  Reports  and  other  simi- 
lar documents. 

In  180S,  he  was  married  to  Eliza  Choate,  of  Lansingburg,  by  whom  he 
had  three  children.  She  died  about  seven  years  after  her  marriage.  In 
1818,  he  was  married  to  Cordelia  C.  Covell,  of  Charlotte,  Vt.,  who,  after 
becoming  the  mother  of  three  children,  died  in  November,  1824.  He 
married,  for  his  third  wife,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1828,  Mrs.  Mary 
Hascall,  widow  of  Ralph  Hascall,  Esq.,  of  Essex,  who  still  (1858)  survives. 

FROM    TIIK^REV.  A.   C.   KENDRICK,    D.  D., 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ROCHESTER. 

Rochester,  February  15,  1858. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  1  feci  a  pleasure  in  giving  you,  in  compliance  with  your 
request,  a  slight  sketch  of  niv  impressions  and  reminiscences  of  my  late  rela- 
tive, the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kendrick.  I  was  a  member  of  his  family  during 
some  of  my  earlier  years,  and  my  subsequent  associations  Avith  him  were 
unusually  intimate.  As  the  result  of  that  acquaintance,  I  must  say  that  I 
think  it  is  rare  to  meet  Avith  one  who  united  so  many  traits  of  high  and  posi- 
tive excellence  with  so  few  faults;  to  whose  great  and  acknowledged  merits 
there  were  so  few  drawbacks.     His  character   was  developed   and  rounded 


NATUAMEL  KENDRICK  485 

into  remarkable  symmetry.  Its  traits  were  very  decided  an  i  positive,  and 
yet  scarcely  any  was  disproportionately  prominent.  Modesty  and  .self-respect, 
dignity  and  simplicity,  justice  and  benevolence,  economy  and  liberality,  were 
among  the  traits  in  him  so  evenly  balanced  that  it  was  hard  to  assign  a  pre- 
ponderance to  either.  His  naturally  strong  will  and  strong  passions  had  been 
toned  down  1)V  systematic  discipline,  until  he  exercised  that  mastery  over  his 
spirit  which  he  who  possesses  is  mighter  than  he  who  taketh  a  city.  Rarely 
did  any  one  hear  from  him  an  inconsiderate  word;  rarely  witness  an  incon- 
siderate act.  A  little  compression  of  tlie  lips,  a  single  glance  of  liis  mild  blue 
eye,  was  often  the  only  utterance  which  he  gave  to  emotions  M'hich,  in  other 
men,  would  have  burst  forth  in  a  torrent  of  impassioned  speech.  This  thorough 
chastening  of  his  spirit  had  gone  through  the  wliole  man.  Toward  the  close 
of  those  three  years  of  protracted  and  terrible  agony  in  which  his  life  was 
finally  consumed,  he  once  said  to  me  that  he  had  not  consciouslj''  experienced, 
during  the  entire  period,  a  single  emotion  of  impatience. 

His  personal  appearance  was  unusuallj'  commanding.  He  was  about  six 
feet  and  three  inches  high,  but  so  symmetrically  formed  that  his  unusual 
height  scarcely  attracted  observation.  When  elected  President  of  the  Hamil- 
ton Literary  and  Theological  Institution,  he  resolutely  declined  the  appoint- 
ment, remarking,  with  liis  usual  blending  of  modcstj'  and  humour,  that  he 
knew  no  other  ground  for  the  choice  than  that  of  the  election  of  Saul  to  be 
king  of  Israel,  namely,  that  he  was  a  head  and  .shoulders  taller  than  his 
brethren.  His  prominent  and  well  defined  nose,  his  mild,  deep  blue  eye,  his 
high  and  ample  forehead,  all  indicated  at  once  the  strength,  the  calmness,  and 
the  nobleness  of  his  mind.  Keverence  would  probably  be  pronounced  a 
leading  phrenological  feature,  and  this  was  largel}^  developed  in  his  character. 
A  certain  moral  loftiness  gave  tone  to  every  act — a  certain  dignity,  wliich, 
while  it  arrogated  nothing,  yet  secured  involuntary  respect  and  deference 
from  all. 

In  his  manners,  he  was  strictly  a  Christian  gentleman.  He  was  thoroughly 
polite  without  affectation  or  the  slightest  pretension  to  conventional  graces. 
His  quick  perception  and  keen  sensibilitj^  taught  him  the  essential  proprieties 
of  every  position,  Avhile  his  thoughtful  kindness  made  him  studiou.sly  avoid 
giving  unnecessary  pain.  The  stern  integrity  of  the  Puritan  was  combined  in 
him  with  an  almost  feminine  delicacy  of  feeling  and  gentleness  of  manner. 

His  mind  was  powerful,  but  naturally  slow  in  its  action,  partly  from  tem- 
perament, and  partly  from  the  want  of  that  early  culture  which  M'ould  have 
given  quickness  and  elasticitj'  to  his  mental  movements.  Of  the  lighter  graces 
of  literary  culture  he  possessed  scarcely  a  tinge,  and  but  little  appreciation  of 
elegant  literature.  His  style  was  wanting  in  rhetorical  grace,  yet  it  acquired 
dignity  and  sometimes  even  elegance  from  the  weight  and  justness  of  his 
thoughts.  His  language,  both  in  prayer  and  in  his  pulpit  di.scourscs,  was 
ordinarily  somewhat  stereotyped,  being  marked  by  a  frequent  recurrence  of 
scripture  phrases,  until  he  became  thoroughly  arou.sed  by  the  contemplation 
of  some  weighty  theme.  His  mind  then  threw  itself  completely  out  of  its 
wonted  formula  of  expression;  his  range  of  illustration  widened;  his  words 
were  selected  with  remarkable  appropriateness  and  felicity;  the  limbs  of  the 
giant  seemed  unmanacled;  and  he  trod  the  realm  of  intellect  with  an  easj' 
majesty  Avhich  made  one  doubly  regret  that  a  mind  so  noble  had  not 
received  the  full  benefit  of  a  large  and  liberalizing  culture.  This  imperfection 
of  his  mental  di.scipline  could  only  l)e  compensated — and  it  was  in  a  great  degree 
compensated — by  the  richness  of  his  moral  development.  "With  his  amplitude 
and  loftiness  of  moral  feeling,  he  would  often  achieve  triumphs  which  no  mere 
power  of  intellect  could  have  secured.  I  have  sometimes  seen  this  fact  most 
strikingly  exemplified.     In  the  management  of  the  Institution,  instances  would 


486  BAPTIST. 

of  course  occur  in  which  a  portion  of  the  students  came  into  collision  with 
the  authorities  on  some  matter  of  right  or  privilege.  The  Faculty,  having 
reached  their  decision,  naturally  put  forward  Dr.  Kendrick  to  explain  their 
views  to  the  assembled  students.  In  such  cases  it  might  sometimes  happen 
that  he  would  fail  to  seize  the  central  and  decisive  reason  which  had  deter- 
mined the  Faculty's  action,  and  would  present  in  its  stead  some  minor  con- 
sideration. The  students  would  feel  the  insufficiency  of  the  argument,  and 
one  who  did  not  know  him  well,  might  be  apprehensive  for  the  result.  But, 
if  his  reasonings  wero  sometimes  at  fault,  his  heart  was  sure  to  be  in  its  right 
place.  If  he  wavered  in  his  logical  processes,  his  moral  convictions  Avcre 
instinctive  and  unerring.  Hence,  if  his  formal  argument  failed  to  convince,  he 
was  sui'e  to  disarm  all  opposition,  and  to  sweep  away  all  objections  by  the  lofty 
eloquence  of  his  moral  appeal. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  was  not  strictly  popular.  In  the  opening  he  was  slow 
and  sometimes  tedious;  and  when  he  warmed  with  his  subject,  his  action  w^as 
somewhat  ungraceful,  and  his  utterance  vehement  and  unmodulated.  Yet  he 
was  ever  weighty  and  instructive;  and  sometimes,  in  his  happier  moods,  his 
whole  spirit  and  action  seemed  to  rnelt  down,  and  become  solemnly,  chastely 
and  most  impressively  eloquent.  He  had  the  old  New  England  love  and  habit 
of  metaphysical  analysis.  He  laid  the  foundations  of  his  discourses  deep  in 
the  laws  of  tlie  human  mind,  confirming  his  positions  by  passages  of  Scripture, 
which,  however,  with  the  then  prevalent  looseness  of  Scripture  interpretation, 
sometimes  rather  seemed  to  prove  his  point  than  really  proved  it.  As  he  passed 
on,  lie  usually  fired  with  his  theme;  frequently  spent  the  afternoon  in  carry- 
ing out  the  truths  established  and  elucidated  in  the  morning;  and  often  poured 
himself  forth  in  a  stream  of  glowing,  though  not  always  chastened,  eloquence. 
He  clung  tenaciously  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  delighted  in  their 
full  and  frequent  exhibition.  Yet  he  was  no  mere  expounder  of  dry  doctrine. 
His  doctrines  were  living  truths, — living  in  his  own  heart  and  pressed  livingiy 
on  the  hearts  of  others.  His  Theology  was  thoroughl}^  Calvinistic, — mainly 
of  the  Edwards  type.  Unconditional  election,  limited  atonement,  absolute 
moral  depravity  and  inability,  the  sovereign  and  exclusive  agency  of  the 
Spirit  in  regeneration,  were  cardinal  principles  in  his  scheme.  He  held,  how- 
ever, to  those  natural  endowments  of  moral  agency  wliich  lay  on  every  sinner 
the  obligation  to  repentance;  though  he  was  so  far  trammelled  by  his  system 
as  rarely  to  allow  himself  in  a  direct  exhortation  to  impenitent  men  to  repent 
and  believe.  His  sermons  were  apt  to  be  rather  long,  though  he  often  quoted, 
with  sportive  approval,  the  remark  of  his  old  teacher,  Dr.  Emmons,  that  he 
who  preached  less  tlian  half  an  hour  had  better  never  have  gone  into  the 
pulpit,  and  he  who  preached  over  an  hour  had  better  never  come  out. 

Finally,  Dr.  Kendrick  Avas  an  eminently  safe  and  judicious  counsellor. 
Indeed,  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  characterize  him  by  any  single  and  pre-emi- 
nent quality,  it  would  be  that  of  practical  ivisdom.  He  Avas  a  wise  man, — a 
wise  man  in  daily  life,  in  the  Church,  in  public  councils,  every  where.  If  his 
inind  did  not  move  rapidlyjit  moved  safely  and  surely.  He  unravelled  slowly 
the  intricacies  of  the  most  complicated  question;  withheld  the  expression  of 
his  opinion  until  most  others  had  spoken;  and  then  surveyed  the  whole  ground, 
and  summed  up  the  argument  with  a  justness  and  impartialitj^  which  rarely 
left  much  room  for  dissenting  opinions.  He  rode  no  hobbies;  he  had  no 
private  ends  to  carry  either  of  selfishness  or  self-will.  His  views  tended 
indeed  to  conservatism;  he  was  tenacious  of  settled  opinions,  and  yielded 
slowly  to  innovation;  still,  if  Young  America  carried  the  point  against  him, 
he  submitted  gracefully,  and  lent  himself  with  conscientious  magnanimity  to 
carry  out  the  policy  which  he  had  conscientiously  opoosed. 


NATHANIEL  KENDRICK.  487 

As  I  close  this  brief  sketch,  it  is  with  the  renewed  and  vivid  conviction  that, 
when  he  died,  a  great  man  fell  in  Israel,  and  a  man  whose  admirably  balanced 
character  raised  him  far  above  the  merely  intellectually  great.  I  might  add 
much  else.  I  might  dwell  for  instance  upon  that  quiet  but  playful  humour 
wliioh  often  enlivened  his  conversation,  and  especially  \ipon  the  felicity  with 
which  he  would  introduce  some  appropriate  anecdote  or  shrewd  saying,  particu- 
hirly  of  the  older  Jlinisters  of  New  England.  But  I  must  close,  simply 
regretting  that  my  letter  has  degenerated  from  the  familiar  and  racy  sketch 
which  you  desired  into  a  dry  schedule  of  characteristics.  I  have  not  the 
story-telling  faculty,  and  the  evenness  of  Dr.  Kcndrick's  character,  and  his 
entire  freedom  from  eccentricities  render  him,  perhaps,  rather  an  unfavourable 
subject  for  the  anecdotical  propensity. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  C.  KENDRICK. 


JOSEPH  CLAY* 

1804—1811. 

Joseph  Clay  was  born  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  August  16th,  1764.  His 
father,  the  Hon.  Joseph  Clay,  a  Revolutionary  Patriot  and  Soldier,  Judge 
of  the  County  Court,  and  an  exemplary  Christian,  died  at  Savannah  in 
December,  1804,  aged  sixty-three.  He  (the  son)  was  graduated  at  Priuce- 
ton  College  in  1784,  with  the  highest  honour  in  his  class.  Returning  to 
Georgia,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  the  Law,  and,  having  been  admitted 
to  the  Bar,  very  soon  became  eminent  in  his  profession.  He  continued  in 
practice  until  the  year  1795.  The  year  following,  he  was  appointed  Dis- 
trict Judge  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of  Georgia,  and  presided 
in  that  Court  until  1801,  when  he  resigned  the  office. 

In  1803,  he  first  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  and,  though  he 
had  been  brought  up  under  Episcopal  influence,  he  joined  the  Baptist 
Church  at  Savannah,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  tlic  Rev.  Mr.  (afterwards 
Dr.)  Holcombe.  That  church  soon  called  him  to  the  ministry,  and  in  1804 
he  was  ordained  in  their  fellowship,  as  Assistant  Pastor,  by  Messrs.  Fur- 
man,  Cook,  and  Holcombe.  In  the  autumn  of  1806,  he  made  a  visit  to 
New  England,  and  preached  in  many  of  the  large  towns  to  great  accept- 
ance. The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  of  which  Dr.  Stillman  was 
then  Pastor,  having  been  desirous,  for  some  time,  on  account  of  his  age 
and  infirmities,  of  settling  an  Associate  Pastor,  unanimously  invited  Mr. 
Clay  to  that  office,  with  an  understanding  that,  in  the  event  of  the  Doctor's 
death,  he  should  succeed  to  the  sole  charge  of  the  church.  In  December 
following,  he  signified  his  acceptance  of  the  invitation  so  far  as  to  consent 
to  come  and  spend  a  year  with  them,  after  which  he  should  be  at  liberty  to 
remain  or  withdraw,  as  he  might  think  best.  This  was  a  most  gratifying 
circumstance  to  Dr.  Stillman,  who  had  often  said  to  his  people, — "  When 
you  are  provided  for,  I  can  die  in  peace."     With  his  own  hand,  a  few  days 

•Benedict's  Hist.  Capt.,  I.— Winchcirs  Hist.  Disc— Campbell's  Georg.  Bapt. 


488  BAPTIST. 

before  lii.s  death,  he  had  written  a  letter  to  Mr.  Clay,  informing  lura  that 
the  church  had  agreed  to  his  proposal.  After  his  death,  the  church 
renewed  their  invitation  to  Mr.  Clay  to  become  their  sole  Pastor :  he 
accepted  it,  and  arrived  in  Boston  on  the  16th  of  June  following.  His 
installation  took  place  on  the  third  Wednesday  in  August,  1807.  Mr. 
Clay  himself  preached  on  the  occasion,  and  the  Sermon  was  published. 

The  newly  inducted  Pastor  now  commenced  his  labours  under  circum- 
stances that  seemed  most  auspicious  of  a  happy  and  useful  ministry.  The 
high  reputation  which  he  had  acquired  at  the  Bar  and  on  the  Bench,  as 
well  as  his  fine  intellectual  endowments  and  varied  accomplishments, 
attracted  many,  especially  of  the  more  cultivated  class  ;  and  his  manifest 
devotion  to  his  work,  as  well  as  his  excellent  pastoral  qualities,  endeared 
him  particularly  to  the  members  of  his  own  flock.  He  continued  his  min- 
istrations witli  this  people  until  the  beginning  of  November,  1808,  when, 
agreeably  to  the  arrangement  previously  made,  he  left  them,  and  sailed  for 
Savannah,  with  the  expectation,  however,  of  returning  to  resume  his  labours 
among  them  in  the  spring.  But  as  his  health,  soon  after  this,  began 
seriously  to  decline,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  church,  proposing  to  them 
to  look  out  for  another  Pastor ;  and  this  was  soon  followed  by  another, 
requesting  a  dismission  from  his  pastoral  charge.  On  the  27th  of  October, 
1809,  this  latter  request  was  complied  with.  As  part  of  his  family  were 
in  Boston,  Mrs.  Clay  came  thither  with  the  remainder,  on  a  visit,  having 
left  him  not  more  unwell  than  he  had  been  for  a  considerable  time  previ- 
ous. After  her  departure,  however,  his  complaints  assumed  a  more  deci- 
ded character;  and,  as  he  was  unwilling,  in  those  circumstances,  to  remain 
separated  from  his  famil}^,  he  soon  embarked  for  Boston,  and  arrived  there 
in  December,  1810.  Though  his  friends,  for  a  little  time,  did  not  entirely 
give  up  the  hope  of  his  recovery,  it  soon  became  apparent  that  his  disease 
was  beyond  the  reach  of  medical  skill,  and  was  rapidly  approaching  a  fatal 
termination.  He  died  on  the  11th  of  January,  1811,  in  the  forty-seventh 
year  of  his  age.  He  left  behind  him  a  widow  and  several  children,  one  of 
whom,  liis  eldest  daughter,  had  a  little  before  liis  death  married  into  the 
family  of  the  Hon.  William  Gray,  formerly  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  C.  Styles,  of  New  Haven,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Clay, 
writes  me  thus  concerning  him  : — 

■'  I  have  but  one  recollection  of  my  uncle  as  a  minister.  It  speaks  out 
the  broad,  beaming  benevolence,  which  eminently  marked  his  character  and 
countenance.  Long  confined  from  indisposition,  it  had  been  decided  that  I 
should  not  go  to  church — r~was  then  an  Academy  student  in  Morristown, 
boarding  in  Dr.  llichards'  family — I  did  go,  however,  on  that  Sabbath,  but 
arrived  late.  The  cliurch  was  filled  ;  the  doors  and  vestibule  largely  occu- 
pied. Standing  in  the  rear  of  all,  I  espied  my  uncle  in  the  pulpit,  and 
only  remember  this — his  outspread  arms ;  his  eye  fixed  upon  us  who  were 
standinc  without :  his  whole  face  illumined  with  Christian  kindness  ;  and 
his  voice  and  gestures  welcoming  us  all  into  the  bosom  of  the  House  of 
God,  and  to  all  its  richest  blessings.  I  felt  a  thrill  I  had  never  experienced 
before.     All  seemed  to  share  the  same  influence." 


JOSEPH   CLAY.  489 


FROM  THE  HON.  JOHN  MACPHERSON    BERRIEN, 

ATTORNEY    GENERAL   OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Rockingham,  Ga.,  August  27,  1855. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  I  had  every  means  of  knowing  Mr.  Clay  which  the 
dirterence  in  our  ages  permitted.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  my  father, 
and  the  result  of  that  intimacy  was  that,  while  I  was  yet  at  l*rinceton  College, 
I  was  entered  as  a  student  in  his  office,  to  meet  the  provisions  of  a  then 
existing  rule  of  Court.  On  my  return  to  Georgia,  Mr.  Clay  was  on  the  Bench 
of  the  United  States  District  Court,  and  had  retired  to  his  plantation  in 
Bryan  County,  where  I  joined  him,  and  was,  for  a  considerable  time,  an 
inmate  in  his  family  mansion,  studying  my  profession,  and  subjected  to 
weekly  examinations.  1  knew  him,  therefore,  as  my  legal  preceptor,  and  was 
in  daily  intercourse  with  him  in  the  domestic  circle. 

At  that  time,  Mr.  Clay  was  fond  of  his  gun,  and  indulged  in  field  sports,  in 
which  he  excelled.  His  garden  occupied  much  of  his  attention,  and  he  often 
laboured  in  it  personall}-.  It  was  so  much  an  object  of  his  care,  that  I  con- 
sidered it  an  evidence  of  his  favourable  opinion  to  be  charged  with  its  superin- 
tendence, during  his  occasional  absences  from  home.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
personal  appearance, — above  the  medium  height,  with  a  countenance  strikingly 
intellectual,  and  expressive  of  great  benevolence.  He  had  an  eye  of  singular 
beauty.  You  saw  at  a  glance  the  intellectual  fire  which  imparted  its  bril- 
liancy, and  could  read,  in  its  mild  and  gentle  lustre,  the  expansive  benevolence 
in  which  that  expression  had  its  source.  He  had  deep  sensibility,  and  that 
too  was  manifested  there,  with  an  occasional  twinkling  of  the  eye,  which 
indicated  extreme  sensitiveness  to  the  ludicrous.  That  feeling  was  controlled, 
in  after  life,  when  I  knew  him,  but,  from  the  testimony  of  his  cotemporaries, 
and  of  my  father  particularly,  I  know  it  was  indulged  in  his  earlier  jears,  and 
was  accompanied  b}^  a  wit  at  once  playful  and  refined,  which  made  him  the 
charm  of  the  social  circle  in  which  he  moved. 

Mr.  Clay  was  an  eloquent  man.  I  believe  I  hive  elsewhere  mentioned  the 
effect  of  his  oratory  at  the  Bar,  but  a  brief  reference  to  it  may  be  permitted 
here.  I  have  listened,  during  half  a  century,  to  the  most  distinguished  ora- 
tors of  our  time,  and  he  is  the  only  man  under  the  power  of  whose  eloquence 
I  have  seen  a  whole  audience,  composed  of  men  of  very  dilTerent  casts  of 
character,  without  a  solitaiy  exception,  which  I  could  discover,  melted  into 
tears.  I  judge  of  eloquence  from  its  effect, — from  the  universality  of  its  effect; 
and  I  have  alwaj's  supposed  this  to  have  been  the  highest  exemplification  of 
the  art,  which  it  has  been  m}"-  fortune  to  witness. 

From  his  earliest  years  Mr.  Clay  commanded  the  respect  and  affection  of 
his  associates.  In  the  Cliosophic  Society  at  Princeton  College,  of  which  we 
were  both  members,  even  in  my  day,  although  he  had  then  been  many  years 
absent  from  its  Hall,  he  was  reverenced  and  beloved,  as  one  of  its  brightest 
and  most  cherished  ornaments,  not  merely  for  his  genius,  which  had  won  for 
the  Society  the  highest  honours  of  the  Institution,  but  on  its  records  were 
impressed  the  evidence  of  those  traits  of  character,  which  excited  the  admira- 
tion and  love  of  those  who  succeeded  him. 

At  the  Bar,  Mr.  Clay  was  in  the  front  rank  of  his  profession;  while,  on  the 
Bench,  his  administration  of  the  public  justice  won  for  him  the  confidence  of 
the  Bar,  and  of  the  community  at  large.  His  retirement  from  it  was  matter 
of  universal  regret.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  of  17*J8,  which 
framed  the  present  Constitution  of  Georgia.  The  original  draught  was  from 
his  own  pen,  but,  in  its  passage  through  the  Convention,  it  was  subjected  to 
modifications,  which  did  not  increase  its  value. 

Vol..  VI.  62 


490  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Clay's  luind  was  now  more  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his 
religious  duties,  and  his  meditations  on  this  subject  resulted  in  his  connection 
with  the  Baptist  Church.  I  heard  him  preach,  whenever  I  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  doing  so,  and  always  with  interest.  His  presence  was  admirably 
adapted  to  the  pulpit.  He  had  a  commanding  figure.  His  countenance  was 
expressive  of  humility,  resulting  from  a  thorough  conviction  of  the  guilt  and 
sinfulness  of  our  fallen  nature;  of  an  earnest,  anxious  solicitude  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  immortal  beings  committed  to  his  care;  but  with  these  feelings 
was  mingled  a  deep  sense  of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  his  high  office, 
as  the  messenger  of  God  to  man.  I  saw  him,  on  one  occasion,  administer  a 
rebuke.  A  man  came  into  the  church  after  the  sermon  had  commenced.  He 
had  his  hat  on,  which  he  continued  to  wear  after  he  had  seated  himself  in  a 
pew,  gazing  recklessly  around  him,  and  obviously  unmindful  of  the  solemn 
services  which  were  being  celebrated.  Mr.  Clay  paused  for  a  moment — he 
looked  steadily  and  silently  at  the  intruder — then  raising  his  eyes  to  Heaven, 
he  uttered  a  short,  ejaculatory  prayer  for  his  forgiveness,  and  turning  to  him 
again,  administered  a  rebuke  so  mild,  so  gentle,  so  benevolent,  yet  so  authori- 
tative and  overpowering,  as  electrified  the  congregation,  and  left  an  impress, 
I  am  quite  sure,  never  to  be  effaced,  on  the  mind  of  him  to  whom  it  was 
addressed. 

This  is  what  occurs  to  me  in  answer  to  your  letter.  I  shall  be  glad  if  it 
meets  your  wishes. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

JOHN  MACPHERSON  BERRIEN. 


JOHN  CLARK. 

1804—1833. 

FROM  JOHN  RUSSELL,  ESQ. 

Bluffdale,  Greene  Co.,  111.,  June  8,  1858. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir  :  You  ask  me  for  a  short  biographical  sketch  of  the 
Rev.  John  Clark,  who  laboured  in  the  ministry  in  Missouri  and  Illinois, 
during  a  few  of  the  closing  years  of  the  last  century,  and  thirty-tliree  of 
the  present.  Mr.  Clark  was  somewhat  eccentric,  and  you  need  not  be  told 
that  much  i.s  often  .said  and  written  of  that  class  of  clergymen,  which  will 
hardly  boar  a  close  investigation.  These  "  embellishments"  may  be  cha- 
racteristic of  the  individual,  and  if,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Clark,  he 
laboured  on  the  frontiers,  be  true  to  the  language  and  mode  of  life  in  bor- 
der settlements;  but,  though  they  give  interest  and  piquancy  to  a  volume, 
and  render  it  popular,  they  arc  illy  adapted  to  a  work  like  yours.  I  have, 
therefore,  taken  unwearied  pains  to  make  the  account  which  I  shall  give 
you,  not  only  authentic,  but  severely  so. 

Since  the  spring  of  1819,  I  have  resided  within  the  field  of  his  labours, — 
St.  Louis  County,  Mo.,  and  Illinois.  I  have  relied  for  the  dates  and  facts 
of  his  early  history  solely  upon  the  memorandum  drawn  up  by  himself 
about  two  years,  I  think,  before  his  decease.     For  the  rest  I  am  indebted 


JOHN   CLARK.  491 

to  tlie  verbal  infurnuiliuu  of  a  gciitloiiian  upon  wlioin  I  can  safely  depend, 
and  to  my  own  personal  knowledge. 

John  Clark  was  born  a  century  ago  this  very  year,  for  the  date  of  his 
birth  is  Novenil)or  29,  1758,  He  was  a  native  of  the  small  and  obscure 
parish  of  Petty,  in  the  near  vicinity  of  Inverness,  Scotland.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  of  considerable  means,  owning  the  farm  that  he  cultivated. 
Ills  mother  was  a  decidedly  pious  woman,  a  member  of  the  Kirk  of  Scot- 
land. The  parents  of  John  took  much  pains  in  having  their  children,  of 
whom  they  had  several,  well  educated.  At  seven  years  of  age  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  could  read  the  Bible  and  other  English  books  with  case. 
He  was  now  put  to  the  study  of  the  Latin  Grammar,  with  the  intention 
of  giving  him  a  classical  education.  He  read  some  of  the  introductory 
books,  ])rcparatory  to  entering  upon  the  study  of  Virgil,  but  his  father, 
learning  that  his  repugnance  to  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  was  invin- 
cible, permitted  him  to  abandon  them,  and  sent  him  to  another  school, 
where  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Navigation, 
and  other  branches  of  the  Mathematics.  In  after  life,  Mr.  Clark  fre- 
quently bewailed  his  folly  in  not    having  made  himself  a  classical  scholar. 

An  uncle  of  his,  having  migrated  to  America,  and  acquired  a  large  for- 
tune as  a  fur  trader  with  the  Creek  Indians,  died,  leaving  all  his  possess- 
ions to  3Ir.  Clark's  father.  This  was  a  fatal  gift.  In  a  few  years  the 
legatee  squandered,  in  luxurious  living  and  in  dissipation,  not  only  the 
large  sum  devised  to  him  by  his  father,  but  his  paternal  estate  also,  and 
finally  died  a  drunkard. 

John  had,  from  early  boyhood,  a  strong  propensity  for  a  seafcaring  life. 
It  was  not  till  he  had  finished  his  school  education,  laboured  some  few 
years  as  a  copyist  in  public  offices  at  Inverness,  at  a  moderate  stipend,  that 
he  launched  himself  upon  the  ocean,  in  his  twentieth  year.  He  engaged 
at  first  as  a  hand  on  board  of  a  vessel  employed  in  transporting  soldiers 
and  munitions  of  war.  Shortly  afterwards  he  left  that  service,  and  entered 
on  board  of  a  privateer.  In  this  business  he  remained  about  a  year, 
obtaining  a  considerable  share  of  prize  money,  most  of  which  was  devoted 
to  Ills  mother  and  sister.  His  next  adventure  on  the  ocean  was  in  the 
capacity  of  second  mate,  on  board  of  a  ship  bound  for  the  West  Indies,  in 
company  with  many  other  vessels,  convoyed  by  two  men  of  war.  Arrived 
at  Barbadoes,  he  was  impressed  on  board  of  the  Tobago,  of  eighteen  guns. 
England  was  at  war  with  her  American  Colonies,  and  with  the  allies  of 
America, — France  and  Spain.  At  length,  the  Tobago  being  hove  down 
for  repairs,  Clark  and  another  seaman  seized  the  opportunity  of  deserting 
the  service  into  which  they  had  been  impressed.  They  f<juiul,  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  island,  a  merchant  vessel  taking  in  lading  for  London. 
Here  Clark  was  tempted  by  double  wages  to  work  on  Sunday,  which,  he 
.cays,  was  the  first  and  last  time  that  he  thus  violated  that  holy  day.  He 
felt  great  compunction  for  the  act,  and  refused  to  become  a  hand  on  board, 
though  offered  very  high  wages.  The  vessel  upon  which  he  next  engaged 
was  captured  by  two  Spanish  frigates,  and  he  remained  a  prisoner  of  war 
nineteen  months  at  Havana.  Soon  after  his  exchange,  he  was  again 
impressed  on  board  of  a  man-of-war,  the  Narcissus.  One  night,  while  that 
vessel  was  lying  at  anchor  off"  Charleston,  S.  C,  Clark   and   some  of  his 


492  BAPTIST. 

impressed  slupmates  laid  a  plan  to  swim  to  shore, — a  distance  of  about  two 
miles.  Clark  took  the  lead.  He  was  in  great  danger  of  drowning,  and 
could  not  see  the  land,  the  night  was  so  dark.  He  would  have  given  up 
the  struggle,  but  pungent  convictions  of  sin  tortured  his  soul,  and  the  idea 
of  appearing  in  the  presence  of  God.  unprepared,  made  him  put  forth  new 
efforts.     He  reached  the  shore  in  a  state  of  exhaustion. 

Through  all  the  career  of  John  Clark,  even  previously  to  his  conversion, 
we  notice  in  him  a  great  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  a  strict  avoidance 
of  the  sins  that  most  beset  seamen.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  reared  by  a  pious  mother,  under  the  restraining  family  gov- 
ernment that  has  done  so  much  for  Scotland.  The  Assembly's  Catechism 
was  impressed  upon  his  heart  in  childhood.  Its  influence,  and  that  of  the 
strict  domestic  discipline  to  which  their  childhood  and  youth  was  subject- 
ed, has  often  proved  a  shield  around  the  moral  principles  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  "  Old  Scotia."  Evil  will  be  the  day  to  our  own  land 
when  the  reins  of  family  government  and  religious  discipline  are  held 
loosely. 

Having  'passed  through  various  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  John  Clark  is 
teaching  a  school  in  1785,  in  one  of  the  back  settlements  of  South  Carolina. 
It  was  in  that  year,  after  a  long  period  of  pungent  convictions  of  sin,  he 
became  hopefully  converted. 

He  went  to  the  new  counties  of  Georgia,  into  which  a  tide  of  emigration 
began  to  pour,  particularly  from  Virginia.  His  object  in  going  thither 
was  to  obtain  employment  as  a  land  surveyor,  in  which  business  he  was  well 
skilled.  Failing  in  this,  he  taught  school.  Two  Methodist  circuit-riders 
preached  in  the  house  where  he  boarded,  and  he  joined  that  denomination, 
and  was  appointed  a  class-leader. 

About  two  years  after  that  event,  he  resolved  to  visit  the  home  of  his 
childhood.  The  vessel  on  which  he  sailed  from  Charleston,  working  his 
passage  as  a  seaman  before  the  mast,  was  bound  for  London.  On  the 
passage,  his  Christian  faithfulness  had  a  happy  effect  uj)on  the  hearts  of  the 
sailors.  At  London,  he  heard  Mr.  Wesley  preach.  From  that  port  he 
sailed  for  Inverness,  and  again  stood  under  the  roof-tree  of  his  native 
home.  None  but  his  sister  remained.  The  rest  of  his  kindred  had  gone 
to  the  grave.  She  did  not  recognise  him,  but  answered  the  questions  that  the 
stranger  asked  about  her  relatives.  She  spoke  with  tender  affection  of  her 
brother  John,  who,  as  she  had  not  heard  of  him  for  years,  she  feared  was 
dead.  Mr.  Clark  could  restrain  his  feelings  no  longer,  and  exclaimed,  "  / 
am  your  brother  Joh?i.^'  When  verging  upon  seventy-five  years,  Mr. 
Clark  woulil  describe  the  scene  that  followed,  with  gushing  eyes.  After 
his  return  to  London  from  this  visit  to  his  birth-place,  he  had  repeated 
interviews  with  ]Mr.  Wesley.  Here  he  continued  till  1789,  when  he  sailed 
once  more  for  America,  and  was  appointed,  soon  after  his  return  to  Georgia, 
as  a  circuit-preacher.  He  iimlked  around  his  circuit,  instead  of  riding.  He 
had  scruples  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  but  his  views  were  expressed  in 
such  a  kind  and  Christian  spirit  that  the  slave-holders  took  no  offence. 
At  the  close  of  his  year  on  the  circuit,  but  ton  dollars  of  his  salary  of  sixty 
had  ])een  paid.  The  stewards  at  the  Conference  handed  him  the  balance 
in  silver, — fifty  dollars.     Taking  the  bag  that   contained   it,  he  retired  to 


JOHN   CLARK.  493 

a  neiglil'ourliig  grove,  aiul  prayed  over  it.  He  then  returned  to  tlic  meet- 
ing, and  gave  back  the  bag  to  the  stewards,  saying, — "Brethren,  I  cannot 
take  it — you  know  luy  views."  The  money  was  received  back.  All 
respected  his  scruples.  He  believed  it  wrong  for  him  to  take  the  avails  of 
slave  labour. 

Mr.  Uhuk  had.  oven  after  he  joined  the  Methodists,  some  points  of 
belief  at  variance  witli  theirs.  He  believed  in  the  final  perseverance  of 
the  saints,  but  did  not  believe  in  Episcopacy,  nor  approve  of  many  things 
in  the  government  of  their  order.  After  remaining  in  the  denomination 
a  few  years,  he  took  a  dismission  from  the  Conference,  (170G,)  which  was 
given  and  received  with  kind  feelings. 

Soon  after  that  separation,  Mr.  Clark  left  the  State  of  Georgia,  and 
turned  his  face  Westward.  I  have  not  space  to  follow  him  in  his  journey- 
ings  towards  Illinois,  or  his  sojourn  in  Kentucky,  where  he  preached  and 
taught  school.  On  his  arrival  in  Illinois,  he  engaged  in  school  teaching 
and  in  preaching.  Though  not  connected  with  that  denomination,  he  con- 
sidered himself  a  Methodist  and  formed  what  is  called  by  them  class- 
meetings.  He  laboured  much  within  the  region  now  comprised  in  St. 
Louis  County,  Mo.,  then  forming  a  part  of  the  Spanish  Province  of 
Louisiana.  Besides  his  labours  in  the  ministry,  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Clark  in  favour  of  education  was  important.  He  had  no  sympathy  at  all 
with  that  class  of  preachers  who  despise  human  learning.  He  ever 
deeply  regretted  that  he  had  not  acquired  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  when  the  opportunity  of  doing  so  was 
afforded  him. 

Mr.  Clark's  views  of  Baptism  gradually  underwent  a  change.  Mr. 
Talbot  wlio  was,  like  Mr.  Clark,  a  Methodist  preacher,  but  not  connected 
with  the  Conference,  began  to  doubt  the  validity  of  Infant  Baptism,  and, 
after  a  long  season  of  prayer,  they  felt  it  their  duty  to  immerse  each  other. 
A  day  was  appointed  for  that  purpose.  After  preaching,  and  a  relation 
of  their  experience,  these  two  ministers  descended  the  banks  of  Fountain 
Creek,  a  stream  near  which  they  had  preached,  and  immersed  each  other 
in  the  presence  of  the  largest  congregation  ever  before  assembled  in  that 
region.  This  was  in  the  present  County  of  Monroe,  111.  It  was  not  till 
some  years  later  that  they  connected  themselves  with  the  Baptist  denomi- 
nation. In  the  mean  time  they  immersed  many  converts  and  formed  several 
rlasses,  but  considered  themselves  yet  as  Methodists.  They  at  length 
became  Baptists,  but  of  the  order  called  "  The  Baptized  Church  of  Christ, 
Friends  of  Humanity^  The  latter  part  of  their  designation  had  refer- 
ence to  their  opposition  to  slavery.* 

Mr.  Clark  was  in  the  habit,  while  not  engaged  in  teaching  school,  of 
making  long  preaching  tours.  In  1807,  he  descended  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Maramec,  in  St.  Louis  County,  to  what  is  yet  styled  in  Louisiana, 
'«  the  Florida  Parishes,"  of  which  district  Baton  Rouge  was  and  is  yet 
the  largest  town.  These  parishes  were  then  held  by  Spain,  but  a  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  were  emigrants  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  This 
tour  (if  Mr.  Clark, — a  voyage   of  nearly  twelve  hundred  miles,  was  made 

•  Nothing  of  the  subsequent  history  of  Mr.  Talbot  has  been  ascertained.  He  appears  to 
have  passed  out  of  notice  soon  after  that  event,  probably  by  a  removal  to  a  distance. 


494  BAPTIST. 

alone,  and  in  a  frail  canoe.  Had  not  this  adventurous  voTjageur  been 
thoroughly  a  sailor,  he  could  not  have  acconipli.shed  that  undertaking, 
bristling  as  the  river  was,  at  that  early  period,  with  obstructions.  The 
night  was  passed  on  the  wild  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  except  in  the  part 
of  his  course  where  the  banks  were  submerged.  In  the  latter  case,  his 
frail  bark  was  fastened  to  a  tree  standing  in  the  water,  and  this  good  man 
stretched  himself  upon  the  bottom  of  his  canoe,  and  feeling  that  he  was 
under  the  protection  of  the  Grreat  God,  slept  as  calmly  in  this  frightful 
solitude  as  he  would  have  done  in  the  bosom  of  civilized  life. 

Remaining  some  months  in  the  Florida  Parishes,  preaching  almost  daily 
and  with  great  acceptance,  he  returned  to  Illinois  on  foot.  His  route  led 
him  througli  the  "  Indian  country,"  inhabited  by  the  Cherokees.  Much 
of  the  remaining  portion  of  his  journey  was  a  wilderness. 

About  the  year  1811,  he  made  a  journey  on  foot  to  the  scene  of  his 
former  labours.  The  Florida  Parishes  had  then  just  passed  from  the 
government  of  Spain  to  that  of  the  United  States.  He  preached  on  the 
route  wherever  he  found  inhabitants,  and  left  appointments  to  preach  at 
tlie  same  place  on  his  return.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  all  these 
appointments  were  filled  to  the  very  day,  along  a  distance  of  more  than  a 
thousand  miles.  He  was  ever  so  conscientious  about  his  appointments 
that  he  would  travel  to  fulfil  them,  through  frightful  storms,  which  no  one 
else  ventured  to  encounter,  sometimes  a  distance  of  twenty  or  tliirty  miles, 
and  always  on  foot,  frequently  swimming  the  streams  which  the  rains  had 
swollen  into  torrents.  Once  when  he  had  an  appointment  at  Lofton's 
Prairie,  then  a  part  of  this  county,  [Greene],  he  went  to  the  ferry  just 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  to  cross  over  into  Illinois.  This  was 
his  direct  route.  A  violent  storm  had  wrecked  the  ferry-boats.  To  cross 
the  river  he  had  to  walk  eighteen  miles  to  St.  Louis,  and  then  the  same 
distance  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the  river  to  the  place  he  had  expected  to 
cross,  making  a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles,  without  advancing  him  a  rod 
towards  his  place  of  appointment,  which  was  then  thirty-two  miles  distant. 
He  walked  all  night,  and  reached  Lofton's  Prairie  at  two  o'clock  the  next 
day,  and  preached  to  a  large  congregation.  As  he  resided  eight  miles  from 
the  ferry  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the  whole  distance  that  he  walked 
was  sixty-six  miles,  a  great  portion  of  which  was  over  a  muddy  road.  This, 
without  sleeping,  and  at  the  age  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  was  a  task 
that  few,  except  that  good  old  man,  would  have  performed  for  the  love  of 
souls.  When  remonstrated  with  for  this  effort,  he  replied,  with  emotion, — 
"  Jesus  Christ  has  done  a -great  deal  more  for  vie  than  that."  A  very 
gentle  pony  was  bought  and  presented  to  him  by  his  friends.  He  rode  the 
animal  to  one  of  his  appointments,  and  then  gave  it  back  to  the  donors, 
greatly  preferring  to  walk. 

His  last  sermon  was  preached  in  St.  Louis  County,  Sept.  22,  1833, 
when  he  was  seized  with  a  severe  illness  from  which  he  never  wholly 
recovered,  and  died  on  the  11th  of  October  following,  at  a  few  weeks  short 
of  seventy-five  years  of  age.  His  end  was  in  accordance  with  his  Chris- 
tian life.  It  is  expected  that  his  remains  will  be  removed  from  the 
obscure  place  where  they  were  interred,  to  one  of  the  burial  grounds  of 
St.  Louis. 


JOHN  CLARK.  495 

Mr.  Clark  was  not  above  the  nictliuin  stature,  of  slender  form,  Lluc  eyes, 
and  light  t-uniploxion.  He  was  cliocrful  in  liis  manners,  and  his  tonipera- 
njent  what  is  usually  termed  the  "  sanguineo-bilious."  His  dress  was  such 
as  the  backwoods  farmers  wore  at  that  period,  being  spun,  woven  and  made 
up,  in  the  families  among  whom  he  laboured  as  a  preacher.  Yet  his 
extreme  personal  neatness,  and  the  neatness  with  which  he  kept  his  dress, 
made  the  coarsest  garli  look  respectable. 

We  have  heard,  in  the  West,  of  preachers  who  would,  in  some  cases,  throw 
off  their  coats  and  chastise  an  impudent  bully  ;  but  Mr.  Clark  was  not  of 
that  stamp.  It  was  often  his  lot  to  meet  with  "rough  specimens  of 
humanity,"  but  his  kind,  conciliating  manners,  and  his  evidently  sincere 
desire  to  do  them  good,  won  the  afl'ectionate  regard  of  even  the  rudest 
among  them. 

His  style  of  preaching  was  somewhat  peculiar,  considering  the  time  and 
place  in  which  he  lived.  His  doctrinal  sermons  were  logical,  clear  and 
convincing.  His  great  theme,  however,  Avas  "Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cru- 
cified." He  loved  to  dwell  upon  the  love^  the  long  suffering,  and  the  ten- 
der mercies  of  God,  and  while  dwelling  upon  this  theme,  eyes  not  accustomed 
to  weep  were  filled  with  tears.  There  was  always  an  earnestness  and  sin- 
cerity in  his  sermons,  that  convinced  every  one  that  he  deeply  felt  himself 
the  truths  he  strove  to  impress  upon  others.  There  was  nothing  in  his 
style  of  preaching  that  would  remind  us  of  the  loud  rant  and  violent  ges- 
ticulation which  some  good  men  have  seen  proper  to  use.  He  was  emi- 
nentl}'  a  man  of  prayer.  In  every  concern  of  life  he  sought  the  counsel 
of  God  upon  his  knees.  When  about  thirty-six  years  of  age,  he  became 
strongly  attached  to  a  young  lady  of  piety  and  pleasing  manners.  The 
attaclmient  was  said  to  be  mutual.  He  made  the  question  of  marrying  her 
the  suliject  of  earnest  prayer  and  self-examination.  He  found  that  love 
for  her  was  gradually  drawing  his  heart  to  earth,  and  came  to  the  resolu- 
tion, which  he  adhered  to  for  life,  never  to  marry. 

Mr.  Clark  was  a  friend  and  advocate  of  the  Sunday  School,  Tract,  ]5ible. 
Missionary,  and  other  kindred  Societies,  when  these  institutions  had  fewer 
friends,  even  among  the  preachers  of  the  West,  than  they  now  have.  He 
was,  in  a  single  word,  in  advance  of  the  age,  in  the  region  in  which  he 
lived.  Happil}',  among  his  friends  he  found  men  of  kindred  spirit  with 
himself,  who  felt  it  a  privilege  to  aid  him  in  every  good  work. 

Quiet,  unobtrusive  in  his  earnest,  self-sacrificing  labours,  without  show 
or  ostentation,  he  has  left  behind  him  an  influence  for  good  not  surpassed, 
in  my  humble  belief,  by  that  of  any  other  man  who  has  lived  and  died  in 
this  portion,  at  least,  of  the  broad  West. 

In  concluiling  ray  sketch,  I  will  relate  an  incident  that  occurred  about 
two  years  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Clark,  which,  at  the  time,  excited  a  deep 
interest  ;  though  I  do  it  hesitatingly,  from  an  apprehension  that  my  own 
relations  to  the  affair  are  too  intimate  to  allow  me  to  allude  to  it  without 
indelicacy.  An  "Association  "  was  held  not  many  miles  from  Bluffdale. 
As  usual,  delegates  came  in  attendance  from  all  the  churches  composing 
that  Body.  A  large  number  of  clergymen  were  also  present.  On  the 
evening  of  the  Sabbath, — a  lovely  night  early  in  autumn, — a  very  large 
concourse  of  people  attended,  many  of  them  from  a  distance.     The  meet- 


496  BAPTIST. 

ing  was  held  in  a  grove  wliicli  was  lighted  up  by  candles  attached  to  the 
trees,  and  by  the  moon  then  at  her  full.  The  religious  services  of  the  day 
had  left  a  very  serious  impression  on  the  minds  of  many.  At  a  pause  in 
the  services  of  the  evening,  a  clergyman  mounted  the  platform  upon  which 
was  erected  a  rude  pulpit,  and  intimated  to  the  congregation  that  a  lady  of 
the  highest  respectability,  who  did  not  wish  her  name  known,  but  who  was 
present,  had  just  asked  him  to  make  the  following  request.  She  did  not 
deny  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  nor  was  she  convinced  that  the 
account  given  by  the  four  Evangelists  could  be  relied  on ;  but  she  was 
anxious  to  learn  the  truth,  and  requested  that  John  Russell  would  produce 
the  evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  then  that  Father  Clark  should 
pray.  Why  she  selected  me  I  do  not  know ;  for  I  was  young,  and  a  lay- 
man, while  many  preachers  were  present.  With  time  only  to  breathe  a 
silent  word  of  supplication,  as  I  advanced  towards  the  pulpit,  I  was  con- 
ducted to  the  platform.  It  happened,  providentially,  that  I  had  recently 
gone  over  the  evidences  exhibited  by  Grotius,  Paley  and  Leslie,  with  the 
intention  of.  condensing  their  arguments  into  a  brief  space,  to  present  in 
writing  to  a  young  Englishman,  a  decided  skeptic,  but  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  literary  attainments.  That  I  had  thus  employed  myself,  however, 
was  not  known. 

I  spoke  an  hour,  exhibiting  such  proofs  and  arguments  as  I  deemed  most 
appropriate  to  the  time  and  place.  As  soon  as  I  had  concluded,  Mr.  Clark 
bowed  in  prayer,  and  with  such  fervency  it  seemed  to  me  that  his  petition 
must  go  right  up  to  the  ear  of  God.  I  have  yet  a  vivid  recollection  of  the 
thrill  which  pervaded  the  audience,  when,  shortly  after,  it  was  announced 
by  the  clergyman  that  the  lady  expressed  herself  convinced,  and  was 
resolved  to  seek  Christ.  The  mystery  in  which  the  incident  was  involved 
may  have  had  a  share  in  producing  the  emotion  manifested  by  that  large 
congregation.  About  two  weeks  after,  the  lad}^  under  circumstances  of 
great  trial,  made  a  public  profession  of  religion. 

My  motive  in  relating  this  scene  has  been  to  give  you  a  striking  evidence 
of  the  reverence  in  which  the  Christian  character  of  Mr.  Clark  was  held, 
even  by  a  skeptic,  and  an  instance  in  which  an  almost  visible  answer  was 
given  to  his  prayers. 

Fraternally, 

JOHN  RUSSELL. 


WILLIAM  TIIEOPIIILUS  BRANTLT.  497 


WILLIAM  THEOPHILUS  BRANTLY,  D.  D  * 

1804—1845. 

William  Tiieopiiilus  Brantly  was  born  in  Chatham  County,  N. 
C,  January  23,  17S7.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  William  and  jMary  Ann 
Brantly,  who  were  both  members  of  the  Baptist  Church.  His  father  was 
a  plain,  respectable  farmer,  with  no  pretension  to  superiority,  cither  in 
natural  endowments  or  in  education.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  extra- 
ordinary piety  and  decision  of  character.  To  her  judicious  and  affection- 
ate training  in  early  life,  her  gifted  son  ascribed,  under  God,  much  of  his 
usefulness  in  later  years. 

His  early  youth  was  spent  in  assisting  his  father  in  his  agricultural  pur- 
suits, with  no  other  opportunities  of  education  than  were  supplied  by  the 
occasional  visits  of  migratory  teachers,  and  then  only  when  he  could  be 
conveniently  spared  from  the  business  of  the  farm.  In  his  fifteenth  year, 
during  an  extensive  and  powerful  revival  that  prevailed  in  sevei'al  of  the 
Southern  States,  his  mind  became  deeply  impressed  with  religious  things, 
and,  after  a  season  of  overwhelming  distress  under  a  sense  of  his  sins,  he 
was  brought  to  hope  in  the  Divine  mercy.  Scarcely  had  he  been  admitted 
to  the  Communion  of  the  Church,  before  he  took  it  upon  himself  to  exhort 
publicly  and  privately,  wherever  he  could  gain  a  hearing;  and,  while  these 
juvenile  efforts  were,  in  many  instances,  manifestly  attended  with  a  bless- 
ing, they  suggested  to  some  of  his  friends  the  importance  of  securing  to 
such  a  mind  an  appropriate  intellectual  training  for  the  Christian  Ministry. 
Notwithstanding  he  was  licensed  to  preach  shortly  after  his  conversion,  he 
gratefully  acceded  to  the  proposals  made  to  him  to  take  a  regular  College 
course  ;  and  forthwith  he  addressed  himself  to  his  studies  with  great  zeal, 
and  was  soon  prepared  for  admission  to  College.  .  He  became  a  member 
of  South  Carolina  College,  at  Columbia,  then  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Maxcy,  where  he  graduated  with  distinction  in  1808.  The 
expenses  of  his  preparatory  and  collegiate  education  were  borne  chiefly  by 
the  "  General  Committee  of  the  Churches  in  the  Charleston  Baptist  Asso- 
ciation." Between  young  Brantly  and  the  venerable  President  of  the 
College  there  grew  up  an  intimate  friendship,  founded  on  a  just  appre- 
ciation of  each  other's  qualities,  which  continued  till  it  was  terminated  by 
death. 

For  a  short  time  after  he  graduated,  he  taught  a  school  at  Camden,  S. 
C.  ;  but,  in  1809,  removed  to  Georgia,  and  took  charge  of  the  Richmond 
Academy,  in  Augusta, — a  highly  respectable  and  well  endowed  institution. 
The  same  year  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  and,  in  con- 
nection with  his  duties  as  a  teacher,  he  preached  regularly  on  the  Sabbath 
to  some  destitute  congregation  in  Augusta  or  its  neighbourhood.  Hero  he 
continued  about  two  years,  labouring  in  both  capacities  with  uncommon 
acceptance.  During  the  first  year  of  his  residence  here,  he  was  married  to 
a  sister  of  the  Hon.  Charles  J.  McDonald,  Ex-Govcrnor  of  the  State  of 

•  Dr.  Fuller's  Fun.  Senn.— Chr.  Rev.,  1846.— MS.  from  Rev.  W.  T.  Brantly. 

Vol..  vr.  03 


498  BAPTIST. 

Georgia.  She  was  a  lady,  not  only  of  rare  endowments  and  accomplish- 
ments, but  of  elevated  piety,  and  her  memory  is  still  fragrant  in  many  cir- 
cles. She  died  in  1818  ;  and  the  nest  year  he  was  married  to  Margaretta 
Joyner,  of  Beaufort,  S.  C.  By  the  former  marriage  he  had  four  children  ; 
by  the  latter  ten.  The  eldest  son  by  each  marriage  is  a  Baptist  minister. 
The  former,  who  bears  his  father's  name,  is  now  (1858)  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, formerly  the  scene  of  his  father's  labours ;  the  latter,  the  Ptev. 
John  J.  Brantly,  is  a  Pastor  at  Newbury  Court  House,  S.  C. 

In  1811,  Mr.  Brantly  was  invited  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
Church  in  Beaufort,  S.  C.  Their  call  contained  nothing  more  definite  in 
respect  to  the  matter  of  support  than  this  : — "  If  you  will  come  and  min- 
ister to  ns  in  spirituals,  we  will  minister  to  you  in  temporals."  He,  how- 
ever, had  confidence  enough  in  the  generosity  of  the  people,  and  in  the 
Providence  of  God,  to  accept  the  invitation ;  and  he  continued  there, 
exercising  his  ministry  with  great  acceptance  and  usefulness,  for  eight 
years.  During  a  part  of  this  time,  he  was  also  at  tlie  head  of  Beaufort 
College,  where  he  numbered  among  his  pupils  several  who  subsequently 
attained  a  rank  among  the  most  influential  clergymen  of  his  denomination. 
At  this  period  also  he  contributed  to  the  American  Baptist  Magazine, — a 
highly  respectable  work  then  published  in  Boston,  a  series  of  papers  over 
the  signature  of  Theophilus,  which  were  extensively  read  and  greatly 
admired.  An  eminent  divine  has  written  thus  concerning  them,  since  the 
death  of  their  author: — "They  were  read,  and  re-read,  and  laid  up  among 
the  selectest  treasures  of  memory.  It  will  remain  for  the  day  that  shall 
reveal  hidden  things,  to  show  what  multitudes  of  young  persons  in  the 
United  States  received  the  tone  of  their  intellectual  and  Christian  charac- 
ter from  these  inspiring  productions." 

In  1819,  he  was  invited  to  return  to  Augusta,  and  resume  the  office  of 
Rector  of  the  Academy.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  chiefly,  it  would 
seem,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  plant  in  that  flourishing  town  a  church 
of  his  own  denomination.  Though  he  found  there  scarcely  half  a  dozen 
Baptists,  he  immediately  commenced  preaching,  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  Academy,  and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  he  had  succeeded 
in  establishing  a  highly  respectable  Baptist  Church,  and  in  procuring  the 
erection  of  a  substantial  house  of  worship,  at  an  expense  of  twenty-two 
thousand  dollars.  His  Sermon  at  the  Dedication  of  the  edifice,  on  the 
"  Beauty  and  Stability  of  Gospel  Institutions," — which  was  published,  is 
a  fine  specimen  of  glowing  evangelical  eloquence.  His  influence,  during 
this  period  of  his  residence  in  Georgia,  was  extensively  felt  through  variou-^ 
channels,  and  esp-cially  in  organizing  the  Baptist  Convention  of  the  State, 
and  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Missions  and  of  Ministerial  Education. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia  having  become  vacant  by  the 
death  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Ilolcombe,  in  18:24,  Mr.  Brantly  was  invited  to  visit 
them  ;  and  his  visit  resulted  in  a  unanimous  invitation  to  him  to  become 
their  Pastor.  This  invitation  he  accepted  ;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1826,  he 
removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  commenced  his  labours.  He  soon  became 
extensively  known  as  an  able  and  eloquent  preacher,  and  as  a  liberal  and 
earnest  advocate  for  whatever  promised  well  for  the  general  cause  of  Chris- 
tian truth  and  piety.     Shortly  after  his  removal  to  this  new  sphere  of 


WILLIAM  TnEOPIIILUS  BRANTLY.  499 

labour,  ho  became  the  editor  of  a  religious  paper,  entitled  "  The  C<duinbian 
Star,"  which  acquired  an  extensive  circulation  and  great  popularity.  In 
this  paper  are  said  to  be  embodied  some  of  the  finest  efforts  of  his  prolific 
and  powerful  mind.  He  published,  also,  during  his  residence  in  Pliiladel- 
phia,  a  vulume  of  Sermons,  which,  though  characterized  by  much  vigorous 
thought,  and  many  passages  of  stirring  eloquence,  has  been  pronounced,  by 
eompotent  judges,  quite  inferior,'  for  the  most  part,  to  what  he  was  capa- 
ble of  in-odueing.  There  were  others  of  his  discourses,  published  from  the 
notes  of  stenographers,  and  without  any  revision,  which  are  thought  to  be 
decidedly  better  specimens  of  his  ability  as  a  preacher. 

In  1881,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  from 
Brown  University. 

After  a  residence  of  twelve  years  in  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Brantly's  health 
had  begun  perceptibly  to  decline,  and  he  believed  that  the  only  hope  of 
prolonging  his  life  was  identified  with  his  return  to  a  Southern  climate. 
With  this  chiefly  in  view,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  Charleston,  S.  C  For  two  or  three  years,  however,  owing  to  various 
unpropitious  circumstances,  his  relation  to  his  charge  was  a  source  of  little 
comfort  to  him  ;  but,  a  secession  from  his  congregation  having  at  length 
taken  place,  with  a  view  to  the  forming  of  a  new  church,  he  was  very  happy 
with  those  who  remained,  and  had  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  that  his 
labours  were  not  in  vain.  With  his  pastoral  charge  he  consented  to  asso- 
ciate the  Presidency  of  the  College  of  Charleston ;  and,  under  his  admin- 
istration, the  institution  enjoyed  a  good  degree  of  prosperity.  But,  in 
doing  this,  he  was  tasking  his  energies  to  excess ; — was  prematurely 
exhausting  the  powers  of  his  constitution.  On  the  13th  of  July,  1844,  as 
he  was  about  to  hear  the  recitation  of  his  class,  he  was  attacked  with  a 
paraly-is,  from  which  he  never  recovered.  His  physical  and  intellectual 
faculties  sunk  together;  and,  though  his  mind  now  and  then  slightly  ral. 
lied,  yet,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  not  much  more  could  be  said 
of  him  intellectually,  than  that  he  retained  his  consciousness.  Before  the 
fatal  malady  came  upon  him.  he  seems  to  have  had  a  presentiment  that  his 
course  would  soon  be  run  ;  and,  in  reference  to  this  he  said,  on  one  occa- 
sion,— "I  shall  break  off  suddenly;  and  I  think  I  had  rather  die  in  the 
harness."  He  lingered  in  Charleston  until  the  succeeding  February, 
(1845,)  when  he  was  carried  to  Augusta,  and  there,  on  the  28th  of  March, 
he  died.  On  the  18th  of  May,  a  Funeral  Discourse  was  addressed  to  his 
bereaved  charge  in  Charleston,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fuller,  on  Acts  xx.  24. 
It  was  published. 

The  f.dlowing  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Brantly's  publications  :— The  Lenitives  of 
Sorrow  :  A  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Mrs  Anna  Brantly,  preaclicd  at  Beau- 
fort, S.  C,  1818.  Beauty  and  Stability  of  Gospel  Institutions  :  A  Sermon 
preached  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Baptist  Church,  Augusta,  da.,  1821. 
The  Crnod  man  :  A  Sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Ecv.  L.  D.  Parks,  preached 
in  Augusta,  1823.  Trinitarianism  Rational  :  A  Sermon  on  the  Trinity, 
preached  in  Augusta,  1824.  Duty  of  Publicly  Dedicating  Children  to  the 
Lord  :  A  Sermon  preached  in  Augusta,  1824.  Testimonies  of  Enemies  in 
favour  of  Religion  :  A  Sermon  preached  in  Augusta,  1824.  [These  Ser- 
mons were  collected  into  one  volume  at  a  subsequent  period.]     A  volume 


500  BAPTIST. 

of  Sermons  (400  pp.  8  vo.)  18.37.     lie   also  published  various   articles  in 
the  Baptist  Magazine,  the  Christian  Review,  and  other  periodicals. 

FROM    THE    REV.    B.    MANLY,    D.    D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ALABAMA. 

University  of  Alabama,  March  6,  18-48. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  At  length,  amid  the  press  of  business,  I  snatch  the  brief 
intervals  of  comparative  leisure,  for  giving  some  reminiscences  of  the  late  Dr 
lirantl}'.     I  do  it  informally,   supposing  this  to  be  more  in  accordance  with 
what  you  wish  and  expect  from  me. 

My  lirst  distinct  knowledge  of  Dr.  l>rantly  was  in  my  early  boyhood,  and 
when  he  had  just  completed  his  College  course.  It  was  in  the  meeting-house  of 
the  old  Fork  Church  in  Chatham  County,  N.  C.  lie  was  then  of  verj'  youth- 
ful appearance,  and  attracted  my  attention  partly  by  this  fact,  and  partly  by 
his  exceedingly  tine  person  and  voice.  Tliough  little  qualitled  to  judge,  yet 
from  the  effect  of  his  discourse  on  myself  and  others,  remembered  long  after- 
ward, I  should  judge  that  he  had  not  then  laid  aside  the  starchness  of  the 
College,  nor  acquired  that  ease,  pungency,  and  force,  which  afterward  dis- 
tinguished him.  For  several  years  I  saw  him  not  again;  until,  visiting  his 
parents,  with  the  first  Mrs.  Brantly  and  their  elder  children,  he  came  to  his 
native  county.  Then  he  shone  conspicuous;  and  made  an  impression  on  mul- 
titudes of  those  who  had  known  him  from  his  childhood,  which  will  never  be 
forgotten.  From  that  time  my  admiration  of  him  grew,  as  my  opportunities 
of  knowing  him  were  extended;  and  now,  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,  and 
some  acquaintance  with  men  and  things,  I  regard  him  as  a  character  of  singu- 
lar excellence,  in  so  many  points  of  light,  that,  to  give  even  a  sketch  of  hiin  is  a 
task  of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  Nature,  education,  and  grace,  had  thrown 
together,  in  his  composition,  such  liberal  and  varied  contributions,  and  my 
immediate  intercourse  with  him  was  so  brief,  that  it  becomes  me  to  speak  only 
of  those  traits  which  were  brought  personally  to  my  view. 

Under  an  aspect  and  mien  unusually  commanding,  he  cherished  a  spirit  of 
kind  condescension.  When  the  poor  and  wretched  came  in  his  way,  he  ever 
had  a  heart  to  pity,  and  a  hand  to  relieve.  To  young  men  of  modest  merit  he 
was  singularly  attached.  Such  seemed  to  have  a  special  attraction  for  him : 
his  eye  often  detected  them  in  a  crowd;  and  he  would  follow  them,  and  seek 
them  out;  nor  did  he  ever  seem  so  interested  or  so  happy  as  when  directing 
and  assisting  such  to  aspire  after  usefulness  and  honour.  Yet  it  was  equally 
remarkable  that,  if  he  discovered  any  symptom  of  shallow  conceit  and  self- 
sufficiency  in  any  young  person  about  him,  it  excited  his  especial  dislike;  and 
he  pursued  it  with  such  invincible  di.sgust,  that  he  invariabh^  cither  broke  it 
down  or  banished  it  from  liis  presence.  He  seemed  to  test  his  young  friends 
early  in  his  intercourse  with  tliein,  for  tliis  quality;  and  until  repeated  proofs 
of  a  self-renouncing,  sulunissive,  ingenuous  spirit  had  been  given  him,  his 
criticisms  and  reproofs  had  something  awful  and  almost  crushing  about  them. 
Superficial  or  casual  ol)servers  might  have  regarded  him  severe  and  unre- 
lenting. He  was  so  to  impudence,  as.sumption,  and  conceited  folly;  but  a 
gentle,  inquisitive  and  docile  spirit  disarmed  him  completely.  Toward  his 
brethren  more  advanced  in  years,  whatever  were  their  distinctions,  no  one 
could  be  more  free  from  censoriousness,  jealousy,  and  envy;  or,  however 
scanty  their  endowments,  none  was  more  free  from  airs  of  superiority  or 
reserve.  What  was  truly  excellent  in  the  efforts  of  another,  though  it  might 
seem  to  overshadow  himself,  he  acknowledged  and  admired  with  entire  sim- 
plicity. Walking  with  him  from  his  dwelling  in  Philadelphia  to  his  own 
church,  to  hear  Dr.  W.  of  Albany,  who  had  then  begun  to  attain  celebrity, 


WILLIAM  TnEOPIIILUS  BRANTLY.  501 

the  fame  of  the  preacher  was  the  subject  of  remark  between  us,  as  neither 
had  hoard  him.  After  the  discourse,  wlicn  we  had  loft  the  retiring  crowd,  he 
seized  my  arm  with  a  sudden  and  forcible  grasp,  and  said, — '<  I  will  toll  you, 
M.,  it  is  no  fablo."     The  application  of  the  remark  was  well  understood. 

No  one  accustomed  to  be  with  him  in  private,  could  have  doubted  the  sin- 
cerity and  vigour  of  his  piety.  His  prayers,  both  in  the  family'  and  in  public, 
were  ever  remarkable  for  their  simple  fervour  and  appropriateness.  Thoy 
were  always  plain,  yet  not  commonplace;  comprehensive,  yet  brief;  appa- 
rently unstudied,  yet  leading  ever}''  devout  worshipper  through  the  circle  of 
his  own  wants,  in  entreaties  so  distinct,  yet  varied,  as  if  each  single  case  had 
been  alone  under  his  eye.  Although  his  life  was  a  constant  scene  of  bustle 
and  toil,  this  never  seemed  to  disincline  or  unfit  him  for  devotion.  The 
prayer  meetings  of  his  church  he  uniformly  attended  with  alacrity  and 
delight;  and  although  he  always  went  oppressed  with  the  recent  wear  and 
vexation  of  the  school  room,  with  scarcely  an  interval  to  snatch  a  hasty 
repast,  certainly  none  for  retirement, — yet,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  he  ever 
seemed  to  come  as  if  fresh  from  the  closet,  and  from  communion  with  his 
Saviour, — as  though  his  devotion  had  been  mellowed  and  enriched  amid  hours 
spent  by  the  still  waters  of  prayerful  seclusion.  Beside  the  Scriptures,  he 
made  frequent  use  of  such  works  as  Bishop  Hall's  Contemplations,  and  Adam's 
Private  Thoughts.  Of  the  latter  work  he  once  made  this  remark  to'me: — 
'«  Some  ma}'  doubt  the  propriety  of  a  good  man's  disclosing  so  much  secret 
impuritj-  remaining  in  himself.  But  that  writer  exposes  to  me  my  own  heart — 
his  experience  is  mine;  and  while  I  do  not  hate  impurity  any  the  less  because 
a  good  man  has  groaned  under  it,  I  confess  that  this  fact  helps  me  to  take  a 
little  lirmer  hold  of  the  hope  that,  impure  and  vile  as  I  am,  I  am  not  quite 
forsaken  of  God." 

What  I  shall  say  of  the  qualities  of  his  intellect  must  be  especially  meagre, — 
for  the  simple  reason  that  a  mind  like  his,  strikingly  elevated  and  even  majestic, 
yet  well  balanced,  presents  so  many  points  for  contemplation,  and  each  so 
extended,  as  to  require  rather  a  separate  treati.se  for  each  than  a  hasty  glance 
at  the  whole.  That  which  struck  me  most,  however,  was  the  readiness  with 
which  he  could  turn  the  whole  vigour  of  his  thoughts  on  any  subject  at  will, 
together  with  his  power  of  comprehension  and  analysis.  Being  often  in  his 
study  when  he  was  preparing  for  the  pulpit,  he  has  seemed  to  me  to  make  a 
sermon,  complete,  in  a  time  not  much  longer  than  it  has  required  to  write  this 
paragraph.  I  have  then  gone  with  him  to  church,  and  heard  him  preach 
those  sermons,  the  skeletons  of  which  I  took  down,  and  have  preserved  to 
this  time;  and,  on  every  review  of  them,  they  surprise  me  by  the  justness  of 
their  distributions,  and  the  rich  veins  of  well  elaborated  thought  to  which 
they  lead.  Imager}'  and  illustration  he  had  verj^  aptly  at  command.  His 
great  master,  in  such  matters,  among  uninspired  men,  was  Jeremy  Taylor; 
■whose  genius  he  considered  equal  to  Homer's.  For  the  same  purpose  also  he 
thoroughly  studied  Milton,  and  the  graver  poets.  But,  whatever  was  the 
haste  of  his  composition  of  a  sermon,  or  the  suddenness  vith  which  an 
illustration  or  argument  was  suggested,  his  audience  could  not  be  aware  of  it 
by  any  seeming  want  of  familiarity  or  comprehension.  On  one  occasion,  when 
preparing  a  sermon  for  the  afternoon,  the  bell  struck,  denoting  the  hour  of 
service.  "  Ah,"  said  he,  smiling,  as  he  rose  from  his  paper  on  which  he  had 
hastily  dashed  off  a  dozen  lines  in  large  misshapen  letters, — "  my  sermon  is 
like  a  half  formed  in.sect  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile, — part  out,  part  in."  I 
walked  with  him  to  the  house  of  worship,  and  never  heard  him  more  fully  in 
command  of  his  subject,  or  of  the  minds  and  feelings  of  his  audience.  The 
secret  of  this  -was,  he  elaborated  ideas,  not  particular  sermons.  Fragments 
of  time  were  all  he  had  for  study.      These  he  improved  with  singular  industry 


502  BAPTIST. 

and  perseverance.  His  mind  was  ever  on  the  stretch.  Whatever  were  his 
theme  at  the  moment,  he  instantly  brought  his  whole  powers  to  bear  on  it, 
and  dispatched  it  soon.  Thus  it  was  not  unusual  for  liim  to  be  substantially 
prepared  with  a  sermon  before  he  had  his  text.  His  style  was  very  carefully 
modelled  after  the  classic  authors;  perhaps,  for  some  years,  it  had  a  little  too 
close  resemblance  to  the  rotund  and  sonorous  Latin. 

He  had  a  clear  and  accurate  judgment,  and  an  abundant  fund  of  common 
sense.  This  was  seen  in  the  facility  with  which  he  would  adapt  himself  to 
every  person  or  occasion,  and  meet  the  demands  of  every  case..  He  could  awe 
or  attract,  repulse  or  win,  with  equal  readiness  and  self  possession,  as  he  saw 
most  fit.  He  had  no  freaks  nor  whims;  he  was  steadily  under  the  influence 
of  principles  well  understood,  so  as  to  give  a  consistency  to  his  character, 
which  left  no  one  in  doubt  where  to  find  him.  He  was  ever  like  himself, 
both  in  his  excitements  and  relaxations,  and  always  dignified  and  command- 
ing. The  following  incident  may  illustrate  several  of  the  points  at  which  I 
have  glanced.  AVhile  residing  in  Augusta,  between  1819  and  1820,  he  was  one 
of  a  Committee,  sent  by  the  Georgia  Association  to  another  Body  of  the  same 
kind,  to  labour  "  to  restore  common  views  and  feelings  between  the  two  Asso- 
ciations on  the  subject  of  Missions,  and  perhaps  other  points  of  difference.  On 
this  errand',  after  explaining  himself  with  great  patience  and  kindness  to  his 
brethren,  the  Association  took  the  mortifying  and  repulsive  ground  of  refu- 
sing to  receive  him,  and  the  other  messengers  of  the  Georgia  Association.  He 
submitted  to  this  discourtesy  in  a  quiet  humour.  The  public  feeling  of  the 
congregation,  however,  required  that  he  should  preach  on  the  Sabbath.  In 
presence  of  the  Body  that  had  rejected  him,  on  the  day  before,  he  rose  and 
announced  his  text, — Job  xxxvi.  2.  "Suffer  me  a  little,  and  I  will  show  that 
I  have  yet  to  speak  on  God's  behalf."  From  this  starting  point,  he  poured 
forth  the  Divine  message  of  grace  to  guilty  men,  in  a  strain  so  grand, 
subduing  and  attractive,  that,  though  no  visible  manifestation  of  Deity  was 
given,  and  the  Almightjr  answered  not  out  of  the  whirlwind,  the  stricken  mul- 
titude could  scarcely  have  been  more  aflected  and  overwhelmed,  had  such 
really  been  the  case.  By  an  action  not  uncommon  among  the  Southern 
Churches,  while  he  was  yet  speaking,  he  came  down  from  the  platform,  and 
nearly  the  whole  assembly  rushed  involuntarily  to  meet  him.  Down  they 
fell  upon  their  knees,  many  at  once  asking  him  to  pray  for  them,  while  the 
big  tears  in  profusion  coursed  down  his  manly  face.  Such  was  the  sequel  of 
prayer  and  love  which  followed  the  rejection  of  his  mission  on  the  day  before. 

That  period  of  his  ministry  in  which  I  heard  him  oftenest,  and  knew  him 
best,  was  the  last  year  of  his  residence  in  Beaufort,  S.  C,  and  shortl}-  after 
the  death  of  his  incomparable  wife.  The  aged,  judicious,  and  spiritual-minded 
people  who  formed  a  rare  cluster  of  intelligence  and  piety  in  that  church,  at 
that  time,  used  to  speak  to  me  Avith  great  emotion  of  the  sanctified  effect  of 
this  afliiction,  of  the  richness  and  savour  which  it  had  imparted  to  the  ministry 
of  their  Pastor.  Certain  it  is  that,  both  then  and  since,  I  must  regard  him  as 
the  most  uniformly  engaging,  instructive,  inspiring  preacher  that  it  has  ever 
been  my  good  fortune  to  hear.  If  he  did  not  often  electrify  by  some  astounding 
effort,  he  never  failed  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  occasion,  and  never  fell  below 
himself.  His  sermons  Avere  not  all  equally  interesting,  of  course;  but  I  do 
not  remember  that  I  ever  heard  a  remark  fall  from  him,  which  I  considered 
commonplace,  or  feeble,  or  said  merely  to  fill  out  the  time.  The  volume  of 
sermons,  published  near  the  close  of  his  residence  in  Philadelphia,  was  writ- 
ten amid  as  heavy  a  press  of  affairs  as  he  ever  encountered.  I  was  in  his 
house  during  that  period,  and  he  told  me  that  he  had  tasked  liimself  to  write 
one  sermon  a  week  of  that  series,  besides  his  other  duties.  These  discourses 
are  certainly  not  better  than  the  average  of  his  ordinary  ministrations. 


WILLIAM  TUEOPHILUS  BKANTLY.  593 

As  a  Pastor,  he  was  exemplary  and  truly  afTectioiiate  toward  his  people. 
If  asked  what  was  most  remarkable  of  him  in  that  relation,  1  should  say  it 
was  the  contideuce  he  inspired.  xVs  a  general  thing,  his  people  gave  up  their 
mind  and  feelings  to  him,  without  suspicion,  or  reserve,  or  uneasiness  of  any 
kind.  When  he  approved,  it  was  common  for  them  to  feel  satisfied  that  all 
was  right. 

While  walking  together  to  the  House  of  God,  the  venerable  mother  of  Dr. 
Richard  Fuller,  of  Baltimore,  made  this  remark  to  me,  evincive  of  her 
characteristic  sagacity — "How  pleasant  it  is  to  have  a  Pastor  in  whom  we 
can  thoroughly  confide!  "  She  added, — "  I  can  go  to  church  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, and  carry  any  friend  with  me;  and  whatever  turns  up,  I  never  feel 
any  anxiety  or  uneasiness  about  what  Mr.  Brantly  is  going  to  say  or  do." 

Such,  my  dear  Sir,  are  a  few  imperfect  hints  of  what  Dr.  Brantly  was  while 
1  knew  him.  My  admiration,  allection,  and  gratitude  are  ever  due  to  his 
memory. 

Very  truly  yours, 

B.  MANLY. 


FROM  THE  REV.  RICHARD  FULLER,  D.  D. 

Baltimore,  April  2,  1848. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  Although  my  duties  here  are  very  engrossing,  I  must 
find  time  to  comply  with  your  request,  and  send  you  some  notice  of  Dr. 
Brantly,  more  familiar  and  concise  than  that  contained  in  the  Funeral  Ser- 
mon. I  accede  the  more  readil}'  to  your  wishes,  because,  in  the  discourse,  I 
allowed  the  consciousness  of  my  partiality  to  impose  too  much  restraint  on  the 
free  utterance  of  my  affection  and  admiration. 

Dr.  Brantly  Avas  my  teacher  from  childhood,  until  within  a  short  period 
before  I  left  South  Carolina  for  Harvard  University.  All  the  associations  of 
my  boyhood  are,  therefore,  mingled  Avith  recollections  of  him;  nor  do  I  ever 
revert  to  my  school-bo}-  days,  but,  at  once,  his  digniiied  presence  rises  before  me 
and  recalls  multiplied  instances  of  a  kindness  and  faithfulness  rarely  combined 
in  a  public  instructer.  Few  teachers,  I  suspect,  would  select  their  scholars  as 
their  biographers  and  eulogists.  But,  for  mc,  I  can  say,  with  truth,  that  my 
early  intercourse  with  Dr.  Brantly  laid  the  foundation  of  an  esteem,  venera- 
tion, and  love,  which  nothing  afterwards  could  ever  shake.  Nor  did  his  inte- 
rest in  his  pupils  terminate  when  they  left  him.  He  followed  them,  wherever 
they  went,  with  a  most  watchful  solicitude,  as  to  their  intellectual  advance- 
ment, and  still  more  as  to  their  salvation.  And  of  this,  one  proof  occurs  to 
my  mind,  which  greatly  affected  me.  Dr.  Brantly  was,  in  182o,  a  Pastor  in 
Augusta.  My  connection  with  him  had  ceased  for  some  time,  and  I  was 
at  Cambridge.  In  the  winter  of  that  year,  I  was  suddenly  seized  with  symp- 
toms of  so  alarming  a  kind,  that  the  physicians  hurried  me  off  to  Xorlhamp- 
ton,  to  escape  the  deadly  East  winds.  There,  in  that  beautiful  town,  1  spent 
some  most  melancholy  weeks, — a  mere  boy,  a  stranger  reduced  by  disease,  and 
.seemingly  drawing  near  to  the  tomb.  For  the  first  time,  my  mind  now  awoke 
out  of  her  dark  oblivious  sleep,  and,  turning  from  the  aspirations  of  literary 
ambition,  I  began  to  think  of  eternity.  In  this  concern  I  was  not  alone.  Dr. 
Brantly  had  heard  of  my  sickness,  and  immediately  he  wrote  me  a  letter, 
which  I  wish  I  had  preserved.  It  breathed  the  tendcrest  sympathy,  and 
reached  my  very  soul  with  its  earnest  and  pathetic  counsels  and  prayers. 

All  my  subsequent  acquaintance  with  our  brother  confirmed  the  sentiments 
of  my  3'outh  as  to  his  character.  I  found  him  ever  most  faithful  in  friend- 
ship, wise  in  counsel,  and  full  of  generous  and  noble  impulses.  In  his  house 
he  was  the  very  soul  of  ho.spitality.     And  there  I  have  spent  many  hours  long 


504  BAPTIST. 

to  be  remembered; — hours  when  he  would  relax  from  the  usual  severity  of  his 
mental  habits,  and  delight  me  with  a  wit,  a  cheerfulness,  an  inexhaustible 
variety  of  thought  and  learning,  a  vividness  of  conception,  a  felicity  of  lan- 
guage, and,  above  all,  a  childlike  simplicity  of  heart,  altogether  irresistible. 

it  may  indeed  surprise  those  who  only  saw  Dr.  Brantly  at  a  distance,  that 
I  speak  of  childlike  simplicity  in  one  who  generally  overawed  them  by  a 
somewhat  austere  deportment.  Those  intimate  with  him,  however,  will  bear 
witness  to  this  beautiful  trait  in  his  character.  Over  and  over  have  1  seen  his 
eyes  moistened,  and  then  tears  roll  down  his  cheeks,  while  conversing  with  me 
in  private,  and,  though  the  stern  passages  of  his  life  had  so  schooled  his  heart, 
that,  in  public,  he  generally  seemed  stoical,  and  sought  to  wrap  his  sensibili- 
ties from  the  vulgar  gaze,  yet,  more  than  once,  have  I  beheld  him,  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  congregation,  weeping  like  a  child. 

As  you  ask  me  to  write  unreservedly,  I  will  mention  the  first  occasion  after 
I  grew  up,  on  which  I  discovered  this  tenderness  in  our  friend.  After  leaving 
College,  I  never  saw  him  until  1835,  when  we  met  at  Dr.  Manly's,  in  Charles- 
ton. He  then  took  me  with  him  to  Philadelphia  to  hold  a  meeting  in  his 
church.  Ilis  worldly  affairs  were,  at  this  period,  somewhat  embarrassed,  and 
he  was  greatly  perplexed  as  to  his  duty  in  reference  to  a  call  from  Georgia. 
I  had  lately  entered  the  ministry,  and  felt,  of  course,  no  little  trepidation  at 
the  prospect  of  standing  up,  for  the  first  time,  before  my  old  teacher,  espe- 
cially as  Dr.  Manly  had  given  me  some  portentous  anecdotes  of  his  tremen- 
dous criticisms  on  young  preachers,  and,  as  I  had  just  passed  from  the  Bar  to 
the  Pulpit,  possessing  no  theological  furniture,  or  ammunition,  or  equipage, 
and  able,  in  short,  to  do  nothing  at  all,  but  repeat  the  simple  story  of  the 
Cross,  which  absorbed  my  soul.  As  the  Sabbath  approached,  I  was,  I  con- 
fess, strongly  tempted  to  essay  some  touches  of  science  and  literature,  and 
had,  in  fact,  resolved  to  steer  away  from  the  common  track,  and,  adventuring 
upon  decider  matters,  to  combat  the  refined  and  accomplished  cavils  of  skepti- 
cism. Philosophy  has  been  styled,  "the  palace  of  the  mind,"  and  in  this 
palace  Sabbath  morning  found  my  meditations.  But,  alas,  I  was  there  with 
a  soul  thoroughly  chilled.  On  our  way  to  church,  I  saw  that  my  brother  was 
careful  and  troubled  about  many  things,  and  I  felt  most  painfully  hoAV  my 
timidity  (but  its  true  name  is  wickedness)  had  paralyzed  my  spiritual  affec- 
tions. When  I  arose  in  my  place,  there  he  sat  full  before  me,  his  brow  omi- 
nously critical,  and  his  face  clouded  with  care.  However,  my  metaph3-sics 
and  metaphors  Avere  all  ready.  So  I  did  not  allow  "  the  repose  of  the  pulpit" 
to  be  "  disturbed,"  but  took  courage  and  began.  As  the  exercises  proceeded, 
my  heart  burned  within  me;  and  I  need  not  tell  you  that  to  a  burning  heart 
criticisms,  and  logical  announcements,  and  formal  dissertations  are  very  poor 
things.  The  hymn,  just  before  the  sermon,  was  that  of  Fawcett, — "  Iteli- 
gion  is  the.  chief  concern,"  &c.  On  my  old  Tutor  the  effect  of  this  hymn  I 
instantly  perceived ;  and  upon  myself  it  was  electrical.  His  cares  and  anxieties, 
and  my  own  wretched  anibitioH,  all  melted  me  down.  Before  me  were  thou- 
sands passing  into  eternity.  Above  me  were  the  opening  Heavens ;  and  beneath, 
the  yawning  abyss!  Dialectics  and  demonstrations  were  at  an  end;  and  the 
simple  text  chosen  was,  "  Thou  art  careful  and  troubled  about  many  things. 
But  one  thing  is  needful."  Scarcely  had  I  commenced,  when  I  saw  my 
friend's  countenance  beaming  with  radiance.  Presently  it  was  bathed  in 
tears;  and,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  services,  he  covered  his  face  with 
his  hands,  and  sobbed  out  aloud.  On  our  return  home,  he  came  into  my 
chamber,  and  the  simplicity,  and  fervour,  and  ingenuousness  of  his  heart, 
poured  themselves  out  in  accents  I  can  never  forget.  You  will  excuse  my 
thus  speaking  of  myself.  I  cannot  furnish  what  you  desire  without  a  little, 
otherwise  unpardonable,  egotism. 


WILLIAM  TUEOPHILCS  BRA^ITLY.  505 

As  a  Pastor  and  a  Man,  Dr.  Brantly  was  not  known  in  Charleston.  U 
would  be  painCul  to  allude  to  circumstances  which  rendered  his  removal  there 
a  misfortune  to  him,  and  retrenched  his  inlluence  in  that  city.  In  IJeaufort, 
and  Augusta,  and  Philadelphia,  his  image  is  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Churches,  as  the  impersonation  of  all  tine  and  generous  qualities.  While  1 
was  Pastor  of  the  IJeaufort  Church,  it  often  alTorded  me  the  highest  gratifica- 
tion to  read  in  the  Chuvch  Book  the  notices  of  his  sermons  and  labours.  They 
were  written  by  an  intelligent  Deacon,  and  all  record  the  eloquence  and  effect- 
iveness of  his  ministry.  In  the  other  cities,  his  memory  is  most  sacred,  and 
his  name  never  mentioned  but  with  admiration  and  love.  Since  his  death,  I 
have  conversed  with  many  old  persons  who  knew  him  well,  and  their  attesta- 
tions are  unanimous.  Ilis  piety,  during  a  life  no  small  portion  of  which  was 
a  stern  exi)eriment  of  his  faith;  his  devotion  to  the  truth,  with  an  attachment 
not  desultory  nor  spasmodic,  but  steady  and  uniform;  his  loyalty  to  Jesus, 
having  in  it  nothing  invalid,  or  effeminate,  or  half-hearted,  but  always  the 
settled  principle,  the  paramount  all-controlling  allegiance;  his  love  to  God  and 
man, — pervading  his  character  as  the  currents  circulate  through  the  pulses,  and 
giving  life  and  energy  to  his  soul;  the  sacred  knowledgx)  ilowing  from  his  lips, 
making  the  pulpit  a  throne  of  light;  his  episcopal  watchfulness,  and  faithful- 
ness, and  tenderness — as  to  all  these  excellences,  many  living  witnesses  can 
testify.  And  if  they  add  that  he  sometimes  offended  by  the  plainness  of  his 
reproofs,  it  sliould  be  remembered  that  he  Avas  as  much  above  receiving  as 
administering  flattery.  A  virtue  this  very  rare.  For  the  truth  is  that,  even 
when  we  despise  flattery,  because  we  know  it  to  be  false,  it  is  still  welcome, 
since  it  shows  us  to  be  of  so  much  consequence  that  people  will  sacrilice  their 
veracit}"^  in  order  to  please  us. 

Dr.  Dranlly's  mind  was  of  the  highest  order;  patient,  versatile,  restless 
after  improvement,  and  indefatigable.  It  was,  too,  very  carefully  r.nd  health- 
fully educated,  and  richly  imbued  with  those  classical  stores,  so  sadly  neg- 
lected in  the  ministry. 

As  to  his  Christian  character  in  general,  you  have  abundant  materials. 
There  was  one  element  which  I  always  greatly  admired,  and  which  is  so  impor- 
tant that,  as  it  may  have  escaped  others,  I  will  mention  it — I  refer  to  his 
reverence  for  the  Scriptures,  his  sense  of  the  sublime  dignity  of  Revelation. 
He  loved  the  Bible;  he  preadied  the  Bible;  and,  as  age  advanced,  he  studied 
the  Bible  with  ever  deepening  veneration.  I  never  knew  a  man  whose  mind 
had  worked  itself  more  free  from  all  those  prejudices  and  formal  systems, 
(<'  the  mind's  idols,"  as  Lord  Bacon  calls  them,)  which  cause  many  Chris- 
tians to  welcome  the  Sacred  Oracles,  onl}-  so  far  as  they  concur  with  the 
creeds  of  a  sect,  or  the  old  hereditary  sanctities  and  shibboleths  of  a  Church. 
He  felt  that  the  truths  of  Ptcvelation  are  not  scholastic  abstractions  for 
the  intellect,  but  a  message  to  the  heart,  with  all  its  noble  faculties;  and 
he,  therefore,  received  them  in  all  their  amplitude.  In  the  inspired  volume, 
he  recognised,  too,  the  wisdom,  and  majesty,  and  love  of  Cod,  and  he  bowed 
before  it  in  gratitude,  humility,  and  adoration.  lie  was  fully  armed  for  theo- 
logical warfare,  but  he  deprecated  controversy  as  impoverishing  tlie  spirit,  and 
quenching  devotion  in  cold  subtilties.  His  creed  was  not  the  faith  of  a  secta- 
rian, but  a  Christian.  Yet,  let  it  not  be  supposed  that  he  regarded  any  part 
of  Revelation  as  unimportant.  His  printed  sermons  show  that  he  kept  back 
nothing;  and,  wherever  he  proclaimed  the  Gospel,  he  could  .say, — '<  I  take  you 
to  record  that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men,  for  I  have  not  .shunned  to 
declare  to  you  all  the  counsel  of  God."  He  took  heed  to  his  doctrine,  and 
never  presumed  to  mutilate  eternal  truth,  or  modify  any  precept  of  Revela- 
tion. The  things  -which  are  revealed  he  spoke  as  the  ambassadors  of  Christ 
should  speak,  plainly  and  boldly.     But  he  stopped  witli  reverence  before  those 

Yoi..  YI.  64 


506  BAPTIST. 

deep  mysteries,  which  are  covered  Avith  adorable  darkness,  esteeming  it  the 
sublimcst  oflBcc  of  reason  to  submit  to  the  lights  of  faith,  and  to  bow  before  a 
Being  who  is  not  more  glorious  in  what  he  discloses  than  in  what  he  conceals. 
As  is  usual  with  great  preachers,  his  texts  and  topics  were  almost  always 
simple,  and  were  chosen  and  enforced  according  to  what  the  Apostle  terms 
'« the  proportion  of  faith."  His  Divinity  embraced  the  Gospel,  not  only  in  its 
integrity,  but  its  symmetry.  It  embodied  the  Bible  in  its  fulness;  in  all  that 
ampleness  which  the  schools  have  so  fettered  and  abridged,  in  order  to  accom- 
modate the  Inspired  Oracles  to  their  narrow  dogmas,  and  at  the  same  time  in 
all  its  harmony.  The  great  salvation  always  absorbed  his  soul;  and  the  atone- 
ment was  Avith  him  the  radiating  centre  of  saving  knowledge.  But  he  sur- 
passed most  men  in  the  art  of  rightly  dividing  the  word.  And  in  his  constant 
ministr}-  he  so  adjusted  the  sacred  doctrines,  and  distributed  the  truths 
of  Scripture  with  such  an  admirable  discrimination,  as  to  shovr  himself  a 
teacher  sent  by  God,  a  workman  fitted  not  merely  by  the  Theology  of  books, 
but  by  the  far  more  difficult  and  important  Theology  of  deep  personal  experience. 

You  wish  me  to  say  what  struck  me  most  in  Dr.  Brantly's  preaching.  I 
reply,  the  grandeur  of  his  conceptions,  and  his  earnest  love  of  truth.  No  one 
could  have  sat  under  his  ministry  without  recalling  sermons,  in  which  his 
mind  seem'ed  to  soar  quite  beyond  the  verge  of  time,  and,  in  high  and  rapt 
communion,  to  mingle  with  eternity.  But  it  was  not  on  such  occasions  only 
that  the  grandeur  of  his  intellect  appeared.  His  thoughts  and  illustrations 
could  elevate  and  shed  a  consecration  over  the  most  common  topics;  and  I 
have  admired  the  nobleness  of  his  imagination,  as  much  when  he  was  enforc- 
ing some  familiar  duty,  as  when  expatiating  on  the  glories  of  the  Deity,  or 
bewailing  the  doom  of  the  lost,  or  lapping  the  soul  in  all  the  blessedness  of 
Paradise. 

Nor  was  his  earnest  love  of  truth  less  conspicuous.  He  was  never  guilty  of 
the  common  mistake  of  confounding  familiarit}'^  with  words  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  truth;  nor  of  that  other  error,  that  Revelation  is  given  to  save  us  the 
toil  of  research.  In  the  cry  uttered  on  every  side, — "  Lo  here  is  Christ,  and 
lo  there!"  he  heard  a  solemn  call  to  search  the  Scriptures.  And  as  that 
Sacred  Volume  has  been  transmitted  to  us  from  distant  ages,  and  so  many 
different  parties  and  passions  have  striven  to  give  colouring  to  its  pages,  he 
felt  the  obligation  to  repair  unfettered  and  pra)'^erfully  to  the  fountain  itself. 
He  therefore  studied  the  Bible  with  perpetual  solicitude  after  truth.  And 
thus  "  buying  the  truth,"  all  will  bear  witness  that  he  purcha.scd  it  as  truth. 
An  uncommon  thing. 

Conversing  Avith  one  of  the  most  pious  and  intellectual  women  in  the 
country,  the  other  day,  she,  with  much  emphasis,  remarked, — <«  Dr.  Brantly's 
sermons  can  never  be  eifaced  from  my  conscience  and  my  heart."  And  this 
was  the  effect  on  all  who  listened  to  him.  Nobody  ever  heard  him  uttering 
truth  as  if  it  were  fiction.  God,  the  Cross,  Heaven,  Hell,  Salvation,  were  no 
probabilities  with  him.  There  was  nothing  formal,  or  conventional,  or  pro- 
fessional in  his  discourses;  none  of  those  cold  speculations,  and  technical 
disquisitions,  which  do  not  feed  but  starve  the  ilock  of  Christ.  Seeking  and 
welcoming  truth,  he  delivered  it  Avith  all  the  earnestness  of  conviction;  and 
those  who  heard,  felt  that  they  were  listening,  not  to  the  repetition  of  things 
said  because  expected,  not  to  the  echoes  of  other  men's  thoughts,  but  to  the 
tones  of  a  soul  believing,  knowing  and  loving  the  truth,  for  the  truth's  sake. 
It  was  this  healthful  and  invigorating  stimulus  of  the  love  of  the  truth,  which 
gave  Dr.  Brantly  his  power  as  a  preacher.  It  was  this  which  caused  his 
mind  to  cast  off  the  wrinkled  and  withered  skin  of  an  obsolete  Theology,  to 
put  on  the  freshness  of  Gospel  light,  and  to  flourish  in  the  strength  and  beauty 
of  that  Word  which  liveth  and  abideth  forever. 


WILLIAM  THEOPniLUS  BRANTLY.  507 

So  mournfully  pleasing  are  my  recollections  of  iho  subject  of  these  hasty 
remarks,  tliat  I  tind  this  letter  has  grown  upon  me  unconsciously.  It  is  time 
for  me  to  finish.  I  conclude  by  assuring  you  that  I  anticipate  much  profit 
and  delight  from  your  work,  and  am  truly  gratified  by  your  anxiety  to  insert 
a  faithful  sketch  of  the  life  and  character  of  Dr.  IJrantly.  The  pages  devoted 
to  him  will  be  anxiously  sought  by  thousands.  Nor  will  your  volume  per- 
petuate the  names  of  many  equally  worthy  to  be  had  in  remembrance.  Whose 
mind  was  more  vigorous  or  richly  impregnated  with  knowledge  .'  Whose 
judgment  more  ripe.''  Whose  views  niore  just  and  profound.'  Who  over 
consecrated  all  his  powers  more  cnei'getically  to  the  great  "  battle  of  life  .'" 
In  whose  breast  was  piety  a  more  deep  and  pervading  and  fruitful  sentiment .' 
Whose  heart  was  more  open  to  melting  charity  ':  AV'ho  was  ever  more 
affectionate  as  a  father  and  husband,  or  more  loving  and  beloved  in  the  friendly 
circle  ?  Whose  spirit  came  forth  from  coumiunion  Avith  the  Word,  more  girt 
for  the  ^Master's  will  ?  In  all  his  life  what  courage!  What  fortitude!  What 
submission  to  the  will  of  God!  What  a  monopolizing  desire  to  be  faithful  to 
duty!  He  was  indeed  a  noble  specimen  of  a  Man,  and  a  Christian  Minister; 
to  the  last  unremitting  in  his  toils,  giving  himself  to  the  laborious  discharge 
of  his  work  and  the  patient  contemplation  of  truths  which  the  deep  springs 
within  him  incessantly  supplied.  xVud,  although  I  deeply  deplore  the  awful 
eclipse  of  reason  under  which  he  sank  to  rest,  yet  his  friends  needed  no  dying 
assurances  of  inward  peace  from  his  lips.  He  has  bequeathed  to  them  what  is 
far  more  consoling,  the  memor}'  of  a  long  life  devoted  to  the  cause  of  truth, 
the  good  of  man,  and  the  interests  of  God. 

I  am.  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

R.  FULLER. 


DANIEL  MERRILL  * 

1805—1833. 

Daniel  Merrill,  a  son  of  Tliomas  and  Sarah  jMerrill,  was  born  in 
Rowley,  Mass.,  March  18,  1765.  He  became  hopefully  a  subject  of 
renewing  grace  wlien  he  was  in  his  thirteenth  year.  In  January,  1781, 
when  he  was  only  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  enlisted,  as  a  soldier  in  the  army, 
for  three  years,  and  continued  to  serve  in  this  capacity  till  the  close  of  the 
War.  Being  now  at  liberty,  he  began  to  meditate  the  purpose  of  becom- 
ing a  minister  of  the  Gospel ;  and,  with  this  in  view,  he  commenced  a  course 
of  study  preparatory  to  entering  College.  In  due  tin)e,  he  entered  at 
Dartmouth,  and  in  1789  graduated  at  that  institution  with  high  honour. 
After  pursuing  for  some  time  the  study  of  Theology, — it  is  believed  under 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  of  Newburyport, — he  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1791, 
and  immediately  after  commenced  his  labours,  preaching  for  (he  first  time 
at  Sedgwick,  Me.  His  first  discourse  produced  a  powerful  impression,  and 
marked  the  beginning  of  a  revival  of  religion,  which,  in  (he  course  of  a 
few  months,  numbered  nearly  one  hundred  subjects.     After   remaining  in 

•  nist.  :^Iaine  Bapt.— Bapt.  Mem.  1845.— MS.  and  Fun.  Scrm.  by  Rer.  J.  Gillpatrick. — 
MSS.  from  bis  daughter,— Mrs.  S.  M.  Carlton,  and  D.  Morgan,  Jr.,  Esq. 


508  BAPTIST. 

tlii.s  place  twenty-three  weeks,  he  left,  and,  for  about  eighteen  months,  was 
preaching  in  dift'erent  places,  and  a  like  blessing  attended  his  labours  in 
nearly  every  place  that  he  A'isited.  In  1793,  he  returned  to  Sedgwick, 
when  a  Congregational  church,  consisting  of  twenty-two  members,  was 
organized,  and  he  was  ordained  its  Pastor.  The  cliurch  rapidly  increased, 
in  both  numbers  and  efficiency,  under  his  ministry,  and  in  the  beginning 
of  1805  it  was  the  largest  church  in  any  denomination  in  Maine, — consist- 
ing of  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  members. 

A  short  time  before  this,  Mr.  Merrill,  who  had,  during  the  wludo  pre- 
ceding part  of  his  ministry,  been  firm  in  his  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
Pedobaptisni,  began  to  waver  on  the  subject,  and  he  soon  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists.  While  he  was  yet  doubting 
whether  there  was  any  scriptural  warrant  for  Infant  Baptism,  several 
infants  were  presented  for  him  to  baptize,  and  he  felt  constrained  to  decline 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  sufficient  evidence  in  favour  of  the  rite  to 
feel  justified  in  administering  it.  This  aunouncenieut  occasioned  great 
rejoicing  among  a  portion  of  his  church,  who  had  already  become  Baptists, 
and  great'  regret  on  the  part  of  others  whose  early  views  of  Baptism 
remained  unchanged.  It  was  resolved  to  spend  a  day  in  fasting  and  prayer, 
that  they  miglit  be  enlightened  in  respect  to  their  duty  ;  but  it  was  not 
till  after  several  months  that  Mr.  Merrill  was  prepared  to  declare  himself 
a  Baptist.  When  he  actually  did  this,  it  produced  great  excitement 
among  his  people,  and  a  portion  of  them  made  an  effort  to  effect  his  dis- 
mission ;  but,  a  town  meeting  being  called,  a  large  majority  voted  to  con- 
tinue him  on  the  Baptist  platform.  On  the  28th  of  February,  1805,  it 
was  agreed  to  invite  a  council  of  Baptist  ministers  and  churches  to  embody 
the  portion  of  the  church  who  had  changed  their  views,  into  a  Baptist 
church.  The  council  accordingly  assembled,  and  eighty-five  persons  were 
baptized  by  Dr.  Baldwin  of  Boston,  and  the  Rev.  Elisha  Williams  of 
Beverly.  Mr.  Merrill  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the  new  church,  Dr. 
Baldwin  preaching  the  sermon,  from  Jude  3, — "  Earnestly  contend  for  the 
faith  which  was  once  delivered  unto  the  saints." 

Mr.  jNIerrill  continued  here  until  1814,  v,hen  he  resigned  his  charge,  and 
went  to  New  Hampshire  and  became  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  Nottingham 
West.  Ilis  connection  with  this  church  ceased  in  1821,  when  he  returned 
to  Sedgwick,  and  resumed  the  pastoral  relation  with  his  former  charge, 
and  continued  it  till  the  close  of  life.  Both  in  the  earlier  and  later  periods 
of  his  ministry,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  large  numbers  gathered 
into  his  church,  in  connection  with  revivals  of  religion.  He  died,  with 
great  composure,  after  an  illness  of  several  months,  on  the  3d  of  June, 
1833,  in   the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Merrill  published  Eight  Letters  on  Open  Communion,  addressed  to 
Rufus  Anderson,  1805  ;  Letters  occasioned  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Worces- 
ter's Two  Discourses,  1807  ;  Mode  and  Subjects  of  Baptism  examined, 
with  a  Miniature  History  of  liaptism,  1812;  Balaam  disappointed; 
Thanksgiving  Sermon  at  Nottingliam  West,  1815. 

Mr.  Merrill  was  married,  shortly  after  he  commenced  pi'eaching,  to 
Joanna  Colby,  of  Sandown,  N.  II.,  who  died  in  three  months  after  her 
marriage.     On   the   14th   of  October,   1794,   he  was  married   to  Susanna 


DANIEL  MERRILL.  509 

Gale,  of  Salisbury,  N.  II.  V>y  this  marriage  he  had  thirteen  children,  all 
of  whom,  except  one,  became  professors  of  religion,  and  fwo  of  them  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel.  One  of  them,  Moses,  died  at  Council  Bluff,  a  ]Mis- 
siouary  among  the  Indians.  Mrs.  Merrill  died  about  thirteen  months  before 
her  husband. 

FKO:i  THE  REV.  ADAM  WILSON,    D.  D. 

Waterville  Mo.,  April  14,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  Among  my  earliest  recollections,  which  extend  back  not  quite 
to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  is  the  talk  I  used  to  hear  among  the 
people  of  Topsham,  my  native  place,  about  the  religious  affairs  of  Sedgwick, — 
a  town  on  the  sea-coast,  about  a  hundred  miles  East  of  us.  The  Rev-  Daniel 
Merrill  had  been  ordained  there  several  years  before,  and  had  always  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  highly  evangelical  preacher.  He  preached  Christ,  and 
redemption  through  his  blood.  With  the  Spirit'.s  power,  he  preached  the 
j)Ower  of  the  Spirit.  With  great  clearness  and  earnestness,  he  i)reached  the 
entire  ruin  of  our  race  by  sin,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  radical  change 
of  heart.  Many  had  been  converted,  and  large  accessions  made  to  the  church. 
And  now  it  was  reported  that  he  and  a  large  portion  of  iiis  church  had  become 
Baptists.  It  was  also  reported,  and  occasioned  much  remark,  that  he  now 
preached  that  Baptist  churches,  or,  as  he  called  them  baptized  churches,  are 
"  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven;"  and  all  other  churches,  "  Babylon."  From  that 
time  till  the  close  of  life,  he  was  much  accustomed  to  the  use  of  this  kind  of 
phraseology.  In  giving  an  account  of  a  revival  in  the  British  Provinces,  in 
1810,  he  writes, — "  Babylon  appears  to  be  in  full  retreat."  So  he  would 
often  say, — "  The  Kingdom  is  advancing."  My  intercourse  with  him  was 
never  sufficiently  familiar  and  confiding  to  ascertain  precisely  what  ideas  he 
attached  to  such  expressions;  yet  T  feel  quite  confident  that  he  did  not  enter- 
tain the  intensely  sectarian  views  and  feelings  which  were  often  attributed  to 
him. 

Mr.  Merrill  was  one  of  those  straight-forward,  outspoken  men,  who  are  very 
likely  to  be  misunderstood  both  in  their  language  and  feelings.  This  may  be 
illustrated  by  an  example.  In  1810,  he  visited  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Bruns- 
wick, and  an  intimate  friendship  sprang  up  between  him  and  some  of  the  Bap- 
tist ministers  and  churches  of  those  Provinces.  A  few  years  after,  during 
the  War  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  he  preached  to  his  own 
people  a  sermon  from  Joel  iii.  10 — "  Beat  your  ploughshares  into  swords,  and 
your  pruning  hooks  into  spears."  The  fame  of  the  discourse,  which  spread 
into  the  Provinces,  did  injustice  to  the  language,  and  still  more  to  the  feelings, 
of  the  preacher.  Some  of  his  language  may  have  been  injudicious;  but  his 
feelings  appear  to  have  been  those  only  of  an  earnest  patriot. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Merrill  commenced  about  1822.  lie  was 
then  on  the  down  hill  side  of  life.  Yet  he  was  active  both  in  body  and  mind. 
He  wa.s  eminently  faithful  to  his  own  convictions  of  truth  and  dutj"^.  Let  him 
he  satisfied  that  he  saw  the  right,  and  he  would  be  sure  to  go  forward.  Conr- 
age  in  the  cause  of  the  Master  was,  with  him,  a  cardinal  virtue.  Good  Chris- 
tians were  "  veterans  " — right  living  was  showing  ourselves  men  for  Christ. 
Some  have  thought  he  dwelt  too  much  on  the  manly  part  of  religion.  Xo  com- 
promise with  error — no  fear  in  defence  of  truth.  Truth  is  a  power  that  must 
and  will  prevail.  Let  us  have  peace  on  true  principles,  or  let  us  have  hon- 
ourahlc  war.  His  idea  of  Christian  union  was  union  in  truth  and  love.  He 
despised  compromise,  and  did  not  perhaps  always  make  sufficient  allowance 
for  hunLin  infirmity. 

Baptists  have  sometimes  been  thought  to  undervalue  education;  but  I  do 
not  know  that  any  one  ever  thought  that  of  Daniel  Merrill.     His  own  colle- 


510  BAPTIST. 

giate  education  gave  him  advantages  which  he  could  not  easil}^  overlook.  lie 
■was  one  of  the  founders  and  most  efficient  early  friends  of  Waterville  College. 
He  was  also  one  of  its  Trustees  for  twelve  years  after  its  organization.  Ili.s 
leading  motive  in  accepting  the  office  of  representative  to  our  Legislature,  and 
then  a  seat  in  the  Governor's  Council,  was  that  he  might  the  better  aid  in  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  education.  Waterville  College  owes  much  to  his  earnest 
and  persistent  labours. 

The  religion  of  Daniel  IMerrill,-  like  that  of  Martin  Luther,  had  its  rough 
places.  Timid  friends  might  counsel  to  greater  moderation  j  but  such  a  cliange 
might  have  diminished,  rather  than  increased,  his  usefulness.  A  self-compla- 
cent asceticism  was,  in  his  eye,  an^-^  thing  but  the  religion  of  Christ.  He 
would  have  men  carry  their  religion  into  all  departments  of  life.  lie  would 
have  Christian  rulers,  Christian  merchants,  Christian  farmers.  Christian  men 
everywhere.  lie  was,  in  spirit,  a  reformer;  and,  like  all  efficient  reformers, 
he  sometimes  used  rough  words.  But  his  friends  believe  that  even  these  came 
forth  from  a  heart  deeply  imbued  with  the  love  of  Christ,  and  earnestly  desi- 
rous that  truth  and  right  may  bless  the  world. 

Yours  respectfully, 

ADAM  AYILSO>V 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  GILLPATRICK. 

East  Trenton^  May  G,  1859. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  My  personal  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Daniel  Merrill 
was  for  only  a  few  of  the  last  years  of  his  life.  In  October,  1828,  I  became 
Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Blue  Hill,  a  town  adjoining  Sedgwick, 
the  place  where  Mr.  Merrill  exercised  his  ministry;  and,  from  tliat  time  till 
his  death,  a  period  of  between  four  and  five  j^ears,  my  intercourse  with  him 
was  quite  frequent,  and  always  agreeable. 

In  stature  Father  Merrill  was  below  the  medium  height, — not  exceeding,  f 
should  think,  five  and  a  half  feet;  and,  when  I  knew  him,  he  Avas  inclined  to 
be  corpulent.  He  stood  very  firm  and  erect,  and  his  step,  though  not  quick, 
was  elastic.  The  expression  of  his  countenance  was  grave,  but  mild  an<l 
pleasant.  His  manners  were  bland,  and  his  whole  appearance  gentlemanly. 
Though  he  had  great  firmness  and  courage,  he  was  remarkable  for  self-control, 
seldom,  if  ever,  discovering  the  least  irritation  or  haste  of  temper.  He  pos- 
sessed a  naturally  vigorous  intellect,  which  had  been  disciplined  and  improved 
by  a  thorough  education.  As  a  Christian,  he  was  devout,  consistent  and  per- 
severingly  active.  He  had  great  uniformity  of  character — at  home  and  abroad, 
in  the  famil}',  the  social  circle,  the  Church,  and  the  world,  he  ahyays  evinced 
the  same  high  regard  to  the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  Gospel.  His  rever- 
ence for  the  Bible  knew  no  bounds — it  was  emphatically  the  man  of  his  counsel 
and  the  guide  of  his  life. 

But  it  is  as  a  Preacher  thlrt  T  wish  more  particularly  to  notice  him.  As  he 
had  devoted  himself  in  early  life  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  so  this  was 
the  emploj'ment  to  which  his  heart  always  clung;  and  never,  when  his  health 
would  permit,  would  he  hesitate  to  meet  any  demand  that  was  made  upon  his 
services.  He  was  distinguished  for  punctuality  in  meeting  his  appointments. 
and,  I  believe,  never  failed  to  meet  them  well.  Whoever  else  might  refuse  to 
preach  on  any  occasion  when  he  happened  to  be  present,  he  was  sure  neither 
to  decline  or  even  hesitate. 

His  preaching  was  distinguished  for  definiteness.  He  always  had  an  object 
in  view;  and  whether  it  was  to  awaken,  to  instruct,  or  to  comfort,  lie  marched 
towards  it  with  a  simplicity  and  directness  well  fitted  to  open  the  wa}^  for  the 
truth  he  wished  to  communicate.     His  speech  was  not  with  enticing  words  of 


DANIEL  MERRILL. 


511 


man's  wisdom,  Imt  in  demonstration  of  tlic  Spirit  and  wiili  power.  His 
learning,  instead  of  being  used  for  purposes  of  self-display,  Avas  all  made 
trilnitary  to  the  investigation  and  the  exhibition  of  Divine  truth.  The  arrange- 
ment of  his  thoughts  was  natural  and  lucid,  his  language  forcil)lc,  and  his 
illustrations  pertinent  and  often  striking.  lie  drew  the  line  with  great  di.s- 
tinctness  between  the  two  great  classes  of  mankind;  and  if  anj'  mistook  in 
regard  to  their  own  characters,  it  was  not  his  fault.  Ilis  grand  aim  evidently 
was  to  impress  Divine  truth  in  all  its  life  and  power  upon  the  hearts  and  con- 
sciences of  his  hearers;  and,  in  the  effort  to  do  this,  he  forgot  all  inferior 
considerations.  But,  while  he  Mas  bold  and  uncompromising  in  exhibiting 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  he  was  far  from  being  harsh  or  unfeeling — 
on  the  contrary,  his  heart  was  evidently  full  of  compassion  for  those  to  whom 
he  endeavoured,  in  all  fidelity,  to  present  the  terrors  of  the  Lord;  and  not 
unfrequentlj'  a  flood  of  tears  would  well-nigh  obstruct  his  utterance.  And 
his  preaching  was,  as  might  be  expected,  crow-ned  with  a  rich  blessing.  Not 
only  in  awakening  and  converting  sinners,  but  in  edifying,  conlirniing  and 
conforting  saints,  he  exerted  an  inlluencc  which  must  be  contemplated  in  the 
light  of  the  coming  world,  before  any  adequate  estimate  can  be  formed  of  it. 

Yours  truly, 

j.'gillpatrick. 


WILLIAM  PALMER. 

1805— 1S53. 

FROM  THE  REV.  FREDERIC  DENISON. 

Norwich,  Conn.,  Feb.  23,  1859. 

Dear  Sir :  As  I  was  absent  from  my  native  State  about  twelve  years, 
and  did  not  return  till  nearly  a  year  after  the  death  of  the  Rev.  William 
Palmer,  I  am  unable  to  furnish  any  thing  of  special  interest  concernin'^ 
him  from  personal  knowledge.  My  recollections  of  him  belong  to  the 
period  of  my  youth,  when,  as  I  had  no  experimental  knowledge  of  reli- 
gion, and  felt  no  interest  in  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  except  in  our  own 
venerable  Pastor,  John  Gano  Wightman,  I  did  not  give  the  attention 
necessary  to  preserve  the  words  and  manners  of  the  many  worthy  men  thaf 
used  occasionally  to  stand  up  in  the  unpainted  pulpit,  under  the  huge  sound- 
ing board,  of  the  First  liaptist  Church  in  Groton, 

The  brief  sketch  of  Mr.  Palmer,  that  I  am  about  to  furnish  you,  lias 
been  drawn  from  tlie  many  papers  he  left,  which  arc  now  in  my  po.ssession  : 
from  statements  given  by  his  widow,  now  living,  and  an  honoured  member 
of  the  church  of  which  I  am  the  Pastor  ;  from  the  History  of  the  New 
London  Baptist  Association,  and  from  various  persons  who  were  his  coad- 
jutors. And  I  only  regret  that  the  task — pleasure  ratlier — of  commem- 
orating a  man  so  lovely  and  loved,  so  meek  and  quiet,  so  faithful  and 
fervent,  so  useful  though  retiring,  and  whose  great  memorial  was  in  the 
hearts  of  his  generation,  could  not  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  a  mcirc  historic- 
and  accomplished  pen.     Such  facts,  however,  as  I  have,  give  I  unto  thee. 

WiLLl.VM  Palmkr  was  born  in  Colchester.  Conn.,  September  10,  1785. 
His  father  was  the  llcv.  Abel  Palmer,  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was 


512  BAPTIST. 

Lois  Palmer.  So  William  was  of  pure  Palmer  blood;  and  the  history 
of  the  Palmers,  in  Eastern  Connecticut,  shows  that  the  blood  for  many 
generations  has  been  lionourable,  gentle,  and  godly.  William  enjoyed 
such  advantages  of  education  as  his  native  town  furnished  ;  but,  as  these 
were  limited, — Bacon  Academy  being  not  yet  founded, — he  was  left  to 
pursue  his  studies  alone,  with  the  aid  only  of  his  father  and  a  few  lovers 
of  books.  But  William  was  a  student  from  his  boyhood  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  His  library  was  his  earthly  Eden.  Though  very  active,  buoyant, 
and  even  mischievous,  in  youth,  all  was  the  expression  of  irrepressible 
powers  of  mind  and  heart,  that  were  genial  and  noble,  destined  to  move  in 
an  elevated  sphere,  and  to  guide  the  aspirations  and  powers  of  other  men. 

He  became  hopefully  pious  when  eighteen  years  of  age,  under  the  min- 
istry of  his  devout  father,  in  Hampton,  Conn.,  where  his  father  was  then 
settled.  Now  the  whole  current  of  his  soul  was  turned  into  its  proper 
channel.  No  sooner  had  he  followed  Christ  in  Baptism,  than  he  felt  called 
upon  to  stand  up  and  proclaim  his  Gospel.  Baptized  by  his  father's  hanc^s, 
he  trod  i,a  his  father's  steps,  as  the  Spirit  wrought  convictions  of  duty 
within  him.  His  gifts,  as  they  were  called  into  exercise,  made  room  for  him 
in  the  hearts  of  his  brethren,  and  commended  him  to  the  favour  of  all  that 
heard  him. 

Mr.  Palmer  received  a  license,  and  commenced  his  career  as  a  preacher, 
when  but  twenty  years  of  age.  True,  he  was  very  young,  but,  from  his 
extensive  reading,  careful  observation,  and  well  balanced  powers,  all  tem- 
pered by  a  winning  humility,  he  was  fitted  to  gain  the  attention  of  men, 
and  to  impart  substantial  instruction. 

In  1807,  Mr.  Palmer  was  married  to  Sarah  Bennett,  sister  to  Alfred 
and  Alviu  Bennett, — both  well  known  ministers  of  the  Grospel.  He  had 
no  children.     His  widow  is  still  living  in  this  city. 

In  1809,  Mr.  Palmer  received  ordination  in  Colchester,  Conn., — the 
sermon  on  the  occasion  being  preached  by  the  E,ev.  Samuel  Bloss,  A.  M., 
of  Stafford.  He  was  first  settled  in  Ashford,  Conn.,  where  he  remained, 
and  laboured  successfully,  for  three  years.  The  church  was  small  and 
poor,  but  he  drew  an  unusually  large  congregation. 

His  second  settlement  was  with  the  church  in  his  native  town,  wliere  he 
was  installed,  and  remained  ten  years.  Here  his  ministry  was  specially 
honoured.  In  one  season  of  revival,  he  baptized  twenty-Jiine  persons,  and 
the  church,  standing  in  a  rural  district  and  remote  from  the  village,  was, 
in  other  ways,  not  a  little  strengthened. 

His  third  settlement  w^s  with  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of 
Norwich,  where  he  preached,  in  all,  fourteen  years.  Here  he  succeeded  tlie 
venerable  John  Sterry,  commencing  his  labours  in  April,  1824.  Here,  as 
elsewhere,  his  ministry  was  blessed  in  quickening  and  enlarging  the  church. 
He  had  two  terms  of  labour  with  this  church  ;  the  first  of  ten  years ;  the 
second  of  four  years.  Very  precious  revivals  were  experienced  during  liis 
ministry  here.  In  1820,  forty-five  were  baptized;  in  1830,  thirty-two. 
Between  1824  and  1834,  he  baptized  more  than  one  hundred. 

After  leaving  Norwich,  in  1834,  he  settled,  for  three  years,  with  the 
Church  in  East  Lyme,  and  afterwards,  for  four  years,  with  the  Church  in 
North  Lyme.     Meanwhile,  revivals  were  enjoyed  under  his  labours  ;  and  he 


WILLIAM  PALMER.  513 

frequently  assisted  otlicr  cliurehos  in  their  times  uf  refreshing  from  the  Lord. 

Mr.  Palmer  returned  to  Norwich,  iind  resumed  the  pastoral  oiliee  of  the 
Kirst  Church,  in  1841,  and  remained  till  1845,  when,  owing  chiefly  to  the 
feebleness  of  his  health,  ho  resigned  his  charge.  After  this,  he  did  not 
(dioose  to  assume  the  full  responsibilities  of  a  Pastor  with  any  church, 
though  solicited  to  do  so,  but  contented  himself  with  occasionally  assisting  his 
bretliren  in  the  ministry,  and  supplying,  to  some  extent,  destitute  churches. 

Mr.  Palmer  was  of  hardly  medium  stature,  rather  thick  frame,  round 
shoulders,  very  fair  complexion,  bright  eyes,  pleasant  voice,  and  easy  man- 
ners. He  was  more  a  John  than  a  Peter.  If  only  once  seen  and  heard, 
he  was  sure  to  be  remembered  for  his  mildness  and  sweetness  of  both  lan- 
guage and  manner.  He  was  favoured  with  well  balanced  powers,  and  a 
superior  memory.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  study.  He  accumulated 
a  large  and  very  valuable  library  for  his  day  ;  and  all  his  books,  pamphlets, 
and  papers  were  arranged  with  the  greatest  order,  and  fully  catalogued  even 
to  their  contents,  that  their  stores  might  be  at  his  command  at  any  moment. 
He  was  an  ardent  friend  of  popular  education,  and  held  the  school-house 
next  in  rank  to  the  pulpit.  Among  the  people  of  his  charge  he  circulated 
as  many  books  and  papers  as  possible.  Thus  he  toiled  for  the  intellectual 
and  religious  culture  of  all.     In  this  he  was  eminent  above  his  fellows. 

Mr.  Palmer  held  a  high  rank  as  a  Preacher.  He  was  earnest,  spiritual, 
ever  dwelling  with  great  emphasis  upon  the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  guard- 
ing against  every  departure  from  what  he  believed  to  be  the  true  Gospel. 

He  was  much  honoured  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.  For  twenty- 
live  years  he  was  the  Clerk  of  the  New  London  Baptist  Association,  and 
he  was  indeed  an  accomplished  scribe.  In  every  thing  he  was  exact, 
prompt  and  thoroughly  systematic. 

Mr.  Palmer's  papers  show  that,  during  his  ministry,  he  baptized  more 
than  three  hundred  and  forty  souls,  and  married  about  four  hundred  couples. 
He  left  no  fully  written  sermons,  but  a  great  number  of  briefs  or  skcle- 
tons,  for  he  never  preached  without  careful  preparation.  Specimens  of  his 
writing  arc  found  in  the  Letters  prepared  by  him  for  the  Associations  with 
which  he  stood  connected. 

His  death  occurred  at  his  residence  in  Norwich,  after  a  brief  illness,  on 
the  25th  of  December,  1853,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  and  after  a  minis- 
try of  forty-eight  years.  His  largely  attended  funeral  was  conducted  by 
many  clergymen,  some  of  every  evangelical  name  in  the  city,  who  addressed 
the  people,  expressing  alike  their  own  deep  grief  and  the  loss  of  the  com- 
munity at  large. 

Yours,  with  regard, 

FREDERIC  DENISON. 

Vol.  VI.  65 


514  BAPTIST. 


SAMUEL  LAMKIN  STRAUGHAN* 

180G— 1821. 

Samuel  Lamkin  Stuaugiian,  a  sou  of  Samuel  L.  and  Phebe  (Lewis) 
Straughan.  was  born  in  Northumberland  County,  Va.,  on  the  30th  of 
July,  1783.  The  family,  on  both  the  father's  and  mother's  side,  was 
highly  respectable,  but  not  opulent.  His  father  was  a  farmer;  and  he 
was  himself,  at  an  early  age,  put  to  labour  ou  a  farm.  For  two  or  three 
years  he  was  sent  to  a  common  school ;  and,  at  the  age  of  eleven  or  twelve, 
had  made  such  improvement  as  to  become  a  clerk  in  his  uncle's  store. 

Dining  his  cliildhood,  he  exhibited  a  sobriety  and  manliness  of  cliaracter 
mucli  beyond  his  years;  and  so  fond  was  he  of  reading  and  hearing  upon 
religious  subjects,  that  his  father  used  playfully  to  call  him  his  preacher. 
His  deportment,  while  living  with  his  uncle,  was  such  as  to  secure  his 
entire  confidence  and  warm  affection ;  and,  having  no  children  of  his  own, 
he  had  declared  his  intention  to  make  his  nephew  his  licir  ;  but,  as  he  died 
intestate,  this  intention  was  not  carried  out.  Samuel  continued  in  this 
situation,  till  he  was  about  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  his 
uncle  gave  up  mercantile  business  ;  and  then,  by  his  recommendation,  he 
went  to  live  with  a  Mr.  James  Smith, — a  merchant  of  high  standing  at 
Northumberland  Court  House.  During  his  clerkship  with  liis  uncle,  he 
improved  every  opportunity  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  chiefly  by  means 
of  books,  and  the  occasional  instructions  of  a  sea-captain,  he  made  himself 
well  acquainted  with  not  only  Arithmetic  but  Surveying  and  Navigation. 
He  afterwards  became  an  accomjjlislicd  practical  Surveyor. 

It  was  while  he  lived  at  Northumberland  Court  House  that  his  mind 
took  a  permanently  serious  direction.  In  April,  1802,  he  first  became 
deeply  concerned  in  respect  to  his  salvation,  but  it  was  not  till  October 
following  that  he  ventured  to  indulge  any  hope  that  he  was  a  subject  of 
God's  forgiving  mercy ;  and  several  months  more  elapsed  before  he  could 
contemplate  his  Christian  experience  with  any  comfortable  degree  of  con- 
fidence. He  was  baptized  on  the  7th  of  April,  1803,  by  Elder  Jacob 
Creath,  who  had,  at  that  time,  the  charge  of  the  Morattico  Church, 

At  the  age  of  about  twenty-one,  he  was  married  to  a  Mrs.  Alexander,  a 
young  widow  with  one  child. 

Shortly  after  he  was  baptized,  he  began  to  make  occasional  efforts  in  the 
way  of  exhortation,  \vh-ich,  though  characterized  by  great  modesty,  were 
so  successful  as  to  suggest  to  his  friends  the  desirableness  of  his  entering 
the  ministry.  There  were  difiiculties,  however,  which  kept  him  back  for 
some  time  ;  but  those  difiiculties  were  gradually  surmounted,  and,  on  the 
20th  of  iNIareh,  180G,  he  received  ordination.  On  the  same  day,  he  took 
charge  of  the  Wicomico  Church,  to  which  he  had  received  a  unanimous 
call.  He  very  soon  took  rank  among  the  first  Baptist  preachers  in  Vir- 
ginia. Within  a  short  period,  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  took  place 
under  his  labours ;  and  the  church  of  which  he  was  Pastor  increased  from 
a  mere  handful  to  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  members. 
•Memoir by  Rev,  R.  B.  Semple. 


SAMUEL  LAMKIN  STRAUGHAN.  5^5 

In  ISOT.hcwas  uiianiniously  iiivitoil  to  the  pastoral  e:iro  of  the  iMorattico 
Church.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  held  the  charge  till  his  death. 
Large  additions  were  made  to  this  church,  from  time  to  time,  under  his 
ministry;  hut  the  year  1816  was  signalized  by  an  extensive  revival,  in 
which  forty  or  fifty  professed  to  be  converted,  and  were  admitted  to  Baptism. 

In  1814,  Mr.  Straughan  was  appointed  by  the  Missionary  Society  of 
llichmond  to  travel  into  certain  parts  of  Maryland,  where  there  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  great  call  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  He  had  once 
before,  by  special  invitation,  visited  that  part  of  the  country,  and  his 
labours  had  proved  highly  acceptable  ;  and  this,  in  connection  with  the 
peculiar  qualifications  which  he  was  thought  to  possess  for  such  a  field  of 
labour,  marked  him  out  as  the  proper  person  to  be  thus  employed.  The 
appointment  occasioned  him  great  anxiety;  for  while,  on  the  one  hand,  he 
already  had  the  care  of  two  large  churches,  which  required  his  Avhole 
attention,  on  the  other,  the  call  from  Maryland  seemed  to  him  to  be 
attended  by  such  peculiar  providential  circumstances,  that  he  could  not 
see  his  way  clear  to  decline  it.  In  this  perplexed  state  of  mind,  he  laid 
the  matter  before  one  or  both  of  his  churches,  and  they  agreed  to  observe 
a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  with  a  view  to  seek  the  Divine  direction. 
The  result  was  a  determination,  on  his  part,  to  accept  the  appointment ; 
and  notice  was,  accordingly,  in  due  time,  given  to  the  Society. 

He  soon  entered  upon  his  mission,  and,  amidst  obstacles  of  an  appalling 
character,  prosecuted  it  with  unyielding  perseverance,  and  encouraging 
success.  He  continued,  from  year  to  year,  and  several  times  in  the  year, 
to  make  these  visits  to  Maryland,  until  he  was  arrested  by  the  disease 
which  at  length  terminated  his  life.  That  disease  crept  upon  him  insidi- 
ously, but  in  1819  it  had  made  such  progress  that  he  was  compelled,  for  a 
considerable  time,  to  intermit  almost  entirely  his  labours.  In  November 
of  that  year,  however,  he  was  so  far  recruited  that  he  ventured  to  return 
to  Maryland ;  and,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  missionary  visit  in  his 
journal,  he  says, — "  I  have  been  enabled  to  have  fifteen  meetings  for  the 
last  fourteen  days,  and  have  filled  them  up  with  much  comfort  to  myself, 
and  I  hope,  with  advantage  to  many  others." 

In  the  beginning  of  1820,  there  seemed  a  very  decided  improvement  in 
his  health,  and  hopes  began  to  be  entertained  by  himself  and  his  friends 
that  he  would  entirely  overcome  his  pulmonary  tendencies.  He  made 
one  tour  to  Maryland  in  jMarch,  and  left  appointments  for  another  in  May. 
In  consequence,  however,  of  excessive  labour,  in  the  interval,  to  wliich  he 
was  prompted  by  his  extraordinary  zeal,  his  disease  returned  upon  him 
with  greater  force,  and,  before  he  had  completed  his  missionary  tour  in 
May,  it  became  too  manifest  to  his  friends  that  his  days  would  soon  be 
numbered.  On  the  30th  of  May,  about  a  fortnight  from  the  time  he  left 
home,  he  had  begun  to  preach  at  Nanjemoy  meeting-house,  Charles  County. 
Md.,  when  he  found  himself  unable  to  proceed,  and,  in  sitting  down,  closed 
not  only  his  discourse,  but  his  whole  ministry.  He  reached  home  on  the 
Cth  of  June,  and  from  that  time  rarely  left  his  house,  till  he  left  it  for  his 
long  home.  The  best  medical  skill  which  the  region  afforded,  was  put  in 
requisition,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Tiiough  his  mind  was  generally  tran- 
quil, and  he  talked  of  death   with  perfect  composure,  yet,  at  one  time,  he 


516  BAPTIST. 

entertained  serious  doubts  of  his  acceptance ;  and  those  doubts  were 
removed  by  means  of  a  vision  in  which  he  imagined  himself  taken  up  to 
Heaven  under  the  guidance  of  a  good  angel.  He  died  on  the  9th  of  June, 
1821,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  He  left  a  widow  and  seven 
children. 

Mr.  Straughan  published  nothing,  except  three  Circular  letters  for  the 
Dover  Association — the  first  in  1812,  on  Itinerant  Preaching — the  second 
in  1817,  on  Christian  Marriages — the  third  in  1819,  on  Christian  Liberty. 


FROM  THE  REV.  ADDISON  HALL. 

Kilmarnock,  Lancaster  Co.,  Va.,  > 
February  21,  1858.      \ 
My  dear  Sir :    It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request 
to  furnish  you  with  my  personal  recollections  of  the  late  Rev.  Samuel  L. 
Straughan- 

My  opportunities  of  knowing  him  were  very  favourable,  he  having  inter- 
married with  the  sister  of  my  mother,  and  consequently  been  a  frequent 
visiter  in  my  father's  family.  He  had  a  monthly  appointment  for  preaching 
within  three  miles  of  our  residence,  and  was  my  Pastor  for  a  short  time, 
having  baptized  me  about  two  years  previous  to  his  death.  Nevertheless, 
being  a  young  man  at  that  time,  and  more  than  thirty  years  having  elapsed, 
1  find  some  difficulty  in  bringing  him  so  distinctly  before  me,  as  to  enable  me 
accurately  to  describe  his  personal  appearance,  manners,  preaching,  &c.  I 
will,  however,  attempt  it. 

Mr.  Straughan  was  considerably  above  the  ordinary  size,  being  about  six 
feet  two  inches  in  height,  well  proportioned,  and  weighing  not  far  from  one 
hundred  and  eighty  pounds.  His  form  was  straight  and  majestic,  his  features 
strong  but  svmmetrical,  his  hair  dark  and  straight,  his  ej'es  blue,  and  his 
complexion  fair.  Ilis  countenance  was  peculiarly  expressive,  and  a  pleasant 
amile  usually  played  upon  his  lips.  He  was,  ordinarily,  grave  and  reserved 
in  his  manners  and  deportment,  but,  occasionally,  lively  and  animated.  In 
general  society,  his  conversation  was  dignified  and  guarded,  but  in  small 
circles  of  intimate  friends  and  acquaintances,  he  was  less  reserved  and  would 
join  in  the  jocund  laugh,  and  relish  the  innocent  anecdote.  I  recollect  once 
seeing  him  laugh  immoderately,  on  occasion,  I  think,  of  reading  a  very  witty 
and  sarcastic  poetical  composition. 

In  regard  to  his  intellectual  character,  my  recollections  are  that,  whilst, 
for  want  of  early  training,  he  was  deficient  in  scholastic  learning,  he  was, 
nevertheless,  from  the  vigour  of  his  intellect,  and  the  enquiring  cast  of  his 
mind,  enabled  to  attain  an  elevated  position  in  regard  to  sound  and  useful 
knowledge.  He  was  so  well  informed  upon  general  subjects  that  he  could 
bear  his  part  well  in  conversation  in  almost  any  circle;  but  upon  religious  and 
scriptural  topics  he  greatly  excelled.  I  think  I  have  never  known  his  equal 
in  the  knowledge  of  Cod's  word.  He  was,  to  some  extent,  aided  in  his 
researches  into  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures  by  commentators,  but  his  chief 
reliance,  I  have  thought,  was  a  comparison  of  Scripture  with  Scripture, 
accompanied  with  praj^er  for  Heavenly  guidance.  He  committed  large  por- 
tions of  the  Bible  to  memory,  and  so  much  of  it  did  he  quote  in  the  pulpit, 
that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  the  curious  to  count  the  passages  in  a  single 
sermon,  and  they  would  often  reach  nearly  a  hundred.  This  habit  of  inter- 
larding his  discourses  with  so  many  texts  to  prove  his  points,  when  a  few  well 
chosen  ones  would  have  sufficed,  I  considered  a  defect  in  his  mode  of  sermon- 
ieing.     It  showed,  however,  that  he  was   "mighty  in  the  Scriptures."     The 


SAMUEL  LAMKIN  STRAUGIIAN.  517 

small  pocket  Bible  which  he  used  in  his  private  reading  and  studies,  and  which 
is  still  preserved  as  a  memento  in  the  family,  is  an  interesting  and  curious 
relic,  from  tlie  great  number  of  marginal  hicroglyphical  marks  and  references 
which  it  contains.     This  volume  was  evidently  his   Vad;  iwcum. 

Mr.  Straughan  was  not  only  intellectually  familiar  with  thesacrcd  volume, 
but  in  a  very  high  degree  did  he  imbibe  its  spirit.  He  studied  it,  not  solely 
that  he  might  j)roclaim  its  truths  toothers,  but  that  he  might  himself  become 
more  and  more  the  subject  of  its  quickening  power.  And  truly  did  its  sancti- 
fying influence  appear  most  conspicuously  in  him.  I  do  not  exaggerate,  nor 
am  I  governed  by  private  friendship  and  partiality,  when  1  give  it  as  my 
decided  opinion  that  he  was  the  most  godly  man  that  I  ever  knew;  and  in 
this  opinion  I  am  confirmed  by  the  united  testimony  of  his  cotcmporaries, 
both  within  and  without  the  Church. 

As  a  preacher,  it  is  difficult  to  assign  with  precision  to  Mr.  Straughan  his 
appropriate  place.  His  preaching  was  emphatically  sai  generis.  He  evidently 
had  no  human  model;  and,  alwa)'s  speaking  extemporaneously,  was  not  very 
methodical  in  his  arrangement.  His  voice,  naturall}'  full  and  sonorous,  lost 
something  of  its  force  from  the  rapidity  of  his  utterance.  Each  of  his  ser- 
mons, occupying  from  an  hour  to  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  sometimes  two 
hours,  in  the  delivery,  contained  matter  sufficient  for  two  ordinary  discourses; 
though  thoy  would  undoubtedly  have  borne  much  pruning,  if  they  had  been 
written  out.  His  .style  was  higlily  figurative,  and  his  illustrations  striking, 
though  sometimes  homely.  My  impression  is  that  he  preached  generally  to 
Christians.  To  feed  the  flock  of  Christ  seemed  to  be  the  chief  object  of  liis 
ministry,  or  at  least  most  accorded  with  his  own  taste  and  inclination.  In 
the  distribution  of  the  bread  of  life  to  the  Church,  however,  there  was  so 
much  solemnity,  warmth  and  affection,  that  sinners  often  became  deeply 
interested,  and  were  induced  to  seek  a  portion  of  the  Heavenly  manna. 

Whilst  there  were  redundancies  in  his  style,  there  was  much  matter  in  his 
sermons, — matter  of  the  highest  import.  The  Atonement  of  Christ  constituted 
the  great  theme  of  his  ministrjs  and  he  was  accustomed  to  preach  this  sublime 
doctrine  with  so  much  fervour  and  pathos  as  often  to  affect  his  auditors  to 
weeping.  Nor  did  the  truth  which  so  affected  others,  fail  to  produce  a  similar 
effect  upon  his  own  mind.  I  have  more  than  once  seen  him  so  overpowered 
by  his  subject  as  suddenly  to  pause  in  his  discourse,  and  burst  into  tears. 

Mr.  Straughan  was  not  a  member  of  any  ecclesiastical  body,  other  than  the 
District  Association  of  his  own  denomination,  Avhich  he  almost  invariably 
attended.  It  was  the  custom,  in  that  day,  for  the  Association  to  elect,  by 
ballot,  preachers  to  occupy  the  pulpit  during  its  session;  and  so  popular  was 
Mr.  Straughan  as  a  preacher,  that  he  was  sure  to  be  elected  to  preacli  on  the 
Sabbath.  I  was  present  on  one  occasion  when  the  Association  convened  in 
one  of  his  own  churches,  and,  though  there  was  a  good  supply  of  visiting 
ministers  present,  yet  Mr.  S.  was  chosen  by  that  Body  as  one  of  the  preachers 
for  the  Sabbath, — a  case  which  perhaps  never  occurred  before  in  the  history 
of  the  Association. 

I  have  thus  briefly,  my  dear  Sir,  responded  to  your  letter,  by  endeavouring 
to  give  you  a  faithful   record  of  my  personal  recollections  of  one  of  the  sub- 
jects of  your  contemplated   work,   and   I   shall  be   highly  gratified,   if,   in  so 
doing,  I  have  rendered  you  the  smallest  aid  in  its  prosecution. 
I  am,  dear  Sir,  with  high  regard, 

Faithfully  vours, 

ADDISON  HALL. 


518  BAPTIST. 


DAVID  JONES  * 

1806—1833. 

David  Jones  was  born  at  a  place  called  Bracliodnant,  in  the  parish  of 
Llanbrynmair,  County  of  Montgomery,  North  Wales,  in  April,  1785. 
His  parents  were  in  indigent  circumstances,  but  were  worthy  members  of 
an  Independent  church  in  tliat  neighbourhood,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Rev.  Ilichard  Tibbot,  well  known  throughout  the  Principality  fur  the 
abundance  and  fidelity  of  his  itinerant  labours  among  all  the  denomina- 
tions of  Dissenters.  He  was  a  sickly,  backward  child,  and  was  particu- 
larly affected  with  the  rickets.  When  he  was  about  four  years  old,  both 
his  parents  were  cut  off  witliin  two  weeks  of  each  other,  by  an  epidemic 
that  prevailed  very  extensively  and  fatally  in  the  neighbourhood.  Being 
thus  left  an  orphan,  he  was  very  generously  cared  for  by  two  aunts, — his 
mother's  sisters,  who,  however,  indulged  him  to  such  excess  that  it  had 
well-nigh  proved  his  ruin.  He  was  sent  to  an  English  Free  School  in  the 
neighbourhood,  but,  owing  partly  to  defective  teaching,  and  partly  to  want 
of  interest  in  his  studies,  he  made  but  little  progress.  At  the  age  of 
eleven,  he  became  so  unmanageable  by  his  aunt  with  whom  he  lived,  that 
she  could  keep  him  no  longer,  and  he  was  sent  to  live  among  strangers. 
He  remained  in  the  family  in  which  he  was  placed,  a  year,  and  then. went 
to  live  in  another ;  but  he  was  now  removed  from  all  the  means  of  grace, 
and  the  restraints  of  Christian  society,  and,  under  these  circumstances,  he 
formed  various  evil  habits,  especially  that  of  profane  swearing.  It  was, 
however,  not  long  before  he  was  brought  back  to  his  native  place,  where 
he  was  apprenticed  to  the  business  of  weaving;  and  here  his  advantages 
for  moral  and  religious  improvement  were  every  thing  that  could  be  desired. 

About  this  time,  he  became  impressed  with  the  importance  of  religion, 
and  with  his  own  personal  guilt  and  danger  ;  but  such  was  the  force  of 
his  corrupt  inclinations  that  resistance  seemed  to  him  absolutely  impossible. 
He  was  now  about  fifteen  years  old.  At  the  close  of  his  apprenticeship, 
he  returned  to  his  aunt's,  and  shortly  after  united  with  the  Independent 
Church,  though  he  subsequently  doubted  whether  at  that  time  he  had  had 
any  experience  of  the  power  of  religion. 

Having  followed  his  trade  about  a  year,  he  took  up  the  idea  of  coming 
to  America,  which  had  already  become  especially  attractive  to  him  as  a 
land  of  freedom.  But  he  had  no  means  of  paying  his  passage  hither  ;  and 
therefore  the  hope  of  coming  seemed  to  be  forbidden  to  him.  Hearing, 
however,  from  one  of  his  acquaintances  who  had  gone  to  Liverpool  to  live, 
that  he  had  plenty  of  work  and  good  wages,  he  formed  the  purpose  of 
following  his  friend  thither,  in  the  hope  that,  in  a  year  or  two,  he  might 
save  enough  from  his  earnings  to  bring  him  to  America.  This  was  rather 
a  bold  resolve  for  a  boy  of  seventeen,  who  had  never  been  fifteen  miles 
from  home,  who  had  no  money  to  travel  with,  and  who  did  not  know 
enough  of  English  even  to  ask  for  what  he  wanted  on    the   road.     As  he 

*  Autobiog.— MS.  from  Rev.  Thomas  Winter. 


DAVID  JONES.  510 

had  been  a  iiieinLcr  of  tlie  Church  for  sonic  time,  a  praycr-ineoting  was 
held  on  the  8ubLatli  evening  previous  to  his  departure,  in  whicli  many 
fervent  petitions  went  up  for  his  temporal  and  spiritual  prosperity.  The 
next  morning,  he  set  out  on  his  journey,  witli  a  bundle  of  clothes  in  his 
hand  and  a  few  shillings  in  his  pocket,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  third 
day,  found  himself  at  Liverpool.  He  suffered  not  a  little  embarrassment 
from  his  inability  to  speak  English,  and,  though  he  soon  succeeiled  in  find- 
ing employment  adequate  to  his  immediate  support,  he  had  no  prospect  of 
being  able  to  pay  his  passage  across  the  Atlantic. 

After  he  had  been  in  Liverpool  more  than  a  twelve-month,  a  Mr.  Hughes, 
who  had  lived  in  America  several  years,  arrived  there  from  Wales,  where 
he  had  just  been  married,  and  was  then  on  his  return  to  this  country. 
He  was  bringing  with  him  a  boy  and  a  girl,  of  sixteen  and  eighteen  years 
of  age,  who  were  to  pay  their  passage  by  their  services  after  their  arrival 
here.  Young  Jones  inquired  of  Mr.  H.  whether  he  also  might  not  accom- 
pany him  on  the  same  condition ;  but  Mr.  H.  felt  obliged  to  decline  the 
request,  on  the  ground  that  his  funds  would  not  permit  it.  He,  therefore, 
returned  to  his  work,  while  his  friends  went  on  board  the  ship  to  prosecute 
their  voyage.  The  ship  pushed  off  into  the  stream,  and  anchored,  but  was 
kept  from  sailing  for  several  days  by  an  adverse  wind.  One  evening,  on 
returning  from  his  work,  he  found  a  note  from  Mr.  H.,  stating  that  the 
boy  whom  he  was  to  have  taken  with  him,  had  become  dissatisfied  and 
homesick,  and  utterly  refused  to  go  ;  and  tliat  if  he  were  disposed  to  take 
his  place,  he  (Mr.  H.)  would  cheerfully  consent  to  it.  He  gladly  embraced 
the  offer,  and  carl}'  the  next  forenoon,  he  and  the  homesick  lad  had,  to 
their  mutual  joy,  changed  places; — he  being  on  board  the  ship  bound  for 
America,  and  the  other  safely  on  land,  and  delivered  from  the  dreary 
prospect  of  crossing  the  ocean.  It  was  not  more  than  an  hour  after  he 
reached  the  ship  when  a  fair  wind  sprung  up,  that  carried  her  rapidly  on 
her  course.  He  was  always  accustomed  to  recognise  a  special  providence 
in  the  event,  which  thus  led  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  wish  in  finding  a 
home  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

After  a  tedious  passage  of  eleven  weeks,  the  ship  arrived  at  Philadel- 
phia ;  and  the  first  intelligence  that  reached  them,  on  their  approach,  was. 
that  the  city  had  been  rendered  well-nigh  desolate  by  the  prevalence  of 
the  Yellow  Fever.  While  Mr.  H.  and  his  family  went  on  shore  at  th( 
lazaretto,  young  Jones  went  up  with  the  vessel  to  the  city,  and  in  a  few 
days  got  the  goods  landed,  and  conveyed  over  the  Schuylkill.  This  was  in 
the  autumn  of  180.3,  Mr.  H.  having  made  the  necessary  arrangements 
for  the  journey,  they  forthwith  set  their  faces  toward  the  Far  West ;  and 
in  about  six  weeks  they  arrived  in  safety  on  the  banks  of  the  Big  ^Miiimi. 
Mr.  H.  had  previously  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  that  neighbour- 
hood,— about  twenty  miles  below  Cincinnati, — and  had  caused  a  rude  log 
cabin  to  be  erected,  in  which  they  lived  during  the  winter. 

No  circumstances  could  have  been  more  adverse  to  religious  improve- 
ment than  those  in  which  this  young  man  now  found  himself;  for  not  only 
was  he  completely  exiled  from  all  the  means  of  grace,  but  was  sur- 
rounded with  infidels  and  open  scoffers  at  all  religion.  Though  their 
influence  did  not  avail  to  undermine  his  faith  in  Christianity,  and  he  even 


520  BAPTIST. 

occasionally  held  arguments  with  them,  as  far  as  his  imperfect  knowledgo 
of  the  English  language  would  allow,  yet  he  contracted  an  indifference  to 
the  more  spiritual  duties  and  exercises  of  religion,  that  afterwards  occa- 
sioned him  deep  regret  and  pungent  remorse.  The  death  of  Mrs.  Hughes, 
who  was  distinguished  for  her  piety,  occurred  in  less  than  a  year  after  their 
settlement  here ;  and  this  brought  him  temporarily  into  a  better  state  ; 
but  he  very  soon  became  as  indifferent  as  ever.  After  remaining  in  the 
family  about  two  years,  till  he  had  paid  for  his  passage  across  the  ocean, 
he  removed  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Columbia,  within  five  or  six  miles 
from  Cincinnati.  Here  was  a  Baptist  church,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Rev.  William  Jones,  a  native  of  Wales.  Though  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  peculiarities  of  the  Baptists,  he  was  glad  to  hear  the  Grospel 
preached  by  any  one ;  and,  as  he  expected  to  be  called  ou  to  defend  his 
own  views  as  a  Pedobaptist,  he  betook  himself  to  the  diligent  examination 
of  Dr.  G.  Lewis'  Body  of  Divinity,  in  Welsh, — not  doubting  that  in  so 
able  and  elaborate  a  work  he  should  find  all  the  arguments  necessary  to 
his  defence.  In  this,  however,  he  seems  to  have  been  disappointed ;  .and' 
the  result  of  his  examination  of  the  subject  was  that  he  himself  became  a 
Baptist,  was  baptized  by  immersion,  and  joined  the  church  of  which  Mr. 
William  Jones  was  Pastor. 

After  this,  his  mind  was  in  a  highly  devotional  frame,  and,  on  two  occa- 
sions, memorable  in  his  experience,  was  wrought  up  into  an  intense  rapture. 
He  soon  began  to  exercise  his  gift  in  speaking  in  social  meetings  ;  and  this 
was  almost  immediately  followed  by  his  obtaining  a  license  to  preach  from 
the  Duck  Creek  Church.  This  was  when  he  was  about  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  His  first  sermon  was  on  the  text, — "  It  is  a  faithful  saying,"  &e., 
and  was  designed,  in  its  tone  and  spirit,  to  indicate  what  he  intended 
should  be  the  character  of  his  future  ministrations. 

From  Lebanon  he  removed  into  Greene  County,  by  invitation  of  the 
Beaver  Creek  Baptist  Church.  Here  he  devoted  himself  to  a  most  care- 
ful study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  was  enabled  to  obtain  a  far  more 
connected  and  impressive  view  of  Divine  truth  than  he  had  ever  had 
before.  Here  also  he  had  an  attack  of  bilious  fever,  which  brought  him 
to  the  borders  of  the  grave ;  and  though,  in  the  early  part  of  his  Illness, 
his  mind  was  clouded,  and  full  of  apprehension  that  he  had  had  only  a 
spurious  religious  experience,  yet,  in  the  progress  of  the  disease,  he  gained 
the  most  joyful  assurance  of  his  spiritual  renovation,  and  found  the  greatest 
'delight  in  the  reflection  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  that  Great  and 
Gracious  Being,  who  does_aU  things  well.  He  had  then  recently  read 
Bellamy's  "True  Bcligion  Delineated;''  and  that  work,  next  to  the 
Bible,  not  only  yielded  him  the  greatest  consolation  in  his  sickness,  but 
was  perhaps  most  highly  prized  by  him  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  He 
attributed  his  recovery,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  to  the  prescriptions  of 
a  Baptist  preacher,  by  the  name  of  Peter  Smith,  who,  hearing  that  he  was 
ill,  went  to  sec  him,  begged  him  out  of  the  hands  of  the  two  physicians 
who  were  in  attendance,  and  applied  some  simple  remedies  which  seemed 
to  prove  effectual  to  his  recovery. 

Mr.  Jones,  while  he  had  charge  of  the  Church  at  Beaver  Creek,  taught 
a  small  school  also,  as  a  means  of  ekeing  out  a  slender  support.     In  the 


DAVID  JONES.  521 

early  part  of  1810,  lie  resigned  Iiis  charge  of  both  llic  church  and  the 
school,  with  a  view  to  seek  another  field  of  labour.  During  the  .spring, 
summer,  and  aiitiinin  of  this  year,  he  travelled  through  various  parts  of 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  preaching  wherever  he  had 
opportunity,  and  with  great  acceptance.  In  October  he  reached  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Philadelphia,  and  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia 
Baptist  Association.  His  venerable  friend  at  the  AVest,  Peter  Smith,  to 
whose  medical  skill  and  fidelity  he  had  been  so  much  indebted,  had  advised 
him  to  seek  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Jones,  an  eminent 
Baptist  clergymau  who  resided  at  Lower  Dublin  ;  and  Mr.  Jones  now  went 
thither  to  see  him,  but  found  that  he  was  not  at  home.  He  afterwards 
went  in  pursuit  of  another  highly  respected  member  of  the  church,  but,  as 
he  was  approaching  the  house,  he  met  a  female  from  whom  he  learned  that 
this  gentleman  also  was  absent.  Suspecting  from  her  appearance  or  dress 
that  she  was  a  native  of  Wales,  he  ventured  to  inquire  if  this  were  not  the 
case,  and,  on  receiving  an  affirmative  answer,  immediately  entered  into  a 
conversation  with  her  in  their  mother  tongue.  She  proved  to  be  a  mother 
in  Israel,  living  in  that  neighbourhood.  He  accepted  an  invitation  to  go 
home  with  her,  and  thus  was  providentially  directed  to  the  house,  in  which, 
in  the  person  of  the  daughter  of  his  hostess,  he  was  afterwards  to  find  his 
wife.  In  the  absence  of  Dr.  Jones,  he  was  requested  to  supply  the  pulpit 
on  the  following  Sabbath  ;  and  thus  was  introduced  to  the  very  people  with 
whom  he  was  destined  to  end  his  useful  labours.  lie  subsequently  pursued 
a  course  of  literary  and  theological  study  under  the  Doctor's  direction,  and 
lived,  for  some  time,  in  his  family. 

While  he  was  thus  prosecuting  his  studies  at  Lower  Dublin,  he  was  invi- 
ted to  preach  to  a  small  Baptist  congregation,  then  in  a  very  depressed 
state,  in  the  neighbouring  village  of  Frankford ;  and  he  laboured  among 
them,  not  without  considerable  success,  during  the  last  year  of  his  term 
of  study. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  1813,  he  was  married  to  Eleanor  Thomas,  a 
member  of  the  Church  at  Lower  Dublin ;  and  in  January  following,  he 
removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Baptist 
church  there.  Here  his  labours  were  highly  acceptable  and  useful ;  and 
he  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  a  revival  in  connection  with  them, 
which  added  much  to  both  the  numerical  and  spiritual  strength  of  the 
church. 

In  May,  1813,  the  first  Baptist  Convention  for  Missionary  purposes  was 
held  in  Philadelphia.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Jones  was  present ;  and  he 
was  among  the  first  to  receive  a  Baptism  of  the  Missionary  spirit.  He 
became  specially  interested  in  behalf  of  Burmah  ;  and  he  was  even  led 
seriously  to  agitate  the  question  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  give  him- 
self personally  to  the  Missionary  work.  When  the  Convention  met  in 
May,  1817,  he  attended  as  a  delegate  from  the  East  Jersey  Baptist 
Society  ;  having  determined  to  ofi"er  himself  as  a  ]Missionary  to  Burmah, 
unless  some  other  persons  should  present  themselves  whom  he  deemed  bet- 
ter qualified  for  that  field.  He  soon  learned,  however,  that  two  young 
men,  Messrs.  Coleman  and  Wheelock,  had  been  already  approved  by  the 
Board,  and  were  making  their  arrangements  to  proceed  to  that  distant  land 

Vol..  vr.  66 


522  BAPTIST. 

with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  From  this  time,  he  gave  up  the  idea  of 
ever  making  his  home  amoug  the  heathen ;  though  his  interest  in  the  cause 
of  Missions,  and  especially  in  the  Mission  at  Burmah,  never  became  less 
during  the  residue  of  his  life. 

Mr.  Jones  continued  his  relation  to  the  church  at  Newark  eight  years. 
In  December,  1821,  he  returned  to  Lower  Dublin,  having  been  called  to 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  church,  then  vacant  by  the  death  of  his  former 
instructer.  Dr.  Jones.  In  the  service  of  this  church  the  rest  of  his  life 
was  passed.  Soon  after  his  ministry  there  commenced,  he  was  permitted 
to  witness  an  interesting  revival,  that  brought  many  valuable  members  into 
his  church.  In  August,  1831,  at  the  close  of  a  protracted  meeting,  he 
baptized  and  received  to  communion  sixty-five  persons.  In  the  autumn  of 
1832.  another  protracted  meeting  was  held,  after  whicli  he  baptized  ten  ; 
and,  at  a  still  later  period,  he  was  present  when  five  others  were  baptized, 
to  whom  he  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  This  was  his  last  visit  to 
the  house  of  God;  though  the  revival  continued  till  the  close  of  his  life, 
and,  on  the  Sabbath  immediately  preceding  his  death,  eight  persons  were 
baptized  and  received  into  the  church. 

In  the  summer  of  1830,  there  appeared  in  his  lower  lip  a  small  tumour, 
which,  as  it  gradually  increased,  awakened  suspicions  that  it  might  prove 
to  be  a  cancer.  After  a  little  while,  it  was  cut  out ;  but,  soon  after,  other 
tumours  appeared  beneath  the  lower  jaw,  which  gradually  enlarged  until 
they  threatened  suffocation.  The  tumour  did  not  ulcerate,  as  had  been 
expected,  but  some  derangement  in  tlie  functions  of  the  stomach  occurred, 
that  occasioned  death.  He  had  anticipated  extreme  suffering  from  the 
cancer ;  but  when  he  saw  death  approaching  him  through  another  medium, 
be  thanked  God  that  he  was  to  be  let  down  so  easily  into  tlie  grave.  His 
last  Sabbatli  was  a  day  of  great  joy.  He  dwelt  with  peculiar  delight  upon 
the  fact  that  the  cause  of  God  was  rapidly  advancing  in  the  world,  and 
especially  that  the  church  from  which  he  was  about  to  be  taken  was  pros- 
perous and  happy.  On  his  last  evening,  he  declined  to  take  his  usual 
opiate,  assigning  as  a  reason  that  he  expected  his  Lord  to  come  for  him, 
and  he  wished  to  be  found  watcliing.  He  retained  his  reason  to  the  last, 
and  passed  away  in  the  exercise  of  a  calm  and  triumphant  confidence 
in  his  Iledeeraer.  He  died  on  Tuesday  evening,  April  9,  1833,  aged 
forty-eight  years.  His  Funeral  took  place  on  Thursday  following,  and 
a  Sermon  was  preached  on  the  occasion,  by  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Dagg,  from 
PhiU.  iii.  21. 

Mr.  Jones  never  became  a  father.  Mrs.  Jones  survived  her  husband, 
and  has  since  become  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Roberts,  of  Middle- 
town,  N.  J. 

Mr.  Jones  was  (in  part)  the  author  of  a  tract  on  Baptism,  entitled 
"Letters  of  David  and  John,'*  Avhich  is  considered  as  highly  creditable  to 
his  ability  as  a  controversial  writer.  He  was  also  the  author  of  the  tract 
issued  by  the  Baptist  General  Tract  Society,  with  the  title  "  Salvation  by 
Grace." 


DAVID  JONES.  523 


FROM  THE  REV.  THOMAS  WINTER. 

RoxBOROUGii,  PiiiLADELPiiiA,  February  24,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  Avith  the  Rev.  David  Jones  coninicni-cd  in  the 
summer  of  1821.  lie  was  then  I'astor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Newark, 
N.  J.  lie  assisted  at  my  ordination  at  Lyon's  Farms,  in  the  nei^iibourhood 
of  Newark,  giving  the  Charge. 

In  stature,  Mr.  Jones  was  rather  below  the  medium  height — not  stout,  but 
rather  well  formed,  and  graceful  in  his  movements.  I  do  not  think  lie  could 
be  called  handsome;  but  there  was  a  thoughtfulness  and  a  marked  benignity 
in  the  expression  of  his  countenance,  which  rendered  it  unusually  pleasing  to 
look  upon.  His  eye,  when  lighted  up,  was  radiant  with  kindness  and  good- 
humour.  His  remarks  on  men  and  things  were  always  wise  and  savourj'. 
And  his  conver.sation  .seemed  to  me,  naturally,  spontaneously,  to  take  a  sober 
and  religious  turn. 

Few  men  had  more  power  to  attach  to  themselves  the- wise  and  good,  by 
whatever  name  they  were  known.  And  when  the  attachment  was  once  formed, 
it  was  permanent.  In  him  no  cause  of  rupture  was  likely  to  have  place. 
All  who  knew  him  regarded  him  as  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  was 
no  guile. 

Mr.  Jones  was  characterized  by  great  suavity  of  temper  and  Christian 
benevolence.  He  would  never  wantonlj'-  assail  or  wound  the  feelings  of  any 
one,  but  would  do  his  utmost  to  make  all  about  him  easy  and  happy.  I 
remember  to  have  heard  it  said  that  if  a  hapless  fly,  in  the  svimmer  sea- 
son, got  its  legs  and  wings  entangled  in  the  soft  butter  on  the  table,  he  would 
carefully  extricate  the  struggling  insect,  wipe  and  scrape  its  legs  and  wings, 
and  give  it  another  chance  to  enjoy  the  glories  of  the  season,  as  well  as 
himself. 

David  Jones  was  a  lover  of  hospitalitj'  and  of  good  men.  His  means  were 
not  abundant  when  I  first  knew  him,  whatever  they  may  have  been  after- 
wards; but  he  had  always  a  table  and  a  chair  fur  hospitality,  and  the  stranger 
was  welcome  to  both.  Nor  was  his  excellent  wife  a  whit  behind  him  in  this 
amiable  virtue. 

He  was  a  man  for  peace,  so  long  as  purity  was  not  compromised;  but  for 
that  I  believe  his  stand  was  always  unyielding.  Within  my  knowledge  he 
effected  a  most  desirable  reconciliation,  which,  to  one  of  less  wisdom,  pru- 
dence and  kindness,  or  one  less  confided  in,  would  have  been  next  to  hopeless. 
He  knew  how  to  pour  oil  on  the  troubled  water  as  well  as  any  other  man.  I 
speak  of  him  as  I  observed  and  studied  his  character,  while  he  remained  Pas- 
tor at  Newark;  and  as  I  subsequently  met  with  him  at  Lower  Dublin,  the 
scene  of  his  last  Pastorate,  and  whence  he  ro.se  to  his  destined  rest.  But,  after 
the  lapse  now  of  some  thirty-five  years,  such  are  the  distinct  impressions  I 
retain  of  him,  strengthened  and  vivified  by  reflection  since,  on  what  a  Chris- 
tian man  and  a  minister  ought  to  be.  My  own  little  charge  being  within  about 
three  miles  of  Newark,  as  Newark  then  was,  1  had  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  many  of  this  excellent  brother's  people, — persons  of  intelligent  piety 
and  discriminating  judgment.  And  their  uniform  testimony  to  the  moral. 
Christian,  social  and  oflScial  character  of  their  Pastor  was  most  honourable 
to  him. 

1  had  but  few  opportunities  to  hear  Mr.  Jones  preach;  but  my  impression  is 
that  he  did  not  possess  extraordinary  pulpit  talents.  There  was  nothing  in 
his  preaching  to  gratify  a  highly  rhetorical  taste  or  fancy;  but  he  was  wise  in 
the  selection  of  his  subjects,  and  judicious  in  his  expositions  of  Scripture,  not 
neglecting  the  aids  of  learned  criticism.     His  language  was  plain,  but  it  was 


524  BAPTIST. 

■well  chosen,  and  indicated  respectable  scholarship  and  good  taste.  Above  all, 
Christ  and  the  "vvay  of  salvation  through  Him  were  always  prominent  in  his 
discourses,  lie  had  no  difficulty  in  making  the  offer  of  the  Gospel  free  to  all; 
nor  in  fixing  on  them,  if  they  refused  to  accept  it,  the  guilt  of  disobeying  God; 
nor  in  pointing  out  the  danger  to  which  they  were  justly  obnoxious,  because. 
thej'  believed  not  in  the  Son  of  God  for  life. 

While  Mr.  Jones  believed  fully  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Sovereignty,  he 
believed  no  less  in  man's  accountableness,  and  in  the  duty  of  using  the 
appointed  means  to  bring  sinners  to  God.  Hence  every  means  to  extend  the 
Gospel,  whether  at  home  or  in  distant  lands,  found  in  him  a  cordial  sjnnpa- 
thy,  and  a  ready,  self-sacrificing  co-operation.  The  Baptist  Triennial  Con- 
vention, then  in  its  weakness,  had  his  whole  heart. 

I  will  oidy  add  that,  Avhile  many  others  of  more  recent  date  are  fading  from 
the  memory  of  the  living,  good  Brother  David  Jones  is  cherished  in  tlie  hearts 
of  all  who  knew  him. 

I  am  very  respectfully  and  fraternally  yours, 

TUOMAS  WINTER. 


SILAS  STEARNS .=^ 

1806—1840. 

Silas  Stearns,  the  youngest  son  of  Phineas  and  Elizabeth  Stearns,  was 
born  in  Waltliani,  Mass.,  July  26,  1784.  His  parents  were  plain,  but 
respectable,  people,  were  distinguislied  for  integrity  and  industry,  and,  in 
respect  to  religious  faith,  were  decided  Unitarians.  Wishing  that  their 
youngest  son  should  occupy  their  place,  when  they  were  gone,  they  trained 
him,  on  the  farm,  in  the  school,  and  in  the  Church,  to  be  a  worthy  succes- 
sor. But  being  unfitted,  by  a  feeble  constitution,  for  the  severe  labours 
of  the  field,  he  was  apprenticed,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  to  an  upholsterer 
in  Boston,  where  he  is  said  to  liave  become  "  master  of  his  business,  and  a 
finished  workman."  It  was  during  this  period,  and  under  the  preaching 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman,  that  his  attention  was  first  directed  to  religion, 
as  a  personal  concern;  and  it  was  not  without  a  severe  and  protracted 
struggle  that  lie  was  brought  to  relinquish  all  hopes  of  Heaven  on  the 
ground  of  his  own  righteousness,  and  to  repose  implicitly  in  the  merits  of 
his  Redeemer.  Shortly  after  this,  he  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Stillman,  and 
united  with  the  church  under  his  care.     This  was  in  the  year  1804. 

His  conversion  was  followed  by  an  earnest  desire  to  ascertain  what  were 
the  teachings  of  the  Spirit  in  regard  to  every  point  of  faitl>  and  duty;  and 
he  availed  himself  of  every  possible  means  of  improving  in  not  only  reli- 
gious but  other  knowledge,  which  he  could  command.  While  the  hours  of 
the  day,  usually  appropriated  to  labour,  were  spent  in  faithful  service  in 
the  shop,  his  mornings  and  evenings  were  diligently  devoted  to  the  culture 
of  his  mind.  His  garret-chamber,  lighted  by  the  moon  or  the  farthing 
candle,  testified  to  his  diligence  in  summer  ;  while  the  snug  corner  beside 
the  kitchen  fire,  and  an  old  brass  candlestick,  which  has  since  become  an 

•  MS.  from  Rev.  0.  S.  Stearns.— Ilist.  Maine  Bapt. 


i 


SILAS  STEARNS.  525 

lieir-Ioom  in  (lie  family,  witnessed  Hi's  untiring  energy  in  winter.  lie  pur- 
sued his  studies,  at  this  time,  under  the  supervision  of  the  llcv.  Dr.  Bald- 
win,— another  eminent  Baptist  minister  in  Boston.  He  was  also  encour- 
aged by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member  to  "  cultivate  his  gift," — 
as  it  was  termed, — by  assisting  in  social  meetings,  and  occasionally 
ofteriiig  a  brief  exposition  of  some  portion  of  Scripture.  But  natural 
timidity  and  want  of  self-reliance  prevented  him  from  seriously  indulging 
the  idea,  already  cherished  by  the  church,  that  the  Providence  of  God 
pointed  him  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  shrank  instinctively  from  so 
responsible  a  vocation.  The  vigorous  workings  of  his  piety  constrained 
him  to  seek  the  salvation  of  others,  and  he  was  never  happier  than  when 
thus  engaged  ;  but  the  idea  of  becoming  a  public  teacher  of  religion  was 
even  revolting  to  his  feelings.  At  length,  however,  under  a  deep  convic- 
tion of  duty,  he  was  enabled  to  overcome  this  aversion  ;  and,  having  made 
known  his  views  and  feelings  oh  the  subject  to  the  church,  he  was  licensed 
to  preach  the  Gospel,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1806. 

For  a  while,  he  continued  to  work  at  his  trade,  devoting  only  his  inter- 
vals of  leisure  to  theological  study ;  but,  as  this  did  not  satisfy  him,  he 
soon  discontinued  his  labour  altogether,  and  gave  his  whole  time  to  imme- 
diate preparation  for  his  work.  He  pursued  his  studies  for  some  time, 
first  under  the  Rev.  William  Williams,  of  Wrentham,  Mass.,  and  afterwards 
under  the  Rev.  Thomas  Greene,  of  North  Yarmouth,  Me.  While  in  the 
latter  place,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  on  the  22d  of  October, 
1807. 

During  his  preparatory  studies  he  had  occasionally  preached,  and  his 
labours  had  been  attended  with  a  manifest  blessing.  Soon  after  his  ordi- 
nation, he  removed  to  the  adjoining  town  of  Frceport,  where  he  spent 
about  two  years,  and  had  the  gratification  of  introducing,  by  Baptism,  large 
numbers  into  the  church,  and  among  them  his  own  much  loved  mother. 
He  had  never  intended,  however,  to  make  this  place  his  permanent  home. 
Much  as  he  was  respected  and  beloved  there,  and  much  as  he  was  attached 
to  the  people  whom  he  served,  he  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  the  idea 
of  building  on  another  man's  foundation.  Hence,  as  soon  as  a  favourable 
opportunity  presented  itself  for  gathering  the  requisite  materials  for  a 
Baptist  Church  in  Bath,  Me.,  he  cheerfully  availed  himself  of  it,  and  entered 
on  a  scene  of  activity  to  be  closed  only  with  his  life.  This  step  must  have 
involved  no  little  self-denial,  as  there  were  but  five  or  sis  persons  of  his 
own  communion  in  the  place,  and  all  of  them  in  a  humble  condition  in 
life  ;  though  he  received  aid  from  a  few  individuals  in  other  places,  and 
especially  from  an  excellent  Deacon  of  the  Church  in  North  Yarmouth. 
As  he  would  not  make  himself  chargeable  to  these  poor  people,  he  earned 
liis  support  by  working  at  his  trade,  or  teaching  a  school,  during  the  week, 
while  he  preached  the  Gospel  faithfully  on  the  Sabbath.  A  blessing 
attended  his  labours.  He  preached  first  in  a  school-house  ;  and  when  that 
became  too  strait  for  him,  in  a  large  hall  ;  and  that,  after  a  few  years,  gave 
place  to  a  convenient  and  spacious  brick  edifice,  which  was  long  the  scene 
of  his  faithful  and  successful  labours. 

The  church  was  recognised  on  the  30th  of  October,  ISIO  ;  and  on  the 
same  day  Mr.  Stearns  was  installed  as   its    Pastor.     It  was  then  worship- 


526  BAPTIST. 

ping  in  a  hall,  and  continued  to  do  so  until  December  31,  1816,  wlien  the 
house  of  worship  above  referred  to  was  dedicated.  Of  this  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  church,  Mr,  Stearns,  in  his  Dedication  Sermon,  thus 
speaks  : — "  We  continued  to  meet  in  our  accustomed  place  of  worship,  until 
the  late  revival,  (February,  March  and  April,  181G,)  when  we  were  pained 
to  see  members  go  away  for  want  of  room.  We  now  felt  that  it  was 
important  that  a  larger  edifice  should  be  procured,  if  possible.  Our 
resources  still  remained  small.  By  what  means  we  might  obtain  such  a 
place  it  was  difficult  for  us  to  ascertain.  In  our  petitions  two  things  in  par- 
ticular were  expressed — First,  that  the  good  work  of  God's  grace  might 
continue  ;  and,  Second,  that,  as  all  hearts  were  in  his  hands,  that,  as  the  silver 
and  gold  were  his,  He  would  influence  the  hearts  of  those  whom  He  had  made 
stewards  of  the  wealth  of  this  world,  to  aid  us  in  building  a  place  for  his 
worship.  AVe  soon  found  that  our  most  sanguine  expectations  were  exceeded. 
Encouraged  to  proceed,  by  this  signal  answer  to  prayer,  and  by  the  patron- 
age of  our  friends,  our  wants  have  been  met.  As  the  house  is  founded  on  a 
rock,  no  formality  was  used  in  laying  the  corner  stone.  The  first  brick  was 
laid,  August  13,  1816,  and,  through  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  us,  without 
any  fatal  accident,  the  house  is  now  in  a  finished  state."  In  reference  to  his 
labours  in  this  house,  he  wrote,  a  few  days  before  his  death,  being,  at  that 
time,  in  the  vigour  of  health, — "  I  have  been  over  thirty  years  in  Bath,  and 
never  but  once  has  the  church  been  closed,  on  account  of  my  bodily  indis- 
position." Yet  his  constitution  was  naturally  frail,  and  until  the  age  of 
forty  he  never  enjoyed  vigorous  health.  But  he  had  an  elasticity  of  body, 
which,  in  connection  with  a  remarkable  force  of  will,  gave  great  efficiency 
to  all  his  designs. 

Mr.  Stearns'  ministry  at  Bath  was  an  eminently  successful  one.  Besides 
several  extensive  and  powerful  revivals,  in  which  large  numbers  were 
gathered  in,  scarcely  a  year  passed  without  witnessing  to  some  manifest 
tokens  of  Divine  favour  in  connection  with  his  ministry.  The  church,  at 
its  organization,  consisted  of  ten  members — it  afterwards  frequently  num- 
bered two  hundred  and  fifty. 

Mr.  Stearns'  long  and  faithful  ministi-y  was  brought  to  a  somewhat  sud- 
den termination.  After  the  services  of  the  Sabbath,  July  18,  1840,  he 
was  seized  with  a  cold,  Avhich  run  into  a  partly  lung  and  partly  typhus 
fever,  that  medical  skill  was  unable  to  arrest.  He  lingered  until  tlie  eve- 
ning of  August  1st,  wlicn  he  gently  passed  away,  testifying  with  his  last 
breath  to  the  healing  virtue  of  his  Redeemer's  Cross.  A  Sermon  was 
preached  at  his  FuneralJjy  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Warren,  then  of  Topsham,  from 
Revelation  xiv.  13, 

Mr.  Stearns  was  married  on  the  30th  of  November,  1815,  to  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Elkanah  and  Abigail  Sprague,  of  Boston,  with  whom  he  lived 
till  the  20lh  of  September,  1824.  She  was  born  in  1786,  and  was  conse- 
quently thirty-eight  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  her  death.  Her  uncom- 
monly amiable  disposition,  well  cultivated  mind,  and  devoted  piety,  fitted  her 
admirably  for  her  station.  By  this  marriage  there  was  only  one  child, — a 
son, — now  the  Rev.  Oakman  S.  Stearns,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  Newton,  Mass.  He  graduated  at  the  Waterville  College  in  1840,  and 
at  the  Newton  Theological  Institution  in  1846.     On  the  5th  of  January, 


SILAS  STEARNS..  527 

182G,  ^Ir.  Stearns  married,  for  his  second  wife,  Mary  B.,  daughter  of 
Jo.seph  and  I'riscilla  Lunt,  who  was  born  in  Litclitiold,  Mc.,  on  the  14th 
of  January,  1797,  and  still  survives,  a  resident  of  Bath,  and  greatly 
respected  by  the  flock  to  which  her  husband  so  long  ministered.  ]iy  this 
marriage  there  were  six  children. 

Mr.  Stearns  published  a  Discourse  delivered  December  31,  1816,  at  the 
Opening  of  the  new  Meeting  House  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  Society  in 
Bath. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ADAM  WILSON,  D.  D. 

Paris,  Me.,  August  19,  1855. 

Dear  Sir:  I  cheerfully  comply  with  3'our  request  for  some  of  my  reminis- 
cences of  the  late  Rev.  Silas  Stearns,  of  Bath.  My  first  intimate  acquaintance 
with  him  was  at  the  time  of  my  own  earnest  religious  inquiries,  in  1815.  He 
was  just  the  man  to  whom  a  religious  inquirer  could  xinbosom  his  diiiiculties 
with  the  utmost  freedom.  During  my  College  life,  which  commenced  the  next 
year,  at  Brunswick,  the  town  adjoining  Bath  on  the  West,  I  often  heard  him 
preach,  and  was  frequently  with  him  in  his  social  meetings.  If  I  were  asked 
what  features  of  his  character  made  these  meetings  so  deeply  interesting,  I 
should  say,  piety,  simplicity,  and  affection. 

Mr.  Stearns  was  distingui.shed  for  his  sincerity.  There  arc  few  of  whom  it 
could  be  written  with  such  manifest  truth, — "  He  was  an  Israelite  indeed,  in 
whom  was  no  guile."  And  he  was  not  onl}-  sincere,  but  he  succeeded,  in  an 
unusual  degree,  in  carrying  conviction  to  the  minds  of  others  that  such  was 
the  fact.  It  was  a  remark  of  the  late  Dr.  Payson  of  Portland,  in  respect  to 
the  primitive  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  that,  "while  they  were  accused  of 
almost  every  other  crime,  they  seem  never  to  have  been  suspected  of  insin- 
cerity." The  latter  part  of  this  remark  was  peculiarly  applicable  to  Mr. 
Stearns.  His  most  determined  opponents  are  not  known  ever  to  have  expressed 
any  doubt  that  he  was  entirely  sincere  in  every  thing  that  he  did.  This  no 
doubt  was  one  of  the  elements  of  attraction  in  his  ministry.  !Mcn  were  con- 
vinced that  they  were  hearing  one  who  believed  and  therefore  spoke.  They 
felt  that  be  believed  what  he  spoke,  and  spoke  what  he  believed. 

Sympathy'  with  different  classes  of  mankind  was  another  strongly  marked 
feature  in  his  character.  He  was  remarkably  free  from  a  partizan  spirit. 
While,  in  his  ministry,  "the  poor  had  the  Gospel  preached  to  them,"  and 
while  his  labours  gathered  around  him  especiallj'^  that  class  of  the  community, 
bccau.se  they  found  in  him  the  poor  man's  friend,  yet  there  was  nothing  in 
his  conduct,  or  bearing,  or  manner  of  preaching,  that  was  repulsive  to  those 
in  the  higher  walks  of  life.  In  the  apostolic  sense  of  the  Avords,  he  "  became 
all  things  to  all  men,  that  by  all  means  he  might  save  some." 

Mr.  Stearns  had  an  open,  honest  and  winning  countenance, — a  true  index 
to  his  character.  His  bearing  was  about  equally  removed  from  haugh- 
tiness and  servility.  Though,  for  several  j-cars  after  his  removal  to  Bath, 
his  Society  was  very  small,  and  it  was  said  that  he  had  no  salary,  yet 
he  never  involved  himself  seriously  in  debt,  never  ate  the  bread  of  a  cring- 
ing dcpcndance,  and  never  failed  to  present  a  personal  appearance  perfectly 
neat,  and  every  way  becoming  his  station  and  office.  He  adopted  and  carried 
out  the  principle  of  living  within  his  means.  I  was  often  in  his  family,  and 
can  testify  that  he  was  neither  penurious  nor  prodigal  in  his  domestic  economy. 
His  freedom  from  worldly  embarrassment  and  his  manifest  disinterestedness 
were  important  elements  of  his  u.sefulness.  His  prcacliing  was  distinguished 
by  great  mildness  of  manner.  Love  ran  through  all  his  words.  Ilis  looks  were 
kindness.     There  was  not  the  semblance  of  bar.sbness  in  anv  of  his  tones  or 


528  BAPTIST. 

utterances.  Illustration  was  a  marked  feature  in  his  preaching.  He  often 
drew  his  illustrations  from  the  Old  Testament.  I  remember  one  which  I  heard 
from  him  more  than  thirt)'  years  ago.  He  said,  ««  the  human  body  is  a  house, 
which  must,  sooner  or  later,  be  taken  down.  It  is  like  the  house  in  ancient 
days,  infected  with  leprosy.  Sin  is  a  fretting  leprosy  in  the  house — it  is 
unclean.  'And  he  shall  break  down  the  house;  the  stones  of  it;  the  timber 
thereof;  and  all  the  mortar  of  the  house;  and  he  shall  carry  them  forth  out 
of  the  cit}'  into  an  unclean  place.'  Yet,  in  due  time,  the  stones  and  timber 
shall  be  cleansed,  and  the  house  shall  be  rebuilt.  '  This  corruptible  shall  put 
on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  immortality.'  " 

I  am  glad  you  have  placed  the  name  of  Silas  Stearns  among  the  venerable 
dead,  Avorthj'-  of  being  commemorated.  I  think  those  who  best  knew  him  will 
justify  the  position. 

Yours  respectfully, 

ADAM  WILSON. 

FROM  THE  REV.  RAY  PALMER,  D.  D. 

Albany,  June  22,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  The  Rev.  Silas  Stearns  was,  for  several  j^ears,  my  near  neigh- 
bour and  very  cordial  friend.  "We  were  often  at  each  other's  houses,  met 
frequently  in  the  round  of  pastoral  duty,  and,  although  not  belonging  to  the 
same  denomination,  regularly  exchanged  pulpits  once  or  twice  each  year.  I 
knew  him  well,  therefore,  and  have  great  pleasure  in  giving  you  briefly  my 
recollections  of  him  as  a  Christian  man  and  Minister. 

In  his  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Stearns  was  not  imposing.  lie  was  rather 
below  the  middle  stature,  and  was  slender  in  his  habit.  His  health  was  never 
firm,  and,  even  when  I  first  knew  him,  he  had  a  slight  stoop,  looked  like  a 
hard  worker,  and  seemed  older  than  he  was.  Yet  his  step  was  elastic,  and 
his  quick  eye  and  prompt  speech  revealed  an  inward  animation  and  a  general 
force  of  character  which  commonly  belong  to  earlier  years.  In  manners,  he 
was  remarkably  affable  arid  free,  having  some  friendly  Avord  for  every  one  he 
met;  and  this  without  losing  the  sobriety  and  dignity  which  became  his  cha- 
racter and  ofiice.  The  humblest  of  his  parishioners  did  not  fear  to  approach 
liim  freely,  and  the  children  of  his  congregation  very  generally  knew  him 
personally  and  loved  him.  His  genial  disposition  and  truly  catholic  spirit 
obtained  for  him  the  respect  and  friendship  of  many  besides  his  own  people, 
and  beyond  his  own  denomination;  and,  as  his  salary  was  known  to  be  ina- 
dequate to  his  support,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  that  valuable  donations 
were  sent  him  by  members  of  other  churches,  as  spontaneous  expressions  of 
their  Christian  regard. 

Mr.  Stearns  posses.scd  good,  though  not  perhaps  remarkable,  natural  powers. 
liis  apprehension  was  quick,  and  his  perceptions  clear.  Without  any  attempt 
at  elegance,  his  language,  feoth  in  speaking  and  writing,  was  well  chosen,  and, 
on  occasions,  specially  felicitous.  In  his  preaching  he  seldom  entered  into  the 
philosophy  of  a  subject,  or  attempted  by  analysis  to  reach  first  principles. 
He  regarded  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  rather 
in  their  practical  aspects;  was  clear  in  his  modes  of  statement,  and  familiar 
in  his  illustrations;  and,  whether  his  discourse  was  written  or  unwritten,  he 
spoke  with  fluency  and  earnestness.  It  is  my  impression  that  his  early 
opportunities  for  education  were  comparatively  limited;  but,  as  he  was  intent 
on  doing  faithfully  and  well  the  work  of  a  Christian  Preacher  and  Pastor,  he 
studied  the  Scripture."!  carefuU}',  and  read  Theology  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
gained  a  competent  acquaintance  with  the  chief  of  the  standard  writers.  He 
aimed  directly  at  winning  men  to  God;  and  that  by  the  simple  preaching  of 


SILAS  STEARNS.  529 

the  Gospel,  and  in  an  humble  dcpcndancc  on  the  Divine  Spirit.  It  naturally 
followed  that^he  not  only  enjoyed  frequent  revivals  among  his  own  people, 
but  was  often  called  on  to  labour  in  other  places,  in  seasons  of  special  religious 
interest.  There  was  a  tenderness  and  warmth  in  his  preaching  at  these 
times,  which  rendered  his  labours  particularly  acceptable  and  useful.' 

in  addition  to  his  faithful  attention  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those  imme- 
diately committed  to  him,  he  manifested  in  many  ways  a  deep  interest  in  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  denomination  to  which  he  belonged.  The  younger 
clergy  and  the  feebler  churches  found  always  in  him  a  kind  and  judicious 
counsellor.  To  the  promotion  of  Christian  education,  in  all  its  stages,  he 
zealously  gave  his  influence  and  time,  and  was  an  influential  member  of  one 
of  the  Boards  of  the  College  at  "Watcrvillc.  He  encouraged  young  men  to 
prepare  for  the  work  of  the  ministry;  was  an  ardent  friend  of  Christian  Mis- 
sions, and  entered,  with  his  whole  heart,  into  all  the  great  movements,  religious 
and  philanthropic,  which  look  to  the  social  and  the  moral  elevation  of  man- 
kind. Few  men,  I  am  persuaded,  have  accomplished  more  than  he  did,  for 
the  good  of  the  world  and  the  honour  of  religion,  with  the  same  power  and 
opportunitj-  which  he  possessed. 

Without  having  been  a  great  man,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  therefore,  Mr. 
Stearns  was,  I  think,  eminent  in  his  sphere.  He  was  a  good  man, — with 
such  discretion  and  wisdom  that  his  good  was  rarely  evil  spoken  of  by  any. 
He  was  a  most  sincere  man, — so  guileless  and  transparent  that  he  was  unhesi- 
tatingly and  safely  confided  in.  He  was  a  man  of  tcarm  affections;  and,  as  a 
natural  result,  was  himself  beloved  as  widely  as  he  was  known.  lie  was 
earnest  in  purpose  and  diligent  in  labour;  and  this  was,  in  large  part,  the 
secret  of  his  usefulness.  lie  was  emphatically  a  man  of  peace, — of  a  meek 
and  quiet  spirit — I  never  knew  him  speak  an  uncharitable  word,  and  am  sure 
that,  in  an}-  merely  personal  matter,  he  would  have  suffered  wrong,  rather 
than  contend  against  injustice.  There  have  been  many  men  endowed  with 
more  splendid  gifts;  there  have  been  few  who  have  exhibited  a  brighter 
assemblage  of  excellences.  His  memory  will  long  be  fragrant  in  the  circle  in 
which  he  moved. 

His  last  sickness  was  brief, — a  sudden  attack  of  pneumonia.  I  was  with 
him  the  day  before  his  death.  He  was  then  labouring  for  breath,  and  felt 
that  his  end  was  near.  He  spoke  of  it  in  the  calmest  manner;  expressed  his 
unfaltering  conlidence  in  the  sureness  of  the  basis  on  Avhich  the  Gospel  teaches 
us  to  rest  our  hopes;  and  said,  with  serene  submission, — "  The  will  of  the  Lord 
be  done — lean  cheerfully  leave  all  with  a  faithful  God."  The  example  of 
such  a  man  is  a  rich  legacy  to  his  family  and  to  the  Church. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

RAY  PALMER. 

Vol.  VI.  67 


530  BAPTIST. 

CHARLES  TRAIN.* 

1806—1849. 

Charles  Train,  the  third  child  of  Deacon  Samuel,  and  Deborah 
(Savage)  Train,  was  born  in  Weston,  Mass.,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1783. 
After  having  attended  for  some  time  the  district  school  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  his  father's,  where  he  studied  the  several  elementary  branches  and 
commenced  Latin,  he  went  in  the  spring  of  1800  to  the  Framingham 
Academy  for  one  term,  and  finally  completed  his  course  preparatory  to 
entering  College,  under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Kendall,  D.  D., 
the  Congregational  minister  of  Weston.  He  entered  the  Freshman  class 
in  Harvard  College  in  the  autumn  of  1801. 

As  his  father  was  a  farmer  in  only  moderate  circumstances,  he  not  only 
felt  unable  to  meet  the  expenses  of  his  son's  education  at  Cambridge,  but 
found  it  inconvenient  to  dispense  altogether  with  his  labours  on  the  farm  ; 
and  hence  the  son  was  ready  to  turn  aside  from  his  studies  as  often  as  there 
was  occasion,  and  render  the  desired  aid.  It  was  somewhat  doubtful, 
when  he  entered  College,  owing  to  his  straitened  circumstances,  whether 
he  would  be  able  to  proceed  without  interruption ;  but,  by  teaching  a 
school  in  the  winter,  and  occasionally  writing  in  the  Probate  office,  he  was 
enabled,  with  the  assistance  he  received  from  his  parents,  to  retain  his 
place  in  his  class,  and,  at  his  graduation,  in  1805,  he  was  honoured  with  a 
Hebrew  Oration. 

His  parents  being  exemplary  members  of  the  Baptist  Church,  he  was 
favoured  with  a  religious  education,  and  had  several  times,  during  his 
early  years,  been  the  subject  of  serious  impressions;  but  it  was  not  till 
the  year  1803  that  he  entered  decidedly  upon  the  Christian  life.  In  Sep- 
tember of  that  year,  the  Warren  Association  held  its  Anniversary  in 
Boston  ;  and  his  father  attended  as  a  delegate  from  the  Church  in  Weston. 
It  being  his  vacation,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  his  father  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  meeting.  As  there  was  an  unusual  attention  to  religion 
at  that  time  in  the  Baptist  churches,  and  there  were  many  young  converts 
present  who  were  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  their  acceptance,  he  was  very 
deeply  impressed  by  the  scene,  and  went  home  distressed  that  his  cold 
heart  could  not  sympathize  with  it.  After  a  course  of  severe  self-righteous 
struggles,  he  was  brought,  as  he  believed,  to  cast  himself  on  the  mercy  of 
God  through  Christ ;  -and  thus  his  burdened  spirit  found  relief.  This 
happy  change  occurred  some  time  in  the  month  of  October  ;  though,  owing 
to  various  circumstances,  he  did  not  make  a  profession  of  religion  until 
two  years  afterwards. 

Although  he  had  been  educated  in  the  Baptist  faith,  he  resolved  that 
his  own  failh  should  be  something  more  than  a  mere  hereditary  prejudice, 
and  therefore  set  himself  to  examine  the  subject  of  Baptism  by  the  aid  of 
all  the  lights  that  he  could  bring  to  bear  upon  it.  What  seems  finally  to 
have  settled  his  mind  in  favour  of  Baptist  principles  was  the  reading  of 
the  Rev.  Daniel  JMerrill's  Seven  Sermons  on  Baptism,  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 

•Watchman  and  Reflector,  1849. — MS.  Autobiog. — MS.  from  his  son,  Rev.  Dr.  Train. 


CIIART,ES  TRAIN.  531 

Samuel  Austin's  Rcpl}'.     In   October,  1805,  lie  was  l)aptizcil  by  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Grafton,  of  Newton,  and  became  a  member  of  liis  church. 

In  coming  to  a  determination  to  enter  the  ministry,  especially  in  con- 
nection with  the  Baptist  Church,  Mr.  Train  found  himself  called  to  great 
worldly  sacri6ces.  When  he  entered  College,  it  was  with  the  expectation 
of  being  a  lawyer  ;  and  the  rare  combination  of  talents  he  possessed  for 
severe  reasoning  and  extemporaneous  discourse  opened  before  him  the 
brightest  prospects  in  the  legal  profession.  It  was  no  small  matter  for  him  to 
relinquish  these  cherished  expectations  ;  but  it  was  a  still  greater  sacrifice 
to  think  of  entering  the  ministry  in  a  denomination  then  so  greatly 
depressed  as  scarcely  to  afford  a  decent  support  to  any  of  its  ministers. 
Not  doubting,  however,  that  the  Providence  of  God  called  him  to  these 
sacrifices,  he  cheerfully  obeyed  the  summons,  and  resolved  to  devote  his 
life  to  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  Baptist  connection.  In  May,  1806,  he 
preached  his  first  sermon  before  the  Church  in  Newton,  and  received  from 
that  church  a  letter  of  license  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  spent  about 
seven  months  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Grafton,  availing  himself  of  his 
instructions,  and  his  library,  which  was  a  very  good  one  for  those  days. 
While  thus  pursuing  his  theological  studies,  he  preached  occasionally  to 
several  Baptist  congregations  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  and,  as  he  felt  a^ 
particular  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  little  church  in  his  native  place, 
he  took  a  letter  of  dismission  and  recommendation  from  the  Church  in 
Newton,  and  united  with  the  Weston  Church,  and  for  several  years 
preached  there  every  other  Lord's  day,  teaching  school  during  the  winters 
of  1805  and  1806. 

In  3Iarch,  1807,  he  received  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman,  of 
Boston,  whose  health  had  then  become  very  feeble,  requesting  that  he 
would  come  and  assist  him  in  his  pastoral  duties.  He  gladly  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  wrote  his  answer,  accordingly,  but  before  the  letter  had 
had  time  to  reach  Boston,  Dr.  Stillman  was  no  longer  among  the  living. 
Being  thus  disappointed  of  enjoying  the  society  and  instructions  of  this 
eminent  man,  he  remained  at  Newton  during  the  summer  of  1807,  and  in 
the  autumn  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of  the  Academy  at 
Framingham.  As  a  curious  fact  illustrative  of  bygone  customs,  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  Mr.  Train's  scholars  paid  one  shilling  each  per  week  for 
tuition,  and  were  taxed  six  cents  weekly  for  fuel  during  the  cold  season  ; 
while  the  Trustees  contributed  fifty  cents  per  week  towards  his  board. 
His  services  as  Preceptor  were  eminently  acceptable,  and  the  Academy 
pro.spered  under  ]\\h  direction. 

At  the  close  of  1807,  he  commenced  his  ministerial  labours  in  Framing- 
ham,  preaching  there  and  at  Weston  on  alternate  Sabbaths.  He  had  calls 
to  other  congregations,  with  better  prospects  of  support  ;  but  he  folt  it  his 
duty  to  remain  with  these  two  feeble  Societies,  and  do  what  he  cmld  to 
enlarge  and  strengthen  them.  In  Framingham  there  were  but  twenty 
families  of  Baptists — five  professors  of  religion,  but  no  church  organiza- 
tion. Only  sixty  dollars  could  be  raised  ;  and  that,  on  the  terms  arranged, 
wouM  supply  preaching  for  bnt  fifteen  weeks.  The  meeting-house  was  in 
a  sadly  dilapidated  state,  almost  without  windows,  standing  on  a  lodge  of 
rocks,  and  quite  inaccessil)le  to  carriages.     He  performcil  the  part  of  both 


532  BAPTIST. 

Minister  and  Chorister  ;  and,  though  the  prospect  seemed  most  unpromis- 
ing, he  kept  on  hibouring,  hoping  for  better  things.  His  connection  with 
the  Academy  terminated  in  180U,  but  he  continued  to  receive  pupils,  and 
to  prepare  them  for  College  and  for  school  teachers,  until  the  year  1822. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  1811,  he  was  ordained  in  Framingham,  at  the 
united  request  of  the  Society  there,  and  of  the  Church  and  Society  in 
Weston, — the  Sermon  on  the  occasion  being  preached  by  his  friend  and 
theological  instructor,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Grafton,  On  the  4th  of  July 
following,  he  preached,  and  baptized  six  persons, — the  first  time  that  he 
ever  administered  the  ordinance.  These  persons,  and  some  who  had  been 
previously  baptized  by  Mr.  Grafton,  united  with  the  Weston  Church;  and, 
at  the  next  church  meeting,  it  was  unanimously  voted  that  they  would 
take  the  name  of  "  the  Baptist  Church  in  Weston  and  Framingham,"  and 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  monthly  in  each  place. 
The  two  branches  continued  to  walk  together  harmoniously  until  November, 
1826,  when  the  connection  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent.  At  the 
time  of  the  division,  the  Weston  branch  consisted  of  about  forty  members, 
and  the  Framingham  branch  of  about  one  hundred.  For  years,  persons 
from  the  neighbouring  towns  listened  to  his  preaching,  and  the  Church  of 
Southborough  was  gathered  from  those  who  were  of  the  number. 

From  1826  until  1839,  a  period  of  thirteen  years,  his  ministrations  were 
confined  to  the  Church  and  Society  in  Framingham.  Until  the  first  named 
year  they  continued  to  worship  in  the  old  meeting-house ;  but  a  new  and 
handsome  edifice  was  erected  near  the  centre  of  the  town  in  1826,  and 
was  dedicated  by  appropriate  services  on  the  first  day  of  1827.  The  old 
house  was  built  in  the  days  of  Whitefield,  by  those  called  New  Lights  • 
and  when  abandoned,  had  witnessed  to  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  century.  It 
had  been  taken  down  and  removed  twice — sometimes  it  had  been  used  for 
religious  services,  and  sometimes  as  a  depository  for  hay  and  grain.  In 
1780,  it  was  purchased  by  the  Baptists,  who  took  it  apart,  reduced  its 
size,  and  removed  it  to  the  spot  already  mentioned. 

Mr.  Train's  pastoral  relations  with  his  people  in  Framingham  continued 
upwards  of  thirty  years,  during  which  tin)e  he  baptized  more  than  three 
hundred  persons  there,  and  more  than  double  that  number  who  joined  other 
churches.  He  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  in  July,  1811,  (for  the 
first  time,)  to  eighteen  members,  of  whom  six  belonged  to  the  Church  in 
Weston — in  1839,  when  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge,  the  number  of 
communicants  in  the  Framingham  Church  was  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty.  ~ 

In  March,  1833,  Mr.  Train  was  considerably  injured  by  a  fall,  the  effects 
of  which  he  continued  to  feel  for  several  weeks,  though  he  was  able,  for 
the  most  part,  to  attend  to  his  accustomed  duties.  In  Augu.<-t  following, 
he  was  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  strangur}"-, — one  of  the  most  painful  of 
all  maladies  ;  and  this  was  protracted  till  the  close  of  his  life, — a  period  of 
sixteen  years.  From  the  resignation  of  his  charge  in  1839  to  1843,  he 
continued  to  preach  and  perform  other  ministerial  duties,  as  his  health 
would  permit.  During  a  portion  of  this  time  he  also  filled  the  ofiice  of 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Convention,  and  visited  different 
parts  of  the  State  in  that  service.     From  1843  his  disease  took  on  a  more 


CIIAULES  TRAIN.  533 

i^gravated  form,  rendering  him  incapable  of  any  effort,  and  lie  continued 
gradually  to  decline  until  the  17th  of  September,  1849,  when  the  terrible 
suffering  of  a  long  course  of  years  was  ended.  The  Boston  North  Baptist 
Association  was  in  session  at  Framingham,  at  the  moment  of  his  decease, 
and  did  not  fail  to  adopt  Resolutions  expressive  of  their  high  regard  for  hig 
memory.  Several  of  the  members  remained  to  join  in  the  Funeral  solemni- 
ties, which  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aldrich  of  Framingham,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Crane  of  Weston.  ULs  remains  were  deposited  in  the  Edgell 
Grave  Cemetery,  a  beautiful  spot  in  the  heart  of  Framingham,  and  ia 
sight  from  the  windows  out  of  which,  for  several  long  and  wearisome  years, 
he  looked  upon  his  final  resting  place. 

Mr.  Train,  during  a  part  of  his  ministry,  occupied  a  considerable  space 
in  public  affairs.  To  say  nothing  of  his  services,  through  an  entire  genera- 
tion, as  a  member  of  the  School  Committee,  his  connection  with  the  State 
Legislature  was  equally  honourable  to  himself  and  useful  to  the  community. 
He  was  chosen  by  the  town  as  a  Representative  to  that  Body,  first  in  1822, 
and  was  re-elected  for  the  seven  following  years,  with  the  exception  of  the 
year  1827,  when,  by  way  of  rebuke,  as  he  understood  it,  he  was  allowed  to 
stay  at  home,  for  having  preached  two  Sermons  on  the  subject  of  Tempe- 
rance, of  a  more  stringent  character  than  at  that  time  suited  the  taste  of 
the  people.  At  the  winter  session  of  1829,  he  was  chosen  by  the  two 
branches  of  the  Legislature  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  Senate,  and  in  the  year 
following  he  was  chosen  a  Senator  by  the  people.  He  had  the  honour  of 
being  the  first  to  move  in  the  plan  of  forming  a  Legislative  Library,  as 
well  as  in  the  yet  more  important  matter  of  a  revision  of  the  laws  relating 
to  Common  Schools.  He  had  much  to  do  also  in  obtaining  the  Charter 
of  Amherst  College.  His  whole  influence  in  the  Legislature  was  most 
benign  and  salutary ;  while  the  proximity  of  his  residence  to  the  Scat  of 
Government  enabled  him,  during  the  whole  time,  to  continue  his  Sunday 
labours  among  Ihs  people. 

In  August,  1810,  Mr.  Train  was  married  to  Elizabeth,  third  daughter 
of  Abraham  Harrington,  of  Weston.     She  died  on  the  14th  of  September, 

1814,  leaving  one  child, — a  son,  now  the  Rev.  Dr.  Arthur  Savage  Train, 
of  Haverhill,  Mass.  She  was  a  lady  of  fine  moral  qualities,  of  earnest 
piety,  of  a  richly  endowed  and  well  cultivated  mind,  and  for  several  years 
previous  to  her  marriage  had  been  a  highly  popular  teacher.     In  October, 

1815,  Mr.  Train  married  Hepzibah,  the  sister  of  his  former  wife,  and  the 
youngest  daughter  of  her  parents.  She  became  the  mother  of  four  child- 
ren,— one  son  and  three  daughters.  Two  of  the  daughters,  young  ladies 
of  great  promise,  died, — one  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  the  other  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four.  The  son,  Charles  Russell,  entered  the  legal  profession, 
was,  for  some  years.  District  Attorney  for  the  County  of  Middlesex,  and 
and  is  now  (18-58)  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council. 

The  following  is.  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  a  list  of  Mr.  Train's  pub- 
lications : — An  Address  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Masonic  Hall  at  Need- 
ham,  1811.  An  Oration  delivered  at  Framingham,  1812,  An  Oration 
delivered  at  Worcester,  1815.  A  Discourse  delivered  at  West  Medway, 
1817.  An  Oration  delivered  at  Hopkinton  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1823. 
A  Speech  on  Religious  Freedom,  delivered  in  the  House   of  Representa- 


534  BAPTIST. 

tives  in  Massachusetts,  1824,  A  Sermon  at  the  Dedication  of  the  New 
Baptist  Meeting  House,  Framiugham,  1827.  Circular  Letter  of  the  Bos- 
ton Association,  on  the  Duty  of  Sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  1830. 

FROM  THE  KEV.  HENRY  J.  RIPLEY,  D.  D., 

PROFESSOR     IN     THE     NEWTON     THEOLOGICAL     SEMINART. 

Newton  Centre,  March  29,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  In  the  autumn  of  1818,  I  first  saw  Mr.  Train.  It  was  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Association  of  churches  to  which  he  belonged;  and  he  preached 
the  opening  sermon.  After  an  interval  of  about  seven  years,  a  change  of  resi- 
dence on  my  part  brought  us  to  a  general  acquaintance  with  one  another.  My 
intercourse  with  him  was  mostly  public  and  general;  but  in  the  course  of  our 
duties  we  had  been  brought  under  each  other's  roof. 

Mr.  Train  was  of  the  medium  height  as  to  stature,  and  was  of  a  spare  habit 
of  body.  His  countenance  was  indicative  of  mental  activity,  and  of  a  rehec- 
tive  and  cheerful  spirit. 

lie  had  more  than  ordinary  mental  readiness  and  penetration.  Ilis  percep- 
tions were  keen;  and  his  expression  of  them  clear,  direct  and  strong.  His 
temperament  led  him  frequently'  to  dry  and  humorous  remarks,  while  yet 
he  abstained  from  caustic  language.  Though  possessed  of  wit,  he  never  abused 
it  to  the  injury,  or  the  mortiticution,  of  others,  and  was  regardful  of  all  pro- 
prieties of  place  and  time. 

His  social  qualities  made  him  agreeable  both  as  a  guest  and  a  host.  lie  was 
easy  of  speech,  and  had  a  good  fund  of  thought  and  anecdote.  He  felt  at  home 
in  others'  presence  and  made  others  feel  so  in  his.  He  was  atiable  without 
eli'ort,  and  without  engrossing  the  right  and  the  privilege  of  si)eech.  His 
politeness  was  genuine,  without  alfectation  or  obtrusiveness:  in  union  with 
sincere  good-will,  he  was  independent  and  cared  not  to  trim  his  sails  to  every 
change  of  breeze. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  was  didactic  rather  than  oratorical;  valued  and  useful  at 
home,  rather  than  sought  for  at  a  distance.  Yet,  at  times,  his  sermons  showed 
such  ampleness  and  correctness  of  thought,  and  such  skill  in  composition,  as 
to  awaken  regret  in  intelligent  hearers  that  he  was  not  so  situated  as  to  be 
able  to  give  himself  up,  without  tbe  collateral  employment  of  teaching,  to  the 
duties  of  the  pulpit.  Had  he  been  so  situated,  and  become  absorbed  in  the 
strictly  appropriate  work  of  the  ministry,  he  had  ability  which  would  have 
secured  him  an  acknowledged  prominence  in  preaching. 

In  consequence  of  the  demands  which  his  pupils  had  on  him,  his  pastoral 
duties  could  not,  it  may  be  presumed,  receive  their  proper  share  of  time  and 
attention.  Still  he  must  not  be  conceived  of  as  taking  the  pastoral  ovcrsiglit 
of  ::  long  established  religious  Society,  the  welfare  of  which  would  l)e  endan- 
gered by  his  assuming  an  additional  employment,  or  the  pecuniary  arrange- 
ments of  which  might  place  a  Pastor  beyond  excuse  for  assuming  such 
employment:  he  rather  connected  himself  with  a  feeble  band,  which  was  to 
become  a  strong  one  by  the  intelligent  and  persistent  labours  of  a  minister 
whom  they  were  as  yet  unable  to  support,  and  who  must  be  sufficiently  self- 
denying  and  inventive  to  create  his  own  resources,  besides  rendering  ministe- 
rial service.  And  from  the  fact  that,  in  due  time,  the  feeble  band  became  a 
strong  company,  we  may  infer  tliat  his  extraneous  employment  was  far  from 
crowding  out  the  work  of  the  Pastor.  The  accessions  to  his  Church  and 
Society,  as  well  as  the  respect  and  affection  with  which  his  memory  is  still 
cherished  in  the  scene  of  his  labours,  are  gratifying  evidences  that  he  knew 
how,  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  successfully  to  combine  diverse 
operations. 


CilAKLES  TRAIN.  535 

As  I  never  had  occasion  to  become  personally  acquainted  with  ^Ir.  Train's 
methods  and  ability  as  a  teacher,  I  can  only  state  my  impression  that  he  was 
conscientiously  accurate,  forming  his  pupils  to  good  habits  of  study,  and 
qualifying  thorn,  by  a  correct  mental  discipline,  for  subsequent  studies  at 
College. 

lie  entered  with  interest  into  all  the  public  objects  of  religion,  and  was 
friendly  to  regular,  persevering  cflbrts  in  the  prosecution  of  a  good  plan.  He 
relied  strongly  on  the  operation  of  principle,  lie  wished  for  the  progress  of 
all  classes  in  intelligence;  and  was  interested  in  the  application  of  science  to 
the  laborious  employments  of  life,  and  in  the  affairs  of  the  State  as  well  as 
of  religion  and  the  family.  On  all  practical  subjects,  he  was  eminently  judi- 
cious: his  opinions  and  advice,  while  he  was  connected  Avith  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, were  peculiarly  valued.  His  connection  with  State  affairs,  however,  is 
to  be  regarded  only  as  an  episode  in  a  life  which  he  had  devoted  to  the 
advancement,  first,  of  religion,  next,  of  learning. 

The  above  recollections  of  my  friend  I  submit  entirely  to  your  discretion 
and  disposal.    I  am  happy  in  being  able  to  show,  at  least,  good-will. 

Respectfully  yours, 

U.  J.  KIPLEY. 


ALFRED  BENNETT.* 

1806—1851. 

Alfred  Bennett,  the  second  son  of  Asa  and  Mary  Bennett,  was  born 
in  MansBeld,  Conn.,  September  26,  1780.  Both  his  parents  were  pro- 
fessors of  religion, — his  father  being  a  member  of  a  Baptist  Church  in 
Hampton,  his  mother  of  a  Congregational  Church  in  Man.'^field.  He  was 
distinguished,  in  his  boyhood,  for  great  vivacity  of  spirits,  and  love  of 
amusement,  though  he  was  never  immoral,  and  always  showed  much  tender- 
ness of  conscience.  In  1798,  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  commenced  in 
Mansfield,  of  wliich  young  Bennett,  after  a  course  of  very  extraordinary 
mental  exercises,  became  a  hopeful  subject.  He  was  baptized  on  the  first 
Sabbath  in  February,  1800,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Hamp- 
ton, then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Abel  Palmer. 

In  November,  1802,  Mr.  Bennett  was  united  in  marriage  with  Rhoda, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Thomas  Grow,  of  Hampton.  As  the  spirit  of  emi- 
gration from  New  England  to  what  is  now  Central  New  York  prevailed 
greatly  at  that  time,  Mr.  Bennett  was  induced  to  seek  a  Western 
home  ;  and,  accordingly,  in  February,  1803,  he  became  a  resident  of  the 
town  of  Homer,  Cortland  (then  Onondaga)  County,  N.  Y.  Here  he  began 
life  as  a  farmer,  in  a  log-house,  with  the  forests  around  him,  upon  whicli 
scarcely  any  inroads  had  as  yet  been  made.  In  April,  1804,  he  became 
connected  with  a  little  Baptist  church  which  had  previously  been  formed 
there,  but  which  rarely  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  listening  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  idea  of  entering 
the  ministry  was  first  suggested  to  him  ;  but  such  was  his  sense  of  incom- 
petency for  the  work  that  it  was  not  till  after  two  years  that  he  could  per- 
•  Memoir  by  the  Rev.  H.  Harvey, — MS. from  his  son,  D.  Bennett,  Esq. 


536 


BAPTIST. 


suade  himself  that  it  was  his  duty  to  engage  iu  it.  He  had,  indeed,  from 
his  childhood,  had  a  predilection  for  being  a  preacher ;  but  when  tho 
question  of  duty  came  to  urge  itself  upon  his  conscience,  it  seems  to  have 
been  hesitatingly  and  tremblingly  decided,  on  the  ground  of  the  great 
destitution  of  religious  privileges  that  prevailed  in  the  region  around  him. 
He  commenced  preaching  in  the  spring  of  1805  ;  received  an  unlimited 
license  to  preach  from  the  Church  in  Homer,  in  April,  1806;  and  was 
ordained  as  Pastor  of  that  church,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1807. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  in  the  discharge  of 
his  pastoral  duties ;  and  he  had  many  tokens  of  the  Divine  favour  iu  con- 
nection with  his  ministry.  The  years  1812  and  1813,  1816,  1820,  1826, 
and  1830,  were  rendered  memorable  by  extensive  revivals,  which  brought 
large  numbers  into  the  church.  In  1812,  his  congregation  had  become  so 
numerous  as  imperatively  to  require  ampler  accommodations,  and,  accord- 
ingly, they  built  a  plain  but  commodious  house  of  worship,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  South  of  the  village  of  Homer.  In  the  years  1810  and  1811, 
he  perfor(ned  somewhat  extensive  missionary  tours  in  yet  more  destitute 
regions,  particularly  in  the  Holland  Purchase  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1816, 
he  spent  sil  weeks  in  labouring  as  a  missionary,  under  the  Hamilton 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  in  the  counties  of  Tioga,  Steuben,  and  Alle- 
ghany. In  1819,  he  was  one  of  a  deputation  sent  by  the  Hamilton  Society 
to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  Oneida  Indians,  with  a  view  of  taking  the 
requisite  measures  for  sending  them  the  Gospel.  In  1820  and  1821,  he 
was  engaged  in  temporary  agencies  for  this  Society,  and  was  instrumental 
in  organizing  Societies  in  various  places  for  missionary  purposes.  In  1827, 
his  congregation  had  become  so  large  that  a  division  was  thought  desirable ; 
and,  accordingly,  two  colonies  went  forth,  the  one  forming  a  church  at 
Cortland,  and  the  other  at  M'Grawville.  Mr.  Bennett  remained  with  the 
original  church  at  Homer.  During  his  whole  ministry,  extending  through  a 
period  of  twenty-five  years,  he  baptized  more  than  seven  hundred  and 
seventy  persons. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Bennett  accepted  an  appointment  from  the  Executive 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  visit  Churches  and  Associations,  as  far  as 
would  consist  with  his  obligations  to  his  own  people.  He  laboured  in  this 
way,  and  with  great  effect,  for  several  years;  but  he  did  it  with  little  or 
no  expense  to  the  Board.  So  highly  were  his  labours  as  a  missionary 
agent  appreciated,  that  in  1832  the  Board  earnestly  requested  that  he 
would  procure  a  dissolution  of  his  pastoral  relation,  with  a  view  to  spending 
his  whole  time  in  their  service  ;  and,  after  due  consideration  and  earnest 
prayer  for  Divine  guidance,  this  step,  involving  so  much  of  sacrifice  on  the 
part  of  both  himself  and  his  people,  was  actually  taken.  And  to  this 
cause  the  residue  of  his  life  was  sacredly  and  successfully  devoted.  He 
travelled  extensively  in  almost  everypart  of  the  country,  visiting  churches, 
attending  the  meetings  of  public  bodies,  appealing  to  private  individuals 
distinguished  cither  for  their  benevolence  or  pecuniary  ability,  and  in 
all  meeting  difficulties  and  enduring  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  first  attacked  with  serious  illness  during  the  Com- 
mencement Anniversaries  of  Madison  University  iu  1848.     He,  however. 


ALFRED  BENNETT.  537 

80  far  recovered  from  this  as  to  be  able  to  resume  in  some  degree  Lis 
labours;  but,  in  the  summer  of  1850,  he  became,  under  a  complication  of 
maladies,  so  ill  as  to  be  obliged  to  desist  from  all  active  exertion.  From 
this  time,  his  bodily  strength  gradually  declined,  while  the  inner  man  grew 
strong  day  by  day,  until  the  10th  of  May,  1851,  when,  without  one 
anxious  doubt  or  fear,  he  departed  for  the  unseen  world.  A  Discourse 
was  delivered  at  his  Funeral  by  his  early  friend,  the  Rev.  Lewis  Leonard, 
of  Cazenovia. 

Mr.  Bennett  published  a  Discourse  preached  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 
1830,  entitled  "  The  Kingdom  of  Christ  distinguished  from  the  Kingdom 
of  Cicsar." 

Mr.  Bennett  was  the  father  of  five  children, — four  sons  and  a  daughter. 
All  the  suns,  with  their  mother,  survived  him.  One  of  Jiis  sons,  Cephas, 
has  been  for  thirty  years  a  missionary  printer  in  Burmah,  and  has  now 
(1859)  charge  of  the  missionary  printing  office  at  Maulmein.  lie  is  an 
ordained  minister ;  but  his  vocation  is  chiefly  that  of  a  Publisher  of 
religious  books  in  Burmese  and  Karen. 

FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  June  3,  1859. 

Mj'  dear  Sir:  You  could  hardly  have  suggested  to  me  a  name  tliat  would 
have  awakened  within  me  more  grateful  and  aflectionatc  recollections  than 
Alfred  Bennett.  I  began  to  know  him  about  the  year  1830,  soon  after  1  com- 
menced my  ministry  in  Albany,  and  my  relations  with  him,  from  that  time  to 
the  close  of  his  life,  were  most  familiar  and  fraternal.  He  possessed  a  charac- 
ter so  pure,  so  elevated,  so  attractive,  that  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  all 
who  knew  him  intimately,  were  not  only  his  friends,  but  his  admirers. 

Mr.  Bennett  was  of  about  the  medium  height,  was  firmly  built,  and,  towards 
the  close  of  his  life  particularly,  was  slightly  tending  to  corpulency.  His 
face  was  a  mirror  that  always  reflected  the  most  genial  and  kindly  disposi- 
tions. If  you  once  looked  upon  his  lovely,  benignant  expression,  you  would 
have  no  occasion  to  inquire  of  any  body  in  respect  to  what  was  within — you 
could  not  resist  the  conviction  that  the  sunbeams  that  you  saw  playing  there, 
emanated  from  a  fountain  of  ingenuous  and  benevolent  feeling.  And  the  more 
you  knew  of  him,  the  more  you  would  be  confirmed  in  your  first  judgment — 
you  could  not  fail  to  regard  him  as  one  of  the  loveliest  spirits  you  ever  knew. 

But  Mr.  Bennett  was  not  only  gentle  and  generous  but  higlily  intellectual 
also.  His  mind  was  at  once  well  balanced  and  far  reaching.  He  had  excellent 
common  sen.se,  that  enabled  him  to  discern  what  was  fitting  on  ail  occasions, 
and  preserved  him  from  the  least  tendenc}'  to  extravagance.  Though  he  was 
pre-eminently  conciliatory  in  his  spirit  and  movements,  and  was  the  last  per- 
son to  make  a  man  an  offender  for  a  word,  yet  no  one  was  truer  than  he  to 
his  own  honest  convictions;  and,  where  his  mind  was  fully  made  up  as  to  a 
point  of  dut}',  you  might  as  well  attempt  to  move  a  mountain  as  to  divert  hira 
from  his  course.  With  this  combination  of  qualities,  I  hardly  need  .say  that 
he  had  great  weight  among  his  brethren,  and  especially  that  no  one  was  more 
relied  upon  than  he,  as  an  efficient  helper,  in  times  of  difficulty- 

As  a  Preacher,  I  should  certainly  rank  Mr.  Bennett  among  the  liglits  of  his 
denomination.  He  had  a  strong,  clear  voice,  which  he  modulated  to  very  good 
purpose.  His  manner  was  simple  and  natural,  and  wiiatever  of  gesture  he 
used,  was  evidently  the  unstudied  expression  of  his  convictions  and  feelings. 
There  was  a  sincerity  and  earnestness  in  all  his  utterances,  that  acted  as  a 

Vol..  VI.  68 


538  BAPTIST. 

charm  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  and  did  not  leave  it  at  their  option 
whether  to  give  him  their  attention  or  not.  He  spoke  extempore,  at  least  so 
far  as  the  language  was  concerned,  but  he  was  always  fluent,  and  his  words 
were  well  chosen.  The  matter  of  his  discourses  was  always  well  digested  and 
well  arranged,  and,  though  he  was  occasionally  somewhat  disvursive,  ho 
never  lost  sight  of  his  principal  object,  and  made  all  his  incidental  allusions 
and  illustrations  subservient  to  it.  The  one  commanding,  everlasting  theme 
of  his  preaching  was  Christ — Christ  in  the  glories  of  his  person,  in  the  riches 
of  his  grace,  in  the  offices  and  the  benefits  of  his  mediation.  From  his  ordi- 
nary pulpit  exhibitions,  you  would  not  have  thought  of  his  being  imaginative^ 
and  yet  this  was  really  the  case — I  have  sometimes  heard  him,  when  his  mind 
became  highly  excited  under  some  lofty  theme,  and  would  throw  out  one 
grand  or  beautiful  image  after  another,  until  I  found  my  own  spirit  soaring 
away  into  the  third  heavens,  in  the  sublime  and  luminous  track  which  he  had 
opened  for  us. 

Mr.  Bennett's  heart  was  pre-eminently  in  the  missionary  work.  He  entered 
fully  into  the  spirit  of  his  high  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature;  and  there  was  no  sacrifice  to  which  he  would  not  promptly,  even 
cheerfully,  submit,  for  the  sake  of  bringing  God's  saving  truth  in  contact  with 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  his  fellow-creatures.  In  short,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  industrious,  single-minded  and  earnest  ministers,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  amiable,  sincere  and  unexceptionable  men,  with  whom  it  has  ever  been 
my  privilege  to  be  associated. 

Very  truly  yours, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


OBADIAH  B.  BROWN.* 

1806—1852. 

Obadiah  B.  Brown  was  a  descendant  of  Jolm  Browne,  wlio  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  born  in  England ;  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  New- 
ark, N.  J. ;  and  died  in  1690.  He  was  a  son  of  Elcazar  and  Mary 
Brown,  and  was  born  at  Newark,  the  residence  of  his  ancestors  for  several 
generations,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1779.  His  parents  were  both  exemplary 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  early  life,  he  was  engaged  in 
a  respectable  mechanical  occupation.  Though  his  advantages  for  educa- 
tion were  quite  limited,  he  made  up  the  deficiency,  in  a  good  degree,  by  a 
resolute  habit  of  self-cuUure.  For  some  time,  both  before  and  after  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  a  school. 
Though  educated  a  Presbyterian,  he  was  favourably  impressed,  at  an  early 
period,  by  the  peculiar  views  of  the  Baptists  ;  and,  when  a  Baptist  church 
was  establi.shed  in  Newark,  he  became  at  once  deeply  interested  in  its 
prosperity,  and  was  soon  baptized  and  admitted  to  its  communion.  This 
occurred  when  he  was  not  far  from  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  while  he 
was  yet  engaged  in  teaching. 

As  Mr.  Brown  was  regarded  by  his  brethren  as  possessing  talents  of  a 
superior  order,  they  very  soon  suggested  to  him  that  it  might  be  his  duty 

*  MSS.  from  Dr.  W.  Van  Horn  Brown,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Samson. 


OBADIAII  B.  BliOWN.  539 

to  become  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel;  and,  ut  no  distant  period,  lie  Lad 
made  up  his  mind  to  act  iu  accordance  with  this  suggestion.  Having  pur- 
sued a  preparatory  course  of  study,  under  the  direction  chiefly  of  the  llev. 
William  Van  Horn,  of  Scotch  Plains,  he  was  regularly  introduced  to  the 
ministry  ;  immediately  after  which  he  preached  for  a  short  time  in  Salem, 
N.  J.  In  February  1807,  he  removed  to  Washington  City,  and  in  3Iay 
following,  was  unanimously  called  to  become  the  Pastor  of  tlie  First  Bap- 
tist Church  there,  theu  iu  its  infancy— he  accepted  the  call,  and  continued 
iu  the  service  of  that  church  until  1850,  wheu  age  and  declining  health 
compelled  him  to  resign  his  charge. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Brown's  settlement,  and  indeed  from  that  period 
onward  for  thirty  years,  the  clergymen  of  Washington  generally  were 
obliged  to  seek  a  pecuniary  income  from  a  clerkship  under  the  General 
Government ;  since  few  of  the  resident  population  had  any  wealth,  and  most 
of  those  who  were  there  temporarily,  and  on  account  of  their  oHicial  relations, 
were  obliged  to  aid  in  sustaining  churches  at  home.  Mr.  Brown  obtained 
a  subordinate  clerkship  ;  in  which  he  proved  himself  so  efficient  and  faithful 
that  he  rose,  step  by  step,  until,  under  the  administration  of  General 
Jackson,  he  occupied  the  position  which  is  given  to  the  highest  official 
ability, — that  of  Chief  Clerk  under  the  Post  Master  General. 

Mr.  Brown  was  repeatedly  chosen  Chaplain  to  Congress,  and  served  in 
that  capacity  with  great  acceptance. 

He  was  very  fond  of  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  and  continued  to  preach, 
when  opportunity  offered,  as  long  as  his  physical  strength  would  permit. 
It  was  only  a  month  or  two  before  his  death,  that  he  porfurnied  his  last 
labours  in  the  pulpit.  The  disease  of  which  he  died  occasioned  him  the 
most  intense  suffering,  but  he  was  sustained  under  it  by  the  joyful  hope 
of  a  better  life.  He  died  on  the  2d  of  May,  1852,  in  the  seventy-third 
year  of  his  age.  Not  only  the  church  which  he  had  so  long  served,  but 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Columbian  College,  of  which,  from  the 
beginning,  he  had  been  a  most  efficient  memlier,  testified  their  gratitude 
for  his  services,  and  their  reverence  for  his  memory,  by  appropriate 
Resolutions. 

Mr.  Brown  was  married,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1808,  to  iMrs.  Elizabeth 
Jackson,  (whose  maiden  name  was  lliley,)  a  native  of  Wolverhampton, 
England,  but  for  some  years  a  resident  of  P^denton,  N.  C.,  where  she  was 
left  a  widow,  with  one  son.  Mr.  Brown  became  the  father  of  six  child- 
ren,— five  f^ons  and  one  daughter.  The  eldest  son,  Thomas  B.,  was  gradu- 
ated at  the  Columbian  College,  became  a  lawyer  of  great  promise,  in 
Indiana,  and  died  in  18.38,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine.  Anotlier  son,  George 
Whitfjield, — a  youth  of  fine  talents  and  accomplishments,  died  iu  1834, 
just  before  completing  his  collegiate  course.  Their  only  surviving  son  was 
graduated  at  the  Columbian  College,  became  a  distinguished  medical  prac- 
titioner in  Arkansas,  but  now  (1859)  resides  in  Washington  City,  and  holds 
the  office  of  Principal  Clerk  of  Public  Lands  in  the  General  Land  office. 
Mrs.  Brown  died  in  Clarke  County,  Va.,  at  the  residence  of  her  son-in-law, 
Col.  John  luley,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1852. 


540  BAPTIST. 


FROM  THE  REV.  G.  W.  SAMSON,  D.  D. 

Washington  City,  March  12,  1859. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  0.  B.  Brown  commenced 
in  1843,  and  became  more  and  more  intimate  until  1850,  when  he  resigned  his 
pastoral  charge.  From  our  association  as  fellow  Pastors,  I  learned  much  of 
his  character  as  a  Man,  a  Christian,  and  a  Minister. 

You  arc  aware  that  Mr.  Brown  occupied  an  important  post  under  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States.  As  with  all  clergymen  thus  employed  from 
nine  to  three  o'clock,  and  six  days  in  the  week,  Mr.  Brown  could  devote  little 
time  to  either  pastoral  labour,  or  studied  preparation  for  the  pulpit.  This 
deficicnc}',  however,  was,  in  his  case,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  made  up,  by  a 
specially  retentive  memory,  a  rich  and  vivid  imagination,  and  a  much  more 
than  ordinary  degree  of  logical  acumen.  His  pulpit  efforts  were  always 
marked  b}-  vigour  of  mind,  and  sometimes  by  great  power  and  effectiveness. 

With  his  native  breadth  of  mental  capacity,  Mr.  Brown  had  a  large  and 
liberal  spirit,  which  made  him  conservative  in  politicSj  catholic  in  his  relations 
to  all  Christian  denominations,  and  zealous  in  respect  to  every  new  organiza- 
tion for  the  advancement  of  Christ's  cause,  either  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, or  in  efforts  for  the  melioration  of  the  condition  of  any  class  of  his  fellow- 
men.  AVhcn  the  first  movement  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  occurred,  in  connection  with  the  letters  of  Judson,  and  the 
return  of  Rice  to  this  country,  Mr.  Brown  was  one  of  the  first  to  kindle  at 
the  prospect  of  usefulness  to  the  heathen:  he  had  a  very  imi^ortant  agency  in 
the  organization  of  the  Ba])tist  General  Convention  for  Missionary  purposes; 
and  his  house  in  Washington  became  the  home  of  the  visiting  Missionary,  and 
of  the  Agent  for  benevolent  objects.  His  zeal  as  a  Baptist,  however,  never 
interfered  with  or  marred  his  fraternity  Avith  other  Christian  denominations. 
While  active  in  politics  as  a  partisan,  he  was  generous  in  his  sentiments  and 
conservative  in  his  course.  When  the  agitation  upon  the  question  of  Slavery 
arose  in  1845,  which  led  to  the  separation  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  their 
missionary  operations,  a  meeting  of  the  Baptist  clergymen  of  the  District  was 
called,  at  Mr.  Brown's  instance,  and  a  paper  containing  a  remonstrance  and 
an  appeal  Avas  drawn  up  by  him,  and  signed  by  those  who  were  present, — it 
being  regarded  by  all  as  at  once  able  and  impartial,  patriotic  and  Christian,  in 
its  tone  and  reasonings. 

There  were  some  eras  in  Mr.  Brown's  life,  to  Avhich  he  often  adverted  with 
interest.  The  first  was  the  time  of  his  conversion  to  Christ;  and  no  one, 
experimentally  acquainted  with  the  way  of  salvation,  as  he  heard  him  with 
tears  dwell  on  that  experience,  could  doubt  that  he  had  truly  tasted  the  bit- 
terness of  sin  and  the  sweetness  of  a  Saviour's  love.  Another  era  Avas  the 
period  when  a  powerful  revival  of  religion  had  occurred  in  his  church;  and  no 
one  could  doubt  his  call  to- the  Christian  ministry,  as  he  witnessed  the  delight 
with  which  he  dwelt  on  this  scaling  time  of  his  pastoral  labour.  7\nothcr  was 
the  season  when  Spencer  II.  Cone  was  called  from  the  stage  to  the  pulpit,  and 
by  his  first  sermons  at  Washington  awakened  such  an  interest  in  the  ranks 
of  the  thoughtless  and  fashionable.  While  his  house  was  the  resort  of  the 
politician,  as  well  as  the  Christian  Minister,  Mr.  Brown's  whole  conduct 
showed  that,  though  the  world  engrossed  the  thoughts  of  most  around  him, 
the  higher  claims  and  the  deeper  interests  of  vital  piety  were  by  him  never 
forgotten. 

Mr.  Brown's  faults  of  mind  and  character  were  those  to  which  everj-  one  of 
ardent  tetnjierament  is  liable;  which  are  often  exaggerated,  when  found  in  a 
Christian  Minister,  and  which  are  sure  to  be  marked  in  a  public  man,  though 


OBADIAII  B.  BR0\7N.  54]^ 

they  may  be  overlooked  in  a  person  of  luiniblo  •walk  in  life.  Sucli  is  that 
fault  of  mind  most  often  seen  in  one  of  cntinusiastic  mould.  An  incident,  once 
related  to  me  by  an  English  clergyman,  of  gonial  spirit  and  undoubted  piet}^, 
will  illustrate  tliis.  lie  had  related  in  Mr.  Brown's  hearing  an  anecdote  of 
one  of  liis  ministerial  brethren  in  England.  But  a  few  days  after,  in  a  circle 
of  friends  whom  he  was  entertaining,  Mr.  Brown  related  the  same  anecdote  as 
having  occurred  in  Virginia.  An  entirely  wrong  construction  is  often  put 
upon  such  an  imperfection  as  this.  In  men  of  strong  sensibility,  imagination 
is  vigorous  at  the  period  of  life  when  memory  begins  to  fail.  In  advancing 
years,  when  wc  read  or  hear  the  statement  of  any  principle  or  fact,  memory 
takes  less  note  of  what  we  have  received  from  another;  the  principle  or  the 
fact  passes  unmarked  into  the  stores  of  our  own  mind,  and  when  drawn  out, 
it  is  often  utterly  impossible  for  one  of  the  utmost  sincerity  to  di.scriminate 
between  his  own  views  of  a  principle  suggested,  and  what  he  heard  another 
say  in  reference  to  it;  or  to  separate  his  own  conceptions  of  a  scene  pictured 
from  the  statements  made  by  another.  It  is  an  imperfection  of  the  mind, — 
not  a  moral  delinquency,  which  is  so  generally  observed  in  most  conscientious 
and  godly  men,  who  take  delight  in  interesting  anecdote. 

Mr.  Brown,  doubtless,  like  other  men  in  his  station,  was  led  too  far  away 
from  his  work  as  a  Christian  minister,  bj'  the  active  duties  of  his  secular 
office.  Of  this  he  was  aware;  and  its  results  he  afterwards  deeply  lamented. 
When,  in  a  familiar  conference  of  ministers,  a  young  brother,  who  had  just 
left  a  lucrative  office  to  accept  an  humble  Pastorship,  at  a  very  limited  salary, 
was  speaking  of  the  fearful  struggle  to  which  his  pride  had  been  called,  in 
consenting  to  "  live  on  the  charity  of  the  poor,"  as  he  termed  it,  Mr.  Brown 
M'as  deeply  moved.  Rising,  he  exclaimed, — "  Brother,  I  know  what  that 
means.  That  was  the  rock  on  which  I  split;"  and  then  he  went  on  to  state 
how  necessity  compelled  him,  on  coming  to  Washington,  to  accept  a  Govern- 
ment office;  that  thus  he  was  led  on,  as  by  constraint,  to  a  higher  position, 
until  worldly  emolument  and  worldlj'  preferment  had  entangled  him  too  much, 
for  a  Christian  soldier  and  leader,  with  the  affairs  of  this  life. 

Had  Mr.  Brown  been  untrammelled,  in  the  service  of  a  church  that  could 
have  supported  him,  his  intellectual  powers  developed  and  enlarged  by  study, 
his  genuine  Christian  experience,  and  his  ardent  temperament,  turned  wholly 
in  the  channel  of  his  appropriate  work,  would  have  left  him  few  equals  in  the 
Christian  ministry,  at  least  as  far  as  efficiency  is  concerned.  As  it  was,  his 
name  and  his  fame  will  never  be  forgotten,  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  in  Wash- 
ington and  its  vicinity.  Very  truly  yours, 

G.  W.  SAMSON. 


ISAAC   McCOY.* 

1807— 184G. 

Isaac  McCoy,  son  of  William  McCoy,  was  of  Scotch  Irish  extraction, 
on  the  father's  side,  and  was  born  in  Fayette  County,  Pa.,  June  13.  1784. 
nis  parents  and  grandparents  were  members  of  the  Baptist  Cluirch,  and 
his  father  and  two  of  liis  brothers  wore  preachers  in  that  connection. 
About  the  year  1790,  his  father  removed  Westward,  and  finally  settled  in 
Shelby  County,  Ky.  The  settlement  of  that  part  of  the  country  had  then 
bat  just  begun  ;  and  the  few  inhabitants  that  there  were,  were  for  the  most 

•  MSS.  from  his  brother,— John  McCoy,  Esq.,  and  Joseph  Chambers,  Esq.— McCoy's  Baptist 
Indian  Missions. 


542  BAPTIST. 

part  destitute  alike  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture;  so  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  imagine  circumstances  more  unpropitious  than  existed  there  for  training 
up  a  family.  Isaac,  however,  was  remarkable,  from  early  childhood,  for 
his  repugnance  to  any  thing  like  open  vice ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  sound 
of  a  violin  was  always  the  signal  for  his  running  in  the  opposite  direction, 
lest  it  sliould  be  the  occasion  of  enticing  him  into  sin.  He  was  distin- 
guished also  for  his  great  thirst  for  knowledge.  His  father's  library,  though 
it  would  not  much  more  than  have  filled  an  ordinary  portmanteau,  proba- 
bly contained  the  larger  part  of  all  the  books  in  the  settlement:  to  these 
he  applied  himself  with  the  utmost  diligence,  and  from  them,  and  espe- 
cially from  the  Bible,  gathered  a  degree  of  knowledge  that  gave  him  no 
small  distinction  among  the  rude  and  ignorant  youth  with  whom  he  was 
more  or  less  associated. 

In  the  year  1800,  soon  after  the  great  revival  in  Kentucky  commenced, 
notwithstanding  he  had  always  been  a  model  of  exemplary  conduct,  he 
became  most  deeply  impressed  with  a  conviction  of  his  guilt  in  the  sight 
of  Grod,  and  for  several  weeks  his  sufferings  were  so  intense  that  he  was 
scarcely  able  to  sleep  by  night,  or  to  work  by  day.  At  length,  however, 
the  cloud  in  which  he  had  been  enveloped,  broke  away,  and  he  was  filled 
with  joy  and  peace  in  believing.  He  was  baptized  by  Elder  William  Wal- 
ler, and  received  as  a  member  of  the  Buck  Creek  Church,  on  the  Gth  of 
March,  1801,  when  he  was  in  his  seventeenth  year. 

On  the  Gth  of  October,  1803',  Mr.  McCoy  was  married  to  Christiana, 
daughter  of  Capt.  E.  Polk,  a  soldier  and  pioneer  of  the  country.  Many 
years  prior  to  tliis,  Capt.  Polk  being  absent  from  home  on  a  campaign 
against  the  Indians,  his  wife  and  three  little  children  whom  ho  had  left  in 
a  fort  in  Nelson  County,  were  taken  prisoners  by  the  Ottawa  Indians,  and 
conveyed  to  the  Northern  lakes,  where,  after  much  suffering  for  several 
years,  tliey  were  found  by  their  anxious  and  vigilant  husband  and  father, 
and  brought  back  to  their  own  home.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  a 
daughter  of  Capt.  Polk,  born  subsequently  to  this  captivity,  should  have 
gone  with  her  husband,  Isaac  McCoy,  among  those  very  Ottawa  Indians, 
to  carry  to  them  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 

In  April,  1804,  he  removed  to  Vincennes,  Ind.;  but  he  soon  found  that 
he  was  in  a  sickly  climate,  and  was  himself  prostrated  by  a  severe  illness 
that  brought  him  to  the  borders  of  the  grave.  In  the  autumn  of  1805. 
before  he  had  yet  fully  recovered  his  health,  he  removed  to  Clarke  County, 
in  the  same  State, — a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  Here  he 
was  licensed  to  preach T>y  the  Silver  Creek  Baptist  Church.  He  immedi- 
ately entered  with  great  zeal  upon  his  work,  preaching  throughout  all  the 
surrounding  country.  He  was  not,  however,  satisfied  to  remain  here,  but 
felt  irrcsisti))ly  impelled  to  visit  the  Wabash  country,  from  which  he  had 
already  been  driven  by  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate,  and  in  which  sick- 
ness was  still  prevailing  to  an  alarming  extent.  Accordingly,  after  a  three 
years'  residence  in  Clarke  County,  he  returned  with  his  family  to  Vincennes, 
in  the  fall  of  1808,  and  shortly  after  settled  at  Maria  Creek, — a  place 
not  far  di.^tnnt.  Here  he  was  ordained  on  the  13th  of  October,  1810,  by 
Elders  William  McCoy  (his  father)  and  George  Waller.  His  connection 
with  the  Maria  Creek   Church   continued  until  he  removed  to  the   Indian 


ISAAC  McCOY.  543 

country.  While  he  laboured  assiduously  among  his  own  flock,  he  acted  as 
a  Missionary  from  time  to  time,  travelling  from  Kentucky  on  the  East 
to  Missouri  on  the  West,  and  to  the  extreme  limit  of  immigration  on  the 
North. 

Immoiliatcly  after  Peace  was  concluded  with  the  Indians,  his  thoughts 
turned  much  on  the  melioration  of  the  condition  of  that  rude  and  heathen 
people ;  but,  not  understanding  their  language,  he  soon  found  the  difficulty 
of  addressing  them  on  the  subject  of  religion  through  llonian  Catholic 
interpreters.  In  1817,  he  received,  through  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention,  an  appointment  as  Missionary,  by  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  to  itinerate  and  labour  in  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
The  nest  year  he  was  appointed,  by  the  same  Society,  a  Missionary  to  the 
Indians.  Having  accepted  the  appointment,  he  immediately  removed 
about  ninety  miles  into  the  wilderness,  and  took  up  his  abode  on  Raccoon 
Creek,  whore  he  commenced  his  evangelical  labours.  In  May,  1820,  he 
removed  to  Fort  Wayne,  where,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1821,  he  organized  a 
church,  consisting  of  eight  missionaries,  one  coloured  man,  and  two  con- 
verted half-breed  Indian  women.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  he 
removed  to  a  new  station  on  the  St.  Joseph's  River,  on  the  borders  of 
Michigan,  about  a  hundred  miles  West  of  Fort  Wayne,  which  be  called 
Carey.  Here  he  remained  until  1829,  when  he  removed  to  the  Indian 
country,  West  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  now  Kansas.  His  object  in  this 
was  to  bring  the  Indians  together,  but  to  keep  them  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  the  white  settlements,  and  especially  from  the  corrupting 
influences  of  a  certain  class  of  persons  on  the  frontiers.  For  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  object  he  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost;  and  he  was 
doubtless  one  of  the  most  eflicient  agents  in  the  removal  of  the  Indians  to 
the  Far  West. 

In  1842,  the  American  Indian  Mission  Association  was  formed,  and  Mr. 
McCoy  was  chosen  its  first  Corresponding  Secretary  and  General  Agent. 
As  the  scat  of  its  operations  was  Louisville,  he  took  up  his  residence 
there,  and  continued  his  labours  with  untiring  as^^iduity  till  the  close  of 
his  life.  On  the  1st  of  June,  184G,  he  preached  in  Jeff"crsonvillc,  and,  on 
returning  to  Louisville,  was  caught  in  a  shower,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  took  a  cold  that  brought  on  a  fever  that  terminated  his  life.  He  died 
on  the  21st  of  June,  after  an  illness  of  a  little  less  than  three  weeks,  in 
the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.     Mrs.  McCoy  died  in  the  year  18oL 

They  had  thirteen  children.  The  two  eldest  sons  were  graduates  of 
the  Columbian  College,  and  afterwards  of  the  Lexington,  Ky.  Medical 
College  ;  but  both  fell  victims  to  travelling  through  the  wilderness,  in  cold 
weather,  on  their  father's  business.  The  entire  family  is  now  (1858)  dead, 
except  one  son,  a  respectable  citizen  of  Jackson  County,  Mo. 

In  1840,  Mr.  McCoy  published  a  History  of  I^aptist  Indian  Missions, 
embracing  Remarks  on  the  Former  and  Present  Condition  of  the  Aborigi- 
nal Tribe*!,  their  Settlement  within  the  Indian  Territory,  and  their  Future 
Prospects.  This  volume  (an  octavo  of  upwards  of  six  hundred  pages) 
contains  a  great  amount  of  general  information  in  respect  to  the  Indian 
Tribes,  as  well  as  a  record  of  the  author's  own  arduous  and  persevering 
labours. 


544  BAPTIST. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  father  and  two  brothers  of  Mr, 
McCoy  were  niiniyters  of  the  Gospel.  His  father  commenced  preaching 
in  the  year  179G,  and  preached  for  the  Old  Silver  Creek  Church,  (the  first 
liaptist  Church  constituted  in  the  Territory  of  Indiana,)  for  some  time, 
whilst  living  in  Kentucky,  thirty-six  miles  distant;  and  in  1811  he  moved 
to  Indiana,  and  took  the  entire  charge  of  that  church,  preaching  also  fre- 
quently to  other  congregations  in  the  neighbourhood.  He  died  of  an 
affection  of  the  throat,  and  in  great  triumph,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1813. 

James  McCoy,  the  elder  brother,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  4th 
of  April,  1777.  He  was  wild  and  wicked  in  his  youth,  but,  at  the  age  of 
about  twenty-four,  became  hopefully  pious,  and  joined  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Clarke  County,  lud.,  or  North  Western  Territory.  He  was  an 
active  member  of  the  church,  and  Clerk  of  the  First  Baptist  Association 
formed  in  that  region.  In  1817,  he  was  licensed  to  preach — he  was  Pastor 
of  four  different  churches  ;  introduced  large  numbers  into  the  church  by 
Baptism  ;  preached  without  any  pecuniary  compensation ;  and  continued  to 
labour  with  great  zeal  and  success  until  the  year  1833,  when  he  died  of 
cholera,  in  Salem,  Ind.  The  record  of  his  fidelity  and  usefulness  remains 
in  many  hearts. 

Rice  McCoy,  a  younger  brother,  was  born  at  North  Bend,  on  the  Ohio 
River,  June  IG,  1789;  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  white  child 
born  in  the  North  Western  Territory.  He  joined  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Kentucky,  when  he  was  quite  young,  and  soon  after  transferred  his  rela- 
tion to  the  Silver  Creek  Church,  Ind.,  and  was  almost  immediately  licensed 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  Meekness,  humility,  tenderness,  were  prominent 
traits  of  his  character  and  of  his  preaching.  He  was  a  devoted  friend  of 
Missions,  and  among  his  greatest  trials  was  the  opposition  of  some  of  his 
brethren  to  that  cherished  cause.  He  died  on  the  last  of  October,  1834, 
having  been  the  Pastor  of  four  churches  in  Washington  and  Orange 
Counties,  Ind. 


FROM  JOSEPH  CHAMBERS,  ESQ. 

Maria  Creek,  Knox  Coimty,  Ind.,  June  1, 1858. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  glad  you  intend  to  include,  among  the  worthies  to  be  com- 
memorated in  your  work,  the  Rev.  Isaac  McCoy;  for  he  was  pre-eminently  a 
benefactor  of  his  race,  and  especially  of  the  inhabitants  of  our  "Western  forests. 
My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  in  1809;  he  baptized  me;  I  sat  under 
his  ministry  seven  years;  and  was  in  friendl}'  relations  with  him  till  his 
death.  His  image,  physical,  intellectual  and  moral,  is  imprinted  on  my 
memory,  and  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  testify  to  his  extraordinary 
worth  and  u.sefulncss. 

Mr.  McCoy's  general  aspect  was  decidedly  intellectual  and  meditative. 
Though  he  had  the  appearance  of  being  sickly,  he  had  great  power  of  endu- 
rance; and  this,  Avith  his  indoniitablo  perseverance,  his  strong  faith,  his  almost 
boundless  courage,  enabled  him  to  encounter  obstacles  successfully,  which  to 
most  persons  would  liave  seemed  insurmountable. 

Mr.  McCoy  had  all  the  elements  of  a  soldier,  and  there  were  circumstances 
in  his  history  that  were  well  fitted  to  develope  them.  He  was  reared  in  Ken- 
tucky, in  most  troublous  times,  when  the  utmost  vigilance  and  energy  were 
often  required  for  personal  defence  and  preservation.     During  the  early  part 


ISAAC  McCOY.  545 

of  the  War  of  1S12,  wc  all  lived  tog;cther  at  a  Fort  in  this  place,  when  I  had 
abundant  opportunities  of  seeing  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  face  of  man. 
Besides  acting  as  our  sentinel,  he  mended  our  farming  implements  for  us, 
which  he  was  very  well  aide  to  do,  as  he  had  early  learned  tlie  trade  of  a 
whcel-wright.  He  used  also,  with  his  rille,  to  lead  us  on  in  pursuit  of  the 
Indians:  he  took  it  with  him  also  to  the  house  of  God,  never  knowing  but 
that  the  service  would  be  interrupted  by  a  hostile  attack;  and  for  two  or  three 
years  it  was  customary  for  those  who  attended  public  worship  to  carry  their 
arms  with  them.  I  remember,  on  one  occasion,  in  view  of  some  bold  demon- 
stration which  he  had  made,  some  one  remarked  that  he  had  no  fear,  and  one 
standing  by  replied, — "  If  I  was  as  good  a  man  as  McOoy,  I  would  not  fear 
any  thing  either." 

Mr.  McCoy  had  but  very  limited  advantages  for  education,  though,  by  his 
own  indofati-abie  elforts  in  after  life,  he  acquired  a  large  amount  of  u.scful 
knowledge,  and  became  highly  respectable  even  as  a  writer.  Wiien  he  began 
his  ministry,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  his  preaching  was  not  very  accept- 
able, and,  though  everj'  body  regarded  him  as  an  excellent  man,  some  might 
have  thought  that  his  legitimate  vocation  Avas  hardly  in  the  pulpit.  He,  how- 
ever, became  a  decidedly  able  preacher;  which  was  perhaps  the  more  remark- 
able, considering  the  adverse  circumstances  by  which  the  early  part  of  his 
course  was  marked.  The  church  which  he  served  was  verj'  small  and  poor, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  labour  a  large  part  of  the  time  with  his  own  hands  for 
the  support  of  his  fitmil}'.  But  his  mind  was  always  active,  and  was  under- 
going a  process  of  self-discipline  and  culture,  even  while  he  was  burdened 
with  secular  engagements.  His  preaching  had  nothing  in  it  of  rhetorical  dis- 
play, but  it  was  sensible,  earnest,  convincing.  His  doctrinal  views  were 
thoroughly  Calvinistic;  and  their  practical  influence  was  abundantly  mani- 
fest in  his  life. 

That  whicli  more  than  any  thing  else  must  form  the  enduring  memorial  of 
Mr.  ^NlcCoy  is  what  he  did  and  suffered  for  the  red  man.  He  laboured  for  him, 
during  a  large  part  of  his  ministry,  with  an  intensity  that  nothing  could  abate; 
and  he  has  left  a  mark  on  the  destiny  of  that  unfortunate  people  which  time 
cannot  efface.  Well  do  I  remember  going,  by  request,  to  his  house,  to  join 
with  him  in  prayer  just  before  his  removal  into  the  Indian  country.  A  few 
years  before,  we  had  both  been  defending  ourselves  and  our  families,  with  our 
rifles,  against  the  invasion  of  the  Indians,  and  now  he  was  going  to  plant 
himself  down  among  them,  with  his  wife  and  seven  small  children,  in  the  hope 
of  becoming  the  instrument  of  their  salvation.  I  will  not  dissemble  tliat,  in 
the  weakness  of  my  faith,  I  feared  that  he  had  fallen  upon  a  Utopian  sclieme; 
but,  in  view  of  the  results,  now  after  forty  years,  I  am  constrained  to  say,  in 
admiration  of  the  wonderful  workings  of  providence  and  grace, — '-  What 
hath  (iod  wrought!"  Isaac  ^IcCoy  has  gone  to  his  rest;  but  his  inlluoncc 
upon  the  Indian  tribes — who  shall  say  to  it  "  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come  and 
uo  further?" 

Yours  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Gospel, 

JOSEPH  CHAMBERS. 

FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

PouGiiKEKi'siE,  N.  Y.,  October  7,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  My  recollections  of  the  late  Missionary,  the  Rev.  Isaac  McCoy, 
reach  back  to  the  .session  of  the  Triennial  Baptist  Convention,  in  the  spring 
of  1826.  The  meeting  was  held  iu  the  Oliver  Street  Baptist  Church,  New  York 
city,  of  which  my  early  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cone  was  Pastor;  and  even 
before  this,  I  knew   that  "Brother   Isaac,"   as   the  good    Doctor  familiarly 

Vor..  VI.  09 


54G  BAPTIST. 

called  him,  was  a  great  favourite  with  himself  and  his  fomily.  The  Committee 
on  Indian  Missions,  or  particularly  tlie  Carey  Mission,  of  which  McCoy  had 
been  the  head  from  its  inception, — consisted  of  Dr.  Cone,  Dr.  Wayland,  and 
myself,  with  some  one  or  two  others.  This  circumstance  brought  me  into 
frequent  and  close  conference,  for  several  days,  with  this  good  missionary. 
He  had  grievances  to  be  considered  and  redressed,  and  on  the  part  of  the 
Executive  Board  there  were  some  things  complained  of  as  a  sort  of  offset. 
This,  of  course,  led  to  a  protracted  examination  of  hisca.sc,  and  thus  developed 
in  a  rather  striking  manner  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  of  the  man. 
We  found  that  he  had  been  the  first  appointed  Missionary  of  our  Board  to  the 
Indian  tribes,  in  1817;  that  he  had  been  authorized  to  open  a  large  Mission 
School,  and,  when  winter  was  about  setting  in,  he  and  his  numerous  depend- 
ents were  left  almost  without  means  of  support.  By  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  therefore,  he  had  been  obliged  to  repair  to  the  nearest  settlements,  and 
appeal,  as  he  did  successfully',  for  food  and  clothing  for  his  Mission  School 
and  family.  Of  course,  during  his  long  and  painful  absence,  some  things  had 
fallen  into  a  degree  of  irregularity;  and,  where  he  had  been  pleading  for  sup- 
plies, an  impression,  in  some  degree,  unfavourable  to  our  Mission  Board,  had 
been  produced.  In  the  endeavour  to  adjust  these  various  difficulties,  an 
excellent  opportunity  was  afforded  for  learning  McCoy's  true  character. 
Gradually  but  surelj-  he  rose  in  the  esteem  of  us  all,  the  various  cross-exam- 
inations to  which  he  was  subjected,  serving  to  bring  out  various  good  qualities, 
which  otherwise  would  have  been  unknown,  at  least  to  us.  How  yearning  his 
love  for  the  mission  famil}^, — both  the  red  and  the  pale  faces;  and  what  heroic 
toils  and  sacrifices  he  had  been  Avilling  to  submit  to  on  their  account!  Subse- 
quently, and  in  other  places  and  relations,  I  heard  him  plead  the  cause  of 
Christian  Missions  for  our  native  tribes.  Soon,  too,  we  began  a  correspond- 
ence, which  helped  to  ripen  this  acquaintance  into  a  friendship  which  con- 
tinued unabated  till  the  close  of  his  life. 

Of  course  your  biographical  sketcli  of  ^Ir.  McCoj'  will  give  adequate  promi- 
nence to  his  advocacy  of  Indian  Colonization  in  tlie  new  Territory,  set  aparr 
by  Congress  as  the  permanent  home  for  these  Tribes.  This  led  him  to  author- 
ship, lie  sent  me  the  sliects  of  his  large  octavo  volume  on  Indian  Missions, 
as  they  appeared,  desiring  me  to  read  them  and  to  express  to  him  my  opinion 
freely.  I,  at  first,  supposed  these  were  proof  sheets,  and  made  such  correc- 
tions as  seemed  to  me  desirable;  but  it  turned  out  that  the  sheets  sent  to  me 
were  those  struck  off  in  the  first  edition.  Of  course  my  corrections  were 
useless,  for  I  think  a  second  edition  was  not  called  for. 

But  the  correspondence  growing  out  of  this  revision  served  to  indicate  more 
fully  how  earnestly  and  religiouslj'  he  had  studied  the  great  problem  relating 
to  Indian  Missions  in  all  its  bearings.  If,  from  any  adverse  movements  of  our 
Government,  it  should  prove  a  disheartening  failure  in  the  end,  (from  our 
Government's  violating  its  plighted  faith  to  this  warring  race,  by  removing 
them  again,  or  sequestering  the  lands  so  solemnly  promised  to  them,)  this 
should  not  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Mi.ssionary.  He  at  least  thought  too 
well  of  his  country's  fiiith  to  anticipate  any  such  result. 

During  the  protracted  period  in  which  this  question  of  Indian  removal  was 
under  consideration,  by  the  E.xocutive  Government  and  by  Congress,  Mr- 
McCoy  was  obliged  to  spend  much  of  his  time  at  Washington,  furnishing 
evidence  to  the  Bureau  of  Indian  affairs,  and  to  the  Committees  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives.  The  atmosphere  of  our  Capitol  is  not  a  holy 
one,  and  some  of  the  Missionary's  best  friends  deprecated  its  influence  upon 
him.  Yet,  as  far  as  I  could  ever  learn,  he  passed  through  this  severe  ordeal 
with  less  harm  than  almost  any  others  who  have  been  subjected  to  a  similar 
trial. 


ISAAC  McCOT. 


547 


It  is  well  known  that  his  views  anil  proceedings  in  this  matter  were  not  in 
harmony  with  the  predominant  wishes  of  the  Board  of  Missions  in  Boston. 
Onoo  or  twice  they  were  on  the  eve  of  sundering  his  connection  with  them, 
when  the  inllucnco  of  his  intrepiil  friend  and  advocate,  Dr.  Cone,  with  some 
others,  saved  him.  By  the  Government  he  was  highly  esteemed  and  much 
confided  in.  The  final  formation  of  the  Indian  Mission  Board,  located  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  caused  a  transfer  of  his  relations  to  that  Body,  of  wliich  he 
soon  became  the  Corresponding  Secretary, — a  position  for  which  his  knowledge 
of  Indian  alfairs  eminentl}'^  fitted  him.  To  this  position  indeed  he  was  better 
suited  than  to  that  of  a  missionary  in  the  active  duties  of  his  office.  He  never 
learned  the  Indian  language,  so  as  to  be  able  to  preach  to  any  of  the  tribes, 
but  through  an  interpreter;  and  though  his  Mission  and  School  were  some- 
times favoured  with  precious  revivals,  (more  by  the  intluence  of  his  subordi- 
nates than  his  own,)  and  though  he  certainly  evinced  a  spirit  of  great  benevo- 
lence and  self-denial  in  his  various  labours  among  the  Indians  and  for  them, 
yet  so  prolific  was  his  ever  teeming  brain  of  new  measures  for  their  benefit, 
that  he  seemed  lacking  in  steadiness  and  thoroughness  of  execution,  as  a 
common  missionary  labourer.  His  having  from  the  first  so  much  of  general 
management  thrown  on  his  hands  doubtless  contributed  to  this  result. 

In  m\'  official  relation  to  him  as  the  head  of  the  Mission,  in  regard  to  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  language  of  the  Putowatomies,  he 
evinced  a  candour,  humility,  and  truthfulness,  which  won  my  highest  confi- 
dence and  almost  admiration.  His  path  was  environed  with  uncommon 
difficulties,  and  few  would  have  more  blamelessly  discharged  the  various  and 
sometimes  almost  incompatible  duties  demanded  of  him.  I  have  seen  him  in 
his  famil}",  and  in  almost  every  variety  of  circumstances,  and  he  ever  exhibited 
a  consistency  and  stability  worthy  of  all  praise. 

In  person  he  was  tall  and  slender,  stooping  considerably  as  he  walked,  but 
sometimes  rising  to  erectness  in  his  more  animated  addres.ses.  Ilis  utterances 
were  rapid  and  earnest,  and  in  portraying  the  wrongs  to  which  our  Aborigines 
have  been  subjected,  he  often  became  pathetic  and  eloquent.  lie  loved  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  and  preached  it  with  fidelity,  whenever  an  opportunity 
presented.  He  left  on  you  the  impression  of  an  indefiitigable  contriver  for  the 
good  of  the  poor  Indians,  and  with  many  of  them,  truly  converted  to  God,  he 
delighted  to  hold  communion  on  the  most  ennobling  themes.  Doubtless  they 
are  now  rejoicing  together.  Yours  truly, 

R.  BABCOCK. 


DANIEL  HASCALL. 

1808—1852. 

FROM  THE  REV.  AYILLIAM  II.  SIIAILER,  D.  D. 

Portland,  Me.,  January  G,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  :    You  kindly  request  me  to  give  you  some  account  of  my  late 
respected  father-in-law,  the  Rev.   Daniel   Hascall.      Witli    this   request    I 
most  readily  comply,  though  confident   that,  owing  to  several  causes,  the 
sketch  will  necessarily  be  brief  and  imperfect. 

Daniel  Hascall  was  born  in  Bennington,  Vt.,  on  the  24th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1782.  His  parents  were  both  of  thorn,  originally,  from  Connecticut. 
His  father,  Joseph   Hascall,  was  a  native   of  Killingly,   and   his  mother, 


548  BAPTIST. 

whose  maiden  name  was  Alice  Fitch,  was  from  CantcrLury.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  William  Fitch,  and  great-granddaughter  of  Elisha  Payne, 
Esq.,  noted  in  the  early  historj'  of  Connecticut,  as  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
and  subsequently  as  a  Neio  Light  preacher.  After  their  marriage,  they 
resided  for  some  time  in  the  town  of  Windsor,  Berkshire  County,  Mass. 
During  the  Revolutionary  War,  they  moved,  with  three  children,  to 
Bennington,  Vt.  They  were  both  professors  of  religion, — Mr.  Has- 
call  being  a  member  of  a  Baptist  Church,  and  Mrs.  Ilascall  of  a 
Congregational.  It  was  their  custom  to  read,  as  they  could  procure 
them,  books  which  they  considered  sound  in  religious  doctrine,  and  to  give, 
habitually,  religious  instruction  to  their  children.  They  entertained  a  high 
respect  for  such  divines  as  Edwards,  Hopkins,  and  Bellamy  ;  perused  their 
writings  diligently,  and  embraced  the  leading  points  of  their  theology.  The 
Westminster  Catechism  was  faithfully  taught  to  their  children.  Such  were 
the  parents  from  whom  the  subject  of  this  notice  received  his  earliest 
impressions. 

When  Daniel  was  three  years  of  age,  his  parents  moved  from  Benniug- 
ton  to  the  town  of  Pawlet.  Vt.,  where  they  became  the  owners  and 
occupants  of  a  small  farm.  The  settlements  in  that  town  were  then, 
comparatively,  of  recent  date,  and  there  were  no  public  schools  except 
during  two  or  three  months  in  the  winter.  There  was,  however,  a  small 
library,  owned  by  the  town,  from  which  this  family  were  accustomed  to 
take  books;  and  this,  together  with  much  private  instruction,  supplied  in 
part  the  want  of  schools.  The  children  all  acquired  a  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  gratified  that  thirst  by  drinking  only  from  streams  which  were  pure 
and  healthful.  It  was  under  such  circumstances,  in  what  was  then  a 
somewhat  uncultivated  part  of  the  country,  that  Daniel  Ilaseall  spent  the 
days  of  his  childhood.  If  his  privileges  were  few,  so  were  his  temptations 
to  evil  ;  and,  under  the  constant  and  watchful  supervision  of  his  parents, 
he  formed,  at  an  early  age,  those  habits  of  industry,  sobriety,  and  consci- 
entiousness, for  which  he  was  so  remarkable  in  later  years. 

At  a  very  early  period,  he  felt  the  need  of  personal  religion  :  some 
afflictive  events  served  to  deepen  the  impressions  made  by  the  faithful 
instructions  of  his  pious  parents.  But  it  was  not  until  1799,  when  in  his 
eighteenth  year,  that  he  obtained  such  evidence  of  his  acceptance  with 
God,  as  to  lead  him  to  nuike  a  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  In 
the  autumn  of  that  year,  he  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Pawlet. 

Having  a  natural  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  a  fondness  for  stud}',  he 
availed  himself  of  all  thc~aids  within  his  reach  to  obtain  an  education.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen,  he  commenced  teaching  during  the  winter  months, 
devoting  his  evenings,  and  every  leisure  moment  he  could  obtain,  to 
study.  In  the  summer  of  1803,  he  presented  himself  for  admissicn  to 
Middlebury  College,  and  was  received  as  a  memljcr  of  the  Sophomore 
class.  Here  he  prosecuted  his  studies  without  interruption,  defraying  his 
expenses  by  his  own  personal  efforts,  and  was  regularly  graduated  in  the 
class  of  180G. 

After  his  graduation,  he  was  employed  as  a  teacher,  for  some  time,  in 
Pittsficld.  Mass..  during  which  period,  he  prosecuted  study,  especially  that 
of  Theology,  so  far  as  it  could  be  done  consistently  with  his  other  duties. 


DANIEL  IIASCALL.  549 

In  1808,  lie  went  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  became  Pastor  of  the 
Bapti:>t  Cluireli  in  Elizabctlitown,  Essex  County.  Here  he  reccivuJ  orJi- 
uation,  (September  7,  li'OS,)  ami  remained  three  or  four  years,  making 
this  his  home,  but  going  out  frequently  into  other  counties,  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  the  destitute,  wherever  he  could  collect  a  few  persons  to 
hear  it. 

On  the  2Gth  of  April,  1809,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sophia  Strong,  a 
young  woman  of  intelligence  and  great  moral  worth.  She  afterwards 
proved  herself  to  be  one  of  the  most  excellent  of  women  ;  possessed  of 
sound  judgment,  ardent  piety,  a  self-sacrificing  disposition,  and  great 
energy  of  purpose  and  character. 

In  the  year  1813,  Mr.  Ilascall  removed  to  Hamilton,  Madison  County, 
N.  Y.,  and  became  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  place.  The 
country  in  that  region  was,  at  that  time,  new  and  unsettled,  and  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  any  method  by  which  he  thonglit  that 
cause  could  be  promoted.  Besides  preaching  to  the  church,  he  was 
employed,  to  some  extent,  in  teaching;  and,  for  a  time,  he  was  also  an 
associate  editor  of  a  periodical,  called  "  The  Christian  Magazine."  Seeing 
the  great  destitution  in  regard  to  religious  instruction,  which  prevailed  in 
the  region  around  him  and  beyond,  he  felt  the  necessity  of  making  some 
provision  for  the  educating  of  young  men  for  the  Cliristiau  ministry.  As 
early  as  the  year  1815,  he  began  to  receive  pious  young  men  into  his 
family,  and  instruct  them  in  some  branches  of  science,  and  more  especially  in 
Theology. 

In  1817,  chiefly  through  his  efforts,  the  Baptist  Education  Society  of 
New  York  was  formed,  which  became  the  ccnire  of  the  influences  and  the 
efforts  that  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  •'  Haniilton  Literary  and 
Theological  Institution."  In  1820,  this  Institution  was  formally  opened, 
under  his  charge,  in  a  building  prepared  for  this  purpose,  and  eleven  young 
men  entered  it,  most  of  whom,  if  not  all,  had  previously  been  under  his 
instruction.  The  year  following,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kendrick  was  elected 
Professor  of  Theolog}',  and,  under  the  supervision  of  these  two  men,  the 
Institution  rapidly  advanced  in  influence  and  usefulness,  and,  before  the 
expiration  of  that  year,  the  number  of  students  had  increased  to  thirty- 
five.  Mr.  [lascall  still  continued  to  be  Pastor  of  the  church  in  Hamilton, 
teaching  in  the  Institution,  and  promoting  the  general  interests  of  the 
Education  Society,  till  1828.  At  this  time,  his  pastoral  connection  was 
dissolved,  and  he  devoted  his  strength  and  talents  more  exclusively  to  the 
Institution.  Much  of  the  "out-door  work"  devolved  upon  him;  and, 
though  punctual  and  regular  in  attending  to  his  duties  as  Professor,  yet 
he  had  so  many  other  cares  that  his  preparation  to  meet  his  classes  was 
not  always  as  thorough  as  the  circumstances  seemed  to  demand. 

In  1835,  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  his  connection  with  the  Institu- 
tion was  dissolved,  and,  for  a  year,  he  gave  his  attention  chiefly  to  the 
interests  of  an  Academy  which,  two  years  before,  had  commenced  operations 
through  his  agency,  in  Florence,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.  His  family,  how- 
ever, still  resided  at  Hamilton.  On  the  26th  of  iMay,  1836,  after  a 
painful  and  lingering  illness,  his  wife  died,  which  was  to  him  a  very 
severe  aflfliction.     Soon  after   this  event,  his  family  was  broken  up,  and 


550  BAPTIST. 

he,  being  left  without  a  regular  home,  was  employed  for  several  months 
in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

lu  September,  1837,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Betsy  Moses,  of  West  Rut- 
land, Vt.  She  was  in  possession  of  a  large  farm,  and  Mr.  Hascall  took 
the  oversight  of  this  for  several  of  the  succeeding  years.  He,  however, 
devoted  considerable  time  to  the  interests  of  the  Vermont  Baptist  Con- 
vention, and  was  more  generally  employed  in  preaching  on  the  Sabbath, 
but  remained  without  any  pastoral  charge  till  1848.  In  the  course  of  this 
year,  feeling  that  he  ought  to  devote  himself  more  exclusively  to  the  ser- 
vice of  Christ,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Lebanon,  Madison  County,  N.  Y.  This  town  joins 
Hamilton,  and  he  was  thus  among  old  acquaintances,  and  near  the  scenes 
of  his  former  labours.  He  often  visited  the  Institution,  over  whose 
infancy  he  had  watched,  for  whose  prosperity  he  had  toiled  and  sacrificed, 
and  whose  permanent  welfare  he  still  most  earnestly  desired  and  sought. 
During  the  following  year,  he  located  liimself  permanently  at  Hamilton, 
though  still  serving  as  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Lebanon. 

About  this  time,  the  question  of  removing  the  Institution  (whose  name 
had  been  changed  to  that  of  Madison  University)  to  Rochester  was  raised. 
It  was  a  question  which  deeply  agitated  the  community.  The  friends  of 
removal  met  with  strong  and  earnest  opposition.  It  was,  with  many,  a 
war,  not  merely  of  words,  but  of  principles.  In  the  discussions  of  this 
question,  Mr.  Hascall  became  most  thoroughly  interested.  He  had  been 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  University,  one  of  the  Committee  who  pro- 
posed to  the  citizens  of  Hamilton  that  it  should  be  located  there,  pro- 
vided a  certain  sum  of  money  sliould  be  raised  by  them  for  tliis  purpose, 
and  he  felt,  from  the  depths  of  his  soul,  that  to  remove  it  would  be  a  viola- 
tion of  a  solemn  contract,  of  which  he  had  been  originally  one  of  the  par- 
ties. Right  or  wrong,  this  was  the  conviction  of  liis  own  judgment,  and 
consequently  he  arrayed  himself  among  the  leaders  of  those  who  opposed 
the  removal,  and  laboured  with  all  his  zeal  and  energy  until  the  contro- 
versy was  ended  by  a  legal  decision.  Circumstances  gave  to  him,  in  this 
matter,  a  prominence  which,  to  many,  seemed  most  providential.  And, 
afterwards,  he  probably  looked  upon  no  portion  of  his  life  with  more  sat- 
isfaction than  that  which  he  thus  spent  in  retaining  the  University  at 
Hamilton. 

In  the  winter  of  1851-52,  his  liealth,  which  had  always  been  remarkably 
good,  began  to  fail,  and  disease  fastened  itself  permanently  upon  him.  He 
was,  at  times,  subject  to  great  suffering,  under  which  his  physical  constitu- 
tion gave  way.  He  lingered  for  some  months,  with  his  mind  vigorous  and 
active,  and  his  soul  calmly  trusting  in  his  Redeemer,  until  at  length 
his  nature  sunk  under  his  pains,  and  he  died  at  Hamilton,  June  -8,  1852. 

His  life  was  one  of  great  activity  and  usefulness.  He  was  not  so 
renowned  for  mental  exertion  and  achievement  in  any  one  department  as 
he  would  have  been,  could  he  have  had  more  singleness  of  purpose  and 
effort,  and  not  been  compelled,  by  tlic  force  of  circumstances  and  his  posi- 
tion, to  attend  to  matters  not  particularly  connected  with  his  calling  as  a 
Pastor,  or  his  duties  as  a  Professor  in  the  Institution.  Often,  he  perilled 
all   his  property  to  carry  forward   plans  which  he  believed  would  tend  to 


DANIEL  UASCALL.  551 

advance  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom;  and,  at  linics,  his  mind  was  diverted 
from  study  througli  embarrassment  and  perplexity,  arising  from  the  state 
of  his  financial  affairs.  Few  men,  however,  have  done  more  for  tho  cause 
of  Christ  in  general,  and  the  elevation  and  prosperity  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  particular,  than  he.  And,  in  the  great  day  of  accounts,  a 
multitude  will  rise  up  and  call  him  blessed.  His  name  is  embalmed  in 
many  a  heart,  that  was  cheered  by  his  counsel,  encouraged  by  his  aid.  and 
blessed  by  his  efforts. 

Mr.  Ilascall's  published  works  were  a  Sermon,  entitled  "  Caution  against 
False  Philosophy,"  from  Colossians  ii.  8,  in  1817.  A  pamphlet  entitled, 
"Definitions  of  the  Greek  Bapto,  Baptizo,"  &c.,  1818.  A  volume  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty  pages,  entitled  "  Elements  of  Theology,"  designed  for 
Family  reading  and  Bible  Classes  ;  and  also  a  smaller  work,  somewhat  of 
the  same  character,  for  Sabbath  Schools. 

Ho  left,  at  his  decease,  a  widow  and  four  children, — three  sons  and  a 
daughter,  all  of  whom  are  still  living.  His  oldest  son  was  a  graduate  of 
Madison  University,  and  is  teaching  in  "Wisconsin  ;  the  other  two  arc 
farmers  in  West  Rutland,  Vt.,  and  the  daughter  is  the  wife  of  tho  writer 
of  this  sketch,  by  all  of  whom  he  is  held  in  grateful  remembrance.  "He 
rests  from  his  labours,  and  his  works  do  follow  him." 

Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  II.  SIIAILER.  ' 


FROM  THE  REV.  GEORGE  W.  EATON.  D.  D., 

PRESIDENT   OF    MADISON    UNIVERSITY. 

Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  April  19,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  Dakiel  IIascall  is  a  name  endeared,  by  many  fond  recollec- 
tions, to  the  early  friends  and  Alumni  of  Madison  University, — an  Institution  of 
Ixsarninj,  which,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological 
Seminary,"  he  projected,  and,  with  others,  brought  into  organized  existence, 
in  the  year  1820,  and  was  appointed  its  iirst  instructcr.  The  Seminary  was 
originally  designed  to  promote  the  cause  of  Ministerial  Education  in  tlio  Bap- 
tist denomination,  by  furnishing  increased  facilities  for  the  literary  and  theo- 
logical training  of  pious  indigent  young  men,  consecrated  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  He  remained  connected  with  it  as  an  Instructor  from  its  origin  to 
the  year  1836,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years,  as  a  member  of  its 
Board  and  Executive  Committee,  until  the  time  of  his  death.  During  the 
period  of  his  connection  with  the  Institution,  as  one  of  its  Faculty,  he  had  the 
happiness  of  seeing  it  advanced,  in  the  number  of  studeiits,  from  some  half- 
dozen,  with  one  Instructor,  to  one  hundred  and  fifty, — (all  studying  for  the 
ministry)  with  eight  instructors, — in  accommodations,  from  the  third  story  of 
a  small  ])rick  building,  to  three  large  stone  edifices,  two  one  hundred  feet  by 
sixty,  four  stories  high,  with  commodious  lodging  and  recitation-rooms, 
Library  Hall  and  Chapel,  and  one  for  a  Boarding  Hall— in  the  cours'  of  study, 
from  three  years  to  eight,  including  a  full  course  of  collegiate  and  theological 
education,  with  a  well  selected  library  of  over  five  thousand  volumes.  To 
this  wonderful  progress,  material  and  intellectual,  he  had  contributed,  espe- 
cially in  the  earlier  portion,  more  than  any  other  individual.  When,  at  a 
subsequent  period,  a  determined  and  protracted  effort  was  made,  by  many 
influential  brethren,  to  remove  the  Institution  (now  become  a  chartered  Uni- 
versity, Mith  doors  open  to  all  classes  of  students)  to  the  City  of  Rochester, 


552 


BAPTIST. 


he  stood  forth  as  the  recognised  legal  representative  of  the  original  location. 
and  carried  the  case  triumphantly  through  the  Courts,  and  secured  a  decree 
from  the  Supremcjudicial  tribunal  of  the  State,  irrevocably  fixing  the  lusti 
tution  in  its  present  site.  The  name  of  Daniel  Hascall  is  therefore  blended 
indissolubly  and  vitally  with  the  origin  and  earlier  and  later  history  of  an 
Institution  of  Learning,  which,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has 
been  the  mightiest  agency  in  the  Baptist  denomination  in  promoting  the  cause 
of  ministerial  education, — in  which  have  been  educated,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
fifteen  hundred  Jilinisters,  and  between  fifty  and  sixty  Foreign  Missionaries,^ 
of  whom  Wade  and  Kincaid  were  the  earliest, — the  former  being  the  first 
graduate. 

The  life  and  character  of  such  a  man  cannot  be  considered  properly  apart 
from  his  great  work.  They  have  an  interest  far  beyond  his  individual  and 
family  relations.  They  are  eminently  historic.  Professor  Hascall  belonged  to 
that  peculiar  class  of  men,  who  so  identify  themselves  with  a  great  cause,  and 
with  the  progress  of  a  great  people,  that  their  individual  history  cannot  be 
fully  exhibited,  without  interweaving  and  blending  with  it  the  leading  and 
characteristic  events  in  the  history  of  the  cause  and  of  the  people  with  which 
they  are  connected.  They  have  taken  such  a  prominent  part  in  conceiving, 
planning  and  executing  measures  which  have  promoted  and  given  character  to 
the  general  progress;  they  have  so  impressed  their  own  character  upon  the 
general  movement,  and  so  diffused  their  own  spirit  through  all  its  ramifica- 
tions, that  the  history  of  the  cause  itself  is  but  an  amplified  reproduction  of 
their  own  individual  history.  This  was,  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  the  case  with 
Professor  Hascall,  in  respect  to  the  cause  of  ministerial  education  among  the 
Baptists  of  this  State,  and  the  Institution  consecrated  to  its  promotion.  Those 
who  have  entered  into  his  labours,  and  are  building  upon  the  foundation, 
moral  and  material,  which  he  laid  so  deep  and  strong,  have  but  an  inadequate 
conception  of  the  colossal  and  multifarious  labours  he  performed  in  bringing 
into  existence  and  consolidating  the  enterprise  which  he  left  to  his  successors 
to  carry  forward.  It  is  not  detracting  from  the  honour  which  belongs  to 
other  founders  and  early  friends  of  this  sacred  enterprise,  to  say  that  Profes- 
sor Hascall  may  be  regarded  as  the  great  Pioneer  in  the  cause  of  ministerial 
education  among  the  Baptists  of  the  State  of  New  York.  In  connection  with  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Kendrick,  a  kindred  spirit,  of  still  larger  mould,  profound  in  wis- 
dom and  excellent  in  counsel,  to  whom  he  suggested  the  idea  of  establishing  a 
Literary  and  Theological  Institution  in  central  New  York  as  early  as  the  year 
1816,  and  who  at  once  entered  with  all  his  great  heart  into  the  project,  ho 
planted  the  standard  of  ministerial  education  amid  the  hills  of  Madison 
County,  in  the  centre  of  the  Empire  State,  at  a  time  when,  from  the  Hudson 
Westward  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific,  there  •were  but  three  liberally  educated 
ministers  beside  himself  in  the  Baptist  denomination, — and  when,  instead  of 
meeting  with  sympathy  and  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  Churches,  a  wide- 
spread jealousy,  often  risiiTg  into  active  opposition,  was  encountered  in  every 
direction.  After  having  projected  the  sacred  enterprise,  and  laid  the  corner 
stone  "  amid  prayers  and  supplications  and  strong  crying  and  tears,"  in  the 
formation  of  the  New  York  Baptist  Education  Society,  the  resources  necessary 
to  carry  it  forward  had  to  be  created;  the  strong  opposition  of  influential 
brethren  had  to  be  met  and  overcome;  an  entirely  new  public  sentiment  had 
to  be  formed  in  the  Churches  in  sympathy  with,  instead  of  hostility  to,  the 
new  measure.     But,  with  an  unwavering  faith  in  God,  which, 

"  In  darkness  feels  no  doubt," 
with  a  moral  courage  that  neither  opposition  nor  persecution  could  appal,  with 
a  tireless  energy  which  no  discouraging  circumstances  could  abate,  with  a  self- 


DANIEL  IIASCALL.  553 

sacrificing  spirit  winch  counted  nothing  too  dear  to  lay  upon  thr  altar  of  his 
devotion,  and  with  an  amiable  equanimity  which  no  opposing  effdrLs,  however 
unreasonable  and  vexatious,  could  disturb,  he  pushed  on  the  enterprise,  until 
he  had  the  unsjieakablc  satisfaction  of  seeing  it  immovably  secured  in  the 
affections  and  conlidence  of  the  entire  denomination,  and  scattering  the  rich- 
est spiritual  blessings,  in  the  form  of  an  enlightened  and  godly  ministiy,  upon 
grateful  churches  at  home  and  heathen  nations  afar  off.  lie  then  cheerfully 
left  the  long  cherished  enterprise  to  other  hands,  more  able  to  meet  the 
increasing  intellectual  and  literary  demands  of  the  rising  ministry,  and,  remov- 
ing to  a  distant  localit}',  engaged  in  other  important  concerns.  But,  when 
his  beloved  Institution  was  assailed  in  a  most  unexpected  manner,  and  threat- 
ened to  be  uprooted  from  its  hallowed  site,  and  removed  to  a  distant  city,  and 
as  he  verily  believed,  scattered  in  the  transition  to  the  winds,  or  entirely  per- 
verted from  the  original  purpose  of  its  founders,  he  came  promptly  to  the  res- 
cue, lie  placed  himself  in  the  van  of  the  opponents  to  "  removal,"  assumed 
the  position  (^ which  no  other  was  competent  to  take)  of  the  l:gal  representa- 
tive of  the  original  location,  and  faltered  not  through  a  severe  conflict  of  three 
years,  at  times  against  fearful  odds,  until  the  controversy  was  ended  by  a 
decree  of  the  Supreme  Court  ordering  a  perpetual  injunction  against  removal. 
It  is  an  affecting  and  note-worthy  providence  that  he  was  permitted  to  pass 
his  last  days  peacefully  under  the  shadow  of  an  Institution  v.hich  he  had  thus 
founded  and  saved,  and  closed  his  dying  eyes  upon  it,  when  rising  in  the 
glory  of  a  new  and  more  hopeful  prosperity  than  it  had  ever  before  enjoj'cd. 
He  expired  with  his  '  ruling  passion' — eagerness  for  unceasingly  useful  employ- 
ment— <  strong  in  death;'  rejoicing  in  the  brightening  prospect  that  in  Heaven 
he  should  find  active  employment  in  the  service  of  his  God  for  all  his  powers 
there  endued  with  immortal  vigour.  Pointing  his  finger  upward,  a  short  time 
before  he  breathed  his  last,  he  said,  "  I  shall  find  enough  to  do  there." 

I  became  personall}'  acquainted  with  Mr.  Ila.scall  in  the  j'car  1833,  and,  as 
his  associate  in  the  Faculty,  and  in  other  relations,  and  especially  as  a  fellow- 
labourerin  resisting  the  "removal  enterprise,"  had  ample  opportunity  of 
becoming  well  acquainted  with  the  man.  Although  this  personal  acquaintance 
commenced  after,  it  might  be  said,  the  great  work  of  his  life  had  been  done, 
in  originating  and  carrying  up  to  high  perfection  an  Institution  of  rare  and 
wide  spread  usefulness,  yet  the  elements  of  character,  intellectual  and  moral, 
which  enabled  him  to  accomplish  so  much,  still  remained,  though  the  demand 
and  sphere  for  their  exertion  were  greatly  modified  by  his  very  success. 

Professor  Hascall's  in^eZZccf  was  strong,  clear  and  eminently  practical,  deal- 
ing with  everj'  subject  it  handled  in  the  most  direct,  logical  and  simple  way, 
without  any  attempt  at  ornament  or  mere  rhetorical  grace.  In  his  Sermons 
and  Theological  Lectures  he  seized  at  once  upon  the  substantial  elements  of 
his  theme,  and  aimed  to  bring  them  out  clearly,  in  the  plainest  and  most 
unpretending  style.  A  .small  volume  of  his  Theological  Lectures  was  pub- 
lished some  years  before  his  death.  The  Lectures  are  brief, — being  little  more 
than  a  somewhat  full  .synopsis  of  what  was  actually  delivered,  and  yet  they 
show  a  clear  conception  and  strong  grasp  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  system,  as  viewed  from  the  Calvinistic  stand-point,  and  a  logical 
arrangement  and  development  in  the  discussion;  but  the  style  is  devoid  of 
every  thing  like  rhetorical  ornament,  unless  a  pellucid  perspicuity  may  be 
reckoned  of  this  kind.  Not,  however,  in  his  intellect,  though  of  a  highly 
respectable  order,  did  the  great  strength  of  Professor  Hascall's  character  lie — 
what  may  be  regarded  as  truly  great  in  his  intellect  was  a  certain  prophetic 
sagacity  that  apprehended,  in  the  course  of  current  events,  a  prospective  want, 
and  strongly  conceived  the  necessity  or  practicability  of  making  ample  pro- 
vision to  meet  it.     The  conception  of  a  great  Institution  for  the  Education  of 

Vol.  VI.  70 


554  BAPTIST. 

the  Baptist  ^Ministr}"^,  to  be  located  in  the  centre  of  New  York,  when  that 
region  was  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  frontier  of  civilization,  and  a  belief  that 
the  enterprise  was  practicable,  though  the  resources  and  agencies  necessary 
for  its  accomplishment  were  still  to  be  brought  into  existence,  could  only  enter 
a  mind  of  great  sagacity  and  foresight,  or  one  altogether  visionary  and  wild. 
The  event  proved  that  the  mind  of  Professor  Hascall  belonged  to  the  former 
class.  But  the  moral  characteristics  of  the  man  establish  his  claim  to  be 
taken  out  of  the  rank  of  ordinary,  and  put  into  that  of  extraordinary,  men. 
Let  nio  attempt  a  brief  analysis  of  these  characteristics. 

lie  was  characterized  by  great  simplicity  and  ingenuousness, — <'  an  Israelite 
indeed  in  whom  there  was  no  guile," — thoroughl}^  honest  and  single-eyed  in 
his  aims,  direct  and  straight-forward  in  his  modes  of  reaching  them.  Such 
was  the  universal  and  implicit  confidence  in  his  integrity,  on  the  part  of  those 
with  whom  he  did  business,  that,  although  ho  became  personally  involved, 
beyond  extrication,  in  pecuniary  obligations,  by  expenditures  in  advancing 
the  interests  of  the  Institution,  there  was  a  general  indisposition  on  the  part 
of  his  creditors  to  give  him  any  trouble,  and  a  large  part  of  the  indebtedness 
was  cheerfully  relinquished. 

He  was  pre-eminently  unselfish  and  disregardful  of  his  own  merel}'  personal 
interests.  He  devoted  his  all  to  the  advancement  of  the  cause  in  which  he 
was  enlisted.  Wholly  unmindful  of  his  personal  dignity  and  ease,  there  was 
no  service  so  laborious,  exhausting  or  menial  that  he  would  not  cheerfully 
undertake,  if  necessary,  to  help  on  the  enterprise.  Often,  after  giving  instruc- 
tion to  his  class  in  Literature  and  Theology,  would  he  rally  and  lead  them  out 
to  quarr}^  stone  for  a  new  building,  or  to  some  other  species  of  manual  labour, — 
himself  setting  the  example  of  energetic  exertion.  An  early  Alumnus  related 
to  me  a  characteristic  incident,  which  may  be  stated  in  this  connection.  He 
had  come  some  distance  to  pursue  his  studies  at  the  new  Institution,  and 
stopped  at  the  house  of  the  Professor — it  was  the  free  inn  for  all  new-comers, 
where  his  wife,  a  lady  of  uncommon  intelligence,  cultivation  and  refinement, 
and  a  help-meet  indeed  of  her  husband  in  his  great  work,  and  to  this  day 
fondly  remembered  as  the  "Students'  friend,"  was  the  sympathizing  and 
hospitable  hostess.  He  found  the  Professor  absent,  but  expected  home  that 
evening.  After  retiring  to  rest,  the  household  was  aroused,  about  midnight, 
in  the  midst  of  a  driving  rain  storm,  by  the  return  of  the  Professor,  and  the 
young  stranger  was  respectfully  requested,  by  a  member  of  the  family,  to  rise 
and  render  some  needful  assistance.  He  dressed  himself,  and  descended  from 
his  chamber,  with  an  awe  creeping  over  him,  in  anticipation  of  being  ushered 
into  the  august  presence  of  the  Professor,  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  much. 
He  was  jtlcasantly  addressed,  as  he  reached  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  by  a 
man  standing  in  the  hall,  with  slouched  hat  and  old  over-coat  thoroughly 
drenched  and  dripping  from  head  to  feet,  and  politely  requested  to  render 
some  assistance  in  unlnading  a  wagon  of  a  quantitj'  of  glass,  Avhich  he  had 
brought  from  Utica,  for  the  new  building.     This  man  was  Professor  Ilascall! 

He  was  a  man  of  abiding  and  unwuwcring  faith  in  God,  and  a  joyful  believer 
in  the  doctrine  of  a  Special  Providence.  In  this  respect  he  was  truly  extra- 
ordinary. This  trait  is  especially  demanded  in  the  incipiency  and  early 
history  of  a  great  enterprise,  before  a  general  sympathy  and  co-operation  have 
been  secured, — when  the  visible  means  and  agencies  in  favour  of  it  are  slender 
and  few,  and  a  host  of  formidable  obstacles  in  the  form  of  distrust,  indiffer- 
ence, and  active  oj)position,  from  influential  quarters  is  arrayed  against  it. 
Professor  Ilascall's  faith  was  equal  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  It  was  often 
put  to  the  test.  The  enterprise  was  again  and  again  brought  into  great  straits, 
and  no  way  of  deliverance  visible.  Friends  of  feebler  faith  became  dis- 
couraged and  faint-hearted.      "  The  work  must  stop — 'tis  madness  to  pro- 


DANIEL  IIASCALL.  555 

ceed."  The  reply  was  "  Xo,  brctlircn,  wo  must  advance.  The  sea  of 
difficulties  will  open  before  us.  Deliverance  will  come  from  sonic  quarter. 
This  work  is  of  God  and  cannot  fail."  This  faith  met  its  reward,  and  was 
justified  in  the  event.  The  early  history  of  the  Institution  is  illustrated  and 
signalized  hy  such  and  so  many  extraordinary  interpositions  of  Special  Provi- 
dence, and  amidst  "  darknesses  which  might  be  felt,"  that  none  who  know  this 
history  can  doubt  that  God  had  a  spjcial  regard  to  the  work.  A  single  fact, 
out  of  many  like  it,  may  suffice  for  illustration.  The  Institution,  for  many 
years,  was  without  an  endowment.  It  had  to  beg  for  its  daily  bread,  but  still 
it  grew  evermore.  Ofttimes,  however,  its  bread  seemed  utterly  to  fail.  It 
was  left  without  any  visible  support.  On  one  occasion,  while  a  new  building, 
absolutely  demanded  for  the  accommodation  of  the  increasing  number  of  stu- 
dents, was  in  the  progress  of  erection,  under  the  superintendence  of  Professor 
Ilascall,  who  was  charged  by  the  Board  with  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  and 
the  procurement  of  the  resources  to  carry  on  and  complete  it,  the  means  were 
exhausted,  and  all  sources  of  supply  cut  off.  The  usual  efforts  to  raise  money 
failed  in  every  direction.  The  workmen  became  impatient  for  their  pay,  and 
declared  they  must  abandon  the  work.  Here  was  indeed  a  crisis.  Without 
the  building,  a  retrograde  movement  in  the  whole  enterprise,  perhaps  ending 
in  irretrievable  disaster,  was  inevitable.  Now  mark  the  faith  of  the  man  and 
of  his  devoted  wife.  They  went  together  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  and  laid  the 
subject  before  Him  in  whose  "  hands  are  the  hearts  of  men,"  and  cast  their 
care  upon  Ilim  with  humble  and  fervent  supplication  for  deliverance.  It  came 
speedily  through  the  mail,  from  a  wholly  unexpected  quarter,  in  the  form  of 
a  draft  for  the  sum  needed,  transmitted  by  a  wealthy  individual  residing  in  a 
distant  State!  The  workmen  were  assembled  and  paid,  and  resumed  the 
work  with  new  energy.  It  subsequently  appeared  that  the  generous  donor 
had  somehow  heard  of  the  Institution,  and  become  strongly  interested  in  a 
way  he  could  not  account  for.  lie  was  kept  awake  in  the  night  with  the  sub- 
ject, and  relieved  his  mind  bj'  sending  the  draft! 

Professor  Ilascall  was  a  man  of  indefatigable  energy  and  inexhaustible 
activity.  His  faith  contributed  largel}'  to  this  result,  but  his  constitution  and 
temperament  had  much  to  do  with  it.  To  speak  paradoxically  yet  truly,  he 
was  uneasy  in  rest.  He  must  be  "doing  something,"  and  was  more  fatigued 
by  repo.se  than  by  hard  labour.  It  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  projectors  and 
pioneers  of  a  great  enterprise,  oftentimes,  from  the  want  of  a  disposition  or 
requisite  knowledge  in  others  to  co-operate  efficiently,  or  from  the  small  num- 
ber of  co-workers,  to  be  obliged  to  combine  in  themselves  many  and  various 
agencies  and  modes  of  activity.  It  was  so  with  Professor  Ilascall  in  the  early 
history  of  the  Hamilton  Institution.  At  one  time  he  was  simultaneously  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  the  Pastor  of  the  Hamilton  Church,  Professor  in  the 
Institution,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Education  Society,  General  Agent 
for  raising  funds,  and  Superintendent  in  the  erection  of  buildings!  It  .seemed 
necessary  to  be  invested  with  a  sort  of  ubiquity  to  meet  with  any  efficiency 
these  various  responsibilities;  but,  by  his  ceaseless  activity  day  and  night, 
'<  rising  early  and  sitting  up  late,"  passing  rapidly  from  place  to  place,  speak- 
ing a  cheering  word  here  and  lending  a  helping  hand  there,  instructing, 
pleading,  urging,  working,  and  throwing  his  whole  soul  into  his  acts,  he  made 
every  thing  he  put  his  hand  to,  move  on.  In  some  instances,  he  united,  at  the 
same  moment,  functions  apparently  wholly  incompatible.  Seated  at  an  open 
window,  he  would,  at  the  same  time,  be  instructing  a  class  within  and  super- 
intending the  progress  of  a  new  building  without;  resolving  diffi'-ulties  in 
language  and  problems  in  science;  elucidating  dark  points  and  clearing  away 
perplexities  in  Theology,  on  the  one  hand,  and  giving  orders  and  directing 
how  to  do  this  or  that  piece  of  material  work,  on  the  other.     This  indeed  was 


556  '  BAPTIST. 

altogetlicr  undosirablc,  and  uo  one  less  desired  it  than  he;  but  the  necessity 
pressed,  and  he  vigorously  met  it  as  he  could. 

He  was  a  man  of  remarkably  strong  and  decided  convictions  and  unflinch- 
ing coaragz  in  acting  up  to  them.  No  considerations  of  mere  expediency,  or 
pressure  of  persuasion,  or  temptation,  or  prospect  of  desertion,  could  cause 
him  to  swerve  one  iota  from  the  line  of  conscious  right  and  justice.  This  firm 
adherence  to  his  convictions  was  not  stubbornness,  as  was  sometimes  charged 
upon  him.  It  resulted  from  the  simplicitj',  purity  and  stamina  of  his  moral 
constitution,  elevated  and  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  God.  His  sense  of  right 
was  more  a  moral  instinct  with  him  than  the  result  of  reflection  and  judg- 
ment. He  had  faith  in  the  right  because  he  had  fiiith  in  a  righteous  God, 
who  would  most  surely  protect  and  vindicate  the  right.  He  verily  believed  it 
was  safe  to  do  right,  whatever  dangers  menaced,  and  perilous  to  do  wrong, 
whatever  the  promise  of  advantage.  This  trait  was  striking]}'  illustrated  by 
his  course  in  the  "  removal  controversy."  Without  the  remotest  intention  to 
derogate  from  the  purity  of  motive  or  the  integrity  of  character,  of  the  zeal- 
ous advocates  of  "removal,"  it  is  simply  a/acf  of  history,  proper  to  be  stated 
here,  that  Professor  Hascall  b^lievid  that  it  involved  an  enormous  moral  and 
legal  wrong,  and  he  promptly,  at  the  outset  of  the  movement,  took  a  position 
of  uncompromising  opposition  to  it,  as  a  wrong.  He  did  indeed  believe  that 
it  was  in:xp:di:nt,  and  full  of  danger  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Institution; 
but  he  had  been  a  party  to  a  solemn  contract  with  the  citizens  of  Hamilton  for 
its  pi'rmaii-"nt  location  in  their  village,  the  conditions  of  which  had  been  per- 
fectly fulfilled  on  their  part,  and  the  fulfilment  formally  acknowledged  and 
recorded.  It  was  then  in  feeble  infancy,  and  its  future  destiny  unknown.  It 
had  been  prospered  and  grown  into  a  noble  University,  the  pride  and  orna- 
ment of  the  place.  He  profoundly  felt  also  that  it  would  be  a  great  wrcng  to 
the  memory  of  its  pious  and  self-sacrificing  founders  now  dead,  and  unable  to 
speak  for  themselves,  whose  prayers,  sacrifices  and  gifts  had  mightil}'  contri- 
buted to  make  the  Institution  what  it  was,  in  its  present  home.  Thus  appre- 
hending and  grasping  the  legal  and  moral  elements  of  the  case,  he  felt  that 
resistance  to  removal  measures  was  ba.sed  upon  impregnable  grounds.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  was  a  most  formidable  array  of  powerful  influences  for 
removal.  Many  of  the  ablest  and  most  enlightened  and  influential  minds  in 
the  denomination  had  become  earnestly  enlisted  in  the  measure.  They  could 
not  take  the  same  view  that  he  did  of  the  legal  and  moral  objections.  The 
Institution  was  without  endowment.  A  large  endowment  was  promised  on 
condition  of  removal.  The  new  location  was  more  conspicuous  and  accessible, 
and  in  ever}'  ^vay,  in  their  view,  more  wortliy  of  the  great  Literary  and  Theo- 
logical Institution  of  the  Baptists  of  the  Empire  State.  A  powerful  current 
of  public  sentiment  was  setting  towards  the  proposed  new  home  for  the 
cherished  Institution.  After  a  long,  earnest  and  vehement  discussion  in  the 
various  denominational  awl  other  papers,  and  in  sj)oeches  before  Public  Bodies 
and  assembled  multitudes,  in  which  the  moral  argument  might  be  said  to  be 
exhausted,  the  question  was  brought  to  its  first  crisis  by  a  majority  vote  of 
the  Boards,  and  a  constructive  vote  of  the  Education  Society,  in  favour  of 
removal.  'J'he  legal  difficulties  remained  to  be  adjusted.  Professor  Hascall 
was  regarded  as  the  only  competent  plaintiff  in  any  legal  suit.  He  was, 
therefore,  beset  by  the  most  earnest  appeals  to  abandon  his  opposition.  Every 
consideration  adapted  to  move  a  mind,  not  immovably  entrenched  in  the  most 
solemn  convictions  of  right  or  justice,  was  urged.  He  listened  calmly  and 
respectfully  to  all  that  was  suggested  and  pressed.  He  was  finally  told  that 
his  opposition  would  be  unavailing, — that  removal  was  a  "  foregone  conclu- 
sion,"— an  inevitable  fact, — tliat  he  would  only  bring  reproach  and  personal 
inconvenience  and  abandonment  by  his  brethren  upon  himself  in   liis  old  age 


DANIEL  IIASCALL.  557 

by  holding  out,  by  virtue  of  untenable  but  vexatious  legal  tcclmicalities. 
against  a  Favourite  measure  of  the  IJaptists  of  the  State; — that  the  Institution 
itself  would  be  abandoned  and  left  to  die  if  it  could  be  retained  by  such 
means.  He  had  every  thing  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain  by  his  factitious 
course.  He  remained  silent,  seated  at  a  table,  with  eyes  cast  down,  under 
these  appeal.*!.  It  was  believed  that  a  decided  impression  was  made,  and  that 
he  had  yielded.  A  pause  ensued.  He  raised  his  eyes,  and  his  right  arm,  and 
brought  down  his  clenched  list,  with  startling  energy,  upon  the  table,  and 
slowly,  with  unfaltering  voice  and  solemn  emphasis,  uttered  these  words, — "  // 
shall  not  b:  movdd."  The  utterance  was  as  the  "voice  of  destiny  "  to  the 
removal  enterprise.  It  sealed  its  f:ite.  Edbrts  were  indeed  continued.  The 
case  was  carried  into  the  Courts,  (Daniel  Ilascall  the  leading  plaintiff,)  and 
argued  pro  and  con  by  the  ablest  counsel  in  the  State.  The  legal  objections 
were  triumphantly  sustained,  and  Madison  University  iixed  irrevocably  in  its 
present  location.  The  removal  party  seceded  and  established  a  new  Institu- 
tion at  Rochester,  in  whose  remarkable  prosperity  every  friend  of  learning 
and  religion  has  occasion  of  heartfelt  rejoicing.  On  the  other  hand,  Madison 
University,  relieved  of  the  disastrous  controversy,  rallied  in  the  rena.sccnt 
vigour  of  a  new  life.  Thousands  of  its  old  friends,  who  had  for  the  time 
become  enlisted  in  removal,  turned  again  to  their  first  love,  and  came  to  its 
help  with  new  zeal  and  devotion.  While  they  rejoiced  in  the  establishment 
of  a  new  Institution,  in  a  field  not  materially  interfering  with  that  of  the  old, 
they  were  convinced  that  the  ''removal  enterprise"  was  a  magnificent  illu- 
sion,— that  it  was  both  right  and  expedient  for  the  old  Institution  to  remain 
in  its  old  home,  hallowed  by  a  thousand  sacred  and  tender  associations.  Some 
of  the  ver}^  individuals  who  had  so  vehemently  pressed  upon  Professor  lias- 
call  to  give  up  his  position,  and  who  were  shocked  at  his  audacious  utterance, 
have  thanked  God  and  blessed  the  man  for  that  utterance,  and  the  firm  and 
indomitable  spirit  that  made  it  good  against  the  fearful  odds  seemingly  arrayed 
upon  the  other  side.  That  utterance  sank  deep  into  the  memory  and  hearts 
of  Alumni  and  friends  of  the  old  Institution.  In  view  of  the  results,  the}-- 
accepted  it  as  the  voice  of  God  through  his  honoured  servant,  and  Avhen  a 
monument  was  erected,  by  the  Alumni  and  friends,  to  the  memory  of  Daniel 
Ha.scall,  in  the  centre  of  the  Cemetery  of  the  Institution,  on  the  high  hill 
overlooking  the  edifices  which  he  aided  so  effectually  in  rearing,  it  was  deemed 
altogether  fitting  that  the  noble  sentiment,  uttered  under  such  trying  circum- 
stances, in  which  so  much  of  the  peculiar  .spirit  of  the  man  wa"s  breathed, 
.should  be  c/igrwyfn  conspicuously  upon  the  side  of  the  shaft  facing  the  edifi- 
ces. And  there  shall  be  read  in  honour  of  the  memory  of  Daniel  Ilascall,  by 
successive  generations  of  Alumni  and  friends  through  coming  time,  and  his 
memory  be  blessed  in  the  reading, — "  flla  non  movcbitar."  More  of  the  hi.s- 
lory  of  a  painful  controversy,  now  passed  away,  with  all  its  embittered 
accompaniments,  has  been  woven  into  this  personal  sketch  than  is  in  itself 
desirable,  but  it  has  not  been  done  invidiously.  Far  from  it.  It  was  neces- 
sary in  or«ler  to  bring  out  and  relieve  the  characteristic  points  of  the  man. 
Mutual  forgiveness  and  mutual  cordiality  have  healed  the  wounds  iiillicled  in 
the  fraternal  strife.  God  has  overruled  it  for  good;  and  all  arc  or  ought  to  be 
satisfied  now  with  the  results.  Two  great  and  flourishing  Institutions, 
instead  of  one,  each  with  more  students,  and  more  resources  and  strength, 
than  the  one  before. 

Finally,  notwithstanding  the  energy  and  firmness  which  marked  the  char- 
acter of  Daniel  Ilascall,  and  the  vast  amount  of  good  he  was  permitted  to 
accomplish,  he  was  any  thing  but  rough  and  repulsive  in  his  manners  and 
spirit,  assuming  or  arrogant  in  his  bearing.  Just  the  reverse.  He  was  habit- 
ually gentle   and   unpretending  in   his  intercourse  with  others,  of  plain  and 


558  BAPTIST. 

simple  but  cordial  manners,  and  humble  and  self-denying  spirit.  lie  adhered 
to  his  convictions,  and  the  course  of  conduct  which  they  dictated,  from  no 
overweening  confidence  that  he  was  wiser  or  better  than  others,  but  because 
a  deep  sense  of  duty  and  personal  responsibility  left  him  no  alternative.  He 
took  his  course  in  the  removal  controversy  from  no  factious  disposition,  or 
love  of  strife,  or  desire  of  personal  conspicuity.  He  felt  the  impregnable  strength 
of  his  position,  and,  from  his  peculiar  relations  to  the  subject,  a  higher  respon- 
sibility in  steadfastly  maintaining  it. 

Lest,  in  directing  attention  to  Daniel  Hascall  as  a  prominent  figure  in  scenes 
deeply  and  permanently  affecting  the  character  of  the  Baptist  ministry  and 
denomination,  I  may  do  injustice  to  others,  I  would  add  that  he  was  associa- 
ted with  some  very  remarkable  men,  whose  wisdom  and  administrative  ability 
powerfully  contributed  to  the  high  success  of  the  enterprise  in  which  they 
took  a  common  part.  Among  these  men  was  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kendrick, 
D.  D.,  the  Professor  of  Sj'stematic  Tlieology  and  first  President  of  the  Insti- 
tution. He  was,  from  the  second  year  of  the  Institution's  existence,  associa- 
ted with  Professor  Hascall  in  the  work  of  instruction, — a  man  of  colossal  pro- 
portions in  body  and  mind,  who  plead  the  cause  of  ministerial  education  and 
the  Hamilton  Institution,  through  his  voice  and  pen,  with  consummate  ability. 
When  Professor  Hascall,  in  1836,  dissolved  his  personal  relations  to  the 
Institution  as  instructer,  and  withdrew  to  another  field  of  labour,  the  weight 
of  the  enterprise  rested  upon  Dr.  Kendrick's  shoulders,  and,  with  Herculean 
strength,  did  he  sustain  and  carry  forward  the  burden.  But,  as  it  is  not  my 
design  to  give  a  personal  sketch  of  Dr.  Kendrick,  I  would  close  this  brief  allu- 
sion by  saying  of  the  two  men, — "  Par  nobile  fratrum." 

In  person,  Professor  Hascall  was  about  six  feet  high,  rather  under,  of  com- 
pact and  wiry  frame,  with  no  tendency  to  corpulency.  His  body  was  formed 
for  prompt  and  lithe  action,  a  fitting  servitor  of  his  energetic  soul.  His  head 
was  strikingly  full  and  symmetrical  in  development — his  forehead  high  and 
broad,  slightly  widening  from  the  ba.se  of  the  temples,  and  forming  a  brow 
clear,  ample,  and  of  impressive  intellectual  aspect.  His  expression  was  mild 
and  singularly  benevolent,  and  the  lines  of  his  face  indicative  of  energy  and 
endurance.  His  voice  was  clear  but  deficient  in  melody.  His  manner  in  the 
puljjit  was  natural,  serious,  and  on  occasions  impressivelj"^  earnest,  but  never 
vehement.  His  style,  tones  and  gestures  were  more  conversational  than  ora- 
torical. Ho  rarely  dealt  in  figures  or  rhetorical  ornaments  of  any  kind.  In 
short,  the  style  of  the  whole  man  was  of  the  Doric  order. 

I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

G    W.  EATON. 


WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  BIDDLE.  559 


WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  BIDDLE  * 

1808—185:3. 

William  Phillips  Biddle,  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Scott)  Biddle, 
was  born  near  London  Bridge,  in  Princess  Anne  County,  Va.,  on  tlie  7th 
of  January,  1788,  During  the  years  of  his  boyliood,  he  worked  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  attended  a  school  in  the  neighbourhood  as  opportunity 
oflFered.  His  advantages  of  education,  liowever,  were  but  small,  though 
his  tastes  were  decidedly  intellectual,  and  it  always  occasioned  him  deep 
regret  that  he  had  not  had  the  means  of  early  indulging  and  cultivating  them 
more  extensively.  Between  his  fifteenth  and  twentieth  year,  he  was 
employed,  part  of  the  time,  as  a  clerk  in  a  store;  and  subsequently  he 
formed  a  partnership  in  mercantile  business  at  London  Bridge;  but  his 
mind  became  so  deeply  impressed  with  religious  truth,  and  ultimately  with 
a  sense  of  obligation  to  engage  in  the  ministry,  that  he  disposed  of  his 
interest  in  the  mercantile  house,  and  began  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Shortly 
after,  (on  the  28th  of  February,  1808,)  he  was  ordained  at  the  Baptist 
Church  at  London  Bridge,  by  Elder  Henry  Keeling  t  and  two  other  Elders 
associated  with  him. 

In  the  commencement  of  his  labours  as  a  minister,  Mr.  Biddle  travelled 
extensively  in  the  Eastern  parts  both  of  Virginia  and  of  North  Carolina; 
and,  though  constantly  engaged  in  preaching,  he  was,  at  this  time,  as  well 
as  in  all  subsequent  periods  of  his  ministry,  a  great  reader  and  a  diligent 
student,  according  to  his  ability.  And  as  his  perceptions  were  quick,  and 
his  memory  remarkably  retentive,  he  was  enabled,  by  this  process  of  self- 
discipline  and  culture,  to  make  up  in  a  good  degree  for  the  lack  of  the 
advantages  of  a  regular  classical  and  theological  education. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1810,  he  was  married  to  Mary  Nixon,  daugh- 
ter of  General  Samuel  and  Penelope  (Mcllwcan)  Simpson,  of  Craven 
County,  N.  C.  Sliortly  after  his  marriage,  he  settled  in  Newbern,  and,  at 
a  little  later  period,  removed  to  a  farm,  near  the  residence  of  his  wife's 
father,  where  he  continued  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  While  he  superin- 
tended (he  cultivation  of  his  land,  and  engaged  to  some  extent  personally  in 
agricultural  labours,  he  had  the  charge  of  four  different  churches,  preaching 
to  them  severally  on  successive  Sabbaths.  These  varied  and  manifold 
engagements,  in  connection  with  an  uninterrupted  course  of  effort  at  men- 
tal improvement,  made  him  one  of  the  l)usicst  of  men. 

Mr.  Biddlc's  physical  constitution  was  originally  rather  feeble  ;  and  in 
the  early  part  of  his  ministry  the  effort  of  preaching  not  unfrequcntly  occa- 

•  MSS.  from  his  son,— Col.  Samuel  .S.  Biddle,  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Prichard.— Minutes  of  the  Union 
Bapt.  Assoc  ISo.T. 

t  Henkv  Kkf.linc  was  born  in  Princess  Anne  Coiintv,  Va.,  March  15,  1770.  lie  was  edu- 
cated in  the  Ki>iseopal  Church.  When  he  was  about  eighteen  years  old,  a  Uaptist  Church  wa« 
formed  in  Norfolk,  where  he  then  lived,  aud,  liaviiig,  ns  he  believed,  felt  the  re-grnerating 
power  of  tlic  (lospel,  he  unilcj  with  this  tlinrch  shDrilv  uftcr.  Ho  was  ordaiiifil  to  tiic  work 
of  the  ministry  in  .March,  180."'..  He  laboured  principaliv  within  the  bounds  of  the  Association 
with  which  he  was  connected;  though  Iw?  spent  three  vears,  labouring  quite  successfully,  in  the 
▼icinity  of  Edenton,  N.  C.  Duritig  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he  was  afflicted  by  frcf|ucnt  and 
sudden  attacks  of  disease,  which  are  snid  to  have  greatly  increased  his  spirituality  and  devoted- 
neas  to  liis  work.     Jle  died,  after  a  week's  illness,  on  tlie  2Sth  of  July,  182U. 


560  BAPTIST. 

sioned  the  raising  of  blood.  As  he  advanced  in  life,  however,  his  constitu- 
tion gradually  acquired  more  vigour,  and  his  power  of  endurance  ulliniatcly 
became  very  great.  In  May,  1853,  he  attended  the  Biennial  Convention 
of  the  Baptists  in  Baltinaore,  but  was  unwell  during  the  meeting,  and  still 
more  so  after  his  return.  On  examination,  a  tumour  was  discovered  in 
the  region  of  the  stomach,  which  proved  to  be  a  cancer ;  and,  from  that 
time,  he  suifered  intense  pain,  with  little  or  no  interruption,  till  he  found 
relief  in  death,  on  the  8th  of  August  following.  He  passed  away  in  the 
joyful  serenity  of  unclouded  hope. 

Mr.  Biddle  was  the  father  of  twelve  children, — seven  of  whom  reached 
mature  years,  and  survived  him.  Mrs.  Biddle,  who  was  distinguished  for 
an  elevated  Christian  character,  died  on  the  6th  of  January,  1850. 

FROM  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  WAIT,  D.  D 

Wake  Forest  College,  June  28,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  Elder  William  P.  Biddle  commenced  in 
February,  1827.  I  Avas  travelling  South  in  company  with  the  late  Dr.  Staugh- 
ton,  first  President  of  the  Columbian  College,  D.  C.  Owing  to  some  unex- 
pected circumstances,  we  were  detained  in  Newborn  about  two  weeks.  Elder 
Biddle,  hearing  that  the  Doctor  was  in  town,  and  having  had  some  previous 
acquaintance  with  him,  came  from  his  home,  a  distance  of  twenty-three  miles, 
to  have  the  pleasure  of  an  interview  with  him.  1  found  him  a  highly  interest- 
ing man.  In  Xovember,  1827,  I  removed  my  family  to  this  State,  and  became 
the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Newbern.  After  1  had  served  that  church 
two  or  three  years,  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Carolina  was 
formed,  and  I  became  its  General  Agent.  Elder  Biddle  was  present  at  the 
formation  of  this  Body,  and  not  long  after  became  its  President,  and  held  the 
office  for  several  j^ears.  In  February,  1834,  I  came  to  this  place  and  com- 
menced what  was  then  called  "Wake  Foi'est  Manual  Labour  Institute," 
which,  five  years  afterwards,  became  Wake  Forest  College.  To  this  enterprise 
Elder  Biddle  Avas  one  of  our  most  able  and  liberal  contributors.  Although, 
after  accepting  the  Agency  of  our  Convention,  I  was,  for  four  years,  almost 
constantly  on  the  w^ing,  I  often  met  him  at  the  quarterly  and  annual  meetings 
of  the  Board  of  the  Convention;  so  that,  almost  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
we  were  occasionally  brought  togctlier. 

Elder  Biddle's  personal  appearance  was  dignified  and  prepossessing,  llo 
was  six  foot  high,  stood  erect,  was  neither  corpulent  nor  lean,  and  weighed 
about  a  hundred  and  sixty  pounds.  His  hair  was  slightly  sandy ;  his  eyes  were 
hlue,  and  very  expressive,  especially  when  any  thing  was  said  in  his  hear- 
ing of  a  witty,  novel,  or  striking  character.  In  conversation  he  was  always 
respectful,  easy  and  natrrral.  Words  suited  to  express  his  tlioughts  clearly 
and  forcibly,  readily  occurred  to  him.  lie  was  never  dogmatical  or  obtrusive. 
His  voice  was  soft  and  musical,  and  his  enunciation  remarkably  distinct.  He 
had  an  excellent  voice  for  music,  and  withal  an  accurate  ear;  and  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  him  to  take  the  lead  in  that  part  of  public  worship.  In  his 
social  intercourse  he  alwaJ^s  manifested  the  most  delicate  regard  to  the  focling.s 
of  others;  and,  though  his  wealth  as  well  as  character  gave  him  much  conside- 
ration in  the  community,  he  was  as  far  as  possible  from  taking  any  conse- 
quential airs,  or  indicating,  in  the  moai,  indirect  manner,  any  invidious 
preference  of  the  rich  above  the  poor. 

Elder  Biddle  possessed  much  more  than  ordinary  advantages  in  the  pulpit. 
He  was  an  ea.sjr  and  graceful  speaker;  and,  as  I  have  already  intimated  in 
respect  to   his  conversation,  the  best  words  seemed  to  come  unbidden  to  him 


WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  BIDDLE.  ggj 

ill  public.  His  thoughts  were  ahvaj-s  exi)resseil  witli  great  clearness,  so  that 
the  hearer  never  hesitated  a  moment  in  respect  to  his  meaning.  Ilis  preach- 
ing was  thoroughly  evangelical,  and  nothing  that  he  believed  to  be  a  part  of 
Ciod's  revealed  truth  was  ever  withheld,  from  the  apprehension  that  it  would 
1)C  offensive  or  unwelcome.  His  memor}''  was  a  great  store-house  of  truths 
and  fiicts  which  had  been  accumulating  during  his  whole  life;  and  he  had  a 
remarkable  facility  at  drawing  upon  these  treasures  in  the  way  of  illustrating 
the  subjects  of  his  discourses.  His  numerous  and  often  perplexing  worldly 
cares  doubtless  interfered  somewhat  with  his  success  as  a  preacher;  but  if  he 
had  not  been  tlius  embarrassed,  and  especially  if  he  had  had  a  more  thorough 
intellectual  training,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  reached  an  eminence  attained 
by  few  of  his  contemporaries. 

But,  though  he  had  not  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  he 
had  subjected  his  mind  to  a  process  of  diligent  culture  by  reading  the  most 
approved  authors.  lie  manifested  his  interest  in  learning  in  various  ways, 
and  especially  by  the  pains  which  he  bestowed  on  the  education  of  his  own 
children,  by  his  generous  beneHxctions  to  our  College,  and  the  good  service  he 
rendered  it  in  the  capacity  of  Trustee,  till  near  the  close  of  life. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  generous  and  hospitable  of  men.  His  brethren 
were  always  welcome  to  his  house,  and  were  always  happy  in  his  society. 
The  poor  ever  found  in  him  a  ready  and  cheerful  benefactor.  He  was  ever 
watchful  for  opportunities  of  doing  good;  and  his  genial,  thoughtful  spirit 
would  often  prompt  to  little  delicate  acts  of  kindness,  which,  by  most  others, 
would  not  even  have  been  thought  of.  He  was  careful  to  teacli  his  children, 
by  both  example  and  precept,  not  to  live  for  themselves  alone.  I  remember 
once,  at  an  annual  meeting  of  our  Convention, — when  I  was  sitting  so  near 
him  that  I  could  hardly  fail  to  see  it, — as  the  collection  was  about  to  be  taken 
up  in  aid  of  the  cause  of  ^Missions,  he  distributed  a  handful  of  half  dollars  to 
his  children  and  a  young  lady  who  was  intimate  with  the  fanuly,  thus  helping 
at  once  to  form  and  to  gratify  their  taste  for  doing  good.  He  never  received 
any  regular  salary,  and  I  believe  scarcely  any  salary  at  all;  but  made  all  his 
services  as  a  minister  a  free  will  olFering  unto  the  Lord. 

This  venerable  man  possessed  an  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance.  No 
earthly  consideration  could  lead  him  to  make  the  slightest  compromise  with 
what  he  believed  to  be  error.  Having  settled  clearly  in  his  mind  what  was 
true  and  right,  all  that  remained  for  him  was  to  carry  out  his  honest  con- 
victions. Doubtless  he  had  his  imperfections, — for  he  was  a  man, — but  those 
who  knew  most  of  them  would  regard  them  as  slight,  compared  with  the 
manifold  excellences  that  adorned  and  elevated  his  character. 

Sincerely  and  truly  yours, 

SAMUEL  WAIT. 


Vol.  VI.  71 


502  BAPTIST. 

ELISHA  CUSHMAN. 

1809—1838. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  Avigast  15,  1856. 

My  dear  Sir :  The  Rev.  Elisha  Cushiuan  was  one  of  our  most  respecta- 
ble and  respected  ministers,  and  is  well  worthy  of  being  commemorated  in 
the  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit."  I  knew  him  well,  and  can  speak 
of  his  character  with  confidence,  and  state  the  leading  facts  of  his  history, 
I  believe,  with  tolerable  accuracy. 

Elisha  Cushman  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Robert  Cushman,  one  of 
the  more  distinguished  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  who  first  came  to  New 
England.  He  was  a  son  of  Elisha  and  Lydia  (Fuller)  Cushman,  and  was 
born  in  Kingston,  Mass.,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1788.  He  was  apprenticed 
to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  worked  at  that  business  until  he  bad 
reached  his  twentieth  year,  when  he  was  converted  to  Grod,  and  united  with 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Kingston,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Glover.  After  a  somewhat  severe  struggle  with  his  convictions  of 
duty  to  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  luider  a  sense  of  incompetency 
and  other  hindrances,  he  was  licensed  by'the  Church  at  Kingston  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  He  studied  for  a  short  time  under  his  Pastor,  but  never 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education.  After  he  was  licensed, 
he  preached  in  the  neighbouring  villages,  and  supplied  the  Church  in 
Grafton,  Mass.,  for  about  a  year.  About  1811,  he  went  to  Providence, 
11.  I.,  and  for  some  months  assisted  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cornell  in  proacliing 
and  other  pastoral  duties.  He  came  to  Hartford  in  1812,  and,  after 
serving  the  First  Baptist  Church  a  number  of  months  as  preacher,  he  was 
ordained  Pastor  on  the  10th  of  June,  1813,  the  Sermon  on  the  occasion 
being  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gano,  of  Providence. 

Mr.  Cushman  remained  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Hartford  u)ilil  182.5, 
during  which  period  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  were  added  to  it,  being 
more  than  double  its  former  membership. 

His  Pastorate  in  Hartford  gave  him  a  somewhat  intimate  and  conspicuous 
relation  to  the  progress  of  the  denomination  in  Connecticut.  He  was  often 
called  to  attend  Councils,  Ordinations,  the  constituting  of  Churches,  and 
similar  services,  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  He  bore  a  prominent  part  in 
organizing  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  in  1814,  and  was  its  Corrcs. 
ponding  Secretary  until  1822,  when  that  Society  was  reorganized  under 
the  name  of  the  Baptist  Convention,  of  whicli  he  was  a  prominent  Trustee, 
until  his  removal  from  the  State  in  1825.  He  was,  subsequently,  President 
of  that  Convention,  from  1830  to  1834,  having,  meanwhile,  returned  to 
Connecticut. 

During  his  ministry  at  Hartford,  the  subject  of  a  periodical  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  interests  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  State  was  agi- 
tated, and  an  arrangement  was  first  made  for  a  department,  devoted  to  this 
purpose,  in  the  Hartford  Times.  This  department  of  religious  intelligence 
he  superintended  for  a  few  months,  when  Mr.  Philemon  Canfield,  a  printer, 


ELISIIA  CUSIIMAN.  5Q3 

under  the  sanction  of  tlic  Baptist  Convention,  undertook  the  puhlisliing  of 
a  weekly  paper,  entitled  "  The  Christian  Secretary."  Mr.  Cushnian  was 
its  first  editor. 

In  1824,  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  Yale  College.  He  was  an  active  nicniljer  of  the  Corporation  of  Wash- 
ington (now  Trinity)  College,  from  the  time  of  its  organization  till  he  left 
the  State. 

In  1825,  he  resigned  his  charge  in  Hartford,  and  accepted  the  Pastorate 
of  the  New  Market  Street  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  where  he 
laboured  successfully  for  nearly  four  years.  In  September,  1829,  he 
returned  to  Connecticut,  and  preached  in  Stratfield,  a  parish  in  the  town 
of  Fairfield,  until  April,  1831,  when  he  was  called  to  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  New  Haven.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  his  con- 
nection with  this  church  continued  about  three  years,  during  which  a  rich 
blessing  attended  his  ministry. 

In  the  spring  of  1885.  he  removed  to  Plymouth,  Mass., — the  last  scene 
of  his  pastoral  labours.  While  here,  his  health  began  seriously  to  suffer  ; 
and  early  in  1838,  at  the  solicitation  of  many  friends  in  Connecticut,  he 
was  induced  to  return  to  Hartford  for  the  purpose  of  resuming  the  edito- 
rial care  of  the  Christian  Secretary,  of  which,  as  already  stated,  he  was 
the  original  editor,  in  1822.  But  his  work  on  earth  was  nearly  finished. 
lie  was  able  to  edit  only  two  or  three  numbers  of  the  paper, — his  hcaltli 
continuing  to  decline  until  the  2Gth  of  October,  1838,  when  he  quietly  but 
joyfully  passed  to  his  eternal  rest. 

It  was  after  his  return  to  Hartford  for  the  last  time  that  I  became 
intimately  acquainted  with  him.  I  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  well 
the  exercises  of  his  mind  in  the  prospect  of  death.  He  looked  forward  to 
the  event,  for  some  time  previous,  with  perfect  serenity.  He  had  no 
raptures,  but,  as  he  expressed  it  in  my  hearing,  'a  comfortable  hope.' 
"  Brother  T,"  said  he,  "  I  feel  that  I  have  come  to  a  serious  point.  I 
find  it  necessary  to  look  to  the  ground  of  my  hope,  not  carelessly  and 
superficially,  but  seriously  and  prayerfully.  I  have  preached  the  Gospel 
to  others  ;  but  things  appear  to  me  in  a  very  different  light  now.  In 
looking  back  upon  my  past  life,  I  have  only  to  regret  that  I  have  not  loved 
Christ  enough,  and  I  don't  even  now  ;  but  I  have  a  comfortable  hope.  I 
have  no  ecstacies.  They  are  too  flashy  things  to  sustain  the  hope  of  a 
dying  man  ;  but  I  have  a  cnmfortahlc  hope — a  comfortable  hope  .'" — repeat- 
ing the  words  with  an  emphasis  and  iiitonution  peculiar  to  himself. 

He  spoke  several  times  most  affectionately  of  the  kindness  of  his  friends, 
and  particularly  of  his  son  Elisha,  then  not  converted,  and  expressed  his 
confidence  that,  in  answer  to  his  parents'  prayers,  he  would,  in  due  time,  be 
brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ.  This  confidence  was  justified,  years  after 
the  death  of  his  father,  not  only  by  the  conversion  of  that  son,  but  by  his 
call  to  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

When  I  was  present  on  another  occasion  with  two  Christian  friends,  Mr. 
Cushman  repeated  the  same  expressions  of  confidence  and  hope.  He  told  us 
that  he  had  no  anxiety  about  any  thing  now.  Said  he, — "  My  temporal 
affairs  I  leave  with  my  friends,  my  spiritual  I  leave  in  better  hands.  ' 
Speaking   of   his   sinfulness,   which   he   seemed    much   to   dwell  upon,   he 


564  BAPTIST. 

added, — "  Notwithstanding  that,  I  can  look  forward  to  eternity  with  a 
smile.  I  look  up,  and  the  shining  of  a  Saviour's  presence  cheers  my 
heart.  I  long  to  join  the  blissful  tlirong,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  should.  1 
think  now  of  little  else  but  Christ  ;  my  whole  soul  is  occupied  in  the 
contemplation  of  his  glory." 

The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  on  the  morning  previous  to  his  death.  He 
was  then  rapidly  sinking.  Being  asked  in  respect  to  the  state  of  his 
mind,  he  roused  himself,  and  replied, — "a  good  support — a  good  support !" 
He  had  occasion  to  take  some  soothing  medicine,  which,  for  the  moment, 
afi'eoted  his  breathing,  and  caused  him  to- pant  severely;  on  which  he 
said, — "  This  panting — but  I  don't  pant  enough  after  Christ" — and  then 
dwelt,  in  a  delightful  strain,  upon  the  ineifable  consolations  which,  through 
grace,  he  was  permitted  to  enjoy.  He  remained  in  the  same  tranquil 
state  of  mind  till  the  moment  of  his  departure.  He  had  a  severe  turn 
about  an  hour  previous,  but  it  passed  away,  and  left  him  in  comparative 
ease.  He  kept  saying,  now  and  then,  "  a  few  minutes  more,  and  I  shall 
be  at  rest."  He  told  the  attendants  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  moved  ; 
that  he  was  "going,"  and  wanted  to  pass  away  quiet  and  undisturbed. 
A  little  after  midnight,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus  without  a  struggle  or  a 
groan. 

His  Funeral  was  attended  by  a  large  concourse  of  friends  and  citizens. 
Being  at  that  time  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  this  city,  1 
was  requested  by  the  family  to  preach  his  Funeral  Sermon,  which  I  did 
from  the  words, —  "  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,"  &c. 

Mr.  Cushman  was  mainly  self-educated  ;  but  he  had  naturally  a  vigorous 
and  fruitful  mind.  He  was  versatile  in  his  powers,  dignified  and  courteous 
in  his  nianners,  and  possessed,  in  a  very  considerable  degree,  the  capacity 
for  popular  impression.  The  church  which  he  served  here,  was  greatly 
increased  under  his  ministry.  He  exerted  an  important  influence  in 
Deliberative  Bodies,  and  often  presided  in  Ecclesiastical  Conventions,  and 
Associations  of  his  denomination  in  the  State.  He  was  also  much  esteemed 
by  the  community  at  large,  and  was  frequently  called  to  bear  a  part  on 
public  occasions.  His  powers  of  extemporaneous  address  were  considera- 
ble. His  self-possession,  aptness,  wit,  and  occasional  facility  of  expression, 
made  him  a  general  favourite.  His  good  temper  added  not  a  little  to  his 
influence.  As  an  illustration  of  the  unusual  tact  which  he  displayed  in 
presiding  at  Councils,  I  may  mention  the  following  incident : — He  occupied 
the  Moderator's  Chair  in  a  somewhat  exciting  Council,  and  had  occasion 
to  call  one  of  his  olderl^rethren  to  order.  The  brother  was  a  little  vexed, 
and  in  a  hasty  tone  objected  to  the  assumption  (as  he  called  it)  of  one  so 
much  his  junior.  To  which  Mr.  Cushman,  as  it  was  said,  with  an  air  of 
quiet  but  very  marked  significance,  replied  that  though  he  who  occupied 
the  Chair  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  his  comparative  youthfiilness,  yet, 
if  his  good  brother  would  please  to  observe,  the  Chair  which  he  occupied 
was  much  older  than  either  of  them.  The  Chair  happened  in  reality  to 
be  a  venerable  piece  of  furniture,  and  all  present  seemed  to  feel  that  there 
was  "  enough  said." 

Mr.  Cushnian's  preaching  was  simple,  instructive,  and  often  eloquent. 
His  voice  was  highly  musical,  and  adapted  itself  with  the  greatest  ease  to 


ELISIIA  CUSHMAN.  565 

the  varying  moods  of  his  iiiiiul  aud  heart.  Sometimes  he  indulged  in 
quaint  turns  of  thought  and  expression,  and  not  unfrequcntly  enlivened 
bis  discourses  by  appropriate  anecdotes  and  figurative  illustrations.  He 
had  a  poetical  turn,  and  in  his  preaching  made  great  use  of  the  more 
imaginative  and  striking  phrases  of  Holy  Writ.  Young  people  listencl 
to  him  with  great  interest.  His  preaching,  so  far  as  language  was  con- 
cerned, was  generally  purely  extemporaneous.  He  had  the  gift  of  accurate 
and  easy  expression  on  all  occasions,  and  seldom  put  pen  to  paper  for  any 
of  his  pulpit  preparations.  He  was  much  esteemed  as  a  Pastor  and  friend, 
and  spent  considerable  time  in  visiting  his  flock.  Of  medium  height,  his 
appearance  was  agreeable,  without  being  particularly  striking.  His  man- 
ner in  the  pulpit  was  pleasing  and  impressive. 

Mr.  Cushman  was  married  on  the  30th  of  August,  1812,  to  Elizabeth 
Bailey,  of  Kingston,  3Iass.,  by  whom  he  had  five  sons,  one  of  whom, 
bearing  his  own  name,  is  the  highly  respected  Pastor  of  the  Church  in 
Deep  River,  Conn.     The  widow  and  three  of  the  children,  still  survive. 

Mr.  Cushmau's  publications  are  A  Sermon  entitled  -'Christian  Fortitude," 
delivered  in  presence  of  a  Company  of  the  United  States'  Troops,  about 
to  march  upon  the  Frontier,  1813;  An  Address  on  the  Anniversary  of 
our  National  Independence  ;  A  Sermon,  preached  at  the  Annual  Election, 
before  the  Governor  and  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  1820  ;  and  An 
Address  delivered  at  the  request  of  the  Young  Men  of  Plymouth,  Mass., 
on  the  Anniversary  of  the  Birth  of  Washington,  1835. 
I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours, 

ROBERT  TURNBULL. 


DANIEL  SHARP,  D.  D.* 

1809—1853. 

Daniel  Sharp,  the  youngest  child  of  the  Bev.  John  and  Susanna 
Sharp,  was  born  at  Huddersfield,  in  the  County  of  Y^'ork,  i^ngland,  Decem- 
ber 25,  1783.  His  father  was  a  Baptist  clergyman,  and  continued  till  his 
death  the  beloved  and  honoured  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  Farnlcy,  Yorkshire. 
His  early  years  he  spent  under  the  parental  roof,  and  he  always  cherished 
the  memory  of  his  parents  with  the  most  affectionate  respect.  He  was,  of 
course,  religiously  educated,  and  while  he  was  yet  quite  young,  gave  evi- 
dence of  having  embraced  Christianity  as  a  vital  principle.  He,  origi- 
nally, joined  an  Independent  Church,  but,  subsequently,  as  the  result  of 
inquiry  and  conviction,  became  a  Baptist. 

Having  established  a  high  character  for  ability  and  integrity  in  secular 
life,  he  was  engaged  by  a  large  commercial  house  in  Yorkshire  to  come  to 
the  United  States  as  their  agent  or  factor.  He  arrived  in  New  York, 
October  4,  1805,  and  soon  became  a  member  of  the    church   of  which   the 

•Dr.  Stow's  Fun.  Serra.— Boston  Daily  Adv.  1853.— MS.  from  bis  son,  Dr.  J.  C.  Sharp. 


5G6  BAPTIST. 

llev.  Jolin  Williams  was  Pastor,  From  the  beginning  he  made  a  decidedly 
favourable  impression  upon  his  brethren,  in  respect  to  both  talents  and 
piety;  and  the  idea  soon  suggested  itself  to  them,  that  he  might  make  an 
acceptable  and  useful  minister  of  the  Gospel.  His  own  views  were  so  far 
in  accordance  with  theirs  that  he  undertook  the  service  of  a  lay  preacher, 
at  the  same  time  attending  faithfully  to  his  mercantile  engagements.  It 
\vas  not  long,  however,  before  he  retired  from  those  engagements  alto- 
gether, with  a  view  to  devote  himself  to  preparation  for  the  sacred  office. 
The  duties  of  his  agency  were  assumed  by  a  friend,  who  gave  to  him  the 
whole  emolument ;  and,  immediately  after  this,  he  proceeded  to  Philadel- 
phia, and  commenced  his  theological  studies  under  the  direction  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Staughton. 

He  was  set  apart  as  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Newark.  N.  J., 
May  17,  1809.  In  September  following,  he  made  his  first  visit  to  New 
England,  and  preached  on  the  Sabbath  for  the  Rev.  Caleb  Blood,  Pastor 
of  the  Third  (now  Charles  Street)  Church,  Boston.  After  the  resignation 
of  Mr.  Blood  in  June,  1810,  he  was  invited  to  supply  the  vacancy.  This 
invitation  he  declined  ;  but,  when  renewed  in  1811,  he  visited  the  ehiirch, 
and  decided  to  comply  with  their  wishes.  He  was  publicly  recognised  as 
their  Pastor,  April  20,  1812. 

Here  a  wide  field  of  iisefulnoss  opened  before  him.  He  became  at  once 
associated  with  Dr.  Baldwin  and  others  in  the  benevolent  enterprises  of 
the  day.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society,  whose  object  was  the  evangelization  of  the  destitute 
portions  of  our  own  country.  For  several  years,  he  was  associate  editor 
of  the  American  Baptist  Magazine.  When  information  came  from  Calcutta 
that  the  Rev.  Messrs,  Ju^lson  and  Rice  had  become  Baptists,  and  were 
desirous  of  commencing  an  American  Baptist  Mission  in  the  East,  no  one 
was  more  ready  than  he  to  respond  favourably  to  the  call;  and,  accord- 
ingly, a  Society  was  formed  "for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  India,*' 
and  he,  as  its  Secretary,  conducted  the  correspondence.  When  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the  United  States  was 
formed,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1814,  he  sympathized  earnestly  with  its  plans, 
and  almost  from  the  beginning  was  one  of  its  officers.  For  many  years  he 
was  President  of  its  Acting  Board  ;  and,  after  the  name  of  the  organization 
was  changed,  he  was  elected  the  first  President  of  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union. 

In  1814,  he  was  one  of  the  originators  of  an  Association  which  after- 
wards grew  into  the"  Northern  Baptist  Education  Society.  He  always 
strongly  favoured  a  high  standard  of  ministerial  education.  With  the 
origin  and  history  of  the  Newton  Theological  Seminary  he  was  closely 
identified,  and  for  eighteen  years  was  President  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

He  was  chosen  a  Fellow  of  Brown  University  in  1828,  and  held  the 
office  to  the  close  of  his  litV.  From  the  same  institution  he  received 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1811,  and  that  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
in  1828.  The  latter  degree  was  also  conferred  upon  him.  in  1843,  by  Har- 
vard University,  of  whose  Board  of  Overseers  he  was  appointed  a  member 
in  1846. 


DANIEL  SHARP.  5Q7 

111  April,  18r)i>,  was  celebrated  the  Fortiotli  Anniversary  uf  Dr.  Sharp's 
settlemont  in  Charles  Street.  The  occasion,  which  was  one  of  great  inte- 
rest, is  particularly  noticed  in  the  llev.  Dr.  Magoon's  communication, 
forming  a  part  of  this  sketch. 

Dr.  Sharp  possessed  naturally  a  vigorous  constitution,  and  his  general 
health  was  such,  during  nearly  the  whole  period  of  his  ministry,  that  he 
was  able  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  vocation  without  interruption. 
During  the  autumn  of  1852,  however,  it  became  obvious  to  his  friends  that 
his  bodily  strength  and  activity  were  beginning  to  wane,  and  that  prudence 
demanded  at  least  an  abatement  of  his  labours.  As  the  winter  passed  off, 
the  evidences  of  decay  became  still  more  manifest,  and  in  the  spring  it 
was  thought  proper  that  he  should  avail  himself  of  some  more  genial 
climate.  Accordingly,  in  April,  he  travelled  South  as  far  as  Baltimore, 
with  an  intention  to  remain  there  a  few  weeks,  and  then  to  extend  his 
journey  still  farther,  if  circumstances  should  seem  to  favour  it.  After 
remaining  in  Baltimore  a  fortnight, — during  which  time  his  health  seemed 
to  improve, — he  accepted  an  invitation  of  a  valued  friend,  Eobert  P. 
Brown,  Esq.,  to  visit  him  at  his  residence,  a  few  miles  distant.  Here  he 
was  surrounded  with  every  thing  that  could  minister  to  his  comfort,  and  he 
determined  to  remain  until  the  season  should  be  so  far  advanced  that  he 
might  return  home  without  any  exposure  from  a  Northern  climate.  For 
several  weeks  his  prospect  seemed  encouraging  ;  but,  early  in  June,  he 
exhiliited  some  symptoms  that  occasioned  alarm,  and  soon  brought  several 
members  of  his  family  to  visit  him.  They  came,  however,  only  to  see  him 
languish  and  die.  He  lingered,  in  the  utmost  composure  and  resignation, 
until  the  23d  of  that  month,  when  he  passed  gently  to  his  final  home.  His 
remains  were  taken  immediately  to  Boston,  and  an  examination,  made  the 
day  following,  disclosed  no  trace  of  disease  in  any  of  the  organs,  and  left 
no  doubt  that  "  the  essential  cause  of  his  decay  and  death  was  some  failure 
in  the  subtle  processes  by  which  the  blood  is  elaborated  from  the  materials 
destined  for  its  renewal."  A  Commemorative  Discourse  was  addressed 
to  the  bereaved  flock,  by  the  Rev.  Baron  Stow,  D.  D.,  and  was  published. 

The  following  letter,  one  of  the  last  which  Dr.  Sharp  ever  wrote,  was 
addressed  to  an  intimate  friend  in  Boston,  and  is  here  inserted  as  illustra- 
tive not  only  of  his.  particular  state  of  mind  at  that  time,  but  of  the 
genial,  contented,  trusting  spirit  that  gave  tone  to  his  general  character: — 

"  Stoneleioh,  Baltimore  Co..  Mtl.,  ) 
May  3,  18o3.      5 

"  I  thank  yon  most  sincerely  for  your  kind  and  sympathetic  letter.  I  rL'ciprocatc 
all  your  good  wishes  and  affectionate  expressions.  Your  friendly  words  have  often 
cheered  me.  I  think  of  the  many  pleasant  walks  and  interviews  we  have  had  together, 
with  great,  very  great  satisfaction.  To  me  friendship  has  ever  been  and  is  the  wine  of 
life.  I  would  not  live  secluded  and  alone,  could  I  help  it.  My  motto  is  '  Poor  is  the 
friendless  master  of  a  world.'  I  think  with  great  pleasure  on  former  years  and  the 
friends  that  have  been  gathered  around  me.  We  may  have  other  interviews  on  earth 
before  the  last  blessed  and  permanent  meeting  in  Heaven. 

"  I  have  been  more  than  a  week  at  my  most  excellent  friend's  mansion,  Robert  P. 
Brown.  Esq.,  about  six  miles  from  Baltimore.  He  and  his  excellent  lady  have  been 
to  us  as  a  son  and  a  daughter.  I  hope  I  am  a  little  better,  and  yot  I  fear  I  never  shall 
be  so  '  Sharp'  and  energetic  as  heretofore,  nor  so  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season 


5C8 


BAPTIST. 


in  regard  to  my  pulpit  ministrations.  "VTell,  I  will  not  complain.  I  am  perfectly- 
satisfied  with  tlie  allotments  of  Divine  Providence,  and  trust  my  life  has  not  been 
wholly  in  vain.  Mrs.  S.  unites  with  me  in  kind  regards  to  Mrs  N.,  and  best  wishes 
for  the  welfare  of  your  children. 

"  Truly  yours, 

Daniel  Suarp." 

Dr.  Sharp  was  married  on  the  1st  of  January,  1818,  to  Ann,  daughter 
of  John  Cauldwell,  of  New  York,  formerly  of  Birmingham,  England. 
They  had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom,  with  their  mother,  are  still 
(1859)  living. 

The  following  are  Dr.  Sharp's  publications  : — A  Discourse  delivered 
before  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  on 
the  Anniversary  Election,  1824.  A  Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death 
of  His  Excellency  "William  Eustis,  late  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  1824. 
A  Fast  Day  Sermon,  1828.  A  Sermon  delivered  at  the  Interment  of  the 
Rev.  Stephen  Gano,  A.  M.,  1828.  A  Sermon  at  the  Ordination  of  Ebene- 
zer  Thresher,  Jr.,  at  Portland,  1828.  Obligations  of  Christians  to  the  Hea- 
then :  A  Sermon  delivered  before  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  in  Phila- 
delphia, 1829.  Reflections  against  the  Baptists  refuted  :  A  Sermon  delivered 
at  the  Dedication  of  the  Baptist  Meeting  House  in  New  Bedford,  1829.  A 
Tribute  of  Respect  to  the  Character  and  Memory  of  Mr.  Ensign  Lincoln, 
1832.  Apostolic  Mode  of  Preaching  :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  Boston  before 
the  Conference  of  Baptist  Ministers,  1832.  Counsels  and  Cautions :  The 
Substance  of  an  Address  read  before  the  Conference  of  Baptist  Ministers 
in  Massachusetts,  at  their  Annual  Meeting  in  Boston,  1835.  Artillery 
Election  Sermon,  1840.  Hints  on  Modern  Evangelism,  and  on  the 
Elements  of  a  Church's  Prosperity :  A  Discourse  delivered  in  the  Charles 
Street  Baptist  Church,  Boston,  1842.  The  Wisdom  and  Goodness  of  God 
in  our  Calamities  :  A  Discourse  delivered  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1842.  A 
Sermon  occasioned  by  the  Death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bolles,  1844.  Recog- 
nition of  Friends  in  Heaven:  A  Discourse.  (Four  Editions.)  A  Sermon 
delivered  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Meeting  House  of  the  Oliver  Street 
Baptist  Church,  New  York,  1845.  Plea  for  Peace:  A  Discourse  delivered 
on  Fast  Day,  1840.  Honour  to  whom  Honour :  A  Sermon  on  the  Death 
of  John  Quincy  Adams,  1848.  A  Discourse  on  occasion  of  the  Celebra- 
tion of  the  Fortieth  Anniversary  of  his  Ministry  in  Boston,  1852. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  Dr.  Sharp  quite  well  during  the  latter 
years  of  his  life.  My  first  introduction  to  him  was  in  Tremont  Street, 
Boston,  about  the  yeai^l840,  by  the  venerable  and  genial  Dr.  Pierce,  of 
Brookline,  who  saw  him  walking  in  advance  of  us,  and  proposed  that  we 
should  hasten  to  overtake  him.  I  had  but  a  few  words  of  conversation 
with  him  at  the  time,  but  was  much  impressed  by  his  bland  and  cordial 
manner,  as  well  as  his  truly  venerable  appearance  ;  and,  after  we  parted 
witli  him,  Dr.  P.,  I  remember,  passed  a  high  compliment  on  his  urbanity, 
intelligence,  and  liberality.  After  this,  I  saw  him  several  times,  once  at 
least  at  his  house,  and  once  or  twice  at  my  own,  and  every  conversation  I 
had  with  him  only  served  to  strengthen  my  first  impression  in  respect  to 
his  character.  He  seemed  to  me  a  highly  accomplished  man,  with  enlight- 
ened and  liberal  views,  of  great  frankness  and  gentleness  of  temper,  of  a 


DANIEL  SHARP.  5g9 

niiiul  well  funiisliod  and  prompt  to  communicate,  friendly  to  all  substantial 
improvement,  but  deadly  hostile  to  what  he  regarded  as  reckless  innova- 
tion. His  fine  expressive  face,  his  flowing  locks,  his  composed,  dignified, 
and  yet  cheerful,  manner,  his  graceful  and  intelligent  style  of  conversa- 
tion, and  his  serious  and  devout  spirit,  come  gratefully  to  my  rcinomljrance, 
and  render  it  only  a  labour  of  love  which  I  now  perform  in  attempting  to 
embalm  his  memory. 

FROM  THE  REV.  BARNAS  SEARS,  D.  D., 

PRKSIDENT  OF  BUOWN  UNIVERSITY. 

Boston,  July  10,  1854. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  I  comply  most  willingly  with  your  request  to  furnish 
you  Avith  ;i  few  reminiscences  of  the  late  Dr.  Sharp,  illustrative  of  his  per- 
sonal character. 

My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  about  the  year  1821,  and  soon  grew 
into  an  intimacy  whidi  continued  until  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  natu- 
rally of  a  noble  character,  being  perfecth'  sincere,  open-hearted  and  generous. 
The  strict  integrit}'  of  his  heart,  led  him,  as  if  by  a  law  of  necessity,  to  the 
exercise  of  exact  justice  and  impartiality  in  his  dealings  and  intercourse  with 
men.  Meanness  and  selfishness  were  alien  to  his  nature.  He  would  resort  to 
no  subterfuges  to  extricate  himself  from  difficulty,  but  would  always  speak 
the  truth  without  colouring,  sooner  withholding  what  was  in  his  own  favour 
than  exaggerating  it.  In  all  the  relations  of  life,  he  exhibited  a  character  so 
pure  and  lofty  as  to  win  general  admiration.  He  seemed  to  act  from  instinct, 
or  from  an  innate  sense  of  propriety,  which  was  a  sure  guide,  even  where 
there  was  not  a  moment  for  reflection.  Ilis  Christian  character  took  its  form 
from  these  elements  of  his  natural  character.  He  sympathized  in  his  Avhole 
being  witli  the  ethical  part  of  Christianity.  For  nictaph\sical  theories  of  the 
Gospel,  or  speculations  upon  the  philosopliy  of  religion,  he  had  no  taste.  He 
held  conscientiously  to  a  clearl}^  defined  sj-stem  of  doctrines,  as  the  basis  of 
Christian  morals,  and  he  often  stated  and  illustrated  tiiem,  but  always  for 
practical  purposes.  Polemic  Theology  he  utterly  abhorred.  Though  he  was 
as  earnest  in  following  his  own  religious  opinions  as  he  was  catholic  in  spirit, 
he  often  repeated  the  remark  that  nothing  pained  him  so  much  as  men's  angry 
disputes  about  the  love  and  mercy  of  God.  The  Christian  graces  were  his 
favourite  themes  in  the  pulpit.  He  attached  little  importance  to  a  merely 
intellectual  orthodoxy,  unaccompanied  by  a  spiritual  life,  modelled  after  that 
of  Christ.  His  strong  feelings  often  made  him  break  forth  in  a  strain  of  ani- 
mated and  even  powerful  declamation  in  his  sermons,  but  it  was  usually  the 
more  generous  sentiments  that  warmed  his  passions,  and  opened  the  deepest 
fountains  of  his  heart.  He  had,  however,  a  lofty  tone  of  iel)uke,  and  even  of 
disdain,  for  degrading  vices,  but  it  never  singled  out  individuals  for  public 
odium. 

As  a  member  of  deliberative  bodies,  he  was  distinguished  for  his  straight- 
forward honesty,  fairness,  and  courtesy.  lie  was  no  partisan.  He  treated  all 
propositions  according  to  their  suppcsed  merits,  and  not  according  to  the  par- 
ties with  which  they  originated.  If  bis  friends  were  inclined  to  use  manage- 
ment to  accomplish  their  purposes,  they  were  obliged  to  go  without  him.  He 
was  not  a  great  originator  of  plans,  but  was  a  ready  and  zealous  advocate  of 
them  when  proposed  by  others,  and  a  judicious  adviser  if  they  needed  any 
modifications.  He  was  often  called  to  preside  over  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and 
here  it  was  that  he  appeared  to  peculiar  advantage.  His  personal  dignity,  his 
calmness  and  sobriety,  his  courtesy  and  pacific  temper  fitted   him  admirably 

Vol.  VI.  72 


570  BAPTIST. 

for  this  office.  In  his  person,  though  not  above  the  middle  size,  he  had  a 
manly  bearing  and  a  commanding  presence.  Standing  erect,  with  a  face  that 
looked  onward  and  upward,  and  features  large  and  regular,  the  chin  square, 
the  lii)s  slightly  compressed,  the  forehead  expanded  and  crowned  with  thin 
and  doating  silvery  locks,  he  fixed  the  attention  of  an  assembly  the  moment 
he  rose  to  speak.  His  speech  was  deliberate  and  exact,  uttered  at  first  in  a 
low,  clear  tone,  with  a  perfect  articulation,  and  afterwards  rising  to  a  loftier 
pitch,  as  a  glow  of  feeling  succeeded  to  calmness.  His  voice  was  full  and 
strong,  always  pleasant  and  sometimes  musical.  His  tones  and  inflexions  were 
constantly  varied,  so  as  never  to  weary  his  audience  with  monotony.  Occa- 
sionall}',  there  was  an  appearance  of  too  much  effort  in  this,  as  Avell  as  in 
bold  and  powerful  action.  He  often,  while  speaking,  raised  both  arms  above 
his  head,  and  then  brought  them  down  laterally  with  a  tension  of  the  muscles, 
as  if  he  Avould  throw  out  his  ideas  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  His  language, 
though  unadorned,  was  well  chosen  and  chaste,  and  not  unfrequcntl}'^  beauti- 
ful in  its  simplicity.  It  was  genuine  English,  without  the  slightest  mark 
either  of  provincialism  or  of  foreign  idiom.  His  literary  culture  was  founded 
entirely  on  the  reading  of  the  English  classics. 

Soon  after  coming  to  this  country,  and  while  yet  a  young  man,  Mr.  Sharp, 
by  the  advice  of  his  friends,  resorted  to  Dr.  Staughton,  then  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, to  pursue  his  studies  preparatory  to  the  ministry.  "  The  first  night 
I  ever  spent  in  his  house,"  he  once  remarked  to  me,  '<  he  requested  me,  as  I 
retired,  to  set  out  my  boots  to  be  blacked.  The  next  morning  early,  as  I 
stepped  out  into  the  yard,  I  saw  Dr.  Staughton  with  brush  in  hand,  blacking 
my  boots!  From  that  day  to  this,  when  I  have  been  a  guest  in  the  house  of 
a  brother,  I  have  been  on  my  guard  in  this  respect."  "  My  first  appearance 
in  the  pulpit,"  he  remarked  at  another  time,  "  was  not  very  ministerial;  it 
was  with  white  vest  and  pants."  <'  For  any  success  I  may  have  had  in  the 
liulpit,"  said  he,  "I  am  more  indebted  to  the  instructions  and  example  of 
Dr.  Staughton  than  to  any  thing  else.  He  taught  me  to  throw  out  my  voice  with 
boldness  and  energy,  and  to  deliver  my  discourses  in  an  earnest  and  impres- 
sive manner.  It  is  a  great  fault  in  our  Theological  Seminaries  that  so  little  is 
done  to  improve  young  men  in  the  delivery  as  well  as  in  the  composition  of 
sermons."  This  he  said  to  me  as  being  a  teacher  in  such  a  Seminary.  Once, 
when  a  man  of  celebritj^  was  to  preach  in  his  pulpit,  and  great  expectation 
was  raised,  tlie  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  who,  with  some  others  was  seated  in  the 
pulpit,  and  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  preacher,  manifested  much  anxictj-, 
lest  he  .should  be  called  on  to  officiate  in  case  of  a  disappointment,  and  turned 
to  Dr.  Sharp.  sa3-ing, — "  Wliat  shall  we  do  if  he  should  not  come  ?  "  '<  Don't 
be  disturbed,"  replied  tlie  latter,  "  I  can  always  fill  my  own  pulpit," — (this 
last  word  being  pronounced  with  the  u  short.)  He  had  a  self-reliance  which 
secured  him  against  all  timidity  and  trepidation  when  he  had  a  duty  to 
perform. 

At  a  certain  meeting  of  a  large  ecclesiastical  body,  it  was  believed  by  some 
that  a  Board  of  Managers  was  chosen  on  strictly  party  principles,  and  he  was 
supposed  to  be  implicated  in  the  transaction.  One  clerical  brother  went  so  far 
as  to  break  off  intercourse  witli  him  on  this  account.  But  no  person  could 
well  continue  long  at  variance  with  such  a  man.  After  a  j'^ear  or  more  the 
individual  came  to  Dr.  Sharp,  Avishing  to  renew  old  friendship,  but  honestly 
told  liis  grievance.  "  My  dear  brother,"  replied  Dr.  Sharp,  "  I  took  the  list 
of  the  old  Board  just  as  it  was,  erased  but  one  name  which  was  that  of  a 
personal  friend,  and  inserted  yours  in  its  place."  The  reconciliation  was 
easy.  This  incident  furnishes  but  a  fair  illustration  of  his  magnanimity  in 
such  circumstances.  His  motto  was  «'  It  always  takes  two  parties  to  quar- 
rel; "  and  his  practice  was  to  refuse  to  be  one  of  the  parties.     He  was  some- 


DANIEL  SUAKP.  5'71 

timos  ,sui)iiosed  to  be  liaiight}',  and  more  than  oucu  said  in  piildir,  "  There  are 
men  that  will  call  another  proud,  simply  because  (iod  Almighty  made  him 
straight." 

It  was  uiy  hapiiiness  to  meet  him  often,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  in 
his  favourite  walk,  which  1  had  occasion  to  pass  daily  in  going  to  my  ollice. 
Perhaps  no  clergyman  in  Boston  was  more  universally  respected.  As  his  dig- 
uiticd  form  moved  slowly  along  the  way,  all  the  older  citizens  showed  him 
marked  respect,  and  even  strangers  paid  him  a  silent  homage  when  he  was 
pointed  out  to  them  as  the  ilev.  Dr.  tjharp.  At  his  Funeral,  all  parties  and 
classes  of  men  joined  in  mourning  his  loss. 

Very  respectfully  your  friend  and  brother, 

B    SEARS. 

FROM    THE  REV.  STEPHEN  P.  HILL,    D.   D. 

AVashtngton  City,  December  20,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  knew  Dr.  Sharp  intimately  and  long,  and  perhaps  of  all 
men  that  I  ever  did  know,  loved  and  revered  him  the  most.  1  have  long 
desired  to  make  some  enduring  record  of  my  respect  and  affection  for  him, 
and,  instead  of  considering  it  a  hardship  to  comply  with  your  request,  I  am 
really  obliged  to  you  for  the  opportunity  you  have  afforded  me  of  gratifying 
my  own  cherished  wishes. 

M}'  acquaintance  with  this  excellent  man  commenced  about  the  year  1825, 
■when  1  was  just  tremblingly  treading,  as  it  were,  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
life,  lie  was  not  my  Pastor,  but  no  Pastor  could  have  taken  me  by  the  hand 
more  kindly,  or  encouraged  and  assisted  me  more  to  lind  a  sphere  of  honoura- 
ble usefulness  in  life  than  he  did.  I  was  then  a  timid  youth,  but,  from  the 
first  time  1  saw  him,  he  inspired  me  with  conlidcnce,  and  won  my  heart. 

"  Loved  as  a  son,  in  him  I  early  found 
"  A  father  such  as  I  shall  ne"er  forget." 

I  may  say  with  conlidence  that  Dr.  Sharp  possessed  a  true  nobility  of  char- 
acter. His  manners  were  uniformly  dignilied,  yet  gentle;  his  judgments  were 
remarkably  correct;  his  principles  firm  and  deep;  and  his  feelings  exquisitely 
delicate  and  tender.  lie  had  the  greatest  possible  repugnance  to  every  thing 
approaching  bigotry,  or  cant,  or  insincerity,  or  humbug.  He  could  not  for  a 
moment  sympathize  with  any  thing  that  had  the  semblance  of  disingenuous- 
iiess — he  abhorred  every  polic}-  that  had  a  crook  in  it,  and  every  means  for 
accomplishing  even  a  good  end,  that  were  unworthy,  or  even  equivocal.  Indeed 
he  was  one  of  those  men, — such  as  AVilliam  Jay  describes  Cornelius  Winter  to 
be, — ('<  unlike  the  carbuncle,  that,  while  it  looks  on  fire,  is  found,  when 
touched,  to  be  as  cold  as  other  stones,) — who,  when  most  known  and  longest 
inspected  and  understood,  are  most  valued  and  loved."  I]i  his  frien<lships  he 
was  both  true  and  constant.  To  the  young  he  was  most  kind  and  condescend- 
ing— without  assuming  towards  them  any  airs  of  superiority,  he  always,  in 
his  intercourse  with  them,  showed  himself  the  instructive  companion  and 
the  faithful  guide.  I  never  knew  him  indulge  in  boisterous  merriment;  I  never 
knew  a  foolish  word  fall  from  his  lips;  and  yet  no  one  was  more  susceptible 
of  a  well  regulated  social  enjoyment,  or  more  capable  of  relishing  whatever 
■was  refined  and  beautiful  in  nature  and  art.  He  possessed  a  quiet  humour, 
which  he  knew  when  and  where  to  use,  and  which,  to  both  old  and  young, 
gave  an  additional  charm  to  his  conversation.  I  remember  many  interviews 
with  him,  and  under  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  all  of  which  were  illus- 
trative, in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  the  characteristics  which  1  am  now 
attributing  to  him — his  conversation  always  showed  his  delicate  perception 
of  the  fitting  and  useful,  his  great  knowledge  of  human  nature,  or  his  genuine 


572  BAPTIST. 

love  to  God  anil  man.  He  had  stored  his  mind,  in  early  life,  with  the  choicest 
passages  from  the  best  poets,  and  would  often  repeat  some  of  these  in  our 
walks,  with  an  evidently  high  relish,  and  in  a  manner  that  showed  a  very  nice 
perception  of  their  beauties. 

I  must  say  something  of  Ur.  Sharp  as  a  Preacher.  His  voice  was  rich  and 
full,  and  his  elocution  altogether  natural  and  impressive.  He  had  also  an 
uncommonly  fine  sensibility — there  was  a  chord  strung  in  his  heart  whose 
vibrations  could  not  fail  to  affect  other  hearts;  and  here,  I  think,  was  one 
great  secret  of  his  power.  I  remember  what  effect  he  would  sometimes  give 
to  a  few  words  by  the  tenderness  and  dignity  with  which  he  would  utter 
them.  I  was  pi-eseut  at  a,  meeting  in  Boston  convened  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  Theological  Institution — it  must  have  been,  I  think,  in  the  year 
1825.  He  alluded  to  the  Sermon  preached  before  the  Legislature  of  ^lassa- 
chusetts,  to  which  he  had  just  been  listening,  and  also  to  the  death  of  John 
Williams,  a  venerable  minister  of  New  York,  of  which  he  had  just  heard; 
and  his  reniark.s,  though  very  few,  left  an  impression  that  time  would  not  be 
likely  to  efi'ace.  There  are  other  instances  in  which,  by  a  brief  allusion  to 
the  blind,  or  the  deaf  and  dumb,  or  by  the  simple  repetition  of  a  passage  of 
Scripture,  such  as,  <«  Thou  hast  delivered  ray  soul  from  death,  mine  eyes  from 
tears,  and  my  feet  from  falling,"  his  trembling  lip  and  touching  cadence  pro- 
duced an  effect  which  even  those  who  felt  it  could  not  adequatelj-  describe. 

Dr.  Sharp's  sermons  were  always  listened  to  with  pleasure  and  edification, 
and  often  with  great  delight.  I  remember,  as  an  example,  his  sermon  on  the 
death  of  Dr.  Gano,  delivered  at  Providence,  when  I  was  a  member  of  Brown 
Universitj^.  I  hapj^ened  to  occupy  the  same  pew  with  Nathaniel  Searle  Esq., 
a  man  of  profound  learning  and  great  legal  acumen,  and  probably  at  that 
time  at  the  head  of  the  Rhode  Island  Bar.  I  observed  that  he  listened  to 
the  sermon  with  deep  and  increasing  interest,  and  the  moment  it  was  concluded, 
he  arose  to  his  feet,  and  exclaimed  with  great  emphasis  and  evidently  strong 
emotion — "Excellent,  Excellent."  Ilis  sermons,  if  not  always  remarkable 
for  pathos,  were  sure  to  be  eminently  practical;  and  when  he  preached  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  he  uniformly  presented  them  in  their  bearings  on  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  men.  Not  a  few  were  converted  under  his  ministry,  and 
among  them  are  some  of  the  most  consistent  and  useful  Christians  wliom  I 
have  ever  known.  His  labours  were  often  put  in  requisition  for  extraordinary 
occasions,  and  I  believe  he  never  failed  to  meet  fully  the  demands  of  any 
occasion  on  which  he  undertook  to  officiate. 

Dr.  Sharp's  voice  was  not  often  heard  in  deliberative  bodies.  He  was  not 
a  man  of  sudden  impulses.  His  mind,  as  well  as  his  manner,  was  calm  and 
deliberate.  But  when  he  did  speak  on  these  occasions,  his  words  always 
carried  great  weight.  He  had  a  reputation  for  wisdom,  integrity,  consistency, 
and  piety,  that  gave  an  authority  to  his  utterances  which  few  of  his  contempo- 
raries could  claim.  — 

Dr.  Sharp,  if  I  mistake  not,  had  an  extensive  correspondence.  lie  allowed 
me  a  place  among  his  correspondents  through  a  long  period,  extending  to 
nearly  the  clo.se  of  his  life;  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  last  letter  he 
ever  wrote  was  addressed  to  me.  As  these  letters  bring  out  some  of  his  line 
traits  better  perhaps  than  they  can  be  presented  in  any  other  way,  1  M'ill 
take  the  lil)erty  to  conclude  this  communication  by  a  few  extracts  from  them, 
taken  almost  at  random. 

"New  York,  May  U,  1831. 
•'  My  dear  Friend  and  Brother: 

"  I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter.  The  thouglit  that  you  were  sujjplying 
my  pulpit  and  performing  pastoral  duties  in  my  place  fur  my  people,  has  been  a  great 
relief  to  my  mind.     I  liave  had,  indeed,  no  anxiety  that  my  congregation  would  suffer 


DANIEL  SHARP. 


573 


by  ray  absMice.  It  ha-t  always  been  my  bappiiiess  to  duvll  among  a  most  affectionate 
people.  Tlioy  have  loved  me  and  mine,  not  in  word  and  in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in 
truth.  Should  my  health  be  restored,  and  my  life  continued,  I  trust  I  shall  be  enabled 
to  maiiii'ost  my  gratitude  to  them  lor  all  their  kindness,  by  labouring  for  tlieir  souls' 
salvation.  1  have  no  greater  desire  than  to  see  my  people  walking  in  tlie  truth.  My 
prayer  to  God  for  them  is  that  they  may  be  saved. 

"  Your  account  of  the  inquiring  meeting  is  truly  refreshing  to  my  heart.  I  rejoice 
that  there  is  such  a  state  of  religious  feeling,  and  yet  I  feel  greatly  tried  from  the 
apprehension  that  duties  which,  in  health,  would  afford  me  the  gi-eatest  pleasure,  will 
now  be  injurious  to  me.  I  am  often  fearful  that  my  people  may  become  impatient 
and  dissatisfied,  and  conclude  that  I  shall  in  future  be  good  for  nothing.  Well,  the 
Lord's  will  be  done.  I  leave  myself  in  his  hands.  Oh!  for  grace  to  say  from  the 
heart  '  Though  He  slay  me  yet  will  I  trust  in  llim.'" 

"October  12,  1831. 
'"My  dear  yocng  Fuiexd:  , 

"  Your  letter  of  the  4th  came  to  hand  this  morning.  I  had  heard  of  your  Di.scour.se 
on  Family  Prayer — it  never  occurred  to  me  that  the  subject  was  at  all  improper  even 
for  a  young  man.  I  wanted,  however,  to  see  you  in  relation  to  that  discourse.  One 
of  my  judicious  brethren,  who  thinks  highly  of  you,  and  feels  very  kindly  towards 
you,  remarked  that  he  thought  you  were  not  sufficiently  discriminating; — that  you 
took  it  for  granted  that  all  had  family  prayer.  He  thought  that  on  this  subject 
Christians  should  have  been  addressed  more  distinctly,  as  he  supposed  it  was  not 
proper  for  sinners,  while  they  remained  so,  to  maintain  family  prayer.  As  I  had  not 
seen  nor  heard  the  sermon,  I  could  say  nothing,  only  I  presumed  that  he  must  have 
misapprehended  you,  or  that  it  was  a  sermon  not  maturely  prepared.  You  will  excuse 
the  freedom  of  these  remarks,  and  not  be  discouraged  by  them,  but  make  the  best 
improvement  of  these  strictures.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  examine  and  weigh  the 
expressions  of  the  sermon,  in  view  of  what  has  been  remarked. 

"  I  feel  fiattcred  by  the  confidence  you  are  pleased  to  place  in  my  judgment.  But 
I  really  regret  that  you  have  asked  my  advice.  I  should,  however,  be  unworthy  of 
your  friendship,  did  I  not,  in  a  spirit  of  kindness,  express  to  you  my  opinions. 

"  I  am.  my  dear  Brother,  decided  in  the  opinion  that  j'ou  will  act  unwisely  to  accept 
of  an  invitation  from  any  Society  until  you  have  finished  your  studies.  Every  year 
increases  my  conviction  of  the  great  importance  of  as  thorough  a  theological  educa- 
tion as  our  young  men  can  obtain.  You  know  the  charges  which  have  been  heaped 
on  the  Baptist  ministry  as  illiterate,  and,  on  almost  every  subject,  uninformed.  There 
has  been  too  much  truth  in  these  charges.  It  is  time  that  we  redeem  our  character. 
But  this  is  a  trifling  consideration,  compared  with  the  intellectual  progress  of  society. 
Surrounded  by  an  educated  community,  how  important  that  ministers  .should  be  well 
educated!  Were  you  to  leave  your  studies  prematurely,  you  would  regret  it  ever 
afterwards;  besides,  the  example  would  be  unfortunate.  Were  you  to  leave  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Senior  year,  others  might  feel  justified  in  doing  the  same,  and 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  those  who  have  completed  their  regular  course,  may  but  seldom 
be  realized.  •••«••••• 

"  I  resume  my  pen  at  the  house  of  a  friend.  If  my  own  experience  is  good  for  any- 
thing, I  would  suggest  the  great  importance  of  completing  your  studies  before  you 
enter  on  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry.  You  will  find  but  little  time  f.ir  general 
studies  after  you  become  a  Pastor.  A  stock  of  facts,  arguments,  and  principles  of 
interpretation  Sec,  is  of  very  great  moment  to  a  young  preacher.  Were  I  a  private 
member  of  a  church,  I  would  prefer  getting  along  as  well  as  we  could  for  a  year,  and 
then  invite  you,  than  to  invite  you  at  present.  But  I  will  wait  until  I  see  you,  and 
then  I  can  say  many  things  viva  voce,  that  it  would  be  improper  to  jiut  on  paper." 


574  BAPTIST. 

"October  30,  1833. 

"  I  most  cordially  approve  of  your  intention  of  giving  an  Historical  sketch  of  tlie 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Haverhill,  and  of  your  predecessors  in  the  ministry.  I  never 
Lad  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Dr.  Smith,  but  I  have  been  assured  by  those  who  knew  him 
well,  that  he  was  a  man  of  highly  respectable  talents.  Although  his  sentiments  ren- 
dered him  obnoxious  to  tlie  Congregationalists  of  that  day,  yet  lie  was  so  gentlemanly 
in  his  manners  that  he  finally  won  the  respect  and  good-will  of  all  with  whom  he  had 
intercourse.  Instead  of  returning  evil  for  evil,  he  blessed  those  who  cursed  him,  and 
prayed  for  those  who  despitcfully  used  and  persecuted  him.  It  has  been  said  of  him 
that  he  outlived  all  his  enemies, — by  gradually  compelling  them  to  be  his  friends. 

"  Mr.  Batcheldcr  was  a  man  of  extensive  information.  He  manifested  a  deep  inte- 
rest in  the  prosperity  of  the  denomination,  and  in  labours  among  the  destitute  he  was 
abundant.  He  had  a  good  share  of  common  sense,  and  was  a  ijeacemaker  among 
his  brethren." 

"  October  28,  1834. 

•  ••*••  ••««  •* 

"  '  I  know  that  tears  have  their  own  sweetness  too.'  But  while  the  gushing  tear- 
drop will  sometimes  course  its  way  down  your  cheek,  yet  I  persuade  myself  you  will 
not  yield  t6  unwilling  expressions  of  regret.  While  you  mourn,  you  will  not  murmur 
at  a  dispensation  which  lias  introduced  one  so  loved,  to  '  an  inheritance  incorruptible, 
undeflled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away.' 

"  It  is  a  remark  of  Luther  that  afflictions  are  specially  sent  to  ministers  to  qualify 
them  for  greater  usefulness.  Perhaps  God  has  some  gracious  designs  towards  sinners, 
and  towards  his  Church,  in  this,  to  you,  most  painful  visitation.  He  has  placed  this 
burden  upon  you,  that  you  may  know  how  to  bear  the  burdens  of  others.  He  will 
comfort  you,  that  you  may  know  how  to  comfort  others,  and  thus  your  affliction  will 
work  not  only  for  your  own,  but  for  others'  good. 

"  The  beautiful  lines  with  which  you  favoured  us,  on  the  death  of  our  dear  Nette, 
not  only  pleased  but  consoled  us,  and  the  thought  may  be  reviving  to  your  own  spirit 
that  '  God's  house  is  greater  than '  your  house  will  ever  be  on  earth.  Yes,  the  Saviour 
has  gone  to  prepare  mansions  for  all  that  love  Him,  and  if  He  prepares  tlieni,  how 
convenient,  how  glorious  must  they  be  !" 

"January  2(5,  1835. 

•  ••••••  «•••« 

"Tou  will  be  gratified  to  learn  that  my  dear  Ann,  who  is  now  at  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  Institution  at  New  York,  is  a  hopeful  and  happy  subject  of  Divine  grace.  She 
Las  addressed  an  interesting,  intelligent  and  delightful  letter  to  us,  giving  a  history  of 
her  religious  experience.  I  have  scarcely  ever  read  a  more  sensible,  discriniinating 
and  clear  statement  of  the  operations  of  a  mind  in  its  transition  from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  indiflTerencc  to  deep  interest  in  Divine  things." 

January  8,  183G. 

««  «••«  «•  «••• 

"  In  regard  to  the  '  two  Tables'  *  on  which  the  Law  was  written,  and  by  whom,  I 
Lave  not  had  time  to  give  the  subject  a  critical  examination.  I  have,  however,  looked 
at  several  parallel  passages,  and  cannot  get  away  from  the  conviction  that  the  Prophet, 
by  repeated  and  reiterated  declarations,  intended  to  i)lace  the  fact  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  a  doubt  that  the  Law  was  miraculously  inscribed  on  the  two  stones  by  the 
finger  or  direct  power  of  God.  I  beg  it  to  be  understood,  however,  that  the  question, 
as  a  critical  one,  is  new  to  me,  and  that  I  have  not  given  that  attention  to  it,  owing  to 
other  engagements,  which  entitles  my  opinion  to  any  special  regard.  Acts  are  often 
and  properly  ascribed  to  the  Lord,  which  were  in  truth  performed  by  his  servants. 
They  were  simply  instruments.  He  commanded,  guided,  sustained,  controlled  them. 
Moses  smote  the  waters  with  his  rod,  so  that  they  became  two  Leaps.     Yet  it  is  not  more 

•Relating  to  a  correspondence  between  Dr.  Brantly  and  myself  on  this  subject. 


DANIEL  SHARP.  575 

rational  than  scriptural  to  say  that  the  Lord  opened  a  path  for  his  pcoplo  in  the  sea. 
lie  divided  tlie  waters  that  they  became  two  heaps.  So  the  wicked  are  liis  sword — 
but  the  hand,  the  power,  the  direction  given  to  it,  is  by  the  Lord.  Had  it  been  simply 
said  that  the  Lord  gavetlie  Law  on  two  tables  of  stone,  it  would  liave  been  a  rational 
interpretation  to  have  supposed  that  He  directed  and  in.spired  Moses  to  do  it.  But 
there  is  so  much  guarded  particularity,  stating  what  Moses  did.  and  what  the  Lord 
did, — intimating,  nay,  stating,  that  he  found  the  stones  thus  written  upon. — and  not 
by  the  finger  of  Moses,  but  by  the  finger  of  God,  that  I  cannot  resist  the  conclusion 
that  we  are  to  understand  the  Historian  as  repeating  a  fact  that  literally  and  really 
occurred,  namely, — that,  without  the  instrumentality  of  the  Prophet,  the  Law  was 
written  on  the  tables  of  stone  by  the  immediate  intervention  of  Jehovah. 

"  I  must  confess  that  I  was  pleased  witii  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  B.  It  was  more  in 
accordance  with  my  views  of  Divine  communications,  that  they  should  be  the  commu- 
nications of  tlie  Divine  mind  to  the  mind  of  Moses,  than  that  this  mind  should  leave 
its  impression  on  stones;  and  I  opened  to  the  passage  in  question  rather  hoping  that 
it  might  be  susceptible  of  such  an  explanation — but  I  think  it  is  not. 

"  Should  I  be  able  to  give  the  subject  more  serious  reflection  and  investigation,  and 
gain  any  new  light  upon  it,  I  will  let  you  know.  Meanwhile,  let  us  be  very  anxious  to 
have  the  Law  inscribed  upon  our  hearts.  May  our  lives  be  a  beautiful  transcript  of 
its  requirements." 

"  June  8,  1852. 

"  I  need  not  say  that  I  would  have  been  exceedingly  happy  to  have  seen  you  at  our 
Anniversary  on  the  29th  of  April.*  It  was  a  most  interesting  day.  I  dreaded 
its  approach  lest  something  should  be  said  or  done  that  might  be  out  of  taste  or  give 
offence  to  some  one.  But  I  believe  not  a  word  was  said,  or  a  movement  made,  during 
the  day,  that  was  out  of  character  with  the  occasion.  Of  course,  there  were  too  many 
laudatory  expressions,  according  to  my  humble  opinion,  but,  on  the  whole,  they  were 
tempered  with  so  much  good  sense,  and  so  little  o.stentation  or  seeming  flattery,  as  to 
be  well  received.  I  believe  no  one  felt  jealousy  or  envy;  and  I  trust  that  the  subject 
of  eulogy  was  nut  so  '  lifted  up  above  measure  as  to  need  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  mes- 
senger of  Satan  to  buffet  him.'  •  ••••.•. 

"  I  sui)pose  you  may  not  have  heard  that  my  dear  Ann  lost  her  most  excellent  hus- 
band on  the  2Gth  of  March  last.  He  and  Ann  were  about  as  happy  a  couple  as  you 
ever  knew.  Discordant  sounds  could  not  well  be  heard,  as  they  were  mutes — but 
neither  were  there  any  discordant  looks,  any  frowning  brows,  or  clouded  countenances. 
These  were  always  lighted  up  by  the  sunshine  of  joy  and  love.  It  was  a  sad  day  when 
Mr.  Loring  was  taken  away,  although  I  believe  it  was  from  the  evil  to  come.  She 
is  now  with  us,  feeling  her  loss,  but  endeavouring  to  feel  resigned  to  it.  I  need  not 
tell  you  what  a  dear  girl  she  is,  and  how  much  slie  is  loved  by  her  parents  and  her 
family." 

Trusting  that  this  memorial,  slight  as  it  is,  may  awaken  in  other  minds 
some  pleasant  recollections  of  one  so  greatly  beloved,  and  be  in  some  degree 
profitable  to  the  readers  of  your  work, 

I  am.  Reverend  and  dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

STEPHEN   P.  HILL. 

FROM  THE  REV.  E.  L.  MAGOON,  D.  D. 

Albany,  June  27,  1859. 
Dear  Doctor  Sprague :  You  kindly  requested  me  to  add  some  "  Memorial  " 
to  the  cluster  you  are  collecting  of  the  departed    Baptists  of  our  common 
Zion.      A  grateful   appreciation   of    your    magnanimoTis    and    discriminating 

•  The  fortieth  Anniversary  of  his  settlement  with  his  people. 


576  BAPTIST. 

labours  iu  this  special  field  of  authorship,  as  well  as  the  strong  persoral 
esteem  I  feel  for  you  as  a  senior  associate  in  the  ministry  of  our  city,  impels 
me  to  consult  your  wishes  in  every  possible  mode. 

In  looking  round  for  the  subject  of  a  brief  sketch,  I  can  think  of  none  more 
vivid  iu  recollection,  or  more  worthy  to  be  emulated  by  coming  generations, 
than  Daniel  Sharp,  D.  D.,  late  Pastor  of  the  Charles  Street  Church,  Boston. 
But  a  more  skilful  hand  has  already  prepared  a  portraiture  of  that  noble 
master  for  your  work,  and  I  need  only  indicate,  in  behalf  of  many  others  of 
my  own  age,  how  much  gratitude  is  due  "  The  Yuung  Man's  lYiciid." 

Elsewhere,  your  readers  will  learn  how  Dr.  Sharp  came,  in  commercial 
pursuits,  to  New  York,  was  there  converted,  and  joined  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Oliver  Street.  Thence  he  was  set  apart  to  the  ministry,  and  grew  gray  but 
not  imbecile  in  the  service  of  the  same  charge.  At  the  end  of  forty  years  in 
the  Pastorate,  a  "Commemoration"  was  held  in  "Charles  Street,"  very 
largely  attended  by  Christians  of  all  creeds,  and  citizens  of  all  classes,  who 
had  learned  to  revere  the  virtues,  honour  the  patriotism,  and  admire  the  moral 
grandeur,  of  this  great  public  teacher,  in  his  bold  but  catholic  career. 

As  Pastor  of  the  church  wherein  he  found  the  earliest  solace,  and  received 
his  tirst  credentials  of  confidence,  I  was  deputed  to  greet  the  veteran  on  the 
arena  of  his  extended  struggles  and  sublime  triumphs.  Sitting  here  with  my 
pen  simply  to  recall  that  occasion,  I  am  overwhelmed  with  a  thrilling  renewal 
of  the  genial  festival,  in  which  blooming  youth  and  trembling  age  thronged 
the  scene,  accompanied  with  rich  presents  and  congratulations  so  diversified 
and  engrossing  that  a  whole  day  was  inadequate  to  express  the  universal 
appreciation  of  that  professional  life,  which  had  been  so  pure  in  faith  and 
beneficent  in  fruits.  There  were  the  same  walls,  pews,  pulpit,  galleries, 
organ,  bell,  within  which,  and  obedient  to  which,  the  vast  Hock  had  regularly 
and  reverently  moved  through  a  long  series  of  years,  led  by  the  persuasive 
shepherd,  so  tenderly  loved  by  all.  And  there,  too,  sat  "  7%j  Old  Man 
Eloquent,'''  on  that  memorable  day,  April  29,  1852,  when  I  attempted  the 
delicate  work  of  alluding  to  him  and  his  claims  upon  our  esteem  in  the  follow- 
ing terms: — 

"  It  is  divincl)^  affirmed  that  '  God  is  love;'  and  to  verify  this  in  personal 
experience  is  the  Divinity  of  life.  The  beneficence  of  our  Maker,  and  the 
immortality  of  our  spirit,  are  indicated  by  the  fact  that  we  are  endowed  with 
the  attribute  of  affection,  the  noblest  exercise  of  which  ever  occasions  the 
purest  joy.  The  best  part  of  our  existence  is  made  to  consist  in  that  which 
is  lived  in  the  welfare  of  others.  Admiration  is  godlike  animation.  jNIagnani- 
mously  to  appreciate  excellence  is  at  once  the  jn'ophecy  and  guaranty  of  its 
possession.  When  the  ingenuous  pay  tribute  to  merit,  they  appropriate  it. 
He  who  most  habituallj'  and  justly  recognises  and  proclaims  the  cream  of 
goodness  in  others,  will  himself  be  the  last  to  grow  meagre  on  mental  skim- 
milk.  We  must  expand,  fortify,  and  adorn  our  own  nature,  while  we  are 
prompt  to  aid,  and  zealoior  to  commend,  our  struggling  comrades  in  the  path  of 
life.  The  only  way  to  Deity  is  through  humanity,  and  the  soul  partakes  of 
the  Divine  nature  just  so  far  as  it  participates  in  the  fountain  of  love.  This 
is  the  source  where  young  genius  finds  its  magical  inspiration  and  creative 
wand.  It  is  the  vital  heat  which  prevents  the  paralytic  worship  of  self  As 
the  passion  for  Iphigcnia  changed  the  rustic  nature  of  Cymon  to  refined 
civility,  so  does  reverential  esteem  the  uncouth  and  impotent  into  the  posses- 
sion of  colossal  power,  invested  with  a  celestial  use. 

"  Moreover,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  how  we  are  made  susceptible  of  the 
profoundest  emotions,  in  the  presence  only  of  matter  the  most  venerable,  and 
mind  the  most  worn.  True  greatness  is  the  outgrowth  of  itself  alone;  it  is 
never  enhanced  by  the  praise  of  men,  but  attains  all  its  worth  and  magnitude 


DANIEL  SHARP.  §77 

in  spite  of  them.  T>ut,  when  the  greatest  obstacles  have  bccD  conquered,  iho 
victor  is  sure  to  win  the  widest  and  best  applause.  A  petted  plant  may  be 
fragrant  in  the  hot-house,  and  a  puny  sapling  may  stand  gracefully  on  the 
common;  but  our  deeper  emotions  are  elicited  by  the  unsheltered  oak,  which, 
already  hoary  with  age,  and  scarred  by  storms,  still  towers  in  verdure,  and 
throws  its  branches  to  the  blast,  using  earth  only  as  a  standing  place,  whence 
to  stretch  a  hardy  growth  toward  heaven. 

"  "Washington's  inauguration  costume,  with  all  its  chaste  splendour,  is 
much  less  attractive  to  the  thoughtful  patriot  than  his  sooty  camp-utensils 
and  battered  lield-arms.  A  new  ship  in  elegant  attire,  and  a  fresh  recruit  in 
gaudy  uniform,  may  please  for  the  moment;  but  our  permanent  admiration  is 
reserved  for  some  dismantled  "  Dreadnaught,"  or  mutilated  "Old  Guard, " 
antique  in  model  and  dress,  it  ma}-  be,  but  redolent  of  that  undecaj-ing  honour 
which  protracted  and  heroic  service  forever  commands. 

"  But  let  not  these  analogies  belie  our  intentions-  We  come  not  here  to  con- 
template what  was  once  etHcicnt,  and  at  the  same  time  lament  that  it  is  fast 
growing  obsolete.  The  "  Dreadnaught  "  of  our  admiration  is  yet  staunch  and 
seaworthy,  from  keelson  to  royal  block;  has  all  original  ordnance  on  board, 
heavily  charged;  and,  with  banner  Hying  unstained  and  fearless  as  ever  before, 
is  no  laid-up  craft,  but  still  fleet  and  strong  to  brave  the  battle  and  the  breeze. 
•'  Old  Guard,"  forsooth!  Why,  if  the  most  agile  and  chivalrous  amongst  us 
would  select  a  genial  companion  to  trample  morning  dew  in  the  vale,  or  cha.se 
retiring  sunbeams  along  the  steeps  of  soaring  mountains,  would  he  not  wel- 
come to  his  aspiring  and  joyous  pursuit  one  who.se  gray  hairs  are  all  on  the 
vutside  of  his  head,  and  whose  heart  has  never  outgrown  its  youth.' 

"This,  however,  is  dangerous  ground  for  filial  enthusiasm  to  tread  upon. 
l.,et  us  turn  from  the  hero  to  the  tield  of  his  forty  years'  war.  Think  of  the 
weapons  that  have  here  been  employed,  and  of  the  varied  classes  that  have 
been  benefitted  by  their  use!  Here  childhood  has  come,  gradually  to  be 
impressed  and  transformed  by  the  almost  invincible  power  of  a  permanent 
Pastor.  His  looks,  tones,  precepts,  have  stamped  themselves  on  plastic 
faculties, — the  first  high  lessons  of  this  world,  and  the  might}'  monitor  of  the 
next.  Hither  youth  has  come,  ardent  and  emulative,  to  listen  to  those  Divine 
counsels  designed  for  the  enterprising,  and  fitted  to  mould  the  magnanimous 
into  the  grandest  symmetry,  imbue  with  the  richest  resources,  and  i)rompt 
to  the  most  useful  life.  Here  the  matured  in  age  and  virtue  have  listened, 
through  a  long  succession  of  years,  with  ever  freshening  delight,  to  those 
doctrines  which  furnished  their  earliest  relief  and  latest  strength.  liefore 
this  altar  of  love  and  faith,  the  happy  and  hopeful  have  blended  their  cunnu 
bialvows;  here  rejoicing  hundreds  have  publicly  put  on  Christ;  and  hence 
have  two  generations  departed  to  the  fearful  glories  of  the  spirit-bvnd.  Hither 
has  come  the  lonel)' wanderer  from  his  rural  home,  burdened  with  strange 
thoughts  and  feelings  swelling  at  his  heart,  and,  in  the  midst  of  city  solitude 
more  arid  and  desolate  than  the  wilds  of  his  native  hills,  has  shrunk  to  a 
retired  seat  in  yon  gallerj^,  led  ))y  the  attractions  of  a  name,  and  thenceforth 
been  inspired  by  the  influence  thus  enjoyed.  Pressing  thick  and  earnestly  on 
this  battle-field  of  exalted  and  comprehensive  principles,  citizens,  patriots, 
and  philanthropists  have  gathered,  at  first  to  be  thrilled  by  the  jirimitivc 
enthusiasm  of  their  champion,  and  then,  as  maturcr  thought  gave  not  less 
heat  but  more  solidity  to  professional  wisdom,  have  looked  to  this  beacon  for 
guidance  in  the  darkest  hours.  If  brutal  fanaticism  kindled  the  flames  of 
intolerance  on  neighbouring  heights  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as  at  former 
periods,  this  pulpit  promptly  rebuked  the  frenzied  act.  As  distinguished 
worth  passed  from  different  spheres  of  human  pursuit,  sometimes  the  most 
opposite,  to  the  dread   tribunal  that  awaits  us  all,  friendship  here  signalized 

Vnr..  Vr.  73 


578  BAPTIST. 

its  own  worth  by  discreet  and  merited  commendation.  Not  with  the  North 
or  the  South,  the  East  or  the  West,  has  the  service  of  this  altar  been  identi- 
fied; but  along  every  segment  of  the  great  circle  of  dogma  and  duty,  and  in 
measured  proportion,  truth  has  here  spoken,  unbought  and  undismayed. 

"  With  language  carcfull}'  guarded  against  fulsome  praise,  this  poor  appre- 
ciation of  long  and  exhausting  toil  is  wrung  from  the  common  mind.  Oh, 
what  must  be  the  intense  gratitude  that  gushes  in  perennial  puritj^  through 
more  intimate  hearts  yet  throbbing  on  the  shores  of  time,  and  in  the  holier 
reminiscences  which  mingle  with  the  bliss  of  Heaven!  Another  commemora- 
tion is  in  reserve,  designed,  like  this,  not  so  much  to  honour  the  servant  as 
his  Lord;  and  when,  unlike  this,  the  advance  of  existence  will  obliterate 
neither  name  nor  feature  from  memory,  but,  in  the  rising  glory  of  ever- 
lasting day,  the  fond  and  faithful  Pastor  will  perfectly  know  and  love  his 
friends.  God  grant  that  we  may  all  be  there  in  the  righteousness  of  the 
Redeemer,  so  that,  while  Charles  Street  may  forever  continue  a  recollection, 
mortality  can  never  add  a  regret!" 

On  the  evening  after  our  graduation  at  Newton,  the  noble  and  gifted  Barker 
of  Virginia  kneeled  by  my  side,  as  we  were  together  ordained  by  Dr.  Sharp. 
Now  he,  with  others  of  my  classmates  are  gone  from  sublunary  toils,  favoured 
with  many  friends  and  much  success.  But  the  model  before  us  all,  the  veteran 
who  bore  so  w^ell  the  heat  and  burden  of  his  office,  soon  after  the  above 
demonstration  of  popular  esteem,  faltered  and  fell,  like  the  fire-smitten  soldier 
at  the  gates  of  Pompeii,  with  his  armour  on. 

If  any  man  on  earth  deserves  to  bo  esteemed  while  living  and  when  departed, 
it  is  the  brave  and  beneficent  servant  of  Christ.  It  is  fitting,  my  dear  brother, 
that,  in  the  evening  of  your  own  eventful  day,  you  should  garner  the  memories 
of  worthy  predecessors,  and  so  feed  the  devout  admiration  of  a  worthy  pos- 
terity when  our  cotemporaries  too  are  among  the  dead. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

E.  L.  MAGOON. 


LOTT  CARY.=^ 

1810—1828. 

LoTT  Gary  was  born  a  slave,  about  the  year  1780,  in  Charles  City  County, 
Ya.,  some  thirty  miles  below  Richmond.  His  father  was  an  eminently 
pious  member  of  a  Baptist  church  ;  and  his  mother,  though  not  a  commu- 
nicant, still  gave  evidcjicc  of  being  a  true  Christian.  He  was  tlieir  only 
child,  and,  from  the  character  of  his  parents,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  he  was  trained  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

In  1804,  he  was  removed  to  Richmond,  and  employed  as  a  common 
labourer  in  a  tobacco  warehouse.  Here  he  became  dissolute  and  profane, 
and  for  a  considerable  time  every  thing  in  respect  to  him  betokened  con- 
firmed  profligacy  and  utter  ruin.  But,  after  two  or  three  years,  he  was 
reclaimed  from  his  wayward  course,  and  was  brought  penitently  and  thank- 
fully to  accept  of  offered  mercy  through  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  baptized, 
in  1807,  by  Elder  John  Courtney,  and  united  with  the  First  Baptist  Church 

•  Taylor's  Memoir. — Missionary  Heroes  and  Martyrs. 


LOTT  CART  579 

ill  Richmond.  At  this  time,  he  was  extremely  ignorant,  not  knowing  even 
the  Alphabet,  The  circumstance  which  first  awakened  in  him  the  desire 
to  learn  to  read  is  worthy  of  record.  '  He  heard  his  Pastor,  Elder  Court- 
ney, preach  a  sermon  on  the  conversation  between  our  Lord  and  Nicode- 
mus,  as  recorded  in  the  third  chapter  of  John,  that  interested  him  so  much 
that  he  determined  to  learn  to  read  it  for  himself.  He,  accordingly,  pro- 
cured a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  and  commenced  learning  his  letters  in 
the  copy  referred  to  ;  nor  did  he  relax  at  all  in  his  diligence  till  his  purpose 
was  accomplished.  Some  young  men  in  the  warehouse  assisted  him,  and 
in  a  short  time  he  was  able  to  read  the  chapter  with  comparative  ease. 
Shortly  after  this  he  learned  to  write. 

About  this  time,  he  began  to  hold  meetings  with  the  coloured  people  in 
Richmond,  and  he  conducted  them  with  so  much  propriety  and  success  as 
to  suggest  to  the  church  the  expediency  of  licensing  him  to  preach  ;  and, 
accordingly,  he  was  licensed,  and  rendered  himself  highly  acceptable  and 
useful  as  a  preacher  to  the  coloured  people,  not  only  in  Richmond,  but  in 
the  surrounding  country.  He  now  applied  himself  diligently  to  the  culture 
of  his  mind  ;  and,  as  an  illustration  of  his  rapid  intellectual  development, 
it  is  stated  that  a  gentleman,  on  one  occasion,  taking  up  a  book  which  he 
had  laid  down,  for  a  few  moments,  found  it  to  be  "Smith's  Wealth  of 
Nations."  But  while,  aided  by  some  licnevolent  individuals,  who  had 
become  deeply  interested  in  his  behalf,  he  was  constantly  growing  in 
knowledge,  he  never  faltered  in  his  fidelity  to  his  engagements  in  the 
warehouse  ;  and  no  person,  black  or  white,  in  similar  circumstances,  it  is 
said,  ever  exceeded  him  in  the  promptness  and  correctness  which  he  here 
evinced. 

In  1813,  he  had,  by  rigid  economy,  accumulated  so  much  property  that, 
with  the  aid  which  he  received  from  some  of  the  merchants  to  whose  inte- 
rests he  had  been  devoted,  he  was  able  to  purchase  his  own  freedom  and 
that  of  his  two  children, — for  which  he  paid  eighthundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
He  had  previously  lost  his  first  wife  by  death,  and,  a  year  or  two  after  this, 
was  married  a  second  time.  He  now  received  a  regular  salary,  which, 
from  time  to  time,  was  increased,  until  it  amounted  to  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars per  annum.  During  this  time,  he  made  frequent  purchases  and  ship- 
ments of  tobacco  on  his  own  account. 

About  the  year  181.5.  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of 
Missions  to  Africa,  and  was  instrumental  in  awakening  a  similar  interest 
among  many  of  his  coloured  brethren  in  Richmond.  The  consequence  of 
this  was  the  formation  of  the  Richmond  African  Missionary  Society,  which 
contributed,  annually,  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  the 
funds  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention.  But  no  efforts  for  the  good  of 
Africa,  which  he  could  make  in  this  country,  seemed  to  satisfy  him  :  his 
bosom  glowed  with  an  intense  desire  to  go  personally  with  the  Gospel  to 
that  benighted  Continent.  There  was  indeed  much  that  was  fitted  to  deter 
him  from  such  a  purpose — on  the  one  hand,  he  was  pleasantly  settled  in 
his  native  State,  was  the  possessor  of  a  small  farm,  and  had  the  prospect 
of  an  adequate  support,  and  withal  was  eminently  useful  in  his  sphere,  and 
greatly  respected  and  beloved  by  the  community  in  which  he  lived  ;  and. 
on  the  other  hand,  in  going  to  Africa,  he  would  find  his  facilities  for  labour 


580  BAPTIST. 

greatly  diminished,  would  have  to  encounter  many  hardships,  foreseen  and 
unforeseen,  and  would  not  improbably  soon  fall  a  victim  to  the  sickly 
"dimate.  But  neither  the  attractions  of  a  pleasant  settlement  at  home, 
nor  the  forbidding  circumstances  which  must  attend  his  residence  abroad, 
could  prevail  over  his  conviction  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  his  degraded 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh  in  their  own  land.  When  interrogated, 
perhaps  expostulated  with,  by  a  minister  on  the  subject,  his  reply  was  to 
this  effect: — "I  am  an  African,  and  in  this  country,  however  meritorious 
my  conduct  and  respectable  my  character,  I  cannot  receive  the  credit  due 
to  either.  I  wish  to  go  to  a  country  where  I  shall  be  estimated  by  my 
merits,  not  by  my  complexion  ;  and  I  feel  bound  to  labour  for  my  suffering 
race."  His  employers,  when  they  ascertained  that  he  was  contemplating 
a  removal,  proposed  a  liberal  addition  to  his  salary  ;  but  his  purpose  was 
formed  on  grounds  that  neutralized  the  influence  of  all  worldly  considera- 
rions. 

Early  in  1819,  the  Journal  of  Messrs.  Mills  and  Burgess,  Agents  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society  for  exploring  the  coast  of  Africa,  was 
published ;  and  this  brought  Mr.  Gary  to  a  determination  to  remove 
i.hither,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  He  was  accepted  by  the  Socioly 
as  one  of  their  first  emigrants,  and,  with  Colin  Teague,  another  coloured 
man  who  had  been  accustomed  to  speak  in  public,  was  appointed  to  a  Mis- 
sion in  Africa  by  the  Board  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention.  Having 
spent  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1820  in  study,  Messrs.  Gary  and  Teague 
were  ordained  to  the  ministry  and  to  the  missionary  work,  in  January, 
1821.  Mr.  Gary's  Farewell  Sermon,  delivered  in  the  meeting-house  of  tin- 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Bichmond,  was  an  uncommonly  felicitous  cflort, 
and  wrought  powerfully  on  an  immense  congregation. 

The  company  sailed  on  the  23d  of  January,  and  reached  their  destina- 
tion,— Sierra  Leone,  after  a  passage  of  forty-four  da^-s.  But  Mr.  Gary, 
on  his  arrival,  found  his  prospects  much  less  promising  than  he  had 
expected.  No  territory  having  yet  been  purchased  by  the  Colonization 
Society,  its  agents  would  not  consent  to  receive  him  and  his  fellow-labourer., 
Teague,  in  tlie  capacity  in  which  they  had  been  sent  out,  and  they  were 
therefore  obliged,  for  the  time  being,  to  work  as  mechanics.  The  next 
year,  however,  the  Colony  at  Liberia  was  commenced.  The  intervening 
time,  which  he  spent  at  Sierra  Leone,  was  a  period  of  s'evore  trial,  jiartly 
from  his  not  having  adequate  means  of  support,  and  partly  on  account  of 
the  sickness  and  death  of  his  second  wife,  who  left  him  with  a  family  of 
young  children.  — 

In  1822,  when  a  purchase  of  territory  had  been  made  at  Gape  Montserado, 
he  removed  thither  with  his  family,  and  was  appointed  Health  OflRcer  and 
Government  Inspector.  Here  a  new  scene  of  trial  opened  upon  him.  He 
found  the  Colony  in  a  most  exposed  condition,  surrounded  by  hostile  and 
savao-e  tribes,  who  were  watching  their  opportunity  to  exterminate  the 
settlers.  It  was  even  proposed  to  give  up  the  settlement  and  return  (o 
Sierra  Leone  ;  but  this  Mr.  Gary  earnestly  opposed,  and  his  courage  and 
perseverance  begat  the  same  spirit  in  others.  During  the  war  with  the 
native  tribes,  in  November  and  December,  1822,  he  co-operated  most 
wisely  and  bravely  with  Mr.  Ashmun  for  the  defence  of  the  Colony.     When 


LOTT  CAllV.  581 

fiftceu  hundred  of  the  exasperated  natives  wore  nisliing  on  to  exterminate 
the  settlement,  he  lent  the  most  eflGcient  aid  in  rallying  the  broken  forces, 
inspiring  them  with  fresh  courage,  and  leading  them  on  to  victory.  In 
one  of  his  letters  he  compares  the  little  exposed  company  on  Cape  Mont- 
serado,  at  that  time,  to  the  Jews  who,  in  rebuilding  their  city,  grasped  a 
weapon  in  one  hand,  while  they  laboured  with  the  other,  but  adds  "  there 
has  never  been  an  hour,  or  a  minute,  no,  not  even  when  tlie  balls  were 
flying  around  my  head,  when  I  could  wish  myself  again  in  America." 

At  I  his  early  period  of  the  Colony,  the  emigrants  suffered  much  for  the 
lack  of  suitable  medical  attendance.  Mr.  Cary  was  led,  in  consequence 
of  this,  to  pay  special  attention  to  the  diseases  of  the  country,  thus  ren- 
dering himself  a  valuable  medical  adviser.  He  also  contributed  liberally 
from  his  own  limited  means,  and  gave  almost  his  whole  time  to  the  poor, 
the  sick,  and  the  afflicted. 

Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  Cary  was  involved  in  some  movements  adverse  to 
the  authority  of  the  Government,  and  originating  in  sonie  misunderstand- 
ing between  the  Colonization  Society  and  the  settlers.  The  latter  thought 
that  injustice  had  been  Hone  them,  and  Mr.  Cary  seems  to  have  been  of 
the  same  opinion,  and  to  have  at  least  justified  proceedings  which  the 
Society  condemned.  But,  while  acting,  in  some  manner,  as  a  mediator 
between  the  exasperated  colonists,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Mr.  Ashinun,  the 
Governor,  on  the  other,  he  gave  his  influence  to  restore  the  full  authority 
of  the  laws.  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  disturbance  to  the 
Board,  says, — "The  services  rendered  by  Lott  Cary  in  the  Colony,  who 
has,  with  ver}'  few,  and  those  recent,  exceptions,  done  honour  to  the  selec- 
tion of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  under  whose  auspices  he  was  sent 
out  to  Africa,  entitle  his  agency  in  this  aS"air  to  the  most  indulgent  con- 
struction it  will  bear.  The  hand  which  records  the  lawless  transaction, 
would  long  since  have  been  cold  in  the  grave,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
unwearied  and  painful  attentions  of  this  individual,  rendered  at  all  hours, 
of  every  description,  and  continued  for  several  months." 

But,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Cary  was  so  much  occupied  with  the  general 
concerns  of  the  Colony,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  great  object  which  led 
him  to  seek  his  abode  in  Africa.  The  church  which  he  had  originally 
formed  at  Richmond,  and  which  was  then  established  at  Monrovia,  he 
watched  over  and  ministered  to  with  all  fidelity  ;  and  he  also  spent  much 
time  in  instructing  the  Africans  who  had  been  rescued  from  the  slave  ships, 
and  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Colony.  He  had  the  pleasure  to 
receive  a  considerable  number  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church,  and  among 
ihem  two  or  three  converts  from  heathenism.  He  established  a  school  at 
Monrovia,  and  attempted  to  establish  another  at  Grand  Cape  Blount,  about 
seventy  miles  distant,  but  in  the  latter  case  was  not  immediately  successful. 
Tn  1824,  he  was  appointed  Physician  to  the  Colony.  The  attention  which 
lie  had  previously  given  to  diseases,  especially  those  of  the  country,  in  con- 
nection with  the  suggestions  of  several  medical  men  who  had  visited  Libe- 
ria, rendered  him  quite  competent  to  the  new  duties  which  were  thus 
devolved  upon  him. 

In  January.  1825,  Mr.  Cary  writes  thus  of  his  ministerial  and  mission- 
ary labours  : — "  The  Lord  has  in  mercy  visited  the  settlement,  and  I  have 


582  BAPTIST. 

had  the  happiness  to  baptize  nine  hopeful  converts ;  besides,  a  number 
have  joined  the  Methodists.  The  natives  are  more  and  more  friendly  ; 
their  confidence  begins  to  awaken.  They  see  that  it  is  our  wish  to  do  them 
good,  and  hostilities  have  ceased  with  them.  I  have  daily  applications  to 
receive  their  children,  and  have  ventured  to  take  three  small  boys.  Our 
Sunday  School  still  goes  on  with  some  hopes  that  the  Lord  will  ultimately 
bless  it  to  the  good  of  numbers  of  the  untutored  tribes.  The  natives  attend 
our  Lord's  Day  worship  regularly."  In  April,  he  writes  to  the  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  at  Richmond,  which  he  had 
helped  to  form. — "Tell  the  Board  to  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the 
power  of  his  might,  for  the  work  is  going  on  here,  and  prospers  in  his 
hands  ;  that  the  Sunday  School  promises  a  great  and  everlasting  blessing 
to  Africa,  and  on  the  next  Lord's  day  there  will  be  a  discourse  on  the 
subject  of  Missions,  with  a  view  to  get  on  foot,  if  possible,  a  regular  school 
for  the  instruction  of  native  children."  And  in  June  he  writes, — "  I 
know  that  it  will  be  a  source  of  much  gratification  to  you  to  hear  that,  on 
the  18th  of  April,  1825,  we  established  a  missionary  school  for  native 
children.  We  began  with  twenty-one,  and  have  increased  since  up  to  the 
number  of  thirty-two." 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  Mr.  Cary  was  invited  by  the  Board  of  the 
Colonization  Society  to  visit  the  United  States,  and  he  was  not  only  dis- 
posed, on  various  accounts,  to  accept  the  invitation,  but  had  made  all  his 
arrangements  in  reference  to  it, — expecting  to  sail  in  April  following,  when 
he  was  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  purpose  by  the  prevalence  of  sick- 
ness in  the  Colony  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  thought  that  his  medical 
attentions  could  not  be  dispensed  with.  The  intended  visit  was  at  first 
postponed,  and  afterwards  abandoned. 

Mr.  Gary's  faithful  and  successful  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Colony  com- 
manded great  and  universal  respect,  and  in  September,  1826,  he  was 
appointed  to  the  responsible  office  of  Vice-agent.  The  event  proved  that 
lie  was  eminently  qualified  for  the  place;  and  when,  in  1828,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  return  of  Mr.  Ashnuin  to  this  countr}',  the  whole  executive 
responsibility  passed  into  his  hands,  the  utmost  confidence  was  felt  that  no 
emergency  could  arise  to  which  he  would  not  show  himself  equal. 

In  November,  1827,  Mr.  Cary  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  long  cher- 
ished design  of  establishing  a  scliool  at  Grand  Cape  Mount  carried  into 
eff"ect.  But,  though  his  interest  in  this  school  and  other  objects  connected 
with  his  mission  was  not  at  all  abated  by  the  additional  burden  of  care  and 
labour  devolved  upon  hi«i  by  the  departure  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  his  new  duties 
left  liim  with  comparatively  little  time  for  direct  missionary  labour.  Still, 
his  energies  seemed  to  increase  in  proportion  to  the  severity  with  which 
they  were  tasked  ;  and  all  the  interests  of  the  Colony,  during  the  Ijrief 
period  in  which  they  were  under  his  superintendence,  were  wisely  and  vigi- 
lantly cared  for.  But  an  infinitely  wise  Providence  had  ordained  that  he 
should  be  cut  down  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness.  In  the  autumn  of  1828, 
a  factory  at  Digby,  a  few  miles  from  Monrovia,  belonging  to  the  Colony, 
had  been  robbed  by  the  natives,  and  shortly  after  was  occupied  by  a  slave- 
dealer.  Mr.  Cary  addressed  a  letter  of  remonstrance  to  him,  but  it  was 
interrupted  and  destroyed  by  the  natives.     In  this  state,  he  felt  called  upon 


LOTT  CAKV.  533 

to  assist  the  rights  and  defend  the  property  of  the  Colony ;  and  he,  there- 
fore, called  out  the  military  of  the  settlements,  with  a  view  to  compel  the 
natives  to  cease  from  their  unprovoked  aggressions.  On  the  evening  of 
the  8th  of  November,  while  he  was,  with  several  others,  engaged,  in  the 
old  agency  house,  in  making  cartridges,  the  accidental  upsetting  of  a  can- 
dle was  the  means  of  communicating  fire  to  some  loose  powder  on  the  floor, 
and  this  caused  the  entire  ammunition  in  the  building  to  explode,  resulting 
in  the  death  of  eight  persons.  Mr.  Gary  lingered  until  the  10th,  and  then 
died,  leaving  many  both  in  Africa  and  in  America  to  mourn  his  loss. 

In  1850,  the  late  Rev.  Eli  Ball  of  Virginia,  visited  all  the  Liberian 
Baptist  Missionary  Stations,  as  agent  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Missionary 
Convention,  and,  with  considerable  difhculty,  ascertained  the  spot  where 
Lott  Gary  was  buried.  The  next  year,  a  small  marble  monument  was  sent 
out,  and  placed  over  the  grave,  with  the  following  inscription  : — 

On  the  front  of  the  monument  was — 

LOTT  CART 

Born  a  slave  in  Virginia, 

1780, 

Removed  from  Riclimond  to  Africa,  as  a 

Missionarv  and  Colonist, 

18:11, 

Was  Pastor  of  tiie  First  Baptist  Church, 

and  an  original  settler  and  defender 

of  the  Colony  at  Monrovia. 

Died  Acting  Governor  of  Liberia 

Nov.  10th,  1828. 

His  life  was  the  progressive  development  of  an 

able  intellect  and  firm  benevolent  heart, 

under  the  iiifhiences  of 

Freedom  and  an  enlightened  Christianity; 

and  affords  tlie  amplest  evidence  of  the  capacity  of  his  race 

to  fill  with  dignity  and  usefulness  the  highest 

ecclesiastical  and  jjolitical  stations. 

"  Of  a  truth  God  is  no  resjjecter  of  i)ersons, 

But  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men." 

On  the  reverse — 

Lott  Gary's  self-denying,  self-sacrificing  labours, 

as  a  self-taught  Physician,  as  a  Missionary,  and 

Pastor  of  a  Church,  and  finally  as 

Governor  of  the  Colony, 

have  inscribed  his  name  indelibly 

on  the  page  of  history,  not  only  as  one  of 

Nature's  Noblemen, 

but  as  an  eminent  Philanthropist 

and  Missionary  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"Aye,  call  it  holy  ground 
"  The  place  where  first  they  trod; 
"  They  sought  what  here  they  found, 
"Freedom  to  worship  God." 

FROM  WILLIAM  CRANE,  ESQ. 

Baltimore,  June  2.3,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  In  1812,  1  engaged  in  business  in  Piieiunond,  Va.,  and  united 
with  the  Baptist  church,  then  in  charge  of  the  venerable  YAdcr  John  Court- 
ney, comprising  about  one  hundred  white,  and  from  a  thousand  to  twelve 
hundred  coloured,  members:  about  a  dozen  of  the  number  had  the  appoint- 
ment of  Deacons,  and  perhaps  half  of  this  number  had  a  special  license  from 
the  church  to  preach  and  exhort,  as  opportunity  might  be  given  them.     At  a 


584  BAPTIST. 

weekly  night  meeting  of  the  church  for  devotional  exercises,  as  well  as  to 
give  a  special  oversight  to  cases  of  discipline  among  the  crowd  of  coloured 
members,  1  soon  became  acquainted  Avith  those  who  were  the  most  prominent; 
and  of  these  I  found  that  Lott  Gary  and  Colin  Teague  possessed  the  largest 
share  of  intelligence  and  influence. 

About  the  year  1815,  I  engaged  to  meet  a  number  of  these  leading  ones, 
three  nights  iu  a  week,  for  their  mental  improvement.  This  gratuitous  school, 
with  some  little  heljJ  from  others,  and  with  some  opposition  and  interruptions, 
was  continued  for  several  succeeding  years;  but  Lott  Cary  gave  far  moi'c  of  life 
and  interest  to  it  than  any  other  individual — my  own  efforts  would  have  failed, 
if  his  had  not  been  united  with  them. 

In  November,  1813,  the  Richmond  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was 
formed,  preparatory  to  a  connection  with  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention, 
originated  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  spring  of  1814.  These  coloured  people 
seemed  to  catch  some  of  the  missionary  fire;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1815,  the 
Richmond  African  Baptist  Missionary  Society  was  constituted,  with  the  sole 
object  of  collecting  funds  to  send  the  Gospel  to  Africa;  and  in  this  movement 
Lott  Cary  was  the  master  spirit.  He,  as  Secretar}-,  made  the  first  rough 
entries  in  the  Record  Book,  still  existing  in  Richmond.  They  made  me  their 
Corresponding  Secretary,  and  their  Board  of  Managers  usually  met  at  my 
counting-room,  as  the  most  central  and  convenient  place. 

The  funds  of  this  Society  were  increased  at  their  annual  missionary  meet- 
ings on  Easter  Monday,  as  well  as  on  other  occasions,  for  four  years;  while, 
as  yet,  they  had  selected  no  missionary,  or  any  particular  place  in  Africa,  as 
the  field  of  their  benevolent  operations. 

In  February,  1819,  I  obtained  from  Mr.  Burgess  the  Report  of  his  and  Mr. 
Mills'  exploring  tour  on  the  coast  of  Africa  for  the  American  Colonization 
Societj'^;  and  at  our  night  school  I  informed  Cary  and  the  rest  all  about  it. 
All  listened  with  deep  interest;  and  when  I  asked  Cary  what  he  tliought  of 
the  matter,  he  replied,  in  his  usual  deliberate  and  decided  tone, — "  1  have  been 
determined  for  a  long  time  to  go  to  Africa,  and  at  least  see  the  country  for 
myself:"  and  Teague  immediately  intimated  his  purpose  to  do  the  same.  I 
was  surprised  but  gratified  at  the  cool  decision  which  they  evinced,  and  soon 
afterwards  communicated  the  circumstances  of  the  case  to  my  friend,  the  Rev. 
0.  B.  Brown,  of  Washington  City,  which  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  Cary 
and  Teague  as  Colonists  by  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and  as  Mission- 
aries of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention.  Thej'  both  relinquished  their  secu- 
lar employments,  expecting  to  sail  in  the  Elizabeth  from  New  York,  in 
January,  1820,  with  the  Rev.  Samuel  Bacon;  but,  failing  in  this,  their  time 
was  mostly  devoted  to  study  until  January,  1821,  when  the}^  sailed  from  Nor- 
folk in  the  Nautilus.  The  Richmond  African  Missionary  Society  appropriated 
all  their  funds — some  seven  or  eight  hundred  dollars — for  their  benefit.  No 
coloured  men  in  Virginia,  I  think,  have  been  ordained  to  administer  ordinances, 
or  to  the  Pastorate  of  chiTrclics;  but  Cary  and  Teague  were  fully  set  apart 
and  ordained  in  Richmond  as  Missionaries  to  Africa,  a  few  days  before  they 
departed.  A  very  brief  Church  Covenant  was  prepared  by  my  excellent 
friend,  David  Roper, — the  first  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Rich- 
mond, and  my  most  zealous  coadjutor  in  promoting  the  interests  of  tlic  African 
race, — which,  on  the  11th  of  January,  1821,  was  signed  bj*  seven  individuals, — 
namely,  Cary  and  his  wife,  Teague  and  his  wife  and  son, — then  a  youth  of 
fifteen,  and  Joseph  Lankford  and  his  wife.  Car}^  retained  this  Covenant;  and, 
though  Teague  and  his  family  continued  several  years  at  Sierra  Leone,  it  still 
remains  with  the  church  of  which  Cary  was  Pastor,  at  Monrovia,  and  from 
which  some  fourteen  other  churches  have  originated,  as  well  as  the  Liberia 
Baptist  Association. 


LOTT  GARY.  585 

A  few  nights  before  they  left,  Cary,  by  regular  appointment,  preached  his 
Farewell  Sermon  in  the  old  meeting-house.  The  weatlier  was  unfavouraldc, 
but  the  Pastor  and  a  considerable  congregation,  both  wliitc  and  coloured,  were 
present.  The  Rev.  John  liryce,  Assistant  Pastor,  accompanied  Cary  into  the 
pulpit.  Long  and  intimately  as  I  had  known  him,  I  had  never  yet  heard  him 
preach  a  regular  sermon;  for  the  public  services  of  these  coloured  men  were 
generally  among  their  own  people  in  the  country.  But  Teague  had  repeatedly 
said  to  me, — "  I  can  tell  you  I  don't  hear  any  of  your  white  ministers  that 
can  preach  like  Lott  Cary."  I  attributed  this,  however,  in  a  great  degree, 
to  the  partiality  of  friendship,  though  I  confess  it  stirred  my  curiosity  to 
hear  him. 

His  opening  exercises  were  simjjie  but  appropriate,  though  they  have  left  no 
deep  impression  on  my  memory.  But,  with  the  announcement  of  his  text, 
(Rom.  viii.  32.  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  &c.,)  a  deeper  interest 
seemed  to  be  awakened,  which  evidently  increased  in  intensity  till  the  close  of 
his  discourse.  There  seemed  to  be  no  thought  of  a  graceful  manner  or  pol- 
ished periods, — none  of  the  vain  repetition  or  rant  so  common  with  illiterate 
preachers,  llis  utterance  was  louder  than  Avas  necessary, — a  common  habit 
among  the  uneducated, — but  the  discourse  was  full  of  strong  evangelical 
thought,  much  of  it  clothed  in  Bible  language,  tiowing  spontaneously  from  the 
heart,  and  it  was  fitted  altogether  to  make  a  powerful  impression.  There 
might  have  been  grammatical  errors,  as  he  spoke  entirely  extempore,  but,  if 
so,  my  attention  was  not  drawn  to  them.  Though  I  cannot  now,  after  the 
lapse  of  thirty-seven  years,  recall  an}-  points  in  the  body  of  the  discourse,  j-et 
1  have  a  most  vivid  recollection  of  his  appearance  in  the  pulpit,  and  especially 
of  the  manner  in  which,  towards  the  close,  he  dwelt  upon  the  word  "  freely." 
"  God  not  only  gave  us  his  Son,  and  with  Him  all  things,  but,"  with  thrilling 
emphasis  he  exclaimed  over  and  over,  "  He  gave  thain  freely."  He  ran  a  suc- 
cession of  perhaps  a  dozen  changes  upon  the  word,  in  a  manner  that  would 
not  have  dishonoured  a  Whitefield.  His  closing,  fiirewell  remarks  were  deeply 
impressive.  I  can  recall  but  little  of  his  language,  but  it  was  in  substance  as 
follows: — •'  I  am  about  to  leave  you,  probably  to  see  your  faces  no  more.  I 
am  going  to  Africa,  a  land  of  heathenish  darkness  and  degradation,  to  spread 
the  light  of  salvation  there.  Jesus  Christ  commands  me  to  go,  and  I  must 
obey  Him.  1  know  not  what  may  befall  me,  nor  am  I  anxious  about  it.  1 
may  find  my  grave  in  the  ocean,  or  among  the  savage  men  or  beasts  in  the 
wilds  of  Africa.  I  long  to  preach  the  Gospel  there  to  those  who  have  never 
heard  it.  And  I  fear  there  may  be  thousands  in  this  country  who  preach  the 
Gospel,  or  profess  obedience  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  are  not  half  awake  to  the 
magnitude  of  his  requirements;"  and,  adverting  most  forcibly  to  the  .scenes 
of  the  last  Great  Day,  when  every  one  of  us  must  give  account  of  himself  to 
God,  he  exclaimed, — "Jesus  Christ  will  tell  you, — '  I  commanded  you  to  go 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature — have  you  obeyed 
me  .'"  He  will  then  inquire, — '  Where  have  you  been  ."  " — and,  looking 
earnestly  round  on  all  sides  of  the  congregation,  he  repeated  this  question, 
with  fiery  emphasis,  I  think  to  the  fourth  time, — "  «  Wlicre  have  you  been  .' 
Have  you  fulfilled  the  task  I  gave  you,  or  have  you  sought  your  own  ease  and 
gratification,  regardless  of  rny  commands  ."  "  My  friend  Bryce,  who  had  sat 
evidently  well-nigh  entranced  during  the  set-vice,  afterwards  remarked,  with- 
out an}'  qualification,  that  he  had  never  been  so  deeply  interested  in  a  sermon 
before.  It  took  us  all  by  surprise,  though  doubtless  it  derived  some  of  its 
interest  from  the  fact  that  we  saw  that  we  were  listening  to  a  plain,  unedu- 
cated, or  rather  self-taught,  coloured  man.  But  it  was  all  the  evidence  we 
needed  that  Jesus  Christ  had  commissioned  him  to  preach  the  Gospel. 


Vol.  VI. 


586  BAPTIST. 

My  last  interview  ^vith  him  left  upon  my  mind  an  impression  that  can  never 
be  etTaced.  James  River  happened,  at  that  time,  to  be  frozen,  and  the  Norfolk 
steamer  could  come  up  no  f^irther  than  City  Point;  and  I  was  obliged  to  engage 
two  large  country  wagons  to  convey  the  emigrants  some  twentj'-live  miles  b}" 
land.  It  Avas  soon  found  that  some  of  their  more  cumbrous  effects  must  be 
left  behind — some  altercation  ensued;  and  one  of  the  leading  men,  in  conse- 
quence of  my  rebuking  some  of  his  obstreperous  conduct,  declined  exchanging 
with  me  a  parting  farewell.  Gary,  however,  never  appeared  more  benignant 
and  cheerful  than  then.  The  manliness  and  dignity  with  which  he  expressed 
his  gratitude  for  all  I  had  done  for  him,  and  his  confident  hope  that  we  should 
meet  again  in  a  happier  world,  seemed  not  only  to  fully  compensate  me,  but 
inspired  me  with  a  deeper  regard  for  him  than  I  had  ever  felt  before. 

As  respects  Mr.  Gary's  person,  his  colour  and  hair  were  quite  decidedly 
African.  His  height  was  about  six  feet,  with  a  strong  body,  erect  frame, 
square  features,  a  keen  penetrating  eye,  and  a  grave,  deeply  meditative  expres- 
sion of  countenance.  His  gait,  his  manner,  and  his  words  seemed  to  be  all 
rigidly  measured.  There  was  nothing  hasty  or  frivolous  about  him.  He  was 
naturally  reserved,  sometimes  to  a  fault,  especially  towards  white  persons 
who  might  assume  superiority  over  him,  and  such,  without  reall}-  knowing 
him,  maj'  have  regarded  him  as  shy,  or  even  surly,  while  he  never  failed  to 
command  the  unfeigned  regard  of  those  best  acquainted  with  him.  His 
employers  had  reason  to  regard  him  highlj'  from  the  fact  that,  among  a  score 
or  two  of  labourers,  he  was  alwaj'S  foremost,  inspiring  all  the  rest  by  his 
example.  No  one  could  handle  a  hogshead  of  tobacco  with  more  vigour  or 
adroitness  than  he.  The  merchants  esteemed  him  for  the  unequalled  services 
he  rendered  them,  and  all  his  associates  loved  him  for  his  unwearied  kindness 
to  them,  as  umpire  in  their  disputes,  treasurer  of  their  finances,  and  friend 
and  counsellor  in  all  their  straits  and  difficulties.  His  personal  affairs  were 
always  suitably  attended  to,  his  obligations  sacredly  fulfilled,  and,  under 
favouring  circumstances,  he  might  have  become  an  eminent  merchant.  I 
remember  his  telling  me  one  evening  that  he  had  that  day  bought  twenty-four 
hogsheads  of  tobacco,  and  shipped  it  to  New  York,  on  his  own  account,  with 
one  of  the  most  respectable  merchants  as  endorser  for  him. 

I  may  mention  a  fact  or  two  that  now  occur  to  me,  as  illustrative  of  Gary's 
character.  Among  the  numerous  taxes  imposed  by  our  Government  during  the 
War  of  1812,  a  special  one  was  levied  on  auction  sales.  This  interfered  with 
a  long  established  custom  among  the  planters  and  factors  in  Richmond,  of 
employing  a  crier  daily,  at  the  inspection  warehouses,  to  offer  the  tobacco  at 
public  sale,  and  thus  simply  to  obtain  for  them  the  highest  bidder,  and  for 
which  a  small  fee  on  each  hogshead  was  paid.  It  was  urged  that  the  law  was 
not  intended  to  cover  such  an  irregular  auction  as  this;  but  the  agents  of  the 
Government  decided  otherwise.  In  this  dilemma,  it  was  proposed  that  Lott 
Gary,  Avho,  being  still  legall)'  a  slave,  was  beyond  the  reach  of  the  law,  should 
take  the  place  of  crier;  and,  for  a  considerable  period,  he  occupied  this  posi- 
tion at  the  Shockoe  warehouse, — the  oldest  and  largest  one  in  the  city,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  most  intelligent  and  respectable  portion  of  the  merchants  of 
Richmond. 

I  have  heard  the  late  James  Gray,  who  was,  for  many  years,  one  of  the 
most  extensive  tobacco  mercliants  in  Richmond,  as  well  as  a  most  devoted 
Presbyterian  Elder,  remark  that  when  he  was  an  irreligious  young  man, 
.serving  as  a  merchant's  clerk,  his  regard  for  Lott  Gary  was  so  great  that  he 
would  have  knocked  any  man  down  who  had  dared  to  insult  him.,  just  as  soon 
as  if  the  insult  had  been  offered  to  his  own  father.  Another  most  respectable 
merchant,  still  living  in  Richmond,  who  has  the  highest  estimate  of  his  char- 
acter, says  that  he  gave  more  order  and   system  to  the  complicated   labour 


LOTT  GARY.  587 

performed  at  the  tobacco  warehouse  than  any  other  man,  before  or  since,  has 
ever  done. 

I  know  of  no  important  project  in  Gary's  life  in  wliich  he  failed.  He  seemed 
fully  qualified  for  every  position  to  wliich  he  was  called.  His  unalfocted  piety 
and  enlarged  benevolence,  his  integrity,  energy,  perseverance,  were  not  only 
remarkable  in  him  as  distinct  qualities,  but  they  were  as  happily  blended  in 
his  character  as  iu  that  of  any  man  I  have  ever  known.  He  seemed  formed 
for  an  elevated  station;  and  his  incessant,  self-denying  toils  among  the  sick, 
from  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Africa,  in  addition  to  the  municipal  and  mis- 
sionary labours  pressing  on  him,  evince  a  noble,  philanthropic  spirit,  which  is 
only  paralleled  in  the  characters  of  such  men  as  John  Howard. 

I  am  yours  very  truly, 

WILLIAM  CRANE. 


HERVEY  JENKS * 
1811—1814. 

Hekvey  Jenks  was  born  of  pious  and  respectable  parents,  at  Brook- 
field,  Mass.,  on  the  IGtli  of  June,  1787.  He  early  evinced  a  serious  and 
reflecting  turn  of  mind,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  his  thoughts  were 
strongly  directed  to  the  subject  of  religion  as  a  personal  concern,  previous 
to  his  becoming  a  member  of  Brown  University,  nor  till  almost  the  close 
of  his  college  cour.se.  In  February,  1810,  while  engaged,  during  his  Senior 
year  iu  College,  in  teaching  a  school  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  llehobotb, 
he  was  awakened  to  a  very  deep  concern  for  his  soul's  salvation  ;  and  the 
thick  darkness  which  at  first  enveloped  his  mind  very  soon  gave  place  to  a 
most  joyful  confidence  in  his  Redeemer.  He  is  supposed  to  have  entered 
College  with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  lawyer;  but,  shortly  after  this 
great  change  in  his  views  and  feelings,  he  resolved  to  spend  his  life  in 
preaching  the  Gospel.  On  the  1st  of  June  following,  he  was  baptized, 
and  admitted  a  mem})er  of  the  Fir.^^t  IJaptist  Church  in  Providence.  The 
occasion  was  one  of  the  deepest  interest  to  him,  and  the  record  left  in  his 
diary  of  the  feelings  it  awakened  was  fully  justified  by  the  luminous 
Christian  course  upon  which  he  was  then  setting  out. 

In  September  of  the  same  year,  (1810,)  Mr.  Jenks  graduated,  having 
maintained,  through  his  whole  course  at  the  University,  a  high  reputation 
as  a  scholar,  and  been  much  esteemed,  by  both  the  Faculty  and  the  students, 
for  his  generous  and  manly  bearing. 

Soon  after  his  graduation,  he  took  charge  of  the  Academy  attached  to 
the  College,  and  continued  thus  engaged  for  six  months.  During  this 
period,  owing  to  the  weight  of  care  which  his  school  devolved  upon  him, 
he  had  less  time  to  devote  to  the  more  spiritual  exercises  of  religion,  and 
his  Christian  enjoyment  was  proportionally  diminished.  He  became  dis- 
tressed by  observing  this  unhappy  effect,  and  began  to  think  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  relinquish  the  place ;  and  he  set  apart  the  23d  of  February,  1811  ^ 

•  Mass.  Bapt.  Miss.  Mag.,  1815. 


588  BAFTIST. 

as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  that  he  might  be  directed  in  tlie  way  of  his 
duty.  The  result  was  that  he  became  convinced  that  the  Providence  of 
God  pointed  him  at  once  to  the  work  of  the  ministry;  and,  accordingly, 
on  the  11th  of  June  following,  he  was  approved  by  the  First  Church  in 
Providence  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  ensuing  autumn,  he  went  to  West  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  and  spent 
somewhat  more  than  a  year,  dividing  his  time  equally  between  the  Baptist 
Church  in  that  place,  and  the  Church  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.  In  1812,  ho 
received  ordination  from  the  Church  in  Providence  to  which  he  at  that  time 
belonged.  In  December  of  the  same  year,  he  was  married  to  Hannah 
Slantcr,  wliose  parents  were  respectable  members  of  the  church  in  West 
Stockbridge.  In  the  spring  of  1813,  he  removed  from  West  Stockbridge, 
and  settled  in  Hudson,  where  he  continued  his  labours  until  his  death.  In 
both  places  he  was  greatly  admired  as  a  preacher. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  of  1813-14,  while  on  a  journey  to  the 
Eastward,  Mr.  Jetiks  visited  Beverly,  Mass.,  and  received  an  invitation 
from  the,  Baptist  Church  in  that  place  to  become  their  Pastor.  He,  how- 
ever, at  that  time,  declined  their  request,  and  returned  to  Hudson  with  the 
expectation  of  continuing  there  ;  but,  upon  a  second  and  still  more  urgent 
application  from  the  people  of  Beverly,  he  visited  them  again  in  June,  and 
then  engaged,  if  he  could  obtain  a  release  from  liis  charge  in  Hudson,  to 
return  and  settle  among  them. 

He  reached  Hudson,  on  his  return  from  Beverly,  on  Saturday,  the  25th 
of  June.  The  nest  day,  he  preached  twice,  and  administered  the  Com- 
munion ;  and  these  were  the  last  public  services  he  ever  performed.  On 
the  day  following,  he  rode  a  few  miles  into  the  country,  and  on  Tuesday 
walked  home.  He  began  now  to  show  some  symptoms  of  disease,  though 
there  was  nothing  to  excite  alarm  for  three  or  four  days.  At  length,  his 
malady  developed  itself  as  the  Typhus  Fever;  and,  in  the  progress  of  it, 
his  nervous  system  was  strangely  affected,  and,  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  time,  he  had  violent  and  sometimes  protracted  paroxysms  of  bodily 
pain,  in  wliicli,  though  he  appeared  slightly  deranged,  he  seemed  to  have 
the  highest  spiritual  enjoyment.  He  died  on  the  15th  of  July,  1814,  in 
the  twenty-eiglith  year  of  his  age.  A  Sermon  on  the  occasion  of  his  death 
was  addressed  to  his  bereaved  flock,  on  the  following  Sabbath,  by  the  Rev. 
John  Lamb. 

FROM  THE  REV.  J.  NEWTOjST  BROWN,  D.  D. 

~~  Germantown,  Pa  ,  December  31,  1858. 

Mj  dear  Sir:  Mr.  Jenks  is  the  first  Christian  minister  who  left  a  distinct 
image  of  his  person  and  his  preaching  upon  my  memory.  Him  I  shall  never 
forget.  Through  nearly  half  a  century  the  impression  remains  fresli  and 
unfaded,  thougli  T  was  very  young  at  the  time,  and  too  -worldly  to  be  suscepti- 
ble of  strictly  spiritual  imprcs.sions.  It  is  true  there  are  oircumstanccs  M'hieh 
brought  bini  personal!}''  near  to  me,  and  aided  the  effect  produced  b}'^  his 
extraordinary  character  and  genius;  yet  had  he  been  an  ordinary  man,  I  do 
not  think  they  would  have  so  aft'ected  me.  And  I  have  since  had  opportunity 
to  compare  my  recollections  witli  those  of  others  of  more  mature  age,  and 
in  remote  places,  and  I  find  all  concur  in  speaking  of  him  with  equal  enthusi- 
asm. 


IIERVEY  JENKS.  589 

Ml-.  Jonks  came  to  Hudson  in  1812,  a  year  or  more  after  his  gratluation  at 
Brown  University.  He  was  then  twenty -six  years  of  age,  and,  being  unmar- 
ried, came  to  hoard  with  my  father,  Avho  was  one  of  the  Deacons  of  the  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Hudson.  He  continued  with  us,  as  a  member  of  our  family 
circle,  till  some  time  after  his  marriage;  so  that  we  had  good  opportunity  of 
knowing  him,  and  to  know  him  was  to  love  and  admire  him.  In  personal 
appearance  he  was  rather  tall,  dignilicd  and  prepossessing.  His  eyes  were 
blue,  and  animated  with  the  light  of  his  richly  suggestive  soul,  though  he  had 
a  marked  defect  in  one  of  them, — of  what  sort  1  do  not  remember.  His  con- 
versational powers  were  great,  though  never  ostentatiously  displayed.  How 
well  do  I  remember  him  as  he  used  to  sit  at  my  father's  table,  :ind,  in  answer 
to  questions  proposed  to  him  on  purpose  to  draw  him  forth,  pour  out  the 
varied  stores  of  liis  knowledge,  thought,  and  piety.  To  me  it  wa.s  as  a  golden 
stream.  Much  that  he  said  was  perfectly  new  to  me,  and  I  Avas  fascinated 
and  awed  alike  by  the  new  found  treasures.  My  father,  who  had  an  ardent 
thirst  for  knowledge,  though  unable  to  gratify  it  in  youth  by  a  liberal  educa- 
tion, loved  to  draw  forth  the  intellectual  as  well  as  religious  resources  of  his 
Pastor  and  guest.  Hence  the  lirst  conceptions  of  scientific  truth  I  ever 
received,  were  from  these  conversations.  But  with  'Sir.  Jenks  science  was 
always  the  vehicle  of  religion.  His  habitual,  elevated  piety  naturally  turned 
all  physical  truths  into  Theology — especially  in  the  sciences  of  Physiology 
and  Astronomy.  On  these  topics  I  was  never  weary  of  listening  to  him. 
There  was  something  in  Astronomy  especially  that  seemed  to  suit  the  grand 
and  poetical  structure  of  his  mind. 

But  I  suppose  it  is  chiefly  as  a  Christian  minister  that  you  wish  me  to 
speak  of  him.  I  regret  that  here,  owing  to  my  extreme  youth,  my  personal 
recollections  are  most  inade(iuate  to  describe  him  fully.  I  was  not  ten  A-ears 
old  when  he  came  among  us,  nor  twelve  indeed  when  it  pleased  God  to  take 
him  away.  Yet  I  can  tell  you  what  I  do  remember.  Tlic  Baptist  Church  in 
Hudson  was  very  small.  It  had  been  constituted  but  two  years  at  liis  com- 
ing, and  he  was  its  first  Pastor.  Having  no  house  of  worship,  and  too  poor 
to  build  one,  their  private  meetings  were  held  in  my  father's  school-room,  or 
from  house  to  house.  For  their  public  meetings  they  had  .secured  the  Court 
House.  The  preaching  of  Mr.  Jenks  soon  filled  this  place  with  an  eager  con- 
gregation of  hearers. 

I  never  can  forget  one  discourse  which  I  heard  from  Mr.  Jenks  in  that  old 
Court  House.  It  Avas  on  the  Day  of  Judgment, — a  theme  which,  in  its 
utmost  solemnity  and  pathos,  no  less  than  in  the  grandeur  of  its  material 
circumstances,  roused  always  the  highest  exertions  of  his  sanctified  genius, 
as  a  motive  to  repentance,  to  faith,  to  hope,  and  holy  preparation.  I  think 
his  text  was  in  H.  Peter,  iii.  10.  In  his  description  of  that  awful  scene,  he 
seemed  to  me  like  a  man  inspired.  I  forgot  any  defect  in  his  features,  as 
his  countenance  grew  radiant  with  the  light  of  his  strong  conceptions,  and  his 
whole  form  dilated  and  towered  witii  almost  superhuman  majestj-.  A  more 
perfect  specimen  of  the  eloquence  of  vision  1  never  expect  to  see.  The  burn- 
ing world  was  before  him.  Country  after  Country,  Continent  after  Continent, 
sunk  in  succession  before  the  devouring  flame.  It  approachefl  nearer  and 
nearer.  The  ocean  shrank  before  it,  as  its  blazing  volume  rolled  across  tlie 
Atlantic.  At  length  it  reached  our  own  shores;  and,  as  if  actually  seeing  it.s 
destructive  progress,  wrapping  every  thing  before  it  in  its  fiery  folds,  the 
preacher  rai.sed  his  hands  to  heaven,  and  exclaimed,  with  a  voice  that  shook 
my  very  soul, — "America  !  where  art  thou  ?  Where  art  thou,  O  my  Coun- 
try ?  Gone  !  Swallowed  up  !  Lost  !  And  where  are  we  .'  The  ground  is 
gone  beneath  us  !  There  is  no  standing  place  on  earth  !  Oh,  my  dear 
hearers,  are  j'ou  too  lost  ?     Have  you  perished  with  the  burning  world,  which 


590  BAPTIST. 

you  madly  loved  while  rejecting  the  only  Saviour  ?"  I  give  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible his  very  words,  but  his  manner,  his  accents,  his  emphasis,  I  cannot  pre- 
tend to  give.  Young,  and  careless  as  I  was  then,  it  was  long  before  the  shock 
of  that  terrible  vision  ceased  to  affect  me;  followed  up,  as  it  was  at  the  time, 
by  the  most  tender  and  heart-touching  appeal  to  seek  salvation  in  Christ 
without  delay.  I  give  this  onl}'  as  a  specimen  of  his  oratorical  powers,  when 
filled  and  agitated  with  his  subject.  Had  I  then  loved  the  Saviour,  I  should 
have  doubtless  felt  and  remembered  more,  and  more  directly  connected  Mith 
the  Cross  of  Christ,  from  which  he  drew  his  holiest  inspirations.  His  indeed 
was  the  fervour  of  as  seraphic  a  spirit  as  I  ever  knew.  All  who  were 
acquainted  with  him  bore  witness  to  this  quality  of  his  piety.  All  the 
manuscripts  he  left  behind,  bear  Avitness  to  it,  whether  in  prose  or  poetry, 
("for  he  wrote  both,)  and  after  his  death  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  copy  many  of 
them  for  my  father. 

I  recollect  one  verse  of  a  poem  by  him  on  the  very  same  theme  as  the  above 
sermon.  It  might  have  been  written  on  that  occasion,  but  my  impression  is 
that  it  was  in  College.  I  give  it  merely  as  an  example  of  his  descriptive 
style : 

"  Death  sees  his  iron  fetters  break; 
Old  Ocean  rolls  his  stormy  wave; 

From  watery  tombs  the  dead  awake, 

And  shrouded  millions  leave  the  grave." 

Mr.  Jenks  died  of  a  fever  in  July,  1814.  There  was  but  one  house  between 
my  father's  and  the  house  in  which  he  then  lived,  and  we  could  see  the  crowds 
that  called  at  the  door  to  inquire  after  him  during  his  short  illness.  My 
father  watched  with  him,  as  far  as  possible,  night  and  day,  and  kept  a  record 
of  some  of  the  most  striking  remarks  that  he  uttered.  I  onl}^  remember  his 
last  words:  "Glory  !  Glory  !  Glory  !"  I  wish  I  had  preserved  more — 
especiallj'^  the  frequent  expressions  of  his  trust  in  the  Redeemer,  liis  joy,  his 
humility,  his  gratitude,  love,  and  submission.  How  distinctl}-  I  recall  at  this 
instant  the  Mhole  picture  of  that  July  afternoon  in  which  he  died.  It  was 
near  sunset,  at  the  close  of  a  day  oppressively  warm.  The  Avindovvs  of  the 
house  were  open,  and  I  was  standing,  with  many  others,  before  the  door,  to 
catch  the  first  breath  of  whispered  intelligence  from  the  sick  room  within. 
And  when  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Jenks  was  no  more,  what  a  sadness 
and  gloom  fell  upon  us  all,  as  we  slowly  dispersed  to  spread  the  mournful 
news.  The  anxiety  felt  for  his  recovery  had  been  intense,  and  it  was  not 
limited  to  his  own  denomination.  In  the  same  proportion  was  his  early 
removal  generally  deplored.  Dr.  Chester,  I  think,  with  others,  officiated  at  his 
Funeral,  which  was  attended  by  weeping  crowds  from  all  classes  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Three  years  afterwards,  when  my  father  was  on  his  dying  bed,  his 
request  was, — "  Bury  me  by  the  side  of  my  dear  Pastor,  Mr.  Jenks."  One 
tree  throws  its  dark  shadow  over  their  graves,  in  the  public  cemeterj*  East  of 
the  City  of  Hudson,  wlicre  a  handsome  marble  tablet  was  erected,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Church,  over  the  grave  of  Mr.  Jenks. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  NEWTON  BROWN. 


JONATHAN  GOING.  591 


JONATHAN  GOING,  D.  D  * 

1811—1844. 

Jonathan  Going  was  a  descendant  of  Robert  Going,  (or  Gowing.) 
who  came  from  Edinburgh,  settled  in  ]jynn,  Mass.,  at  an  early  period,  and 
was  admitted  freeman  in  Dedhani,  in  1G44.  He  was  the  son  of  Jonathan 
and  Sarah  (Kendall)  Going,  and  was  born  at  Heading,  AVindsor  County, 
Vt.,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1786.  After  being  kept  for  some  years  at  a 
common  school,  he  was  sent  to  an  Academy  at  New  Salem,  Mass.,  where 
he  was  fitted  for  College,  by  the  assistance  of  his  uncle,  the  Rev.  Ezra 
Kendall  of  Kingston.  He  entered  Brown  University  in  1805.  During 
the  first  year  of  his  collegiate  life,  the  subject  of  religion  deeply  impressed 
his  mind,  and  from  that  time  he  gave  evidence  of  habitually  living  under 
its  power.  Contemporaneous  with  this  change  of  feeling  and  character 
was  the  purpose  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel ;  and 
while  he  was  yet  an  undergraduate,  he  presented  himself  for  examination, 
and  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Baptist  Church  in  Providence. 

Mr.  Going  graduated  in  the  year  1809,  and  immediately  after  entered 
upon  the  study  of  Theology,  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Asa  Messer, 
1).  D.,  then  President  of  the  College.  At  this  time  his  mind  seems  to 
have  been  unsettled  in  respect  to  some  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
and  there  were  times  when  even  its  Divine  authority  was  not  entirely  clear 
to  him  ;  but,  on  his  return  to  Vermont,  he  became  thoroughly  established 
in  what  are  usually  termed  the  "  Doctrines  of  the  Reformation."  He  was 
ordained  in  1811,  and  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Caven- 
dish, within  the  limits  of  his  native  county.  His  settlement  marked  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  his  denomination  in  that  region;  for,  though  there 
were  forty-five  ordained  Baptist  ministers  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  he  was 
the  only  one  who  had  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a  collegiate  education.  His 
preaching  commanded  great  attention,  and  was  followed  with  important 
results.  It  is  related  of  him  that,  on  a  dark  evening,  he  stopped  at  an 
Academy  in  Brandon,  where  one  of  his  brethren  was  preaching  on  a  diffi- 
cult subject  in  a  very  confused  and  unedifying  manner.  As  the  people 
had  evidently  grown  weary  of  the  discourse,  another  minister  who  was 
present  suggested  that  it  was  time  that  the  services  should  come  to  a  close. 
Mr.  Going,  who,  until  now,  had  been  uuobi5crved,  arose  and  begged  the 
privilege  of  making  a  few  remarks.  He  immediately  took  up  the  subject 
which  had  been  suffering  so  much  in  the  hands  of  his  rather  feeble  brother, 
and  presented  it  in  a  fresh  and  convincing  light ;  and  then  brought  it  home, 
by  an  impressive  appeal,  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  hearers. 

Mr.  Going  continued  his  labours  at  Cavendish  until  near  the  close  of 
1815,  when  he  accepted  a  call  from  a  church  in  Worcester,  Mass.  It  was 
a  young  and  comparatively  feeble  church  with  which  he  now  became  con- 
nected ;  but  he  addressed  himself  to  his  work  with  great  vigour,  and  the 
eflFects  of  his  labours  were  soon  visible  and  palpable.     For  one  year,  soon 

•  Turney-s  Fun.  Serm. — Fisbcr's  Commcin.  Disc. 


592  BAPTIST. 

after  lie  assumed  this  charge,  he  instructed  the  Latin  Grammar  School  in 
Worcester.  He  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, and  especially  in  endeavouring  to  elevate  the  character  and  increase 
the  efficiency  of  Common  Schools.  One  of  the  first  Sabbath  Schools  in 
Worcester  County  was  organized  in  his  church,  and  its  exercises  were  for 
a  season  conducted  by  himself.  He  had  much  to  do  also  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Newton ;  for  he  felt  deeply  the 
importance  of  an  educated  ministry,  and  responded  heartily  to  any  effort 
that  was  made  for  the  promotion  of  that  object.  In  less  than  five  years, 
his  influence  had  succeeded  to  the  building  up,  from  few  and  scattered 
materials,  of  an  efficient  and  well  ordered  church.  His  course  was  marked 
by  great  activity  and  increasing  usefulness,  during  the  whole  period  of  his 
ministry  in  Worcester, — sixteen  years. 

In  1S:J1,  Mr.  Going  made  a  journey  to  the  West,  partly  to  recruit  his 
health  which  had  become  somewhat  enfeebled,  and  partly  to  look  at  the 
country  as  opening  a  field  for  missionary  labour.  He  came  back  so  deeply 
impressed  with  the  wants  of  the  West  that  he  felt  constrained  to  ask  a  dis- 
mission from  his  pastoral  charge  in  order  to  engage  more  directly  in  the 
cause  of  Home  Missions.  His  request  was  granted,  though  not  without 
expressions  of  the  warmest  attachment  and  the  deepest  regret. 

On  leaving  Worcester,  he  took  up  his  residence  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
When  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  was  formed  in  1832, 
lie  became  its  Corresponding  Secretary ;  and  perhaps  no  one  exerted  more 
influence  than  he  in  securing  to  it  the  favourable  regard  of  the  churches. 
With  a  view  to  the  promotion  of  its  interests,  he  established  a  weekly 
paper  entitled  "  The  American  Baptist  and  Home  Mission  Record;  "  and, 
notwithstanding  his  manifold  engagements  as  Secretary  of  the  Society,  he 
conducted  this  periodical,  personally,  a  number  of  years.  He  continued 
laboriously  occupied  in  this  field  five  years ;  and  perhaps  there  was  no 
period  of  his  life,  of  the  same  length,  in  which  he  accomplished  more  for 
the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  Christ. 

In  1832,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Waterville 
(■ollege,  Me. 

In  the  journey  which  he  made  to  the  West  in  1831,  besides  helping  to 
form  the  Ohio  Baptist  Education  Society,  he  assisted  in  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  Granville  College.  In  1836,  he  was  invited  by  the  Trustees  of 
that  Institution,  to  become  its  President  and  Theological  Professor.  He 
was  disposed  to  accept  the  appointment,  and,  accordingly,  resigned  his 
Seeretariship  in  the  Society  of  Home  Missions,  with  a  view  to  doing 
so.  The  Executive  Committee,  in  accepting  his  resignation,  rendered  the 
strongest  testimony  to  his  fidelity  and  diligence  during  the  period  of  his 
connection  with  the  Society. 

He  now  removed  his  residence  to  Granville,  and  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  offices  to  which  ho  had  been  appointed.  In  his  Inaugural  Address, 
delivered  August  8,  1838.  he  promised  his  "  best  endeavours,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  his  learned  and  respected  colleagues  in  the  Board  of  instruction, 
to  make  the  Institution  what  its  public  spirited  projectors  designed."  And 
well  did  he  fulfil  his  promise.  Both  in  the  literary  and  theological  depart- 
ments he  laboured  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he 


JONATHAN  GOING.  593 

lost  no  opportunity  of  promoting  the  interests  of  learning  and  religion  in 
the  State  at  largo.  In  January,  1844,  he  atteniled  the  Sabbath  Conven- 
tion held  at  Columbus,  and  spoke  earnestly  and  elo(iuently  on  the  import- 
ance of  the  right  observance  of  this  Divine  Institution  to  our  national 
prosperity.  The  various  State  Associations,  designed  to  promote  the  cause 
of  education,  or  to  extend  the  knowledge  and  influence  of  Christianity, 
found  in  him  a  cordial  and  eflicient  supporter. 

Early  in  tlie  summer  of  1844,  Dr.  Going  found  himself  under  the  neces- 
sity of  intermitting  his  labours  for  a  season,  on  account  of  declining  health. 
He,  accordingly,  journeyed  to  the  East,  spent  a  little  time  among  his  friends, 
and  returued  to  Ohio  with  his  health  apparently  improved  by  the  journey. 
He  presided  at  the  Commencement  in  July,  and  his  appearance  was  such 
as  seemed  to  justify  the  hope  of  his  entire  recovery.  Shortly  after,  how- 
ever, his  disease  returned  upon  him  with  increased  power,  and  it  came  to 
a  fatal  termination,  November  9,  1844. 

Dr.  Going  was  married  to  Lucy  Thorndike,  of  Dunstable,  Mass.,  in 
August,  1811.  She  was  a  lady  of  uncommon  excellence,  and  remarkably 
well  fitted  to  be  a  minister's  wife  ;  but,  during  much  of  the  time  after  her 
marriage,  was  the  subject  of  mental  derangement.  She  died  in  the  Lunatic 
Asylum  of  Ohio,  some  years  after  the  death  of  her  husband. 

Dr.  Going  published  a  Discourse  delivered  at  Belchertown,  1816,  and 
a  Discourse  delivered  at  AVorcester,  the  Sabbath  after  the  Execution  of 
Horace  Carter,  1825. 

FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  December  3,  1855. 
Dear  Sir:  Mj'  personal  recollections  of  Dr.  Going  have  respect  altogether 
to  the  later  periods  of  his  lite;  though  I  am  not  entirely  dependant  on  my 
own  immediate  intercourse  with  him  for  my  knoAvledge  oi"  his  character;  for, 
as  he  was  a  prominent  man  in  our  denomination,  his  leading  characteristics 
were  of  course  well  known  to  most  of  his  brethren.  I  think  my  first  meeting 
with  him  was  at  a  Triennial  Convention  at  Philadelphia,  about  the  year  1828 
or  1829;  and  from  that  time  till  his  death,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  frequently 
meeting  him,  especially  on  public  occasions,  sometimes  hearing  him  i)reach, 
and  seeing  him  in  various  circumstances  that  were  fitted  to  bring  out  the  more 
(listinctive  features  of  his  character. 

Dr.  Going  was  a  large,  well  built  man,  with  an  expression  of  countenance 
denoting  more  than  common  shrewdness.  And  his  countenance  was  a  faith- 
ful index  to  his  mind.  His  perceptions  were  clear,  his  judgment  sound,  and 
Win  insight  into  the  remoter  relations  and  bearings  of  things  somewhat 
remarkable.  While  he  was  a  perfectly  honest  man,  and  never  disposed  to 
take  an  undue  advantage  of  another,  his  uncommon  discernment  of  men's 
characters  and  motives  was  an  effectual  protection  against  the  arts  of  the 
designinjr.  He  was  amiable,  and  kind-hearted,  and  always  disposed  to  confer 
favours  whenever  it  was  in  his  power.  He  was  agrcealjlc  in  conversation,  and 
had  great  simplicity  and  plainness  of  manners,  indicating  that  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  rural  company,  if  not  to  rural  pursuits.  But  if  his  movements 
were  not  the  most  graceful,  his  conduct  was  very  sure  to  be  dignified  and 
unexceptionalilc. 

I  cannot  say  that  Dr.  Going  was  a  very  striking  or  popular  prcaclier,  though 
I  think  he  was  a   highly  instructive   and   useful   one.     His   discourses,  as  I 

Vol.  VI.  75 


594  BAPTIST. 

remember  them,  were  somewhat  remarkable  for  pregnant  and  pithy  sentences, 
evincing  at  once  his  characteristic  shrewdness,  an  extensive  acquaintance 
with  mankind,  and  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  I  think,  too, 
T  have  noticed,  occasionallj^,  an  expression  from  him  in  the  pulpit,  which, 
though  not  on  the  whole  inconsistent  with  the  reverence  due  to  public  wor- 
ship, showed  that  he  had  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous.  He  never  read  his 
sermons,  so  fixr  as  I  recollect,  when  I  heard  him,  and  I  presume  that  he  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  doing  so — I  should  suppose  that  he  might  have  preached 
from  a  full  skeleton.  His  voice  was  not  particularly  melodious,  nor  could  his 
rhetoric  or  elocution  be  considered  polished  or  graceful;  but  those  who  were 
satisfied  with  good  sense  and  plain  Bible  truth,  clearly  and  logically  presented, 
could  not  fiiil  to  relish  his  preaching. 

But  that  which  undoubtedly  gave  to  Dr.  Going  his  greatest  distinction,  was 
his  high  executive  talent.  He  appeared  to  great  advantage  in  Public  Bodies, 
either  as  a  presiding  officer,  or  an  ordinary  member.  When  he  was  in  the 
chair,  he  uniformly  displayed  great  firmness  and  tact,  and  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  best  modes  of  doing  public  business.  But  in  nothing 
did  his  great  energy  and  unyielding  perseverance  appear  so  remarkably  as  in 
his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Home  Missions.  Here  he  was  emphatically  will- 
ing to  spend  and  be  spent.  To  advance  this  cause,  he  put  in  requisition  every 
instrumentality  within  his  reach,  and  acted  habitually  as  if  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  ruling  passion.  Much  are  the  churches  of  our  denomination 
indebted  to  his  earnest,  untiring  and  well-directed  efforts  for  the  increase  of 
both  their  numbers  and  their  prosperity. 

On  the  whole,  though  I  cannot  say  that  Dr.  Going  was  one  of  the  most 
striking  men  whom  I  have  known,  I  can  truly  saj'  that  for  his  excellent  intel- 
lectual and  moral  qualities,  as  well  as  for  his  intense  and  successful  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Christ,  he  is  well  worthy  of  being  held  in  grateful  remem- 
brance. 

Yours  truly, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 

FROM  THE  HON.  ISAAC  DAVIS. 

Worcester,  March  3,  1856. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  was,  for  ten  j'cars,  a  member  of  the  church  of  which  Dr. 
Going  was  Pastor,  and  was  intimately  acquainted  Avith  him  from  1815  till  the 
time  of  his  death.  I  had,  therefore,  the  best  opportunity  of  judging  of  his 
character,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  communicate  to  j'ou  the  impressions  T 
have  retained  in  respect  to  him. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  physical  power,  weighing  about  two  hundred  pounds, 
and  having  an  iron  constitution,  that  could  endure  labour  and  fatigue  enough 
to  break  down  two  common  men.  His  intellect  also  was  one  of  much  more 
than  ordinary  vigour,  and  was  improved  and  enriched,  in  a  high  degree,  by 
diligent  study.  He  had  great  quickness  of  perception,  and  his  mental  opera- 
tions generally  were  very  rapid,  so  that  he  acquired  knowledge  of  every  kind 
with  uncommon  facility.  He  possessed  a  kind  and  genial  spirit,  with  a  da.sh 
of  keen  wit,  and  a  great  fund  of  pleasant  anecdotes,  which  made  him  a 
remarkably  agreeable  companion.  Every  body  felt  that  he  was  kind-hearted, 
amiable  and  trust-worth)^;  and  hence,  both  in  his  private  and  public  relations, 
he  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  community  at  large. 

Dr.  Going  was  distinguished  for  his  energy  and  public  spirit.  Amidst  the 
most  unpromising  and  adverse  circumstances,  he  would  press  on,  wherever  he 
believed  his  duty  called  him,  and  there  was  good  to  be  accomplished.  In  the 
organization  of  Sabbath  Schools  in  Worcester  County  he  took  the  lead,  in  the 


JONATHAN  GOING.  595 

face  of  much  opposition.  lie  had  also  a  very  important  agency  in  raising;  the 
Common  Schools  of  Worcester  to  the  hif^h  degree  of  excellence  which  they 
early  attained.  His  connection  with  the  cause  of  Missions  in  the  Baptist 
Church,  I  hardly  need  say,  is  identified,  in  no  small  degree,  with  the  history 
of  his  life. 

As  a  Preacher,  Dr.  Going  was  eminentlj^  instructive,  practical,  and  I  may 
add,  sometimes  powerful.  His  sermons,  though  often  prepared  in  great  haste, 
were  full  of  well  matured  and  well  arranged  thought,  which  made  it  the 
hearer's  own  fault,  if  he  did  not  profit  by  them.  lie  had  the  power  of  excit- 
ing his  audience  almost  to  merriment,  and  then,  by  a  sudden  transition,  of 
melting  them  to  tears:  and  this  undoubtedly  was  often  an  important  element 
in  the  impressiveness  of  his  preaching.  He  spoke  extempore  with  great 
readiness,  and  sometimes  with  great  effect;  and  some  of  his  ofF-hand  speeches 
were  probably  among  his  most  successful  efforts. 

Dr.  Going,  even  while  he  had  a  pastoral  charge,  was  emphatically  a  public 
man.  While  he  was  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  to  his  own  parish, 
his  labours  were  never  confined  to  them.  If  there  was  an  ordination,  or  a 
revival  of  religion,  or  a  difficulty  in  a  church,  or  a  public  meeting  in  aid  of 
some  benevolent  object,  within  thirtj'  or  forty  miles,  the  services  of  our  Pastor 
were  very  likely  to  be  called  for.  Every  body  saw  that  his  heart  was  in  the 
great  cause,  not  only  of  benevolent  action,  but  of  the  common  Christianity, 
and  every  body  expected  that  he  would  respond  cheerfully  and  effectively  to 
all  reasonable  claims  that  were  made  upon  him. 

I  may  add  that  Dr.  Going  was  a  man  of  a  truly  liberal  spirit.  With  a 
proper  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  his  own  distinctive  denominational 
views,  he  welcomed  all  good  men  to  his  heart,  and  was  ever  ready  to  co-operate 
"tt'ith  them  on  common  evangelical  ground.  Many  of  his  warm  friends  and 
admirers  were  outside  of  his  own  communion. 

His  name  is  well  worthy  to  be  embalmed  among  the  lights  of  his  denomina- 
tion. 

Yours  very  truly, 

ISAAC  DAVIS. 


JAMES  MANNING  WINCHELL  * 

1812—1820. 

James  Manning  Wixciieli.  was  born  at  North  East,  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y.,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1791.  In  his  childhood,  he  evinced  great 
loveliness  of  temper,  and  an  uncommon  thirst  for  knowledge ;  and  his 
parents  early  resolved  to  afford  him  the  means  of  obtaining  a  liberal  edu- 
cation. He  commenced  his  academical  studies  in  the  autumn  of  1806, 
under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Parker,  then  of  Sharon,  Conn. 

In  March,  1S08,  while  still  a  member  of  Mr.  Parker's  school,  he  made 
a  short  visit  to  his  friends  at  North  East,  soon  after  thare  had  been  there 
an  extensive  revival  of  religion.  His  own  mind  now  became  deeply 
interested  in  the  subject,  and  he  was  led  earnestly  to  desire  tliat  be  might 
be  the  subject  of  the  same  great  change  which  was  professed  and  evinced 
by  so   many  of   his   former  companions.     At   no   distant   period   he   was 

•Am.  Bapt.  Mag.  1820. 


596  BAPTIST. 

brought,  as  he  believed,  to  accept  the  gracious  offers  of  the  Gospel,  and 
soon  after  was  baptized  on  a  profession  of  his  faith,  and  became  a  member 
of  the  church  of  which  his  father  and  many  of  his  relatives  were  also 
members. 

Having  finished  his  preparatory  studies,  he  entered  Union  College. 
Schenectad}',  in  1808.  Here  he  continued  three  years,  and  then  trans- 
ferred his  relation  to  Brown  University,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1812. 
His  motive  in  making  the  change  was  simply  a  desire  to  enlarge  his 
acquaintance  with  the  friends  of  his  own  denomination,  in  the  hope  that  it 
might  have  a  propitious  bearing  upon  his  usefulness  as  a  Christian  minister. 
His  purpose  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry  seems  to  have  been  formed 
while  in  Union  College,  but  his  conviction  of  duty  on  the.  subject  became 
still  stronger  during  the  year  that  he  spent  at  Providence.  Accordingly, 
immediately  on  leaving  College,  he  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the 
sacred  office,  and  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Baptist  Church  in  North 
East,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1812. 

A  few  weeks  after  this,  he  received  and  accepted  an  invitation  from  the 
Baptist  Church  at  Bristol,  R.  I.,  to  supply  their  pulpit  for  one  year. 
While  labouring  here,  it  was  thought  desirable  that  he  should  be  more 
fully  invested  with  the  ministerial  office ;  and,  accordingly,  in  the  month 
of  June,  1813,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist. 

It  was  during  the  year  that  he  spent  at  Bristol  that  he  received  a  request 
from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston  to  visit  them,  that  they  might 
have  the  opportunity  of  hearing  him  preach.  As  his  engagement  at  Bristol 
was  for  only  a  year,  and  he  did  not  consider  himself  under  any  obligations 
to  make  a  permanent  residence  there,  he  felt  himself  at  liberty,  in  due 
time,  to  accept  tlie  invitation  from  Boston.  His  services  there  were  so 
acceptable  that  he  was  desired,  when  the  time  for  which  he  was  invited  had 
expired,  to  remain  still  longer,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was  soon  called 
to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church.  After  much  deliberation  and  prayer 
for  the  Divine  guidance,  (as  his  diary  at  that  period  abundantly  shows,)  he 
accepted  their  call,  and  was  publicly  recognised  as  their  Pastor  on  the 
30th  of  March,  1814. 

Mr.  Winchell's  ministry,  though  brief,  was  cliaracterized  by  great 
fidelity,  and  attended  by  many  tokens  of  the  Divine  favour.  Though 
there  was  no  large  accession  to  the  church  at  any  one  time,  there  was  a 
gradual  and  constant  increase,  and  no  less  than  eighty-four  persons  were 
added  during  the  six  years  of  his  Pastorate.  The  congregation  also  was 
constantly  growing,  and  its  harmony  was  uninterrupted. 

On  the  17th  of  July,  1819,  Mr.  Winchcll  visited  Beverly  in  liis  usual 
health.  The  next  day  he  preached  three  sermons,  but  was  immediately 
taken  unwell,  and  never  preached  afterwards.  Early  in  August,  he  was 
induced,  by  the  advice  of  physicians,  to  take  a  short  journey,  but  it  did 
nothing  to  arrest  the  progress  of  his  disease.  It  was  of  so  flattering  a 
nature,  however,  that,  even  after  his  return,  though  his  friends  were  con- 
strained to  regard  his  case  as  nearly  hopeless,  he  was  himself  indulging  the 
expectation  of  being  soon  restored  to  health  and  usefulness.  He  hoped 
much  from  the  salutary  effects  of  a  voyage  to  the  South  ;  and  he  had  made 
his   arrangements  for  it,  and  actually  taken    his   passage,   when  a  profuse 


JAMES  MANNING  WINCIIELL.  597 

bleeding  at  the  lungs — the  repetition  of  a  former  attack — obliged  him  to 
abandon  the  idea  of  leaving  home.  From  this  time  he  seems  to  have  had 
little  expectation  of  recovery  ;  but  he  manifested  the  utmost  composure 
and  serenity  of  spirit,  and  expressed  no  desire  to  live  except  that  he  might 
labour  longer  in  his  Master's  cause.  He  died  in  the  full  confidence  of 
entering  into  rest,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1820.  His  Funeral  Sonuon 
was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Winchell  was  married,  in  1814,  to  Tamma,  daughter  of  Ezra 
Thomson,  of  Poughkeepsie.  Her  health  was  much  impaired,  previous 
to  the  death  of  her  husband  ;  and  one  of  the  physicians,  who  attended 
in  the  family,  repeatedly  remarked,  during  his  decline,  that  it  would  not 
be  strange  if  she  should  die  first.  She  was,  however,  spared  to  minister 
to  his  last  earthly  wants ;  but  when  the  excitement  produced  by  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  had  passed  away,  she  gradually  sunk  under  the  combined 
effect  of  great  debility  of  body  and  distress  of  mind.  She  died  at  North 
East,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Winchell's  relatives,  on  the  15th  of  June, 
18'20, — a  little  less  than  four  months  after  the  death  of  her  husband. 
She  was  a  lady  of  great  excellence  of  character,  and  had  sustained  all 
her  relations  with  dignity  and  usefulness.  They  left  behind  them  three 
children. 

Mr.  Winchell  published  an  Arrangement  of  Watts'  Psalms  and  Hymns, 
with  a  Supplement  of  more  tlian  three  hundred  Hymns  from  different 
authors  ;  also  Two  Discourses  exhibiting  an  Historical  Sketch  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  1819. 


FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

Poughkeepsie,  October  8,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  principal  embarrassment  in  furnishing  you  recollections  of 
the  Rev.  James  Manning  Winchell,  is  not  so  much  from  the  length  of  time 
(some  forty  jears)  since  my  intercourse  with  him  ceased, — for  very  vividly 
are  his  person,  and  manner,  and  much  that  he  said,  still  in  my  remembrance; 
but  it  is  rather  from  the  distrust  I  now"  feel  of  my  ability,  at  that  early  period, 
to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  one  who  so  captivated  my  youthful  heart.  I 
have,  therefore,  taken  special  pains  to  compare  the  impressions  which  I  then 
received  with  those  of  persons  who  were  of  mature  judgment,  and  more  capa- 
ble than  I  could  be  supposed  to  be  of  just  and  accurate  discrimination. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1815,  Mr.  Winchell  and  his  wife,  accompanied  by 
his  venerable  uncle,  James  Winchell,  whose  namesake  he  was,  and  from 
whom  he  had  experienced  the  generosity  of  a  second  father,  were  journeying 
from  North  East,  in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  to  Boston;  and  they  all  passed  a 
night  at  my  father's  house  in  North  Colebrook,  Conn.  Those  were  the  days 
of  locomotion  by  private  conveyance,  instead  of  stage-coaches,  then  compara- 
tively rare,  or  of  steamers  and  railroads,  which  were  unknown.  Of  course 
this  gave  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  hospitality;  and  my  honoured  fath- 
er's dwelling,  situated  nearly  on  the  great  thoroughf:ire  across  the  country 
from  the  Hudson  River  to  the  Connecticut,  and  even  to  Rhode  Island  and  Bos- 
ton, was  often  privileged  to  receive  such  worthy  and  respectable  guests. 
James  Winchell,  the  uncle,  was  an  intimate  friend  of  my  father,  and  nearly 
of  the  same  age,  and,  as  a  wealthy  and  gentlemanly  farmer,  was  the  special 
favourite  with  us  boys,  who  knew  and  cared  more  about  horses,  stocks,  and 
farm    products   generally,   than   about   books  or   theological  discussions.     I 


59iS  BAPTIST. 

remember,  too,  that  we  marvelled  not  a  little  at  seeing  my  father  evidently 
inclined  to  give  up,  in  part,  the  choice  society  of  his  old  and  loved  associate, 
the  uncle,  for  the  sake  of  conversing  more  with  his  very  youthful  and  attrac- 
tive nephew.  The  latter  could  not  have  been  more  than  twenty-two  or  twenty- 
three  years  old,  though  he  had  been  for  more  than  a  year  Pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston, — the  immediate  successor  of  the  great  Dr.  Slillnian. 
I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  remarkable  deference  that  was  paid  to  him, 
considering  that  he  was  a  mere  youth.  He  led  in  the  family  devotions  in  the 
mornmg;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  performed  the  service, — so  simple,  and 
fervent,  and  winning,  greatly  attracted  my  attention:  and  I  recollect  to  have 
heard  my  father  afterwards  speak  of  the  praj'er  to  some  of  the  older  members 
of  the  family  as  being  one  of  great  comprehensiveness  and  solemnity.  A  revi- 
val was  already  beginning  to  manifest  itself  in  my  father's  widely  extended 
parish;  and  I  well  remember  young  Winchell's  saying  to  him,  just  as  he  was 
stepping  into  his  carriage  to  leave, — "  Now,  Elder,  if  this  good  work  continues 
and  extends,  you  must  send  an  account  of  it  for  the  Magazine," — then  the 
only  Baptist  periodical  in  the  whole  land,  and  of  which,  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning of  his  residence  in  Boston,  he  had  become  joint  editor  with  Doctors 
Baldwin  and  Sharp. 

Nearly  two  years  elapsed  before  I  saw  him  again.  I  had  become  a  student 
at  Providence,  and  he  had  come  there  from  Boston  to  attend  the  ordination  of 
a  late  fellow-student  of  his,  Avery  Briggs,  Pastor  elect  of  the  little  Baptist 
Church  in  Hudson, — the  market-town  of  the  TYinchells, — in  all  whose  inte- 
rests the  young  Pastor  of  Boston  evidentlj^  retained  a  lively  concern.  More- 
over, the  other  oflBciating  clergymen  were  all  venerable  men, — Doctors  Messer 
and  Gano,  and  Father  Pitman,  with  the  father  of  the  candidate;  while 
Winchell,  who  gave  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellowship,  seemed  almost  a  beard- 
less boy  in  the  comparison.  His  performance  on  that  occasion  won  my 
very  high  admiration, — which  certainly  was  not  diminished  by  some  very 
captious,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  unjust,  criticisms,  that  I  afterwards  heard 
made  upon  it. 

Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  \Yinchell  exchanged  with  Dr.  Gano,  the  venerable 
Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence.  With  great  delight  I  hung 
upon  the  lips  of  the  eloquent  youth  that  day,  admiring  not  only  his  lessons 
of  sound  .scriptural  instruction,  but  the  manner  and  spirit  in  which  they  were 
delivered.  Even  now,  it  seems  to  me,  after  scores  of  years  have  passed,  that 
young  Winchell 's  manner  in  the  pulpit  approached  more  nearly  to  that  of 
Summerlield — that  youthful  prodigy  of  loveliness — than  any  other  that  I  have 
ever  witnessed.  There  was  the  .same  winning  simplicity  and  naturalness  in 
the  one  as  in  the  other.  Winchell's  thoughts  were  clear  but  not  profound — 
his  arrangement  was  so  natural  and  lucid  that  the  attentive  hearer  could 
hardly  fail  to  treasure  much  of  the  discourse  in  his  memory.  Certainly  he 
had  great  skill  in  commending  the  truth  to  the  judgment  and  the  taste,  and  I 
should  think  also  to  the  conscience,  of  his  hearers. 

Soon  after  this,  by  direction  of  my  family  friends,  I  put  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Winchell  the  scanty  written  remains  of  my  deceased  brother,  C.  J.  Bab- 
cock,  a  recent  graduate  of  Brown  University,  and  a  licensed  preacher, — cut 
off  in  his  early  prime,  as  Mr.  Winchell  himself  was,  three  j'ears  later,  by  con- 
sumption. During  this  interview,  he  gained  my  affections  as  effectually  as  ho 
had  before  secured  my  admiration.  His  genial  and  tender  sympathy,  the  per- 
tinence and  thoroughness  of  his  inquiries  in  regard  to  my  brother,  whom  he 
had  well  known,  and  the  prompt  and  satisfactory  manner  in  which  he  pro 
pared  the  memoir,  appending  to  it  several  letters  from  the  deceased,  (See 
American  Baptist  Magazine  for  September  and  November,  1817,)  secured  him 
a  lasting  place  in  the  regards  of  all  of  us. 


JAMES  MANNING  WINCllELL. 


599 


No  one,  adinitled  to  tlic  freedom  of  his  family,  could  fail  to  bo  cliarmed  by 
the  gentle,  and  kindly,  ami  eminently  Christian  manifestations  which  lie  con- 
stantly witnessed  in  this  excellent  man.  He  was  one  of  the  best  of  husl>ands 
and  fathers;  but  it  would  soon  be  apparent  that  even  these  endearin;^  relictions 
were  not  only  held  subordinate  but  made  subservient  to  the  higher  relation  he 
sustained  as  a  servant  and  a  discipio  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  His  grand 
aim  was  not  to  please  himself,  but  to  honour  his  Divine  Saviour,  and,  by  ever}- 
means  in  his  power,  to  advance  his  precious  cause.  To  this  great  end  all  his 
family  arrangements  were  studiously  conformed.  His  hospitalities,  for  a 
young  Pastor,  were  unusually  extended;  and  these  also  were  evidently  an 
offering  to  the  cause  and  honour  of  Christ.  Young  men,  studying  for  the 
ministr}',  found  in  liim  a  generous  and  faithful  friend.  Both  himself,  and  his 
companion,  so  soon  to  follow  him  to  the  spirit  world,  seem  to  have  nobly 
resolved,  at  the  outset,  that,  as  for  themselves,  they  would  wholly  serve  the 
Lord . 

Three  years  after  Mr.  Winchell's  lamented  death,  I  was  ordained  in  this 
place,  in  the  same  county  in  whit.»li  he  was  born  and  reared,  and  became  Pas- 
tor of  the  same  church  of  wliich  his  model  wife  was  originally  a  member.  On 
this  lield,  therefore,  I  have  been,  almost  from  that  day  to  this,  gleaning  fresh 
testimonials  to  his  surpassing  loveliness  and  enduring  Avorth. 

In  person  he  was  rather  below  tlie  medium  size.  His  youthful  vivacity  was 
fine!}'  tempered  by  a  dignified  Christian  urbanit}*.  His  elocution  was  distinct, 
impressive,  and  at  the  same  time  most  winning.  A^ell  can  I  conceive  how  his 
associates.  Dr.  Baldwin  and  Dr.  Sharp,  should  each  have  exclaimed  at  his 
death, — "  I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother;  very  dear  hast  thou  been  to 
me;  thy  love  was  wonderful." 

Yours  truly. 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


GEORGE  ANGELL. 

1812—1827. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ABIAL  FISHER,  D.  D. 

West  Boylston,  Mass.,  March  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  I  knew  the  Rev.  George  Angell  for  years  ;  and  no  man 
that  I  ever  knew  deserved  better  to  be  called  '' AngelV  than  he.  It  is, 
therefore,  only  a  labour  of  love  that  I  perform,  in  furnisliing  you  the  notice 
of  him  that  you  have  asked  of  me. 

Georoe  Angell  was  born  in  Smithfield,  11.  I.,  on  the  14th  of  March, 
1786.  His  parents  were  worthy,  respectable  people,  and  trained  him  to 
habits  of  industry ;  but  he  neglected  the  means  of  religious  instruction, 
associated  with  the  immoral  and  profane,  and,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
had  become  a  confirmed  infidel.  Shortly  after,  however,  in  the  autumn  of 
1807,  he  sufi'ered  a  severe  attack  of  illness,  which  brought  liim  to  the  bor- 
ders of  the  grave,  .showed  him  the  rottenness  of  the  system  which  he  had 
embraced,  and  led  him  to  resolve  that,  if  his  life  might  be  spared,  he  would 
give  himself  unreservedly  to  the  service  of  God.  Ilis  life  icas  spared,  but 
liis  vow  was  not  kept.     He  rushed  back  into  scenes  of  worldly  pleasure, 


goo  BAPTIST. 

though  he  could  not  any  longer  be  an  infidel,  and  his  worldly  enjoyments 
were  often  not  a  little  marred  by  deep  anxiety  and  bitter  remorse.  For 
more  than  a  year,  a  conflict  seems  to  have  been  kept  up  between  his  incli- 
nations and  his  conscience  ;  but,  at  length,  as  he  was  preparing  to  mingle 
in  a  party  of  pleasure,  the  thought  came,  like  a  thunderbolt,  into  his  mind, 
that  he  must  now  perform  his  vows  to  God,  or  God  would  say  of  him,  as 
of  Ephraim,  "  He  is  joined  to  his  idols,  let  him  alone."  From  this  time, 
for  four  weeks,  he  was  the  subject  of  the  most  fearful  agitation  of  spirit, 
and  sometimes  of  scarcely  less  than  absolute  despair, — a  state  of  mind 
which  he  has  himself  described  with  great  graphic  simplicity.  At  length, 
in  answer  to  the  earnest  cry, — "  God,  be  merciful  to  mc,  a  sinner," — 
"  Lord  save,  or  I  perish,"  the  voice  of  mercy  seemed  to  fall  upon  his  ear 
and  upon  his  heart,  assuring  him  of  a  gracious  forgiveness.  He  soon  felt 
it  his  duty  to  confess  Christ  before  men;  and,  accordingly,  on  the  first 
Sabbath  in  May,  1809,  he  was  baptized,  and  admitted  to  the  communion 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence. 

His  owQ  experience  of  the  power  of  Divine  grace  awakened  his  sympa- 
thy for  others  who  were  still  in  a  state  of  impenitence,  and  suggested  to 
him  the  idea  of  devoting  himself  to  the  Christian  ministry  ;  but  the  objec- 
tion at  once  occurred  to  him  that  he  had  not,  and  could  not  command,  the 
necessary  intellectual  preparation.  Still,  he  could  not  altogether  abandon 
the  idea  ;  and,  as  his  health  was  not  very  vigorous,  he  devoted  about  a  3'ear 
and  a  half  to  study,  and  by  this  time  was  prepared  to  teach  an  English 
school,  and  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  higher  branches  of  literature. 

On  the  11th  of  November,  1810,  Mr.  Augell  was  married  to  Lydia, 
daughter  of  Noah  Farnum,  and  granddaughter  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Wind- 
sor, formerl}'  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence. 

As  he  engaged  in  teaching  in  a  place  where  there  were  no  religious 
privileges,  he  established  a  meeting  for  prayer  and  exhortation  ;  and,  in 
taking  the  direction  of  these  exercises,  he  found  great  freedom  in  giving 
utterance  to  his  thoughts.  At  the  same  time,  he  devoted  much  of  his 
leisure  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  with  reference  not  more  to  his  own 
private  edification  than  the  religious  instruction  of  others.  At  length, 
after  many  misgivings  in  regard  to  his  qualifications,  and  much  prayer  for 
the  Divine  guidance,  he  preached  twice,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1812,  before 
the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  then  received  a  full  license  from 
them  to  preach  wherever  the  Providence  of  God  might  open  the  way. 

He  continued  in  his  school,  preaching  occasionally,  during  the  next  sum- 
mer, but,  in  the  autumn,  commenced  preaching  at  Woodstock,  Conn.,  as  a 
temporary  supply,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1813,  consented  to  take  the  pasto- 
ral charge  of  the  church  in  that  place.  He  was  ordained  on  the  28th  of 
August  following.  Here  he  continued,  labouring  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  the  people,  about  three  years,  and  meanwhile  devoting  much  time  to  the 
culture  of  his  own  mind. 

He  now  removed  to  Southbridge,  Mass.  This  town  was  incorporated 
about  this  time,  and  was  without  the  ministration  of  God's  word,  and  with- 
out any  church.  He  immediately  set  himself  to  gather  the  few  friends  of 
religion  who  were  there  into  a  church.  He  commenced  his  ministi-y  among 
them  in  June,  1816  ;  and,  in  February,  1817,  a  Baptist  church  was  orga- 


GEORGE  ANGELL.  QQ [ 

nizcd,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  niombers.  Soon  after  this,  lie  was  deeply 
aflBicted  by  the  loss  of  his  only  child,  a  boy  of  five  years ;  and  two  yearn 
later  he  experienced  a  still  heavier  affliction  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  and 
a  danghter  born  after  the  death  of  his  little  son.  These  afflictions,  though 
most  deeply  felt,  were  evidently  blessed  to  his  spiritual  growth,  and  the 
increased  usefulness  of  his  ministry.  In  1819,  he  formed  a  matrimonial 
connection  with  llebecca,  daughter  of  Paul  Thorndike,  of  Dunstable, 
Mass.,  in  whom  he  found  an  efficient  and  sympathizing  helper.  His  min- 
istry in  Southlu-idge  was,  on  the  whole,  a  highly  favoured  one.  The  years 
1818,  18'21-2"2,  and  more  especially  1824,  were  signalized  by  rich  displays 
of  Divine  grace  in  connection  with  his  labours. 

Mr.  Angell  continued  to  labour  with  unremitting  assiduity,  at  home  and 
abroad,  until  within  a  few  days  of  his  being  called  to  his  rest.  The  week 
previous  to  his  fatal  illness,  he  attended  a  Ministers'  Meeting  in  Worcester, 
in  his  usual  health.  On  the  next  Wednesda}-,  he  was  attacked  by  a  disease, 
which,  though  not  well  understood,  soon  took  on  a  threatening  aspect,  and, 
resisting  all  medical  skill,  reached  a  fatal  issue  in  four  days.  He  died  on 
Lord's  day  morning,  February  18,  1827  ;  and  it  devolved  upon  me,  on  the 
Wednesday  following,  to  preach  his  Funeral  Sermon. 

Mr.  Angell  was  elegant  in  person  and  manners.  He  was  tall  and  well 
proportioned,  and  his  whole  address  was  easy  and  prepossessing.  Without 
any  extraordinary  strength  of  mind,  he  had  talents  that  qualified  him  for 
usefulness  in  any  circumstances  in  which  he  could  be  placed.  His  disposi- 
tion was  eminently  mild  and  conciliatory.  His  sermons  were  neat  and 
perspicuous  exhibitions  of  Divine  truth,  and  his  delivery  highly  interesting, 
and  often  pathetic.  As  a  Pastor,  he  held  tlie  first  rank  ;  being  at  once 
bland,  judicious  and  faithful.  Towards  the  unkind  he  was  forbearing  ;  the 
wanderer  he  sought  and  led  back  to  the  fold;  to  the  timid  he  spoke  words 
of  encouragement,  and  to  the  sorrowful  words  of  consolation  ;  the  anxious 
inquirer  he  tenderly  guided,  and  the  neglecter  of  salvation  he  earnestly 
expostulated  with  ;  he  sustained  tottering  age,  and  admonished  wayward 
youth,  and  in  short  performed  every  duty  connected  with  his  office  with  the 
most  graceful  tenderness  and  the  most  uncompromising  fidelity.  In  his 
family  he  was  a  model  of  all  that  was  lovely  and  beautiful.  His  brethren 
in  the  ministry  were  sensible  of  his  exalted  worth,  and  mourned  deeply 
when  he  ceased  to  be  of  their  number.  He  was  the  earnest  friend  and 
active  promoter  of  the  great  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  day.  His  view.- 
of  doctrine  were  thoroughly  evangelical,  and  neither  in  his  experience  nor 
in  his  preaching,  did  he  know  any  other  foundation  of  hope  for  a  sinner 
than  the  atonement  of  Christ.  His  ruling  passion  was  to  do  good  ;  and 
the  good  which  he  actually  accomplished,  we  must  wait  for  eternity  fully  to 
reveal. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ABIAL  FISUER. 

Vol.  VI.  76 


602  BAPTIST. 

LUTHER  RICE  * 

1812—1836. 

Luther  Rice,  a  son  of  Amos  and  Sarah  Rice,  was  born  in  Nortbbor- 
ough,  Mass.,  March  25,  1783.  From  early  youth  he  was  distinguished  fur 
love  of  study,  and  a  perseverance  which  scarcely  any  obstacles  could  over- 
come. As  he  gave  evidence  of  possessing  much  more  than  ordinary  intel- 
lectual powers,  his  parents  resolved  to  give  him  a  liberal  education ;  and, 
while  he  was  preparing  for  College,  at  Leicester  Academy,  he  became 
hopefully  a  subject  of  renewing  grace,  and  connected  himself  with  the 
Congregational  Church  in  his  native  place.  In  1807,  he  joined  the  Sopho- 
more class  in  Williams'  College,  and  graduated  in  1810, — his  college  life 
having  been  not  more  distinguished  for  diligence  and  success  in  study  than 
for  growth  in  the  Christian  graces.  After  leaving  College,  he  became  a 
student  at  the  then  newly  formed  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover  ;  and, 
about  the  same  time,  united  with  five  of  his  brethren  in  a  request  to  the 
General  Association  of  Massachusetts  for  their  advice  and  assistance  in 
reference  to  their  engaging  in  a  mission  to  the  heathen ;  though  Mr.  Rice's 
name,  with  one  other,  was  subsequently  withdrawn  from  the  paper,  from 
an  apprehension  that  the  churches  might  be  deterred  from  action  by  the 
number  who  were  disposed  to  enlist  in  the  enterprise.  The  result  of  this 
application  was  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions.  On  the  6th  of  February,  1812,  Mr.  Rice,  with  four 
others, — namely,  Messrs.  Judson,  Newell,  Hall  and  Nott,  were  ordained 
as  Foreign  Missionaries,  in  the  Tabernacle  Church,  Salem, — the  Rev.  Dr. 
Woods,  of  Andover,  preaching  the  Ordination  Sermon.  A  few  days  after, 
Mr.  Rice,  in  company  with  two  of  his  missionary  associates,  sailed  from 
Philadelphia  to  Calcutta. 

Mr.  Rice,  while  making  the  voyage,  was  led  to  a  re-examination  of  the 
subject  of  Baptism,  which  resulted  in  a  full  conviction  that  the  views  of  the 
Baptists  were  scriptural  ;  and  his  colleague,  Mr.  Judson,  reached  the  same 
conclusion  about  the  same  time.  ,  Mr.  Rice  was  baptized  by  immersion,  in 
Calcutta,  on  the  1st  of  November,  about  four  months  after  his  arrival  in 
the  country. 

As  this  change  of  views  had  of  course  separated  the  two  missionaries 
from  the  Board  under  whose  auspices  they  had  gone  forth,  and  connected 
them  with  another  denomination,  it  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Rice  should  return 
to  America  for  the  purpose  of  waking  up  the  Baptist  churches  to  an  effort 
in  behalf  of  the  Pagan  nations.  He,  accordingly,  sailed  for  this  country 
in  March,  1813  ;  and  immediately  addressed  himself  to  the  object  of  his 
mission  with  great  zeal,  and  not  without  a  good  degree  of  success.  Numer- 
ous Missionary  Societies  were  organized,  chiefly  by  his  direct  instrument, 
ality,  and  in  tlie  spring  of  1814  the  Baptist  General  Convention  was  formed. 
Though  he  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  were  at  once  appointed  by  the  Con- 
vention as  their  missionaries,  it  was  deemed  expedient  that  Mr.  Rice  should 
remain  in  the  United  States  with  a  view  to  give  increased  efficiency  to  the 
♦  Memoir  of  Mr.  Rice. — MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Allen. 


LUTHER    HICK.  (303 

action  of  the  cliurolies  in  favour  of  tlic  Mi.s.-?ion.  Accordingly,  he  was 
employcil,  for  several  years,  in  visiting  almost  every  part  of  the  Union,  with 
reference  to  tliis  object,  and  the  success  of  his  efforts  was,  in  a  guod  degree, 
proportioned  to  the  zeal  and  energy  that  dictated  them. 

Mr.  Kice  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  elevating  the 
standard  of  ministerial  education  among  the  Baptists,  and  hence  he  enlisted 
with  great  zeal  for  the  establishment  of  the  Columbian  College.  He  was, 
for  several  years,  the  Agent  of  this  Institution  ;  but  the  success  of  the 
enterprise  foil  far  short  of  the  expectations  of  its  friends,  and  there  were 
not  wanting  those  who  attributed  its  temporary  failure  or  suspension  to  his 
lack  of  skill  as  a  financier,  and  consequent  indiscreet  management.  In 
1826,  the  College  was  separated  from  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  and 
from  this  time  he  ceased  to  be  the  authorized  agent  of  the  Board.  He, 
however,  still  continued  his  efforts  to  relieve  the  Institution  from  its 
embarrassments,  and  seemed  to  regard  this  as  the  mission  to  which  his 
Master  had  especially  appointed  him.  Many  fruits  of  his  labours,  it  is 
said,  are  yet  distinctly  traced  among  the  Southern  churches. 

Mr.  Itice  died  after  an  illness  of  three  weeks,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  K.  G. 
Mays,  Edgefield  District,  S.  C,  on  the  25th  of  September,  183G.  His 
remains  were  deposited  near  the  Pine  Pleasant  Baptist  Meeting  House. 
The  South  Carolina  Baptist  Convention  have  caused  a  large  marble  slab 
to  be  placed  over  his  grave. 


FROM  THE   REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

PouGHKEEPsiE,  Octobor  7,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  It  is  altogether  a  welcome  service  you  ask  of  me  to  embody 
some  personal  recollections  of  the  Rev.  Luther  Rice.  There  are  others, 
probably,  still  living,  whose  opportunities  of  observation,  in  respect  to  certain 
periods  of  his  eventful  life,  were  better  than  mine;  Avhereas  my  own  extend 
through  a  Avider  portion  of  it.  In  gleaning  up  such  illustrative  incidents  as 
my  memory  retains,  and  offering  them  as  a  contribution  to  your  work,  I  only 
perform  what  I  regard  as  an  act  of  justice  to  his  memory. 

I  first  heard  Mr.  Rice  preach  while  I  was  a  student  in  IJrown  University, 
in  1819  or  '20.  He  was  then  travelling  among  the  churches,  and,  by  his 
earnest  and  noble  appeals,  awakening  their  zeal  for  Missions  and  Ministerial 
Education.  I  remember  well  his  preaching,  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Providence,  from  that  declaration  of  Paul, — "I  am  not  mad,  most  noble 
Festus,  but  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and  sol)erness;"  and  the  main 
design  of  the  sermon  seemed  to  be  to  demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  cordially 
embracing  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  of  submitting  to  great  sacritices  for  its 
extension  and  triumph  in  the  world.  He  succeeded  fully  in  leaving  on  my 
mind,  and  I  believe  on  the  minds  of  many  others  who  heard  him,  the  impres- 
sion be  desired. 

Xear  the  close  of  my  college  course  in  1821,  an  overture  came  to  mc  from 
.\ndovcr,  Mass., — probably  at  Mr.  Rice's  instance, — to  accept  the  apppoint- 
mcnt  of  Tutor  in  the  Columbian  College,  Washington  City,  then  soon  to  be 
opened.  This  brought  me  into  close  contact  and  intimate  fraternal  relations 
with  him,  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  at  Providence.  During  tlie  autumn  of 
that  year,  I  travelled  with  him  a  few  days  in  Connecticut,  and  in  Berkshire 
County,  Mass.,  visiting  churches,  and  at  least  one  Association,  for  the  promo- 
tion of  his  object.     During  this  tour,  I  occupied  the  same  apartment  with  him 


6(34  BAPTIST. 

at  night,  ami  became  acquainted  with  his  habits  of  unseen  self-sacrificing 
effort  in  aid  of  t\e  great  cause  to  which  his  life  was  devoted.  No  matter 
where  he  might  be  quartered,  whenever  he  retired  to  his  room,  he  betook  him- 
self to  writing:  occupying  not  more  than  five  or  six  hours  in  sleep.  He  was, 
all  the  rest  of  his  time,  drafting  Reports  or  Circulars,  or  writing  letters  to  an 
immense  number  of  correspondents,  in  all  parts  of  this  country,  and  to  the 
missionaries  in  India.  When  he  left  the  room,  he  mingled  with  the  families 
of  his  entertainers  and  their  guests,  as  though  his  mind  were  entirely  free 
from  care.  His  conversation  was  agreeable,  instructive,  and  always  on  topics 
of  interest.  Readily  but  not  obtrusively  he  took  part  also  in  the  discussions 
which  incidentally  came  up  among  his  brethren;  and  it  was  easy  to  see  how 
much  his  opinions,  backed  as  they  were  with  weighty  reasons,  availed  in 
carrying  tlic  judgments  of  all  along  with  him. 

On  reaching  Washington  City  to  enter  on  my  duties,  near  the  end  of  the 
year  1821,  I  found  him  there,  over-full  of  work  and  care  for  the  College,  of 
which  he  was  Treasurer  and  Financial  Agent;  and  for  the  Missionary  Con- 
vention of  which  he  had  been,  up  to  that  time,  and  was,  for  some  years  after- 
wards, the  General  Agent.  The  College  and  Theological  department  were 
immediately  opened,  with  an  unexpected  influx  of  students,  very  gratifying 
indeed  to  the  buoyant  and  almost  unlimited  hopes  which  he  and  the  other 
founders  cherished;  but  embarrassing  at  the  same  time  by  the  demand  thus 
created  for  an  enlarged  Faculty  of  instruction,  and  by  other  onerous  expenses. 
About  one  lialf  of  the  time  I  should  think  he  spent  at  home,  toiling  with  pen 
and  voice,  with  heart  and  hand,  overtasking  his  brain  day  and  night  in  striv- 
ing to  devise  ways  and  means  for  the  pecuniary  relief  of  an  Institution 
imperilled  by  its  magnificent  success.  The  other  half  of  the  time,  he  wouUl 
go  forth  and  travel  day  and  night  on  his  agency,  wherever  help  was  attainable. 

In  the  College,  too,  where  I  held  the  three-fold  relation  of  Senior  Tutor, 
Librarian,  and  Student  in  Theologj^,  he  would  sometimes  sit  down  and  devote 
half  an  hour  to  giving  me  excellent  instruction  and  advice.  1  cannot  help 
thinking  that  his  over-work  in  matters  merely  secular  was  very  injurious  to 
his  spiritual  i)eace  and  progress.  To  this  I  attribute,  in  a  great  degree,  the 
temporary  decay  or  obscuration  of  tliat  fervent  piety,  which  marked  the 
earlier  and  later  part  of  his  career. 

An  episode  of  most  delightful  character  was  the  return  of  the  first  Mrs. 
Judson,  one  of  his  earliest  and  most  beloved  friends,  who  came  to  Baltimore 
and  Washington  for  the  benefit  of  her  health,  and  passed  the  winter  of  1822- 
23.  Very  noticeable  was  the  improving  influence  of  her  society,  and  her 
queenly  dignity  of  deportment,  on  Mr.  Rice.  It  seemed  to  carry  him  back  at 
once  to  those  early  and  more  spiritual  days  of  their  association  in  the  mission; 
and,  pressing  as  was  the  necessity  for  his  remaining  in  this  country  to  awaken 
the  zeal  and  combine  the  energies  of  the  Baptist  Churches,  both  for  the  pro.se- 
cution  of  the  missionarj-  enterprise  and  for  the  promotion  of  ministerial 
education,  one  could  not  but  regret,  for  his  own  sake  especially,  tliat  he  had 
not  been  allowed  to  return  to  the  foreign  field,  to  live,  and  labour,  and  die 
among  the  heathen. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  collegiate  year  1823,  ni}-  health  failed,  and  1 
retired  from  the  post  I  had  occupied ;  but,  by  correspondence  and  occasional 
interviews,  my  connection  with  Mr.  Rice  was  still  continued.  I  could  not  but 
sympathize  with  hhn  very  deeplj'-  in  the  embarrassments  through  which  the 
College  subsequently  passed.  In  the  complication  of  its  affairs,  it  drew  down 
the  Mission  also,  and  induced  the  necessity  of  sundering  the  ties  which  had 
united  them.  This  resulted  in  removing  the  Mission  Board  from  Washington 
to  Boston  in  1826,  and  separating  entirely  the  educational  from  the  mission 
labours  and  expenses.     This  became   obviously  necessary   from  the  fact  that 


LUTHER  RICE.  gQo 

educational  iustitutions  of  similar  grade  and  design  began  to  be  mulLiplied  in 
different  parts  of  our  widely  extended  countrj'. 

Not  unnaturally  there  was  some  disposition  on  the  part  of  those  who  liail 
been  alii<e  eonnccted  with  the  management  of  these  concerns,  to  throw  the 
blame  on  one  another.  This  produced  some  coolness,  and  almost  avulsion, 
between  himself  and  some  whom  he  had  long  loved  and  honoured.  l>ut  he 
bore  himself  through  all  these  trials  with  a  dignided  consistency,  combining, 
in  his  behaviour,  with  the  loftiness  of  Christian  principle,  the  meekness  and 
the  ingenuous  concessions  of  childlike  simplicity.  From  this  period  till  his 
death, — about  ten  years, — he  demonstrated  to  all  beholders  how  ardent,  perse- 
vering and  consistent  was  his  love  for  the  Mission,  the  College,  and  the 
rapidly  increasing  body  of  Baptist  Churches  among  which — especially  those 
in  the  Southern  States — he  laboured  most  assiduously  in  promoting  the 
spiritual  growth  of  Christians,  and  particularly  in  elevating  tlic  tone  of 
jirinciple,  feeling,  and  action,  in  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  Avorld. 
His  earnest  advocacy  of  tlie  circulation  of  excellent  books,  esj)ecially  such 
memoirs  as  those  of  Mrs.  Judson,  Mr.  Uoardman,  and  Andrew  Fuller,  in 
which  also  he  personally  engaged, — thus  antedating  by  several  years  the 
work  of  colportage  in  oui*  land,  deserves  special  mention  in  this  connection, 
as  indicating  his  intelligent  appreciation  of  what  tlie  exigencies  of  thecountry 
and  the  age  demanded. 

A  few  years  subsequent  to  his  death,  I  travelled  quite  extensively  over  the 
scene  of  his  later  labours,  engaged  in  a  somewhat  similar  enterprise;  and  it 
was  at  once  affecting  and  refreshing  to  my  spirit  to  meet  everywhere,  and 
among  all  classes  of  Christians,  such  warm,  decided  and  various  testimonies 
to  his  eminent  spirituality,  and  his  indefatigable  labours  for  promoting  the 
cause  of  Christ.  Fragrant  is  the  memory  of  this  excellent  man  both  in  our 
own  and  in  heathen  lands. 

IIow  vividly  does  this  attempt  to  recall  one  I  so  much  revered,  bring  his 
person,  and  voice,  and  whole  manner  and  bearing  before  my  mind!  I  seem  to 
see  him  rising  in  the  pulpit,  not  less  than  six  feet  in  height, — rather  portly 
but  not  corpulent, — his  small  l)ut  pleasant  eyes  passing  over  the  assenildy, 
as  with  great  deliberation,  and  perfect  self-pos.session,  and  a  voice  reaching 
distinctly  the  remotest  hearer,  he  proceeds  to  illustrate  and  impress  his  sub- 
ject, not  unfrequcntly  making  appeals,  characterized  by  a  subduing  pathos. 

Or  I  see  him  in  the  family  circle  at  the  hour  of  evening  prayer,  as,  with  his 
eyes  nearly  closed  or  lifted  upward,  he  commences  singing  some  familiar 
hymn.  Or  I  see  him  when  battered,  jaded  and  worn,  he  had  just  returned 
from  a  long  journey,  in  wliich  he  had  travelled  day  and  night  for  forty  or 
sixty  hours;  and  if  success  had  crowned  these  Herculean  efforts,  how  genial 
would  be  the  smile,  how  grateful  the  acknowledgment  tliat  '«  the  Lord  had 
l)Ut  it  into  the  heart  of  some  generous  benefactor  to  aid  his  own  cau.sc."  Or 
once  more,  I  see  him  in  trouble — the  skies  are  dark;  friends  are  few;  coldness 
and  alienation  have  been  witnessed  where  something  better  was  expected — 
Brother  Rice,  with  one  of  his  emphatic  and  deliberate  utterances,  says, — 
"  Well  if  the  Lord  docs  not  interpose  and  turn  these  hearts,  which  are  in  his 
own  hand,  we  may  be  sure  He  has  infinitely  good  reasons  for  not  doing  it." 

True  he  had  his  imperfections  and  faults;  but  his  noble  spirit,  his  sterling 
worth,  his  earnest  devotion  to  the  best  of  causes,  have  given  him  a  high  place 
in  my  respect  and  affection. 

Yours  truly, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


606  BAPTIST. 

FROM  THE  KEV.  R.  II.  NEALE,  D.  D. 

Boston,  December  13,  1853. 

My  dear  Sir:  When  I  was  a  boy  of  sixteen,  living  in  Conneclicut,  and  with 
no  means  of  defraying  the  exi:)enses  of  my  education,  a  letter  came  to  my 
Pastor  from  the  Kcv.  Luther  Kice,  saying, — "  Tell  the  young  man  to  come  to 
Columbian  College,  Washington  city,  and  I  I'eckon  we  shall  be  able  to  put 
him  through."  1,  accordingly,  went  to  Washington,  and  found  Mr.  Rice  a 
warm  friend,  and  ready  to  aid  me  in  the  severe  struggle  with  poverty  through 
which  I  then,  and  in  subsequent  years,  passed  in  preparing  for  the  Christian 
ministry. 

Mr.  Rice  I  remember  as  a  sociable,  kind,  good-hearted  man.  If  he  heard 
any  one,  especially  a  brother  in  the  ministry,  speaking  disparagingly  of  the 
pulpit  performances  of  another,  he  would  make  an  apology  for  the  brother 
who  was  criticised,  and  add, — "  Go  and  do  better  if  you  can." 

He  was  remarkable  for  his  patience  and  forbearance  under  difficulties.  In 
the  year  1826,  a  violent  storm  of  opposition  to  him  arose  in  the  Bai)tist  Con- 
vention, which  then  held  its  sessions  in  Oliver  Street,  New  York.  He  sus- 
tained himself,  however,  partly  perhaps  by  the  justness  of  his  cause,  but 
princij^ally  by  his  imperturbable  good-nature.  He  would  insist  upon  it  that 
his  opponents  were  good  men,  and  would  allow  that  there  was  some  occasion 
for  their  strictures  upon  his  public  conduct;  "but,"  said  he,  "Brethren, 
don't  kill  a  man,  because,  in  his  zeal  for  the  College,  he  has  committed  some 
imprudences."  He  M'as  devotedly  attached  to  the  Columbian  College.  All 
his  virtues  and  all  his  faults  were  consecrated  to  that  institution.  His  old 
horse, — Columbus,  named  after  the  College,  rather  than  in  honour  of  the 
great  navigator,  and  harnessed  in  an  old  rickety  sulky,  was  constantly  on 
the  go.  Columbus  was  every  where  known  almost  as  familiarly  as  his 
master;  and  whenever  he  appeared  at  the  door  of  minister,  merchant,  <,r 
planter,  it  was  understood  that  a  donation  was  wanted  for  the  College. 

Mr.  Rice  Avas  a  very  eflective  i^rcacher — natural,  earnest,  self-possos.sed,  lie 
never  spoke  without  having  something  to  say.  His  sermons,  thougli  studied, 
were  not  written;  and  he  delivered  them  as  one  who  felt  deeply  what  he  was 
saying.  There  Avas  no  forced  earnestness,  no  clerical  look  or  tone,  but  his 
whole  demeanour  in  the  pulpit  indicated  what  I  have  no  doubt  was  his  true 
character, — an  honest  man  and  a  sincere  Christian.  There  was  one  circum- 
stance in  respect  to  his  preaching  that  was  somewhat  peculiar — though  riding 
habitually  from  place  to  place,  he  did  not  repeat  the  same  sermons.  It  was 
his  practice  for  years  to  take  a  new  text,  and  preach  a  new  discourse, 
each  successive  time  that  he  officiated  in  public.  lie  made  it  a  rule  also  to 
select  his  text  in  the  order  of  chapters,  until  he  had  thus  preached  entirely 
through  the  New  Testament. 

Mr.  Rice's  good-nature  and  business  habits  were  somewhat  unlavourablc  to 
that  solemnity  and  spiritual  fervour,  which  are  ever  desirable,  especially  in  a 
clergyman.  But  in  this  respect  he  improved  with  advancing  years.  1  never 
heard  his  moral  or  Christian  integrity  called  in  question.  AV'hen  he  died,  he 
left  no  property  except  "Columbus  and  the  sulky,"  Avhich,  in  fulfilment  of 
the  maxim, — "  the  ruling  passion  strong  in  death," — he  bequeathed  to  the 
Columbian  College. 

Mr.  Rice  was  a  large,  portly  man,  of  an  open  and  pleasant  countenance,  but 
not  of  highl}^  cultivated  manners.  Whether  or  not  the  fact  of  his  having 
always  lived  a  bachelor  may  not  have  had  some  influence  upon  his  social 
habits,  I  will  not  take  it  upon  myself  to  determine. 

As  to  the  general  results  of  his  labours,  it  is  difficult  even  now  to  form  an 
intelligent  estimate.     Though  a  man  of  great  frankness  and  transparency,  his 


LUTHER  RICE.  QQ'J 

peculiar  course  was  regarded  by  man}',  in  his  lifetime,  as  a  mystery  and  a 
riddle.  «'  How  is  it,"  said  one  of  his  brethren  to  him  one  day,  "  that  you 
who  were  made  for  a  minister  or  a  missionary,  should  devote  your  whole  life 
to  begging  money  for  that  College?"  «'  AVell,"  said  Mr.  liice,  slirugging  liis 
shoulders,  and  putting  on  a  pleasant  and  shrewd  look, — «'  I  am  a  mastery  to 
myself — all  I  can  say  is,  that  it  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  raise  up  just 
such  a  man  as  Luther  Rice."  Ilis  influence  was  very  much  that  of  a  pioneer. 
He  started  great  enterprises  that,  but  for  him,  would  scarcely  have  been  com- 
menced with  so  much  vigour.  It  was  thus  with  the  Columbian  College,  and 
the  Foreign  ^lissionary  cause  in  our  denomination.  But  he  had  less  power  to 
steer  the  ship  than  to  build  and  launch  it.  Hence  his  influence  is  sometimes 
lost  sight  of,  as  it  has  mingled  with  that  of  good  and  more  careful  men. 
though  not  more  efficient  or  sincere,  that  have  succeeded  him. 

I  have  myself  the  fullest  confidence  that  Mr.  Rice  was  indeed  raised  up  of 
God  to  perform  an  important  work.  The  good  influence  which  his  labours  in 
connection  with  the  Columbian  College  have  exerted  and  still  exert,  it  is  not 
easy  to  estimate.  So  also  his  influence  on  the  Mission  continued  to  be  felt 
favourably,  after  he  himself  left  the  field.  He  wrote  letters  of  encouragement 
to  Judson,  and  being  so  familiar  with  and  so  interested  in  what  Judson  and 
his  associates  were  doing,  his  journeys  and  begging  expeditions  were  made 
subservient  to  the  diffusion  of  missionary  intelligence  and  the  increase  of 
missionary  zeal.  The  young  men  who  became  acquainted  with  him  at  the 
College,  cherish  a  kind  and  grateful  remembrance  of  him;  and  if  no  other 
lesson  has  been  learned  from  his  example,  that  of  patience  and  perseverance 
in  difficulties,  "bating  not  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope,"  is  indelibly  impressed 
upon  us. 

Yours  very  trul}',  and  with  great  respect, 

ROLLIN  n.  NEALE. 


ADONIRAM  JUDSON,  D.  D.* 

1812—1850. 

Adoniram  Judson  was  a  descendant,  in  the  sixth  generation,  of 
William  Judson,  wlio  came  from  Yorkshire,  England,  to  this  country,  in 
1634,  and  settled  first  at  Concord,  Mass.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
Rev.  Adoniram  and  Abigail  (Brown)  Judson,  and  was  born  in  Maiden. 
Mass.,  on  the  9th  of  August,  1788,  His  father  was  a  Congregational 
minister  successively  at  Maiden,  "Wcnhani,  and  Plymouth,  Mass.;  and  was 
dismissed  from  the  latter  place  in  1817,  on  account  of  a  change  in  his 
views  on  the  subject  of  Baptism.  He  died  at  Scituate,  Mass.,  November 
25,  1820,  aged  seventy-six. 

Adoniram,  the  son,  was  unusually  precocious  in  his  intellectual  develop- 
ments, insomuch  that,  at  the  age  of  three  years,  he  was  able  to  read  in 
the  Bible.  Even  as  a  child  he  was  remarkable  for  self-reliance,  and  was 
generally  the  acknowledged  leader  in  the  little  circles  of  his  friends  and 
playmates.  In  August,  1804,  when  he  was  in  his  sixteenth  year,  he 
joined  the  iSophomorc  class  in  Brown  University.  Here  he  was  distin- 
guished for  diligent  and  successful  study,  and,  at  the  close  of  his  collegiate 
•  Wayland's  Memoir.— Conant's  Eameat  Man.— Missionary  Heroes  and  Martyrs. 


608  BAPTIST. 

course,  in  1807,  received  the  highest  honours  of  his  class;  and  that,  not- 
withstanding he  was  absent  from  College,  a  part  of  the  time, — engaged  in 
teaching  a  school  in  Plymouth. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation,  Mr.  Judson  opened  a  private  school 
in  Plymouth,  Avhere  his  parents  then  resided.  Early  the  next  year,  (1808,) 
he  published  a  work,  entitled  "Elements  of  English  Grammar ;"  and,  in 
the  course  of  the  following  summer,  another,  entitled  "  The  Young  Ladies' 
Arithmetic."  Both  these  were  prepared  in  a  few  months,  and  in  connec- 
tion with  his  labours  as  a  teacher. 

During  his  college  course,  he  formed  an  unfortunate  intimacy  with  a 
young  man  in  the  class  before  him,  by  the  name  of  E ,  who  was  dis- 
tinguished for  amiable  qualities  and  fine  talents  and  accomplishments,  but 
was  a  skeptic  in  religion.  Judson,  under  his  influence,  became  an  infidel ; 
and  when,  at  the  close  of  his  college  course,  he  revealed  the  fact  to  his 
parents,  they  were  both  overwhelmed  with  distress;  but  he  found  it  easier 
to  dispose  of  his  father's  arguments  than  of  his  mother's  expostulations  and 
tears.  Shortly  after  making  this  disclosure, — having  closed  his  school  at 
Plymouth, — he  set  out,  in  August,  1808,  on  a  tour  through  the  Northern 
States.  On  his  way,  he  stopped  at  the  house  of  his  uncle,  the  Rev. 
Ephraim  Judson,  of  Sheffield,  and,  though  his  uncle  was  absent,  he  found 
his  place  occupied  by  a  very  pious  young  man,  whose  conversation,  showing 
at  once  great  sincerity  and  a  solemn  and  gentle  earnestness,  did  not  hclj) 
to  make  his  infidelity  set  the  more  easily  upon  him. 

The  first  night  after  he  left  Sheffield,  he  stopped  at  a  country  inn,  and 
was  told  by  the  landlord,  as  he  lighted  him  to  his  chamber,  that  there  was 
in  the  adjoining  room  a  young  man  dangerously  ill,  who  probably  would 
not  survive  the  night  ;  but  that  he  hoped  that  it  would  not  occasion  him 
any  uneasiness.  Judson,  however,  was  kept  awake,  not  merely  by  the 
movements  of  the  watchers,  or  the  groans  of  the  sufferer,  but  especiallj-  by 
his  own  reflections  on  the  condition  of  the  dying  man.  He  could  not  but 
ask  himself, — "Is  he  prepared  to  die?" — and  the  urgency  with  which  this 
(juestion  kept  returning  upon  his  conscience,  revealed  to  him  the  utter 
shallowness  of  his  philosophy.  He  tried  to  persuade  himself  that  it  was 
only  a  sickly  imagination  that  could  suggest  such  an  inquiry  ;  and  he  asked 
himself  what  his   late   companions,    especially  his   gifted  and  witty  friend 

E ,    would  say   of  such  weakness ;    but   still  the    one    great   question 

whether  the  sick  man  was  prepared  to  encounter  the  unknown  and  awful 
future  kept  him  restless  and  unhappy.  But,  after  a  night  which  had 
brought  little  or  no  repose  to  him,  the  morning  came,  and  its  bright  and 
clieerful  sun  dispelled  all  his  superstitious  illusions.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
the  landlord,  he  inquired  concerning  the  sick  man,  and  was  told  that  he 
was  dead.  "  Do  you  know  who  he  was?" — said  Judson — "  Oh  yes," 
replied  the  landlord,   "he  was  a  young  man  from  Providence  College, — a 

very  fine  fellow — his  name  was  E ."     Judson  was  completely  stunned 

by  the  discovery.  He  could  turn  his  thoughts  to  no  other  subject ;  and 
the  words  "Dead!  lost!  lost!"  were  ringing  in  his  ears  continually. 
His  infidelity  had  now  gone  to  the  winds.  He  felt  that  religion  was  a 
momentous  reality,  and  that  he  differed  from  his  friend  only  in  that  he  was 
yet  among  the  living.     In  a  state  not  only  of  deep  gloom,  but  of  absolute 


ADONIRAM  JUDSOX.  g09 

despair,  he  aliaiuloncd  the  iJoa  of  continuing  his  journey,  and  directed  his 
course  toward  his  father's  house. 

On  his  return  to  Plymouth,  in  September,  though  l>e  liad  not  found  rest 
to  his  troubled  spirit,  his  mind  was  still  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  personal  religion.  The  idea  of  becoming  a  student  in  the  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary  was  now  suggested  to  him,  and  he  was  at  first  half 
inclined  to  fall  in  with  it ;  but,  upon  reflection,  he  dismissed  it,  at  least  for 
the  time,  and  engaged  as  an  assistant  teacher  in  Boston.  This  situation, 
however,  ho  soon  relinquished,  and  proceeded  to  Andovor  to  connect  him- 
self witli  the  infant  Seminary.  He  entered,  not  as  a  professor  of  religion 
and  candidate  for  the  ministry,  but  as  one  earnestly  seeking  to  come  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  As  he  entered  at  once  upon  the  studies  of  the 
second  year,  he  must  have  already  made  considerable  proficiency  in  the 
original  languages  of  the  Scriptures. 

At  this  period,  Mr.  Judson's  n)ind  was  far  from  being  settled  on  the 
great  question  of  the  evidences  of  Divine  Revelation.  His  deistical  pre- 
judices still  clung  to  him,  and  his  mind  did  not  open  readily  to  the  light 
of  truth.  But,  after  the  diligent  inquiries  and  painful  struggles  of  a  few 
weeks, — amidst  the  important  helps  which  Andover  afforded,  he  gradually 
emerged  from  his  state  of  doubt  and  perplexity,  and  not  only  gave  an 
intelligent  assent  to  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  but,  as  he 
believed,  devoted  himselt  ^vith  full  purpose  of  lieart,  to  the  service  and 
glory  of  his  Redeemer.  On  the  28th  of  May,  1809,  he  made  a  public 
profession  of  religion,  and  joined  the  Third  Congregational  Church  in 
Plymouth,  of  which  his  father  was  then  Pastor. 

In  June,  1809,  he  received  and  declined  an  appointment  to  a  Tutorship 
in  Brown  University. 

In  September  following,  he  met  with  Dr.  Buchanan's  celebrated  Sermon, 
entitled  "  The  Star  in  the  East;"  and  this  suggested  to  him  the  inquiry 
whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  devote  his  life  to  the  missionary  work.  The 
result  of  his  mature  reflection  on  the  subject  was  that,  in  February,  1810, 
he  resolved  to  become  a  missionary  to  the  heathen.  Those  to  whom  he 
first  communicated  his  purpose,  discouraged  him,  but  he  at  length  found 
several  of  his  fellow-students,  who  not  only  sympathized  in  his  general 
views  of  the  importance  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  but  were  willing  to 
become  associated  with  him  in  the  mission  he  was  contemplating. 

As  there  was  then  no  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  this  country, 
under  whose  auspices  he  could  engage  in  the  work  upon  which  his  heart 
was  fixed,  he  conceived  the  design  of  offering  himself  for  the  patronage  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society.  He,  accordingly,  wrote  to  the  Directors 
of  that  Society  on  the  subject,  and,  in  reply,  received  an  invitation  to  visit 
England,  that  he  might  obtain  in  person  the  desired  information,  with 
reference  to  ulterior  arrangements. 

But  circumstances  now  occurred  at  home,  that  were  thought  to  super- 
sede the  necessity  of  carrying  out  this  project.  Having  learned  from  his 
associates  at  Andover,  who  had  mutually  pledged  themselves  to  the  mis- 
sionary work  while  in  Williams  College,  something  of  the  character  and 
views  of  Gordon  Hall,  then  at  Woodbury,  Conn.,  Mr.  Judson  addressed  a 
letter  to  him,  which  brought  him  soon  after  to  Andover.     The  result  of  a 

Vol.  YI.  77 


glO  BAPTIST. 

conference  which  then  took  place  between  JuJson,  Nott,  Newell,  Hall, 
llichards,  ami  Kice,  was  that  they  resolved  to  make  known  their  wishes  to 
the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  at  its  next  meeting,  at  Bradford, 
in  June,  1810.  Judson  drew  up  a  paper  setting  forth  their  wishes, 
and  requesting  advice  as  to  the  propriety  of  cherishing  them,  and  the 
proper  means  of  carrying  them  into  effect.  This  was  the  incipient  step 
towards  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions. 

In  September,  1810,  Mr.  Judson  completed  his  course  of  study  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Andover.  On  the  17th  of  May  preceding,  while 
on  a  visit  to  Vermont,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Orange  Congrega- 
tional Association  of  that  State. 

Mr.  Judson  had  expected  that  he  and  his  associates  would  immediately 
receive  an  appointment  as  Missionaries  ;  but  the  Board,  being  without  the 
requisite  funds  to  send  them  forth,  contented  themselves  with  merely 
approving  and  recommending  their  project.  Mr.  Judson,  not  satisfied  with 
the  delay  which  seemed  likely  to  ensue,  if  they  were  to  wait  for  the  further 
action  of  the  American  Board,  fell  back  upon  the  invitation  he  had  received 
from  England,  and  suggested  the  expediency  of  making  an  attempt  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  He  was. 
accordingly,  authorized  to  visit  London,  and  ascertain  how  far  a  joint  man- 
agement of  missions  by  the  two  Societies  would  be  practicable.  He 
embarked  for  England  in  January,  1811,  and  three  weeks  after  was  cap- 
tured by  a  French  privateer,  from  which  he  was  removed,  after  several 
weeks,  only  to  be  confined  in  a  prison  at  Bayonne.  By  the  interposition 
of  an  American  gentleman,  he  was  released,  on  his  parole,  obtained  a  pass- 
port, and  reached  London  early  in  May.  Here  he  was  received  with  every 
mark  of  Chri.stian  kindness  ;  and,  though  lie  found  that  the  plan  he  had  in  view 
was  impracticable,  yet  the  Directors  of  the  London  Societ}^  expressed  a 
willingness  to  accept  him  and  his  associates  as  their  own  missionaries,  to 
be  employed  in  India.  After  this,  he  visited  the  Missionary  Seminary  at 
Gosport,  under  the  care  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Bogue,  to  confer  with  him  on 
the  great  subject  which  then  chiefly  occupied  his  thoughts.  After  remain- 
ing in  England  for  about  six  weeks,  he  embarked,  on  the  18th  of  June, 
1811,  atGravcsend,  in  the  ship  Augustus,  bound  to  New  York.  He  arrived 
in  New  York  on  the  17th  of  August  following. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  held  at  Worcester, 
in  September,  there  were  some  indications  that  the  enterprise  might  be 
subjected  to  still  further  delay ;  but  Mr.  Judson,  who  was  present,  urged 
that  there  should  be  no  time  lost,  especially  as  the  impending  war  with  Eng- 
land might  otherwise  occasion  a  protracted  postponement,  if  not  an  utter 
abandonment,  of  the  mission.  The  result  of  their  deliberations  on  tin- 
subject  was  that  Messrs.  Judson,  Hall,  Newell,  and  Nott  were  appointed 
by  the  Board  as  its  Missionaries  to  the  Burman  Empire. 

A  short  time  before  the  meeting  of  the  Board  at  Worcester,  Mr.  Jud- 
son, being  on  a  visit  to  Salem,  was  introduced  to  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Bollcs  ; 
and,  in  conversation  with  him,  he  accidentally  expressed  the  wish  that  the 
American  Baptists  might  follow  the  good  example  of  their  brethren  in 
England   in  engaging   in  the  work  of  Foreign   Missions.     Dr.  Bulles  was 


ADONIRAM  JUDSON  QH 

deeply  impressed  by  the  remark,  and  did  not  fail  to  turn  it  to  good  account. 
Thougli  the  ]iaptists  of  tlds  country  were  then  weak,  the  Salem  Bible 
Translation  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  at  once  formed,  with  the 
immediate  view  of  assisting  the  Baptist  Mission  at  Serampore,  but  with 
the  ulterior  purpose  of  sending  missionaries  to  the  heathen  from  this  country 
as  soon  as  circumstances  should  render  it  practicable. 

While  Mr.  Judson  was  attending  the  meeting  of  the  General  Association 
at  Bradford,  the  preceding  year,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Ann  Hazel- 
tine, — who  afterwards  became  his  wife.  She  was  a  lady  of  the  most  amia- 
ble dispositions,  and  of  fine  talents  and  accomplishments,  and  was  fitted  to 
grace  an  elevated  position  in  refined  society  ;  but  her  earnest  attachment 
to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  her  deep  interest  in  the  salvation  of  the  heathen, 
reconciled  her  prospectively  to  all  the  sacrifices  involved  in  missionary  life  ; 
and  she,  accordingly,  accepted  Mr.  Judson's  proposals  of  marriage.  They 
were  married  on  the  5th  of  February,  1812  ;  and,  on  the  day  following, 
Mr.  Judson  and  his  four  *  colleagues  were  ordained  at  Salem, — Dr.  Woods. 
of  Andover,  preaching  the  Ordination  Sermon. 

Messrs.  Judson  and  Newell,  with  their  wives,  sailed  from  Salem  on  the 
19th  of  February,  in  the  bark  Caravan,  for  Calcutta,  and  the  rest  of  the 
company  from  Philadelphia,  on  the  18th,  for  the  same  destination.  The 
Caravan  arrived  at  Calcutta  on  the  18th  of  June.  While  they  waited  a 
few  days  at  Serampore,  by  invitation  of  Dr.  Carey,  for  the  arrival  of  their 
associates,  they  received  a  summons  to  Calcutta,  where  a  Government  order 
was  served  upon  them  to  return  immediately  to  America.  This  seemed 
almost  like  a  death-blow  to  their  fondest  hopes.  To  establish  a  mis.sion  in 
the  Burman  Empire,  their  original  destination,  was  at  that  time  quite 
impossible  ;  and  to  leave  Calcutta  seemed  like  giving  up  their  whole  enter- 
prise. They  finally  obtained  leave  to  find  a  refuge  in  the  I^le  of  France. 
There  was  a  vessel  then  in  the  river  about  to  sail  thither,  but  as  only  two 
persons  could  be  accommodated,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell  embarked  in  her, 
while  the  rest  were  to  follow  by  the  first  opportunity.  Mr.  Judson 
remained  in  Calcutta  about  two  months,  and  during  this  period  his  mind 
underwent  an  important  change  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  which  brought 
him  into  other  relations  as  a  missionary,  and  was  the  occasion  of  enlist- 
ing a  new  and  distinct  agency  in  the  great  cause  of  the  world's  renovation. 

Mr.  Judson,  while  on  his  voyage,  had  had  his  attention  directed  particu- 
larly to  the  subject  of  Baptism,  as  he  thought  it  not  improbable  that  he 
might  have  occasion  to  meet  the  Baptist  mis!?iouaries  in  an  argument  on 
that  subject.  He  continued  his  investigation  after  his  arrival  at  Calcutta, 
and  it  resulted,  as  it  would  seem,  ver}'  unexpectedly  to  himself,  in  hi.« 
adoption  of  the  views  of  the  Baptists.  When  his  wife  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  she  was  at  first  greatly  distressed,  but  sub- 
sequently became  satisfied  that  he  had  reached  the  truth.  They  were  both 
baptized  by  immersion  on  the  6th  of  September.  3Ir.  Rice,  another  of 
the  company,  soon  after  followed  their  example.  In  consequence  of  this 
change,  they  immediately  resigned  their  commission  from  the  American 
Board,  and,  through  letters  addressed  to  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  and  Dr. 
Bulles,  of  Salem,  appealed  to  American  Baptists  for  .sympathy  and  aid. 

•  Mr.  Rice  bad  been  subseqaentlj  appointed. 


512  BAPTIST. 

The  East  India  Company  having,  by  this  time,  become  jealous  of  their 
protracted  stay  at  Calcutta,  they  were  ordered  to  take  passage  immediately 
for  England  ;  and  the  best  they  could  do,  in  the  emergency,  was  to  embark 
in  a  vessel,  then  lying  in  the  river,  that  was  about  to  sail  for  the  Isle  of 
France.  But,  after  they  had  been  two  days  on  their  passage,  an  order 
came,  arresting  the  vessel,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  on  board  passengers 
ordered  to  England.  After  remaining  on  shore  three  days,  however,  they 
received  a  pass  from  some  unknown  hand,  autliorizing  them  to  return  to  the 
ship  they  had  left;  and,  after  rowing  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  they 
succeeded  in  overtaking  her  at  Saugur,  where  she  was  lying  at  anchor. 
They  reached  the  Isle  of  France  on  the  17th  of  January. 

Here  they  were  treated  with  great  kindness  by  the  Governor,  and  were 
assured  of  his  protection  and  favour,  if  they  chose  to  remain  and  prosecute 
their  work  ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  he  had  received  a  notice  from  the 
East  Indian  Government  to  keep  an  eye  upon  them  as  suspicious  persons. 
They  did  not,  however,  regard  that  as  a  desirable  field  ;  and,  after  some 
deliberation,  they  determined  to  attempt  a  mission  on  Pinang,  or  Prince  of 
Wales'  Island,  and  with  this  view  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judsou  embarked  for 
^Madras.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Hice  returned  to  America  to  secure,  if  possible, 
some  permanent  arrangement  for  their  support.  The  result  was  the  forma- 
tion of  tlie  Baptist  General  Convention,  since  reorganized  as  the  American 
Baptist  Missioiianj  Union.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  were  adopted  as  their 
missionaries,  while  Mr.  Rice  was  retained  in  this  country  as  the  domestic 
agent  of  the  Convention. 

When  the  missionaries  reached  Madras,  they  were  met  by  the  intelli- 
gence that  an  order  had  been  issued  for  the  transportation  of  the  American 
missionaries  from  Bombay  to  England ;  and,  apprehending  a  similar  order 
iu  respect  to  themselves,  they  determined  to  escape  from  the  British 
dominions  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  They,  therefore,  sailed  for  Jlan- 
goon.  the  principal  fort  in  the  Burman  Empire,  and  arrived  tliere,  under 
most  disheartening,  not  to  say  appalling,  circumstances,  in  July,  1813. 
Mrs.  Judson's  health  had  suffered  severely  from  the  fatigues  and  perils  to 
which  she  liad  been  exposed,  so  that  she  was  barely  able  to  get  on  shore. 
They  found  shelter  in  the  mission-house,  which  had  been  occupied  for  about 
five  years  by  English  missionaries. 

Mr.  Judson  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Burmese  language  for 
three  years;  and,  though  he  was  obliged  to  study  without  grammar,  dic- 
tionary, or  a  teacher  speaking  English,  he  so  thorouglily  mastered  the 
language  that  even  a  native  would  scarcely  have  suspected  that  it  was  not 
his  mother  tongue.  A  printing  press  having  been  received  as  a  gift  from 
the  Serampore  Mission,  he  issued  a  Tract  entitled  "A  Summary  of  the 
Christian  Religion, "  and  a  Catechism,  and,  shortly  after,  a  translation  of 
the  Gospel  by  Matthew. 

In  1817,  it  was  resolved  to  commence  public  preaching ;  and,  in  Decem- 
ber of  that  year,  Mr.  Judson  sailed  for  Chittagong,  in  Arracan,  to  obtain 
the  services  of  a  native  Christian  as  an  assistant.  This  enterprise  wa.s 
attended  with  many  embarrassments  and  perils,  and  did  not,  after  all, 
accomplish  the  desired  end  ;  but  Mr.  Judson  still  went  forward  with  liis 
design  to  attempt  public  preaching.     In   April,   1819, — a  small   building 


•   ADONIRAM    JUDSOX.  013 

for  the  purpose  having  been  erected, — the  public  worship  of  the  living 
!iud  true  God  was  held,  for  the  first  time,  in  tlie  Burmese  language.  The 
first  liminan  converted  to  the  Cluistian  faith  was  Moung  Nau,  who 
received  Baptism  at  the  hands  of  jMr.  Judson,  on  the  l2Tth  of  June  follow- 
ing. Two  additional  converts  were  received  to  the  fellowship  (if  the 
Church  in  November.  Soon  after  this,  a  higlily  intelligent  man,  by  the 
name  of  Moung  Shwa  Gnong,  avowed  his  belief  in  Christianity  ;  and  this 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Vice'roy  in  a  way  that  seemed  to  threaten 
the  very  existence  of  the  Mission.  It  was  deemed  expedient,  in  tliese 
circumstances,  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  King  ;  and  Mr.  Judson  and  Mr. 
Colman,  another  missionary  who  had  gone  out  iu  1818,  made  a  journey  to 
Amarapoora,  the  capital  of  the  Empire,  with  a  view  to  make  explanations 
to  His  Majesty,  and,  if  possible,  to  secure  his  favour.  The  mission,  how- 
ever, proved  abortive  ;  for,  though  the  King  allowed  them  to  appear  l>i;fore 
him,  he  gave  them  anything  but  a  gracious  reception. 

They  returned  to  Rangoon  with  an  intention  to  remove  to  the  border  of 
Arracan,  to  a  Burman  population  under  British  protection  ;  1}ut,  by  the 
earnest  request  of  the  three  or  four  converls,  whose  courage  and  zeal  had 
now  become  equal  to  any  emergency,  they  determined  that  they  would  not, 
for  the  present,  change  their  residence ;  though  Mr,  Colman  fixed  his 
abode  at  Chittagong,  to  provide  a  retreat  for  them  in  case  of  danger. 

In  the  summer  of  1820,  Mrs.  Judson's  health  being  in  a  precarious 
state,  it  was  judged  proper  that  she  should  try  the  effect  of  a  voyage  to 
Bengal  ;  and  this  she  did, — her  husband  accompanying  her.  Tliey  were 
absent  about  six  months,  and  returned  to  Rangoon,  in  January,  IS'il,  to 
the  great  joy  of  the  little  company  of  disciples,  who  had  continued  steadfast 
in  the  faith,  amidst  all  the  annoyances  and  discouragements  to  whicii  they 
had  been  subjected. 

As  Mrs.  Judson's  health  was  only  temporarily  improved  by  tlie  visit  to 
Bengal,  she  returned  to  this  country  in  the  summer  of  1821,  and  remained 
for  about  a  year:  she  came  unaccompanied  by  her  husband,  as  he  did  not 
feel  at  liberty,  at  that  time,  to  suspend  his  missionary  labours.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wade  accompanied  her,  on  her  return,  as  a  reinforcement  of  the 
Mission.  During  her  absence,  Mr.  Judson  had  made  good  progress  in  his 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  ;  had  gathered  several  new  converts, 
making  the  whole  number  eighteen  ;  and  had  been  joined  in  the  Mission  by 
Dr.  Price,  in  wiiom  he  recognised  an  efficient  auxiliary. 

This  latter  circumstance  gave  occasion  for  his  making  another  visit  to 
the  capital, — which  had  now  been  removed  to  Ava, — as  the  King,  hearing 
of  Dr.  Price's  medical  skill,  required  his  attendance  at  Court,  and  Mr. 
Judson  accompanied  hijn  as  an  interpreter.  The  King  was  pleased  to 
direct  that  the  missionaries  should  remain  at  Ava,  and  land  was  given 
them  for  the  erection  of  dwellings.  Mr.  Judson  now  returned  to  Ran- 
goon, completed  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  and  formed  an 
epitome  of  the  Old,  that  might  serve  the  converts  till  they  could  have  the 
Scriptures  in  their  own  language  entire.  On  the  Otli  of  December,  1823. 
Dr.  Judson  (for  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  this  year 
from  Brown  University)  had  the  pleasure  to  welcome  Mrs.  Judson  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade,  and  immediately  removed  with  his  wife  to  Ava,  leav- 


(514  BAPTIST. 

iog  Mr.  Hough,  who  had  been  his  associate  for  several  years,  and  the  new 
missionaries,  at  Rangoon.  He  was  allowed,  for  a  short  time,  to  prosecute 
his  labours  in  the  imperial  city,  unmolested  ;  but  the  commencement  of  a 
war  with  the  British  East  Indian  Government  suddenly  cast  a  deep 
shadow  over  his  prospects.  In  May,  1824,  Rangoon  was  attacked  by  a 
foi'ce  of  six  thousand  men,  under  command  of  Sir  Archibald  Campbell ; 
and  the  Viceroy  forthwith  ordered  the  arrest  of  every  person  in  town 
"  who  wore  a  hat."  Messrs.  Hough  and  Wade  were  condemned  to  die; 
but  were  reprieved,  and  ultimately  released  by  the  English,  whereupon 
they  removed  to  Bengal,  where  Mr.  Wade  superintended  the  printing  of 
Dr.  Judson's  Burman  Dictionary. 

The  intelligence  that  Rangoon  was  taken  caused  a  great  sensation  at  Ava ; 
and  the  King  began  to  suspect  that  there  were  spies  in  the  country,  who 
reported  his  movements  to  the  enemy.  Dr.  Judson  and  Dr.  Price  having 
become  objects  of  suspicion,  were  arrested,  cast  into  prison,  and  placed  in 
irons, — their  houses  meanwhile  being  searclied  and  their  property  confiscated, 
though  Mrs.  Judson  succeeded,  partly  by  concealment,  and  partly  by 
importunity,  in  saving  a  quantity  of  silver  and  a  few  articles  of  furniture. 

^Ivs.  Judson,  with  the  heroic  devotion  of  a  wife  and  a  martyr,  now  set 
herself  to  effect  the  liberation  of  the  prisoners — she  appealed  in  the  most 
earnest  and  pathetic  strain  to  every  one  who  could  be  supposed  to  have 
influence  in  the  case ;  but  the  utmost  she  could  accomplish  was  to  pro- 
cure the  transfer  of  her  husband  from  the  pestilential  atmosphere  of  a 
crowded  dungeon  to  a  little  bamboo  apartment  in  the  prison  yard,  where 
she  could  do  something  to  alleviate  his  sufi'erings.  No  food  was  supplied 
to  tlie  prisoners  by  the  jailors ;  and  they  were  kept  from  starvation  only 
by  her  daily  visits  to  the  prison,  which  she  made  on  foot,  from  a  distance 
of  two  miles.  "  The  acme  of  my  distress,"  she  wrote,  "consisted  in  the 
awful  uncertainty  of  our  final  fate.  My  prevailing  opinion  was  that  my 
husliaud  would  suffer  violent  death;  and  that  I  should  of  course  become  a 
slave,  and  languish  out  a  miserable,  though  short,  existence,  in  the  tyrannic 
hands  of  some  unfeeling  monster.  Sometimes,  for  a  moment  or  two,  my 
thoughts  would  glance  towards  America,  and  my  beloved  friends  (here  ; — 
but,  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  so  entirely  engrossed  was  every  thought 
with  present  scenes  and  sufferings,  that  I  seldom  reflected  on  a  single 
occurrence  of  my  former  life,  or  recollected  that  I  had  a  friend  in  exist- 
ence out  of  Ava." 

But,  though  the  cup  of  these  devoted  missionaries  now  seemed  full,  there 
were  yet  other  worse  things  in  store  for  them.  When  the  hot  season 
commenced,  the  prisoners  wore  loaded  with  additional  chains,  and  thrust 
back  into  the  dungeon  from  which  they  had  been  temporarily  delivered. 
Tlie  atmosphere  was  intolerable;  and  Dr.  Judson  was  very  soon  attacked 
by  fever.  His  wife  forced  her  way  to  the  presence  of  the  Governor,  not- 
willistanding  he  had  forbidden  her  admission,  and  made  an  appeal  to  him 
which  set  the  tears  to  flowing  down  his  cheeks.  "  I  knew  you  would  make 
me  feel,"  said  the  old  man,  "and  therefore  I  forbade  your  application." 
He  then  informed  her  that  lie  had  been  repeatedly  directed  to  execute  tlie 
missionaries  secretly,  but  that  he  had  declined  doing  it,  thougli  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  do  anything  in  mitigation  of  their  sufferings,  and  he 


ADONIHAM  JUDSON.  615 

must  not  be  asked  to  attempt  it.  That  she  might  be  near  her  husband, 
and  in  a  situation  to  know  the  worst,  she  occupied  a  low  bamboo  hut  near 
the  prison  gate,  and,  finally,  by  her  unceasing  importunity,  obtained  an 
Drder  for  his  removal  there. 

But  another  scene  of  yet  deeper  horror  was  now  about  to  open.  In 
three  days,  the  prisoners  were  ordered  for  Ava ;  and,  that  she  might  be 
saved  the  awful  pang  of  witnessing  tke  removal,  the  Governor  sent  for  her, 
and  detained  her  in  conversation  till  it  was  over.  Dr.  Judson,  having 
been  t^tripped  of  nearly  all  his  clothing,  was  driven  on  foot,  with  his  fellow 
sufferers,  towards  the  "  death  prison  "  of  Oung-pen-la,  four  miles  from 
Amarapoora.  Thus  walking  in  burning  sand,  beneath  an  intensely  hot 
sun,  without  hat  or  shoes,  his  feet  became  blistered  till  the  skin  was 
actually  worn  off;  and,  but  for  the  humanity  of  a  Bengali  servant  of  an 
English  prisoner,  who  took  part  of  his  head-dress  to  wrap  his  bleeding 
feet,  and  then  actually  bore  him  on  his  .shoulders,  he  must  have  fallen  dead 
by  the  way.  The  officer  who  had  them  in  charge  quickly  found  that  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  proceed ;  and  tlie  rest  of  the  journey  was  per- 
formed in  carts. 

Mrs.  Judson,  meanwhile,  found  tliat  they  were  gone,  but  sought  in  vain 
to  find  any  trace  of  them.  At  length,  the  Governor  told  her  that  they 
were  removed  to  Amarapoora  ;  and  added  that  he  could  do  notliing  for  her 
husband,  and  advised  her  earnestly  to  look  out  for  her  own  safety.  But 
she  instantly  obtained  a  passport,  and,  with  her  infant  child,  born  in  the 
midst  of  these  deep  sorrows,  and  a  faithful  Bengali  servant,  set  out  to  find 
her  husband,  and  actually  reached  him  at  evening.  She  found  him  per- 
fectly exhausted  by  the  tortures  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  on  the 
way,  and,  with  the  other  prisoners,  occupying  a  narrow  projection  of  a 
dilapidated  hovel.  When  he  saw  her,  he  said, — "Why  have  you  come? 
You  cannot  live  here." 

The  next  morning,  a  little  Burman  girl,  adopted  by  Mrs.  Judson,  was 
attacked  by  the  small-pox  ;  and,  though  she  in)mediately  inoculated  her 
infant,  the  precaution  did  not  avail,  and  the  little  one  had  the  disease  so 
severely  that  it  did  not  recover  for  three  months.  The  mother  was  now 
completely  worn  out  by  toil  and  anxiety,  and  had  only  strength  enough  to 
go  to  Ava  and  bring  their  medicine  chest  ;  and  when,  on  her  return,  she 
reached  the  jailor's  hut,  she  fainted  upon  her  mat,  and,  for  two  months, 
was  too  feeble  to  rise  from  it.  As  she  was  unable  to  give  nourishment  to 
her  babe,  the  jailor  was  bribed  to  release  Dr.  Judson  from  close  confine- 
ment, who  daily  bore  the  child  round  the  city,  soliciting  sustenance  for  it 
from  snch   Burman  mothers  as  were  in  a  situation  to  furnish  it. 

While  they  were  thus  in  constant  expectation  of  the  execution  of 
the  sentence  of  death,  a  circumstance  occurred  that  suddenly  reversed 
their  prospects.  The  ofiicer,  by  whose  advice  the  sentence  had  been 
passed,  had  proposed  that  they  should  be  executed  on  occasion  of  his 
taking  command  against  the  English  ;  but  it  turned  out  that,  before  he  was 
able  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  he  was  himself  executed  for  treason.  The 
English  forces,  tliough  greatly  retarded  by  different  causes,  were  steadily 
approaching  the  capital,  and  the  King  began  to  tremble  for  his  safety. 
An  order  forthwith  came  that  the  prisoners  should  return  to  Ava,  and  Mr. 


QIQ  BAPTIST. 

Judson  was  immediately  put  in  requisition  at  the  English  camp,  as  trans- 
lator and  interpreter  to  an  embassy  of  peace.  While  the  negotiation, 
which  was  a  very  protracted  and  tedious  one,  was  going  forward,  Mrs. 
Judson  was  attacked  by  the  fever  of  the  country,  and  brought  so  low  that 
there  was,  for  a  time,  little  prospect  of  her  recovery.  The  treaty,  which 
was  humiliating  enough  to  the  King,  was  finallj'^  concluded,  involving  this 
among  other  provisions, — that  the  missionaries  should  be  allowed  to  find  a 
refuge  in  the  British  Provinces, — a  step  to  which  their  diversified  and 
terrible  sufferings,  under  his  tyrannical  reign,  had  more  than  reconciled 
them. 

Dr.  Judson  hoped  now  to  devote  himself  to  the  missionary  work  at 
Amherst, — a  new  town  near  the  mouth  of  the  Salwen,  in  British  Burmah, 
whither  those  who  survived  of  the  little  flock  at  Rangoon  had  removed,  with 
their  teachers,  in  the  summer  of  1S26.  But,  at  the  solicitation  of  Mr. 
Crawfurd,  Commissioner  of  the  British  East  Indian  Government,  he 
accompanied  an  embassy  to  Ava  for  negotiating  a  commercial  trc;ity,  in 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  secure  a  guaranty  for  religious  freedom  in  the 
King's  dominions.  The  object,  however,  utterly  failed,  and,  after  an 
absence  of  several  months,  he  returned  to  Amherst  only  to  be  overwhelmed 
by  the  sorrows  of  bereavement.  Mrs.  Judson,  soon  after  his  departure, 
had  been  attacked  with  a  violent  fever,  which  terminated  fatally  in  eighteen 
days.  But  he  was  privileged  to  know  that  her  death  was  a  most  edifying 
scene  of  Christian  submission  and  triumph.  His  only  child  soon  followed 
her  mother,  and  his  house  was  left  to  him  desolate.  The  character  of  Mrs. 
Judson  combined  the  most  heroic  with  the  most  gentle  and  lovely  qunllties, 
and  the  history  of  her  life  is  an  enduring  monument  to  the  riches  and  power 
of  Divine  grace. 

But  Dr.  Judson,  though  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  his  loss, 
did  not  relax  his  efforts  in  the  service  of  his  Master.  The  Government 
being,  shortly  after  this,  transferred  to  Maulmein,  a  town  on  the  East  bank 
of  the  Salwen,  the  mission  followed  in  1827,  and  Dr.  Judson  continued 
there  till  the  summer  of  1830.  During  this  time,  besides  teaching  and 
preaching,  he  thoroughly  revised  the  New  Testament,  and  prepared  twelve 
smaller  books  in  Burmese.  Circumstances  now  occurred  that  seemed  to 
render  it  desirable  that  he  should  return  to  Rangoon  ;  and  he,  accordingly, 
repaired  thither  in  May.  Finding  a  prevalent  spirit  of  inquiry,  he  resolved 
to  make  a  tour  into  the  interior ;  and,  stopping  at  a  place  called  Prome,  he 
commenced  his  labours  there,  and  continued  them  for  some  time  ;  but  the 
occurrence  of  some  adverse  circumstances  led  him  to  return  to  Rangoon  in 
the  succeeding  autumn.  Here,  while  engaged  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures,  he  was  obliged  to  devote  not  a  small  part  of  his  time  tn  the 
instruction  of  those  who  were  inquiring  on  the  subject  of  religion.  The 
demand  for  tracts  became  so  great  that  the  press  at  Maulmein,  though  con- 
stantly employed,  could  not  supply  it. 

The  next  summer.  Dr.  Judson  move<l  back  to  Maulmein,  where  lie  con- 
tinued to  prosecute  his  work  of  translation,  at  the  same  time  preaching  in 
the  city  and  the  jungles.  On  the  last  da}'  of  January,  1834,  he  had  the 
pleasure  to  see,  as  the  result  of  his  labours,  the  entire  Bible  in  Bur- 
mese. 


ADONIRAit   JUDSON  G17 

In  April  of  this  jcar,  Dr.  Judson  ^as  united  in  marriage  witli  Mrs. 
Boarduian  ;  whoso  husband's  brief  history  on  Pagan  ground  will  be  found 
in  another  part  of  this  volume. 

For  several  ^-cars,  his  time  was  divided  between  the  revision  of  his 
transbition  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  superintendence  of  the  native  church 
at  Maulmein.  His  heart  was  now  greatly  encouraged  by  tlie  rapid  progress 
of  the  work  around  him;  and  he  could  count  not  less  than  a  thousand  souhs 
redeemed  from  the  bondage  of  idolatry,  as  the  result,  under  God,  of  the 
enterprise  which  he  had  commenced,  more  than  twenty  years  before. 

In  1838,  he  visited  Bengal  for  the  benefit  of  his  liealth,  but  returned 
without  any  essential  improvement.  The  Board  invited  liim  to  come  to 
the  United  States,  but  he  felt  constrained  to  decline  their  invitation.  In 
1840,  he  completed  the  revision  of  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  a 
second  edition  appeared  shortly  after.  In  the  summer  of  1841,  ho  made 
another  voyage  to  Bengal,  with  his  family,  and  while  there  was  called  to 
bury  his  youngest  child.  They  then  proceeded  to  the  Isle  of  France,  and 
thence  returned  to  Maulmein,  where  they  arrived,  in  invigorated  health, 
about  the  close  of  the  year. 

The  next  year,  he  undertook  another  arduous  task, — the  compilation  of 
a  complete  Dictionary  of  the  Burmese  language,  consisting  of  two  vocabu- 
laries,— Burmese  and  English,  and  English  and  Burmese.  In  this  he  was 
interrupted  by  the  illness  of  Mrs.  Judson.  After  employing  many  ineffec- 
tual means  for  her  recovery,  he  resolved,  in  the  spring  of  1845,  to  try  the 
effect  of  a  voyage  to  the  United  States.  Accordingly,  he  embarked  for 
Boston,  towards  the  close  of  April,  taking  with  him  his  family,  and  two 
native  assistants,  to  carry  forward  his  Dictionary  during  his  visit.  On 
arriving  at  Mauritius,  Mrs.  Judson  was  so  far  revived  that  it  was  thought 
she  might  proceed  safely  on  the  voyage  without  her  husband  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, the  assistants  were  sent  back,  and  he  was  just  about  to  follow  them, 
when  she  suffered  a  relapse  which  determined  him  not  to  leave  her.  She 
grew  weaker  till  they  reached  St.  Helena,  and  there  went  off  triumphantly 
to  her  Heavenly  home. 

After  committing  the  remains  of  his  wife  to  the  dust,  on  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, he  prc^eeded,  with  his  motherless  children,  toward  his  native  land, 
and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  loth  of  October.  On  the  evening  of  the 
third  day  after  he  landed,  the  Kev.  Dr.  Sharp,  the  venerable  President  of 
the  Board,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  deeply  interested  assembly, 
addressed  him  in  appropriate  and  hearty  words  of  welcome.  There,  too, 
was  his  early  associate  in  the  missionary  cause,  the  Ilev.  Samuel  Nott,  Jr., 
who,  pressing  through  the  congregation,  grcete<l  him  with  a  cordiality  even 
more  than  fraternal.  But  this  was  only  the  first  of  a  long  succession  of 
meetings,  held  in  our  cities  and  larger  towns,  to  greet  this  honoured  and 
beloved  missionary,  and  to  catch  from  him  a  fresh  impulse  in  favour  of  the 
cause  to  which  his  life  had  been  devoted.  On  the  2d  of  June,  1846.  he 
was  married  to  Emily  Chebbuck,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  a  lady  distinguished  not 
only  for  a  beautiful  mind,  a  gentle  and  lovely  spirit,  an<l  an  elevated  Chris- 
tian character,  but  for  many  highly  creditable  contributions  to  our  Ameri- 
can   literature.     On   the    11th  of  July,  they  embarked   for   their   distant 

Yoh.  YI.  78 


618  BAPTIST. 

home,  accompaniccl  by  several  new  missionaries,  and  reached  Maulmein, 
safely,  in  December. 

Dr.  Judsou  now  removed  to  Rangoon,  tlie  only  city  in  tlie  King's  domin- 
ions where  foreigners  were  at  this  time  permitted  to  reside.  Finding  him- 
self, from  certain  causes,  embarrassed  in  his  labours  here,  he  went  back  to 
Maulmein,  and,  there,  besides  devoting  much  of  his  time  to  his  Dictionary, 
he  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Burmau  Church,  and  preached  once  on 
the  Sabbath.  Thus  he  continued  diligently  employed,  till  he  was  arrested 
by  disease  in  the  autumn  of  1849.  He  had  finished  the  Engli.sli  and  Bur- 
mese Dictionary,  and  had  made  considerable  progress  in  the  Burmese  and 
English  Dictionary,  the  manuscripts  of  which  were  afterwards  placed  in 
the  hands  of  one  of  his  younger  colleagues  for  completion. 

In  the  month  of  September,  he  toot  a  severe  cold,  which  was  followed 
by  a  fever,  and  a  great  reduction  of  his  strength.  He  took  a  short  voyage, 
and  tried  tlie  effect  of  sea-bathing,  but  returned  to  Maulmein  in  an  evi- 
dently declining  state.  His  bodily  suffering  was  great,  but  his  heart  reposed 
calmly  upon  his  Saviour  ;  and,  though  it  was  his  desire  to  live  to  do  more 
for  Burmah,  it  was  delightful  to  him  to  reflect  that  his  times  were  in  God's  ■ 
hands.  In  April,  1850,  when  all  hope  of  his  recovery,  if  he  continued  at 
Maulmein,  was  gone,  he  took  leave  of  his  anxious  wife,  whose  feeble  health 
forbade  her  to  follow  him,  and,  with  a  single  attendant,  set  out  on  a  voy- 
age to  the  Isle  of  France.  It  soon  became  manifest  that  this  last  resort 
would  prove  unavailing  ;  and,  after  a  few  days,  his  bodily  pain  became  so 
intense  as,  on  one  occasion,  to  extort  from  him  the  exclamation, — "  Oh 
that  I  could  die  at  once,  and  go  directly  to  Paradise,  where  there  is  no 
pain  !  "  This  extreme  suffering  continued  till  a  few  minutes  before  he 
expired,  when  he  became  perfectly  quiet.  He  died  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1850,  and  his  mortal  remains  wex'e  committed  to  the  deep. 

Wonderful  was  the  change  which  he  was  permitted  to  witness  on  the 
field  of  his  labours.  He  who  baptized,  by  twilight,  the  first  Burman  con- 
vert, lived  to  see  twenty-six  churches  gathered,  with  nearly  five  thousand 
communicants,  the  entire  Bible  in  one  vernacular  and  the  New  Testament 
in  others ;  a  native  ministry  actively  engaged,  and  the  Gospel  extending  on 
every  side.  Well  might  the  venerable  man,  as  his  dying  eye  fastened  upon 
the  monuments  of  his  own  activity,  and  self-denial,  and  suffering  in  his 
Master's  cause,  Idess  God  that  he  had  been  permitted  to  spend  his  life 
among  the  heathen  ! 

Mrs.  Judson  returned  to  this  country  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 
but  soon  followed  him  to  his  final  rest. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  HAGUE,  D.  D. 

Albany.  June  30,  1855. 

Dear  Sir:  Although  it  is  not  probable  that  any  reminiscence  of  Dr.  Judson 
which  I  may  be  able  to  furnish  Avill  impart  an  additional  value  to  the  sketch 
of  him  which  you  have  prepared,  yet  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  complj"  with 
your  request,  because  it  is  always  an  agreeable  employment  of  my  mind,  to  recall 
the  image  of  one  whose  name  will  be  ever  fragrant,  and  whose  nicmoiy  is  so 
worthy  to  be  cherished. 

At  the  period  of  his  return  to  his  native  land,  after  an  absence  of  thirty- 
three  years,  it  was   my  fortune  to  be   residing   in   Boston,  and  never  shall  I 


ADONIRAM   JUDSON.  C19 

forget  the  day  on  which  his  arrival  was  anmumffil.  It  was  on  the  IGlli  of 
October,  1845 — his  coming  had  been  long  anticipated,  and  the  intelligence  Hew 
Vapidly  throngh  the  city.  His  friends  were  invited  to  meet  him  on  the  evening 
of  the  second  following  day,  at  the  IJowdoin  Square  Churcii;  and  that  large 
odilicc  was  crowded  with  men  and  women,  eager  to  behold  his  form  and  coun- 
tenance, and  to  hail  him  as  a  warrior  returned  from  the  tield  of  strife  and 
victory. 

My  introduction  to  him  was  on  that  jiublic  occasion.  You  desire  to  learn 
what  were  my  impressions  of  him,  as  a  man,  derived  from  freiiuent  inter- 
views, and  the  scenes  of  social  intercourse  in  which  I  was  permitted  to  meet 
him. 

The  first  feeling  of  which  T  was  conscious  in  his  presence  was  that  of  a  very 
agreeable  disappointment  in  regard  to  his  personal  appearance,  his  air  and 
manner,  and  the  style  of  character,  denoted  by  that  exp7-essivc  word,  address. 
The  engraved  jjortraits  of  him,  Avhich  had  met  my  eye,  represented  him  as 
rather  thin  and  pale,  in  the  attitude  which  he  would  naturally  assume  while 
inclined  towards  his  table,  engaged  in  the  work  of  translation.  1  had  been 
led  to  conceive  of  him,  therefore,  as  having  somewhat  the  aspect  of  a  care- 
worn student,  with  a  contour  indicating  the  habitudes  of  one  who  is  isolated 
from  general  society,  bearing  the  impress,  not  exactly  of  a  cloistered  recluse, 
but  of  the  secluded  scholar;  and  not  at  all  suggestive  of  that  happy  aptitude 
for  becoming  in  the  best  sense  "all  things  to  all  men,"  which  distinguished 
the  apostle  Paul,  and  -which  forms  a  leading  feature  of  a  cosmopolitan  charac- 
ter. A  few  moments  sufficed  to  dispel  that  association  of  ideas  concerning 
him  with  which  1  had  been  long  prepossessed.  His  well  proportioned  form,  his 
penetrating  eye,  his  benignant  countenance,  his  every  movement,  was  expressive 
of  that  dignity,  ease,  and  grace  which  usually  accompany  a  high  degree  of 
natural  self-ieliancc,  and  are  essential  elements  in  our  conception  of  a  linished 
diplomatist.  So  far  from  realizing  one's  idea  of  a  man  of  predominantly 
scholastic  habits,  he  appeared  rather  like  an  educated  and  accomplished  man 
of  the  world,  who  had  been  called  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  like  the  great  "Apos- 
tle of  the  Gentiles,"  set  apart  and  qualified  for  his  great  life-work  of  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  to  the  nations. 

At  the  meeting  to  which  I  have  just  referred,  some  degree  of  embarrassment 
was  experienced,  on  its  opening,  from  the  fiict  that  Dr.  Judson's  voice  was 
too  weak,  on  account  of  an  affection  of  his  throat,  to  allow  him  to  address 
the  large  assembly  before  him.  As  I  had  often  observed  that  missionaries, 
who  had  returned  to  this  country,  with  native  converts  unable  to  speak  our 
language,  would  stand  near  them  in  a  pulpit,  receive  their  communications, 
and  interpret  them  to  the  people,  it  occurred  to  me  that  a  similar  course 
might  be  adapted  to  this  emergency.  I  ventured,  therefore,  to  suggest  to  Dr. 
Judson  that  he  might  communicate  his  thoughts  to  me  in  a  low  tone,  and  that 
1  would  report  them  aloud  to  the  assembly.  lie  accepted  this  suggestion,  and 
I  officiated  for  him  in  this  capacity,  on  several  occasions.  I  could  not  but 
remark  that  his  sentences  were  constructed  extemporaneously  with  great 
simplicity,  that  they  were  easily  remembered  and  easily  repeated.  They 
always  breathed  the  spirit  of  humility,  and  were  admirably  suited  to  the 
time,  the  circumstances,  and  the  audience.  They  were  often  eloquent,  and 
touched  the  deepest  chords  of  sensibility  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  listened 
to  them.  We  naturally  judge  of  character  from  the  trivial  incidents  as  well 
as  the  great  events  of  life;  and  when  we  take  within  our  view  the  whole 
scope  of  Dr.  Judson's  history,  we  may  safely  affirm  that,  in  every  situation 
in  which  he  was  placed,  his  style  of  thought,  of  speech  or  action  was  beauti- 
fully apposite,  and  even  to  the  most  critical  eye,  rarely,  if  ever,  susceptible 
of  great  improvement. 


G20  BAPTIST. 

During  Ihc  latter  part  of  Dr.  Jnd.son's  sojourn  in  the  United  States,  my 
opportunities  of  seeing  him  in  social  and  domestic  circles  became  more  fretiuent. 
And  I  us.'iure  you,  it  was  alwaj'S  interesting  to  me  to  notice  how  entirely  every 
development  of  his  mind  and  heart,  in  connection  with  the  most  trivial  things 
of  ordinary  life,  were  in  keeping  with  those  views  of  his  character  which  I 
have  just  expressed.  In  large  gatherings  of  admiring  friends,  he  seemed 
quite  unconscious  of  being  tlie  chief  object  of  attraction.  He  was  all  alive  to 
what  was  about  him,  and  nothing  seemed  to  be  too  great  or  too  minute  to 
minister  to  his  mental  activity  and  his  happiness.  He  was  perfectly  accessible 
to  all,  and  Avas  equally  at  ease  and  at  home  in  conversing  with  grave  men  on 
the  gravest  topics,  and  in  engaging  the  attention  or  promoting  the  enjoyment 
of  a  little  child.  How  often  have  I  been  reminded  of  his  likeness  to  his 
adorable  JNIaster,  considered  as  a  man,  in  regard  to  this  fulness  of  his  nature, 
in  the  line  balance  of  his  intellectual  faculties  and  his  social  affections! 

As  I  have  it  in  my  power  to  furnish  you  with  a  record  of  the  last  fewM'ords 
which  Dr.  Judson  uttered  before  a  public  assembly  in  America,  I  will  take  the 
opportunity  of  presenting  it  to  you,  because  I  presume  that  you  will  regard  it 
as  apposite  to  the  purpose  of  this  communication.  The}"  were  spoken  to  an 
immense  assembly  in  Boston,  at  the  farewell  meeting  which  was  held  just 
before  his  final  departure  from  the  country. 

"My  friends  are  aware  that  it  is  quite  impossible  for  me,  without  serious 
injury  to  mj^self,  to  sustain  my  voice  at  such  a  height  as  to  reach  this  large 
assembly, — except  for  a  few  sentences.  I  have,  therefore,  taken  the  liberty 
of  putting  some  thoughts  on  paper,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hague  will  do  me  the 
honour  of  reading  to  you. 

"  I  wish,  however,  in  my  own  voice,  to  praise  God  for  the  deep  interest  in 
the  cause  of  Missions  manifested  by  the  friends  of  the  Redeemer  in  this  city 
and  the  vicinity,  and  to  thank  them  all  for  their  expressions  and  acts  of  kind- 
ness toward  me  during  my  brief  sojourn  among  them.  I  regret  that  circum- 
stances have  prevented  my  spending  more  time  in  this  city,  and  forming  a 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with  those  whom  a  slight  acquaintance  has  taught 
me  so  much  to  love. 

"  The  greatest  favour  we  can  bestow  on  our  absent  friends  is  to  bear  them 
on  our  hearts  at  the  throne  of  grace.  1  pray  you,  dear  friends,  remember 
me  there,  and  my  missionary  associates,  our  infant  churches,  and  the  poor 
heathen  among  whom  we  go  to  live.  And  though  we  do  meet  no  more  on 
earth,  I  trust  that  our  next  meeting  will  be  in  that  blessed  world  where  the 
loved  and  the  parted  meet  ne'er  to  part  again." 

The  attentive  throng,  bending  forward  to  listen  to  these  valedictor}'  words, 
exhibited  an  affecting  spectacle.  They  were  aware  that  they  were  listening  to 
that  voice  for  the  last  time,  and  they  "  sorrowed  because  they  Avould  see  his 
face  no  more."  It  was  a  memorable  hour.  The  moral  impression  of  that 
scene  can  never  be  erased  fiu^tm  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  gathered  there. 
Since  then,  the  beloved  Missionary  has  been  called  from  the  Held  of  his  toil, 
to  a  higher  .sphere  of  service,  but  his  spirit  still  lives  amongst  us. 

"  The  good  bogun  by  him  shall  onward  flow, 

"  In  many  a  branching  stream  and  wider  grow." 

I  am,  with  great  regard. 

Dear  Sir,  yours  truly, 

WILLIAxM  HAGUE. 


DANIEL  llENliV  BARNES.  621 


DANIEL  HENRY  BARNES  * 

1813—1828. 

Daniel  Henry  13arnes  was  born  in  Canaan,  Columbia  County,  N. 
Y.,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1785.  He  was  a  descendant,  in  the  fourth  gene- 
ration, from  Thomas  Barnes,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Farming- 
ton,  Conn.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  p]lisha  Barnes,  who  was  born  at 
Farmingtiin,  April  18,  1753,  and  removed  witli  hjs  father  to  Canaan,  N. 
Y.,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  when  he  was  twenty,  and  continued  in  that  connection  for  many 
years  ;  but,  about  1793,  he  became  a  Baptist,  and  shortly  after  was  licensed 
to  preach  and  served  the  Baptist  Church  in  Canaan,  as  Pastor,  thirteen 
years.  He  died  in  August,  180G,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.  The  mother 
of  Daniel  IL,  was  Lois  Baldwin,  daughter  of  Nathan  Baldwin,  whose 
ancestors  were  from  New  Milford,  Conn.  During  his  early  years  he  worked 
on  his  father's  farm  (for  his  father  was  a  farmer  as  well  as  a  minister)  in 
summer,  and  went  to  school  in  winter ;  and  at  school  he  was  a  remarkable 
example  of  an  unexceptionable  and  winning  behaviour,  and  of  rapid  pro- 
ficiency in  study.  He  was  prepared  for  College  under  the  instruction  of 
the  Eev.  Aaron  J.  Bogue,  a  Congregational  minister,  who  resided  at  that 
time  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Lebanon  Springs.  In  due  time  he  became  a 
member  of  Union  College,  where  he  graduated  with  honour  in  1809.  He 
then,  for  six  months,  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  study  of  the 
Hebrew  language,  under  the  instruction  of  the  Bev.  Dr.  Banks,  of  Florida, 
Montgomery  County,  N.  Y.,  one  of  the  most  eminent  Hebrew  scholars  of 
his  time.  In  1811,  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  Principal  of  the 
Academy  in  Poughkeepsie,  and  the  same  year  united  with  the  Baptist 
Church  in  that  place.  In  1813,  the  same  church  licensed  him  to  preach 
the  Gospel.  Having  laboured  here  very  successfully,  as  a  teacher,  until 
1814,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of  an  Institution  in  Cincin- 
nati, 0.,  which  was  expected  to  become  a  College.  He  found  this  school 
in  a  state  of  great  insubordination,  and  requiring  the  utmost  energy  as  well 
as  skill  to  reduce  it  to  order  ;  but  the  result  of  his  efforts  was  a  complete 
success.  He  impressed  the  students  at  once  with  the  idea  that  he  had 
come  among  them  as  their  friend,  and,  by  appealing  to  the  higher  ]irinciplcs 
of  their  nature, — their  sense  of  gratitude,  and  honour,  and  right,  he  not 
only  brought  them  into  willing  subjection  to  his  authority,  but  inspired 
them  with  the  love  of  study,  and  the  desire  for  high  improvement. 

But,  notwithstanding  his  remarkable  success  in  tliis  school,  his  connec- 
tion with  it  was  of  brief  continuance.  In  the  spring  of  1815,  he  found 
his  health  so  much  affected  by  the  climate  as  to  render  it  necessary  for  him 
to  seek  another  home.  Accordingly,  he  accepted  an  invitation,  understood 
to  have  been  given  at  the  suggestion  of  President  Nott,  to  take  charge  of 
the  Classical  School  connecteil  with  Union  College.  Here  he  remained 
about  three  years  and  a  half,  and  tlien   resigned  the  place  in  consequence 

•  M?.=5.  from  his  farailv.  Rev.  Dr.  Sommers,  and  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Perkins.— Fourth  Ann.  Rep. 
N.  Y.  High  School. 


622  BAPTIST. 

of  having  received  an  appointment  to  tlie  Professorship  of  Languages  in  a 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary  in  New  York,  the  interest  i)f  wlii'jh  was 
afterwards  transferred  to  the  Hamilton  Institution.  About  this  time,  he 
was  chosen  President  of  the  AVaterville  College  in  Maine,  but  declined  the 
appointment. 

Mr.  Barnes,  when  his  connection  with  the  Seminary  to  which  he  was 
called,  expired,  in  consequence  of  its  being  merged  in  another  institution, 
opened  an  English  and  Classical  School  in  New  York,  in  which,  as  in  the 
several  schools  of  which  he  had  previously  had  the  charge,  he  became 
eminently  successful.  In  1824,  the  New  York  High  School  for  JBoys  was 
established,  and  Mr.  Barnes  appointed  its  Associate  Principal.  In  1827, 
he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Columbian  College  at  Washington  City, 
but  there  were  reasons  why  he  thought  proper  not  to  accept  the  place. 

Mr.  Barnes  was  never  settled  as  Pastor  of  any  church  ;  though  he  often 
preached,  as  there  was  opportunity  or  occasion,  and  always  to  much  accept- 
ance. When  he  commenced  teaching,  he  did  not  intend  to  follow  it  as  a 
profession  ;  but  his  remarkable  aptitude  for  the  employment,  as  evinced  by 
his  almost  unprecedented  success  in  it,  led  him  and  his  friends  to  believe 
that  that  was  the  field  which  Providence  especially  designated  for  him. 
Few  men,  it  is  believed,  have  contributed  so  much  as  he,  in  the  same  period, 
in  aid  of  the  cause  of  education  in  this  country.  Among  the  many  eminent 
men  who  were  under  his  care  as  pupils,  may  be  mentioned  President  Way- 
land,  Bisliop  Potter  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Rev.  Doctors  Erskine  Mason, 
William  11.  Williams,  John  Macauley,  &c. 

The  Piensselaer  School  in  Troy,  being  established  upon  the  same  principle 
with  his  own,  was  an  object  of  great  interest  with  him  from  its  commence- 
ment. He  was  invited  to  be  present  at  its  examination,  as  one  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners,  on  Tuesday,  October  28,  1828.  He  left  home  at  the 
close  of  the  preceding  week,  and  passed  the  Sabbath  at  Ncav  Lebanon,  N. 
Y.,  at  the  residence  of  his  wife's  brother-in-law,  Elam  Tilden,  Esq.  He 
accepted  an  invitation  to  preach  on  Sabbath  afternoon,  at  the  Baptist 
Church  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town.  During  the  intermission,  a  very 
aged  lady, — Mrs.  Tryon,  Avho  had  long  been  his  attached  friend,  sat  con- 
versing with  him  upon  the  recognition  of  friends  in  Heaven  ;  and,  when 
the  hour  for  the  afternoon  service  came,  she  accompanied  him  to  the 
church.  He  preached  a  Funeral  Sermon  on  the  text, — "What  is  your 
life?  It  is  oven  a  vapour  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time  and  then  vanisheth 
away  ;"  and,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  took  occasion  to  refer  to  a 
casualty  fresh  in  the  memory  of  his  hearers,  and,  singular  to  add,  not 
unlike  that  which,  twenty-four  hours  later,  terminated  his  own  life.  On 
Monday  afternoon,  he  went  on  his  way,  and  at  four  o'clock,  near  tlie  village 
of  Union,  Columbia  County,  the  stage-horses  started  in  fright  from  the 
sudilen  tension  of  the  lines,  occasioned  by  the  fall  of  an  intoxicated  man 
from  the  driver's  seat.  The  driver  also  lost  his  footing  and  fell,  but  held 
to  the  lines  till  they  parted  in  his  hands.  Several  of  the  passengers 
escaped  in  safety ;  but  Mr.  Barnes,  being  encumbered  by  a  cloak,  was 
drawn  under  the  wheel  which  passed  over  his  forehead,  while  the  violence 
of  the  fall  crushed  in  the  entire  side  of  the  head.  He  was  immediately 
taken  to  a  neighbouring  house,  where,  without  apparent  consciousness,  he 


DANIEL   UENllY  BARNES.  (j23 

soon  expired.  His  lifeless  body  was  tlieu  borne  Icick  to  ihc  (Iwelliiig  of 
his  relatives  whom  he  had  so  lately  left;  atid,  when  the  tidings  of  his  death 
reached  his  venerable  friend,  3Irs.  Tr3'on,  it  well-nigh  overwhelmed  her. 
She  dwelt  constantly,  and  with  most  afFcctionate  interest,  upon  her  inter- 
course with  him,  and  especially  upon  the  sermon  which  she  had  heard  from 
him  the  preceding  Sabbath,  and  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  the  wish 
that  she  might  have  been  taken,  and  liis  valuable  life  spared.  When  she 
was  reminded  of  the  evening  prayer-meeting,  her  reply  was  that  she  had 
forgotten  all  besides  in  thinking  of  the  death  of  her  friend.  As  she  did 
not  answer  the  call  to  supper,  some  one  entered  her  room,  and  found  her 
lying  dead  by  the  side  of  her  open  Bible.  They  were  both  buried  at  the 
same  time.* 

Mr.  Barnes  was  married  to  Parthenia  Jones,  by  whom  he  had  seven 
children, — a  son  and  six  daughters.  Mrs.  Barnes  and  one  daughter  (Mrs. 
Julia  P.  Davis,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.)  still  (1859)  survive. 

Mr.  Barnes'  incessant  occupation  as  a  teacher  did  not  allow  him  to 
write  extensively  for  the  press ;  and  yet  he  was  a  liberal  contributor  to 
some  of  the  periodicals  of  the  day,  especially  to  Silliman's  Journal.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  his  principal  contributions  to  that  work : — Geological 
Section  of  the  Canaan  Mountain,  Vol.  V.  Memoir  on  the  Genera  Unio 
and  Alasmodonta,  with  numerous  figures,  VI.  Five  species  of  Chiton, 
with  figures,  VII.  Memoir  on  Batrachian  animals  and  doubtful  reptiles. 
XI  and  XIIT.  On  Magnetic  Polarity,  XIII.  Reclamation  of  Unios, 
XIII.  Mr.  Barnes  also  rendered  very  important  aid  to  Dr.  Webster,  in 
preparing  his  Dictionary  of  the  English  language. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JACOB  VAN  VECHTEN,  D.  D. 

Albany,  March  10,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  Your  inquiry  concerning  my  classmate  Barnes,  I  will  cheer- 
fully respond  to  in  the  best  way  I  can;  but,  as  this  year  completes  half  a 
century  since  we  parted  at  College,  I  fear  that  my  recollections  of  him  arc  less 
minute  than  would  best  subserve  your  purpose.  Such  as  they  are,  however, 
they  arc  quite  at  your  service;  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  contribute,  in  ever  so 
humble  a  measure,  cither  to  honour  his  memory,  or  to  gratify'  your  Avishes. 

If  I  remember  rightly,  ^Ir.  Barnes  did  not  join  our  class  until  the  Soj)homore 
year;  but  I  became  acquainted  with  him,  immediatcl}' after  his  admission,  and 
knew  him  quite  intimately  during  his  whole  college  life.  Your  request  has 
awakened  remembrances  of  him,  which  had  slumbered  for  many  years. 

In  his  person  he  was  of  about  the  middle  size,  had  sandy  hair,  light  eyes, 
regular  features,  and  an  intelligent,  but  not  particularly  striking,  expression 
of  countenance.  His  manners  were  well  considered,  and  seemed  to  have  been 
formed  somewhat  according  to  rule,  though  there  was  far  from  any  thing  like 
a  repulsive  formality.  In  his  social  intercourse  he  was  affable  and  pleasant, 
and  had  a  good  stock  of  general  information  upon  which  he  could  draw  with 
ease  and  freedom.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  intellectual  faculty  which 
he  developed  in  greater  prominence  than  anj-  other,  in  connection  with  his  col- 
lege course,  was  memory.  He  could  remeinl>er  words,  delinitions,  facts,  trains 
of  thought,   any  thing,  with  a    facility  and   exactness,  such  as  I  have  rarely 

•  I  give  the  account  as  it  h.is  been  furnished  me  by  a  member  of  Mr.  Bnrnes'  family. 
Another  account,  which  I  have  received  on  high  authority,  though  agreeing  with  this  in  the 
main,  differs  slightly  in  the  details. 


(524  BAPTIST. 

knoflu.  Hence,  in  all  those  studies,  in  wliich  memory  was  especially  put  iu 
requisition,  he  excelled.  In  the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages,  iu  Blair's  Rhe- 
toric, and  otlier  kindred  studies,  he  always  appeared  to  great  advantage; 
whereas,  for  the  severer  studies,  particularly  the  higher  branches  of  Mathe- 
matics, he  had  less  taste,  and  probably  less  of  intellectual  aptitude.  He  was 
also  fond  of  poetry,  and  occasionally  put  himself  into  communion  with  the 
Muses,  but  1  believe  that  his  developments  in  this  way  were  never  remarka- 
ble. I  do  not  remember  that,  at  that  period,  he  gave  any  special  attention  to 
Natural  History,  or  evinced  any  particular  interest  in  it;  though  his  love  for 
this  branch  of  study,  as  I  have  been  informed,  subsequently  became  almost  a 
ruling  passion,  and  his  attainments  in  it  constituted,  perhaps,  the  highest  dis- 
tinction of  his  life.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow-students  for  both 
his  moral  qualities  and  his  intellectual  attainments;  though  it  may  be  doubted 
Avhether  his  developments,  at  that  time,  gave  promise  of  the  degree  of  emi- 
nence which  he  afterwards  reached. 

In  his  religious  character,  he  was,  I  believe,  without  reproach.  He  was  not 
chargeable  with  levity  on  the  one  hand,  or  with  austerity  on  the  other,  but 
united  cheerfulness  and  gravity  in  their  due  proportions.  Indeed,  he  discharged 
all  his  Christian  obligations,  as  far  as  I  know,  with  exemplary  lidelity. 

I  never  heard  Mr.  Barnes  preach,  but  from  what  I  knew  of  his  piety,  his 
intelligence,  his  facility  in  delivering  himself,  I  do  not  doubt  that  his  ser- 
vices in  the  pulpit  were  highly  acceptable;  and  yet,  as  preaching  was  not  the 
main  business  of  his  life,  it  can  hardlj'  be  supposed  that  he  reached  so  high  a 
point  of  either  popularity  or  usefulness  as,  under  other  circumstances,  he 
might  have  attained. 

As  a  Teacher,  he  possessed  rare  qualifications,  and  was  favoured  with  a 
proportional  degree  of  success.  He  guided  rather  than  ruled  his  pupils.  He 
convinced  them  of  their  ability  to  succeed  in  their  studies,  and  from  each  suc- 
cessive step  in  advance  that  they  took,  he  derived  an  argument  for  continued 
perseverance  and  increased  zeal.  The  fact  that  he  was  associated  in  teaching 
with  that  eminent  educator.  Dr.  Griscom,  is  a  sufficient  certificate  to  his  emi- 
nence in  this  department. 

Mr.  Barnes'  death,  by  a  distressing  casualt}',  prematurely  terminated  a 
career  of  no  inconsiderable  usefulness,  and  of  constantly  increasing  promise. 
When  he  died,  it  was  felt,  especially  in  the  domain  of  Natural  Science,  that  a 
great  liglit  lind  been  extinguished. 

Willi  every  consideration  of  respect 

and  affection,  your  friend, 

J.  VAN  VECHTEN. 

FROM  THE  HON.  GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK. 

FisHKiLL  Landing,  June  18,  1859. 
Hev.  and  dear  Sir:  1  knew  personally  the  late  Daniel  II.  Barnes  only  during 
the  la.^t  years  of  his  life,  but  these  were  his  most  useful  and  honourably  distin- 
guished years,  and  though  his  last,  in  the  full  prime  of  his  talents  and  energy. 
During  the  Avhole  period  of  his  connection  with  the  New  York  High  School,  as 
one  of  its  Associate  Principals,  and  the  head  of  the  classical  department, 
(■whilst  the  school  numbered  its  pupils  by  hundreds,)  I  was  President  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Institution,  and,  taking  great  interest  in  the  school,  was  a  fre- 
ijuent  visiter  and  examiner — and  I  also  in  other  ways  became  well  acquainted 
with  him.  The  Annual  Report  of  the  year  in  which  he  died  was  specially 
prepared  by  myself,  at  the  request  of  the  Trustees,  as  a  memorial  of  his  char- 
acter and  services,  and  was  delivered  before  an  audience  of  those  interested  in 
the  school,  and  the  members  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  who  attended 


DANIEL  IIENRT  BARNES.  g25 

in  a  body.  That  respectable  ami  intelligent  aiulienco,  nearly  every  one  of 
whom  personally  knew  Mr.  Barnes  in  sonic  walk  of  usefulness,  fully  sympa- 
thized in  the  views  then  expressed  of  his  virtues  and  talents,  and  1  cannot, 
after  so  many  years,  do  better  justice  to  his  memory  than  to  repeat  more 
briefly  the  statements  then  made,  whilst  the  impressions  of  his  character  and 
services  were  still  fresh  in  all  our  minds.  What  1  shall  saj'  of  him  will  have 
respect  chietly  to  his  character  as  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  science,  and  his 
merit  as  an  instructer. 

lie  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar,  accurately  skilled  in  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages,  to  which  he  added  considerable  acquirements  in  the  Hebrew, 
and  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  modern  languages  and  literature.  As  a  Phil- 
ologist, like  other  zealous  cultivators  of  that  branch  of  study,  he  was  perhaps 
disposed  to  push  favourite  theories  to  an  extreme,  but  he  was  learned,  acute 
and  philosophical.  His  acquirements  in  Mathematics  were  highly  respectable, 
but  1  think  that  he  never  devoted  himself  to  this  science  with  the  same  zeal  as 
to  other  collateral  studies. 

It  is  probably  as  a  Naturalist  that  his  name  will  be  best  known  to  posteritj'. 
He  was  a  most  industrious  member  of  the  New  York  Ljccum  of  Natural  His- 
tory,— a  Society  which  has  displayed,  in  a  rare  degree,  the  love  of  learning, 
without  the  parade  of  it,  and  has  cultivated  the  Natural  Sciences  witli  admi- 
rable zeal,  industry,  and  success.  To  one  of  the  members  of  that  Society — 
himself  a  Naturalist  of  well-earned  reputation — I  am  indebted  for  the  follow- 
ing brief  but  verv^  honourable  tribute  to  Mr.  Barnes'  labours  and  attainments 
as  a  Naturalist. 

"  About  the  year  1819,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  Natural  Sciences,  and 
his  connection  with  the  Lyceum  of  this  city,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  gave 
additional  impulse  to  the  characteristic  zeal  with  which  he  prosecuted  his  new 
studies.  The  departments  of  Mineralogy  and  Cieology  occupied  his  attention, 
and  the  first  fruits  of  his  inquiries  are  to  be  found  in  a  paper  read  before  the 
Lyceum,  entitled  <a  Geological  Survey  of  the  Canaan  Mountains,  with  Obser- 
vations on  the  Soil  and  Productions  of  neighbouring  regions.'  *  In  this  paper 
he  showed  himself  Avell  conversant  with  Botany  and  Zoology-  To  this  latter 
branch  of  Natural  History  he  subsequently  devoted  bis  leisure  hours  with 
greater  avidity;  and  communicated  to  the  Lyceum  a  curious  and  original 
paper  <  On  the  Genera  Unio  et  Alasniodonta,'t  a  family  of  fresh-water  shells, 
distinguished  for  their  beauty,  and  their  almost  inlinite  variety  of  form. 
Shortly  after  appeared  in  the  Annals  of  the  Lyceum  several  other  papers  from 
Mr.  Barnes  on  similar  subjects.  Two  of  these  may  be  particularly  noted, — 
one  on  «  the  Genus  Chiton,'  and  the  other  on  <  The  doubtful  reptiles.' 

"The  reputation  of  Mr.  Barnes  as  a  Naturalist  will  be  immovably  estab- 
lished upon  his  Memoir  on  the  shells  of  his  country.  The  introductory  obser- 
vations, applicable  to  the  whole  study  of  Conchology,  are  marked  by  that 
precision,  clearness,  and  lucid  order  for  which  he  was  remarkable.  He 
described  above  twenty  new  species,  and,  a  short  time  before  his  death,  he 
received  a  flattering  proof  of  the  estimation  in  which  his  labours  were  held  by 
the  learned  of  Europe. 

"  The  great  and  splendid  work  of  Humboldt,  on  Mexico,  contains  beautiful 
plates  and  descriptions  of  the  genera  just  referred  to.  The  first  Zoological 
critic  of  Europe,  (the  Baron  dc  Ferussac,)  in  commenting  ujjon  this  work, 
points  out  many  errors  into  which  the  author  has  fiillen;  '  errors,'  he  observes, 
<  which  had  arisen  from  his  not  having  consulted  the  works  of  American  Natu- 
ralists, and  especially  the  labours  of  Mr.  Barnes.' 

•Subsequently  puWUhed  in  the  5th  volume  of  Silliman's  Journal, 
t  Sec  Sillinians  Journal  for  1823. 

Vni..   VL  79 


626  BAPTIST. 

"As  a  Naturalist,  Mr.  Barnes  had  very  peculiar  qualifications.  Familiar 
■with  the  learned,  and  several  modern,  languages,  he  was  enabled  to  pursue  his 
investigations  bej'ond  the  narrow  limits  of  his  own.  His  inquiries  were  con- 
ducted with  a  caution,  a  patience,  and  a  modest  diffidence,  which  cannot  be 
too  much  imitated.  He  was  scrupulously  exact  in  his  descriptions,  and 
exhibited  a  laudable  hesitation  at  generalizing  from  obscure  or  doubtful  pre- 
mises. Engaged  in  laborious  avocations,  which  occupied  the  greatest  part  of 
his  time,  it  was  only  in  hastily  snatched  intervals  of  leisure  that  he  could 
devote  himself  to  those  pursuits  which  form  the  serious  business  of  life  with 
those  who  have  gained  distinction  in  them.  The  reputation,  however,  of  a 
scientific  man  does  not  depend  upon  the  quantity  of  his  writings,  and  if  it 
should  be  said  that  Barnes  has  written  little,  Avhen  compared  with  the  labours 
of  the  professed  Naturalist,  let  it  be  remembered  that  that  little  has  been  done 
singularly  well." 

In  addition  to  this  just  and  discriminating  character,  I  have  only  to  add 
that  he  never  regarded  these  acquisitions,  or  indeed  any  others  not  imme- 
diately entering  into  the  uses  of  life,  as  of  ultimate  value  in  themselves.  He 
cherished  and  cultivated  the  study  of  Nature  as  furnishing  truer  conceptions 
of  the  Creator's  wisdom,  as  giving  employment  to  the  understanding  and  habits 
of  accurate  and  attentive  observation,  and  as  frequently  and  often  unexpect- 
edly leading  to  results  increasing  the  power  or  the  happiness  of  man. 

With  these  views  of  the  objects  of  the  science,  whilst  in  his  more  elaborate 
printed  Essaj's  he  addressed  the  scientific  Naturalist,  he  was  wont,  in  occa- 
sional popular  lectures  to  his  pupils,  to  unfold  to  them  the  infinite  beauty,  the 
diversified  simplicit}'  of  the  order  of  nature.  To  borrow  the  eloquent  language 
of  an  accomplished  scholar,  (Stephen  Elliott,  of  South  Carolina,)  who,  amidst 
the  laborious  occupations  of  a  busy  life,  found  leisure  to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Naturalists  of  our  country, — he  taught  them  how,  by  the  light  of 
science,  "  the  very  earth  on  which  mc  tread  becomes  animate — every  rock,  every 
plant,  every  insect  presents  to  our  view  an  organization  so  wonderful,  so  varied, 
so  complex;  an  adaptation  of  means  to  ends  so  simple,  so  diversified,  so  exten- 
sive, so  perfect,  that  the  wisdom  of  man  shrinks  abashed  at  the  comparison. 
Nor  is  it  to  present  existence  that  our  observations  are  confined.  The  mind  may 
thus  be  enabled  to  retrace  the  march  of  ages;  to  examine  of  the  earth  the 
revolutions  that  have  formed  and  deranged  its  structure — of  its  inhabitants, 
the  creation,  tlie  dissolution,  the  continual  reproduction — to  admire  the  har- 
mony which,  while  it  has  taught  each  being  instinctively  to  pursue  the  pri- 
mary objects  of  its  creation,  has  rendered  them  all  subservient  to  secondary 
purposes."  "Witli  the  same  eloquent  Naturalist  he  might  have  added, — "  The 
study  of  Natural  History  has  been,  for  many  years,  the  occupation  of  my 
leisure  moments;  it  is  a  merited  tribute  to  say  that  it  has  lightened  for  me 
many  a  heavy,  and  smoothed  for  me  many  a  rugged,  hour;  that,  beguiled  by 
its  charms,  I  have  found  no  road  rough  or  difficult,  no  journey  tedious,  no 
country  desolate  or  barren.  In  solitude  never  solitary,  in  a  desert  never 
without  employment.  I  have  found  it  a  relief  from  the  languor  of  idleness, 
the  i)rcssure  of  business,  and  tlie  unavoidable  calamities  of  life." 

In  his  own  profession  as  a  Teacher  of  youth,  Mr.  Barnes  had  long  enjoj-ed 
a  merited  reputation.  Able  and  willing  to  teach  and  to  teach  well  all  these 
branches  of  knowledge  which  the  wants  or  opinions  of  society  require,  a.s 
essential  for  pursuits  of  active  life,  he  did  not  consider  the  mere  drilling  of 
his  pupils  in  tliose  studies  as  a  sufficient  discharge  of  his  dut}'-.  He  felt  a 
warm  and  parental  interest  in  tliem,  and  delighted  to  throw  before  them  such 
collateral  information  as  might  stimulate  their  curiosity,  or,  without  the  labour 
of  formal  dutj%  enrich  their  minds  with  hints  and  outlines  of  science  which 
might  in  after  life  be  filled  up  and  completed. 


DANIEL  HENRY  BARNES.  627 

lie  was,  accordingly,  peculiar!}'  well  adapted  to  the  Institution  over  which, 
in  his  last  years,  he  presided.  It  was  the  cherished  hope  of  its  founders  that, 
M'hilst  the  learned  languages  would  be  well  taught,  accurate  instruction  might 
also  be  given  in  all  those  practical  parts  of  education  Avhich  lit  men  for  the 
daily  business  of  life.  The  experiment  proved  satisfactory;  and,  whilst  the 
pupils  of  Mr.  Barnes  who  entered  the  several  Colleges,  did  not  Aill  behind  in 
any  important  part  of  classical  learning,  he  sent  forth  every  year  a  number 
of  other  youths  with  minds  habituated  to  well-directed  and  profitable  applica- 
tion, and  liberalized  and  invigorated  bj'  various  and  valuable  knowledge. 

Nor  were  the  peculiar  obligations  of  the  Minister  of  a  holy  religion  forgot- 
ten by  him  in  those  of  the  teacher  of  human  learning.  lie  omitted  none  of 
those  opportunities  which  the  course  of  discipline  and  instruction  constantly 
presented,  to  impress  on  those  under  his  care  notions  of  sound  morals,  to  cor- 
rect those  of  false  honour  and  pride,  to  awaken  rational  piety,  or  to  quicken 
those  moral  sensibilities  which,  though  they  may  be  dormant  in  youth,  are 
rarely  dead.  Indeed,  he  sustained  himself,  in  every  department  of  duty,  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  a  Gentleman,  a  Scholar,  a  Christian,  and^a  Minister  of  the 
Gospel. 

I  am,  very  truly,  your  friend  and  servant, 

G.  C.  VERPLANCK. 


SILAS  MERCER  NOEL,  D.  D.* 

1813—1839. 

Silas  Mercer  Noel,  a  son  of  the  Ecv.  Theodoric  Noel,  and  Sarah 
Sullivan,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Essex  County,  Va.,  on  the  12th  of  August, 
1783,  His  father  was  b-iptizcd  in  August,  1773,  when  he  was  somewhat 
more  than  twenty  years  of  age,  and  shortly  after  began  to  exercise  his  gift 
in  the  way  of  exhortation  and  proacliing,  and  soon  acquired  considerable 
popularity  among  the  Baptists.  He  had  more  than  common  natural  powers 
of  eloquence,  and  sometimes  excited  the  most  violent  paroxysms  of  feel- 
ing. He  seems  to  have  been  a  zealous  and  devoted  minister,  but  his  life 
was  by  no  means  fruitful  in  incident.  He  died  when  he  was  a  little  past 
sixty. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  placed,  at  an  early  age,  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Semplc,  a  well  known  Baptist  clergyman,  of  Virginia, 
with  whom  he  continued  about  four  years.  Thence  he  was  sent  to  a  school 
in  Caroline  County,  under  the  care  of  a  distinguished  Scotch  scholar,  by 
the  name  of  Ogilvie,  who  was  an  open  infidel,  and  whose  influence  had 
well-nigh  proved  fatal  to  this  young  man.  After  remaining  here  for  some 
time,  he  went  to  a  school  of  a  yet  higher  order  in  Fredericksburg,  where 
he  completed  his  academical  studies,  and  then  engaged  as  an  assistant 
teacher,  either  in  the  same  school  or  in  another  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood. 

During  his  residence  at  Fredericksburg,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
Medicine,  with  a  view  to  becoming  a  medical  practitioner ;  but  he  had  not 

•Banner  and  Pioneer,  1839.— MSS.  from  Mrs.  Noel,  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  D.  D.,  and  H.  Win- 
gate,  Esq. 


628  BAPTIST. 

proceeded  far  before  he  abandoned  it,  and  determined  to  devote  himself  to 
the  Law.  lie  now  removed  to  Middlesex  Count}',  Va.,  and  prosecuted  his 
studies  under  the  direction  of  Carter  Braxton  Esq.*  He  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  At  twenty-one  he  was 
married  to  Maria  W.,  daughter  of  Capt.  llobert.  Payne  Warring,  of  Essex 
County,  Va.,  by  whom  he  had  thirteen  children, — six  sons,  and  seven 
daughters.  Mrs.  Noel  and  three  of  their  children, — two  sons  and  a 
daugliter,  still  (1859)  survive. 

Mr.  Noel  soon  acquired  a  high  reputation  at  the  Bar,  and  came  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  promising  young  lawyers  in  Virginia.  In 
June,  1806,  he  migrated  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  as  a  lawyer  in 
Louisville,  having  obtained  license  to  practise  in  that  State  from  Judge 
Sebastian,  of  the  County  of  Jefferson.  Here  he  continued  actively  engaged 
in  his  profession  for  about  seven  years  ;  though,  in  consequence  of  the  then 
unhealthy  condition  of  Louisville,  he  had  his  residence  in  the  country. 
lie  removed  thence  to  Frankfort,  where  he  remained  several  years. 

In  1811,  Mr.  Noel's  mind  became  deeply  and  permanently  impressed  with 
the  great  realities  of  religion.  Having,  as  he  believed,  found  rest  and  peace 
iu  the  Saviour,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Kev.  William  Hickman.  Senior, 
and,  shortly  after,  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  at  the  Forks  of  Elkhorn, 
in  Franklin  County,  of  which  Mr.  H.  was  Pastor.  As  he  manifested  great 
zeal  as  well  as  ability  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ,  the  matter  of 
entering  the  ministry  was  soon  presented  to  his  consideration,  and  the 
church  of  which  he  had  become  a  member  cordially  extended  to  him  a 
license  to  preach.  In  1813,  he  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the  Church  at 
Big  Spring,  Woodford  County,  where  he  laboured  for  some  time  witli 
encouraging  success.  He  afterwards  took  charge  of  the  Church  at  Frank- 
fort, the  capital  of  the  Commonwealth,  which  grew  into  a  large  and  flour- 
ishing church  under  hi.s  Pastorship.  During  his  ministiy  here,  belaboured 
extensively  in  the  adjacent  country,  in  organizing  and  building  up  churches, 
among  which  were  those  of  North  Benson,  Old  Zoar,  Lebanon,  Flat  Creek, 
and  Bethel. 

After  the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  Joel  Bacon,  as  President  of  George- 
town College-,  Mr.  Noel  was  chosen  his  successor  ;  but  he  declined  the 
appointment.  In  1833,  the  Church  in  Lexington,  having  become  divided 
by  certain  erratic  measures  which  had  been  introduced  there,  under  a  pre- 
vious ministry,  Mr.  Noel  was  called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  branch 
that  remained  connected  with  the  United  Baptists.  He  accepted  the  invi- 
tation, and  removed  to  Lexington  in  May  of  that  year.  Here  he  had 
ample  scope  for  his  labours,  as  well  as  a  vigorous  and  highly  successful 
ministry.  Besides  discharging  with  great  fidelity  and  acceptance  his  dutie.-^ 
to  his  own  immediate  charge,  he  often  preached  to  the  neighbouring 
churches,  and  was  instrumental  at  once  of  adding  to  their  numbers  and 
increasing  their  spirituality. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  the  Bapti.st  ministers  in  Kentucky 
received  no  regular  salar}^  for  their  services.  Contributions  were  made  by 
the  churches  which  received  monthly  supplies  ;  but  a  large  proportion  of 

•  There  were  two  or  three  Carter  Braxtons  in  Virginia,  who  were  lawyers ;  but  under  which 
of  them  Mr.  Noe]  studied,  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 


SILAS  MERCER  NOEL.  629 

their  ministers  gloried  in  sustaining  themselves  by  secular  labour,  and 
preaching  the  Gospel  without  charge.  Mr.  Noel  could  have  continued  to 
eomniand  a  large  practice  at  the  Bar,  but  he  felt  that  there  was  some 
incongruity  in  the  two  professions,  and  in  I81I8,  as  the  least  of  two  evils, 
he  accepted  from  Gabriel  Slaughter,  then  Acting  Governor  of  Kentucky, 
the  appointment  of  Circuit  Judge  of  the  Fourth  Judicial  District, — the 
same  in  which  he  resided.  This  furnished  him  the  means  of  a  comfortable 
support  for  his  increasing  family,  but  left  him  but  little  time  for  prepara- 
tion for  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath.  Finding  himself  thus  embarrassed  by 
his  judicial  labours,  and  withal  experiencing  a  great  diminution  of  his 
religious  enjoyment,  he  gave  up  this  honourable  oflBce  after  a  year  or  two, 
and  determined  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  ministry,  and  trust 
Providence  for  the  means  of  a  competent  support.  From  this  period  to 
the  close  of  his  life,  his  whole  time  and  energies  were  sacredly  devoted  to 
his  holy  calling. 

The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him,  by  Transyl- 
vania University,  in  1822. 

Dr.  Noel  was  a  zealous  advocate  and  supporter  of  every  good  work  with 
•which  he  was  brought  in  contact.  The  cause  of  Missions,  of  Ministerial 
Education,  of  African  Colonization,  and  various  other  objects  of  enliglitened 
philanthropy,  found  in  him  an  able  and  efl&cient  auxiliary.  About  the  year 
1815,  he  commenced  a  monthly  publication  in  Frankfort,  designed  to  sus- 
tain such  interests,  with  those  of  the  Christian  religion  in  general.  He 
was  the  original  projector  of  the  Baptist  Education  Society  of  Kentucky, 
and  was  its  President  for  several  years. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1839,  a  Convention  of  ministers  and  other  members 
of  Baptist  Churches  in  Kentucky  was  held  in  Lexington,  to  form  a  Bible 
Society  in  co-operation  with  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and 
for  consulting  on  other  matters  of  interest  to  the  denomination,  in  the 
State.  Dr.  Noel  had  anticipated  much  pleasure  in  connection  with  this 
occasion,  but,  when  the  time  came,  it  found  him  labouring  under  a  severe 
illness,  (which  indeed  had  been  for  some  time  gradually  fastening  itself 
upon  him,)  and  sinking  rapidly  towards  the  grave.  He  was  abundantly 
sustained  and  comforted  in  the  prospect  of  his  departure,  and,  as  long  as 
he  had  strength  to  speak,  bore  a  grateful  testimony  to  his  lledoemer's 
power  and  grace.  He  died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1839,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age.  On  the  same  evening  a  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  to 
an  immense  congregation,  by  the  Rev.  William  C.  Buck,  of  Loui-ville, 
from  II.  Tim.  iv.  7,  8,  and  the  next  day  his  remains  were  taken  to  Frank- 
fort, and  deposited  in  the  family  burying-ground,  near  that  place. 


FROM  THE    HON.  CHARLES  S.  TODD. 

Shelbyville,  Ky.,  May  15,  1857. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  I  knew  Dr.  Noel  quite  well,  and  am  willing  to  give  you 
my  impressions  concerning  him.  I  remember  him  first  as  a  Lawyer  who  had 
removed  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  at  Frankfort.  lie  had  a 
highly  respectable  standing  in  his  profession,  and  took  rank  decidedly  with 
the  more  cultivated  minds  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  It  was  not 
long — I  do  not  remember  exactly  how  long — before  he  appeared  among  us  as 


030  BAPTIST. 

a  Minister  of  the  Gospel.  lie  was  pi-obaLly  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  older 
than  myself;  but  I  knew  him  quite  well  during  a  period  of  some  twenty  years. 
As  we  belonged  to  different  religious  denominations,  I  knew  less  of  him  as  a 
clergyman  than  probably  I  should  otherwise  liave  done;  and  yet,  residing  as 
I  did  in  the  same  immediate  neighbourhood  with  him,  occasionally  hearing 
him  preach,  and  being  in  intimate  relations  with  many  who  were  much  more 
familiar  with  his  ministrations,  I  shall  not  probably  be  in  much  danger  of 
going  astray,  in  expressing  an  opinion  of  his  clerical  qualifications  and 
standing. 

Dr.  Noel  was  altogether  of  a  prepossessing  personal  appearance.  lie  was 
about  five  feet  eight  or  nine  inches  in  height,  and  was  every  way  well  pro- 
portioned. His  countenance  bore  marks  of  uncommon  vivacity;  and  his 
mouth,  as  I  remember,  was  his  most  expressive  feature.  His  movements  were 
quick,  easy  and  graceful.  In  private  intercourse,  he  was  uncommonly  social 
and  agreeable,  and  had  a  considerable  fund  of  anecdote,  which  he  knew  how 
to  apply  with  discrimination  and  good  effect  He  had  had  the  benefit  of  an 
excellent  education,  which,  with  other  circumstances,  gave  him  a  high  posi- 
tion in  society.  You  could  not  converse  with  him  at  all,  without  seeing  that 
he  had  a  well  furnished  mind,  and  that  he  was  carefully  and  intelligently 
observant  of  the  current  events  of  the  time.  He  was  very  fluent  and  apt  in 
conversation,  and  somewhat  scholarly  in  his  manner.  He  was  exceedingly 
amiable  in  his  temper,  and  was,  in  all  respects,  the  kind,  courteous  gentleman. 

I  suppose  that  Dr.  Noel  was  distinguished  from  most  other  Baptist  ministers 
of  his  day,  by  intellectual  culture  more  than  by  original  endowments.  I  do 
not  mean  that  he  was  not  by  nature  more  than  ordinarily  gifted;  but  only 
that  his  superior  education,  necessarily,  at  that  day,  gave  him  a  prominence 
which  it  would  not  have  given  him,  if  he  had  lived  at  a  later  period.  Most 
of  his  brethren — excellent  men,  and  many  of  them  strong-minded  men  as  they 
were — had  not  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  any  thing  beyond  a  common  education; 
but  he  stood  up  among  them  as  a  man  of  not  onl}^  a  naturally  vigorous  mind, 
but  of  high  acquisitions,  and  cultivated  and  polished  manner.  Asa  Preacher, 
he  was  exceedingly  fluent,  was  cliaste  and  even  elegant  in  his  language,  but 
was  rather  sensible  and  instructive  than  highly  imaginative.  He  always 
spoke  extempore,  but  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  thought  or  a  word.  His  voice 
was  smooth,  mellow  and  flexible,  and  withal  had  a  good  deal  of  compass. 
His  manner  was  earnest,  but  had  no  approach  to  any  thing  wild  or  boisterous. 
From  the  specimens  of  his  preaching  which  I  happened  to  hear,  I  should  think 
he  was  more  doctrinal  tlian  practical.  He  was  altogether  a  man  of  an  elevated 
character,  and  has  left  his  mark  upon  his  denomination  and  his  neighbourhood. 
I  am  very  truly  and  aflectionatcly  yours, 

C.  S.  TODD. 


WILLIAM  EASTERLY  ASIITON.  g31 

WILLIAM  EASTERLY  ASHTON* 

1814—1836. 

William  Easterly  Asiiton,  the  eldest  son  of  George  and  Elizabeth 
Ashton,  was  born  in  Philadoliiliia,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1793.  Tlie  family 
came  originally  from  Ashtun-uuJer-Lyne,  near  Manchester,  England,  and 
settled  in  Philadelphia  in  1695.  They  were  connected  with  Christ  Church, 
Philadelphia,  after  their  arrival  here,  as  their  descendants  in  successive 
generations  have  been,  down  to  the  time  of  William  Easterly  Ashton, — 
the  subject  of  this  sketch;  and  he  was  baptized  there  in  his  infancy. 

From  early  childhood,  he  manifested  an  unusually  serious  turn  of  mind, 
and  was  remarkable  for  filial  reverence  and  obedience,  as  well  as  general 
good  conduct,  and  often  reproved  the  errors  and  follies  of  his  playmates. 
At  the  age  of  ten,  he  became  deeply  anxious  in  respect  to  his  soul's  salva- 
tion ;  and  sought  the  aid  and  counsel  of  his  spiritual  guides,  especially  of 
the  late  venerable  Bishop  White.  By  some  means  or  other  he  found  his 
way  into  the  meetings  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  then 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  William  White.  He  soon  became  known  to  the 
members  as  an  inquiring  youth,  and  from  about  that  period  was  regarded  as  a 
subject  of  renewing  grace.  Though  he  thenceforward  maintained  a  uniform 
and  consistent  course  of  piety,  he  was  not  baptized  or  received  into  the 
communion  of  the  Church,  until  he  had  reached  the  age  of  sixteen. 

Mr.  Ashton,  in  due  time,  became  a  member  of  the  "  Theological  Institu- 
tion of  the  Baptist  General  Convention,"  in  Philadelphia,  which  was  after- 
wards removed  to  Washington  City,  and  took  the  name  of  "Columbian 
College."  Between  himself  and  Dr.  Staughton,  who  was  his  principal 
iustructer  in  Theology,  there  sprang  up  an  intimate  friendship,  which  was 
ever  after  a  source  of  high  mutual  enjoyment.  On  the  occasion  of  Dr. 
Staughton's  marriage  with  Miss  Peale,  Mr.  Ashton  officiated  as  his  grooms- 
man ;  and,  after  his  resignation  of  the  Presidency  of  Columbian  College, 
he  became  a  member  of  Mr.  Ashton's  church.  Mr.  A.,  in  turn,  had  the 
highest  admiration  of  him,  both  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  preacher,  was  among 
the  most  hearty  mourners  at  his  funeral,  and  to  the  close  of  life  delighted 
to  honour  his  memory. 

Mr.  Ashton  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  on  the  23d  of  March, 
1814;  and  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  Hopewell  Church,  N.  J.,  the  next 
year,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  After  serving  this  church  one  year,  he 
left  it  to  accept  the  Pastorate  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Blockley,  County 
of  Philadelphia.  Here  he  laboured  faithfully  and  successfully  for  seven 
years.  He  found  the  church  in  debt,  and  the  number  of  communicants  so 
small  that  two  pews  were  sufficient  to  accommodate  them.  The  congrega- 
tion soon  greatly  increased,  and,  during  the  first  year,  forty  were  added  to 
the  church.  People  of  other  denominations,  and  from  a  considerable 
distance,  took  pews  in  bis  church,  and  sat  with  great  delight  under  his 
ministry.  The  debt  which  he  found  resting  as  an  incubus  upon  the  congre- 
gation, was  nearly  liquidated  before  he  left  them.  As  an  evidence  of  his 
•  MS.  from  his  son,  Dr.  S.  K.  Ashton. 


632  BAPTIST. 

popular! (y  with  Cliristians  of  otlicr  communions,  it  ma}'-  be  mentioned  that 
the  Old  Sweeds'  Church,  St.  James,  at  Kingsessing,  was  thrown  open  to 
him,  and  he  preached  in  it  for  about  two  years,  every  Sunday  afternoon  ; 
the  service  of  the  Sweedish  Church  being  held  there  in  the  former  part  of 
the  day. 

Mr.  Ashton  now  devoted  part  of  his  time  to  the  education  of  youth — he 
taught  classes  of  young  gentlemen  in  the  Classics,  Belles  Lettres,  and 
Natural  Philosophy.  Having  thus  acquired  a  decided  taste  for  teaching, 
as  well  as  discovered  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  it,  he  was  induced  to  listen 
to  a  proposal  from  some  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Philadelphia  to 
establish  a  Seminary  there  for  the  education  of  young  ladies, — not,  how- 
ever, at  the  expense  of  withdrawing  himself  from  the  duties  of  the  ministry. 
The  school,  of  which  he  now  became  the  founder  and  head,  soon  acquired  great 
popularity,  being  patronized  by  a  large  number  of  the  most  respectable 
families,  and  averaging,  in  the  number  of  its  pupils,  not  less  than  one 
hundred.  The  course  of  study  in  the  school  was  thorough,  and  in  a  high 
degree  practical ;  and  lectures  were  given  by  Mr.  A.  on  the  Natural 
Sciences,  aided  by  an  extensive  Philosophical  and  Chemical  apparatus. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1823,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Third  Baptist 
Church  in  Philadelphia.  He  left  his  people  at  Blocldey,  not  without  great 
reluctance  ;  and  their  attachment  to  him,  as  expressed  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  him  on  the  occasion,  was  nothing  less  than  absolute  devotion — still  he 
could  not  doubt  that  the  indications  of  Providence  were  in  favour  of  his 
accepting  the  call.  The  church  with  which  he  now  became  connected,  was 
labouring  under  pecuniary  embarrassments,  and  received  Mr.  Ashton  with 
the  understanding  that  he  would  continue  his  Seminary,  and  receive  for 
his  services  as  a  minister  only  a  nominal  salary.  He  often  spoke  to  his 
friends  of  the  desirableness  of  devoting  his  whole  time  to  the  ministry  ; 
and  yet  he  firmly  believed  that  he  could  accomplish  more  good,  on  the 
whole,  by  thus  dividing  his  time  between  the  two  vocations  of  Teacher  and 
Preacher,  than  by  giving  himself  exclusively  to  either.  He  performed  at 
least  the  usual  amount  of  pastoral  dut}'.  He  preached  three  times  regu- 
larly on  the  Sabbath,  and  once  in  the  week  ;  gave  proper  attention  to  the 
Sabbath  School ;  and  was  always  on  tlie  alert  to  visit  the  sick  and  afflicted. 
And  then  as  a  teacher,  he  was  also  a  model  of  diligence  and  fidelity. 
Besides  conducting  his  school  with  great  care  and  ability,  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  deliver  weekly  lectures,  gratuitously,  on  scientific  subjects,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  young  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  church  ;  and  these 
lectures  he  regarded  as  of  a  twofold  useful  tendency, — as  not  onl}'  impart- 
ing valuable  knowledge  to  those  who  might  not  otherwise  be  in  the  way  of 
receiving  it,  ])ut  as  attracting  tliem  to  his  congregation,  and  thus  bringing 
them  under  the  influence  of  the  means  of  grace.  He  also  gave,  without 
charge,  weekly  instruction,  in  a  diiferent  form,  on  general  subjects,  to  a 
large  class,  composed  of  both  youth  and  adults.  A  considerable  number 
of  young  men,  who  were  preparing  for  the  ministry,  placed  themselves 
under  his  care,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  devote  many  of  his  evenings  to 
lecturing  to  them  at  his  own  liouse. 

But  Mr.  Ashton 's  unceasing  and  varied  labours  served  to  destroy  his 
constitution,  and  bring  him  to   an  early   grave.     His   nervous  system  was 


WILLIAM  EASTERLY  ASIITON.  (j33 

greatly  overtaskoil ;  his  Ijrain  was  far  too  active  for  lii.s  physical  nature  : 
and  though,  by  no  means,  constitutionally  predisposed  to  such  an  attack, 
he  was  stricken  down  by  paralysis,  in  May,  1834.  From  this  attack  he 
partially  recovered.  In  August  of  the  same  year,  by  the  advice  of  hi."? 
medical  attendant,  and  accompanied  by  his  eldest  son,  he  made  a  visit  to 
(Jape  Ilcnlopcn,  in  the  hope  tliat  sea  bathing  and  air  would  restore  the 
weak  and  still  somewhat  palsied  side.  On  the  evening  of  his  arrival  at  the 
Cape,  he  preached  in  the  l*resbyterian  Church  of  the  town  of  Lewes, — the 
Pastor  of  which  had  just  before  lost  his  life  in  the  burning  of  one  of  the 
Bay  steanu-rs.  The  audience  was  large,  and  the  sermon  peculiarly  impres- 
sive,— takinjr  its  hue  from  the  recent  bereavement  to  which  the  church  had 
been  subjected.  This  proved  to  be  his  last  effort  in  the  pulpit.  As  riding 
on  horseback  had  been  directed  by  his  physician,  he  rose  early  the  next 
morning  for  the  purpose  of  taking  his  first  ride.  On  attempting  to  mount 
the  horse,  he  fractured,  by  mere  muscular  action,  the  thigh,  and  sank  help- 
lessl}-  to  the  earth,  never  more  to  rise  without  assistance — the  reason  given 
for  it  was  that  the  bone  of  the  limb  had  been  rendered  fragile  by  his  recent 
paralysis.  A  tedious  and  distressing  confinement  followed  this,  extending 
over  a  period  of  nearly  two  years.  His  very  active  mind  was  at  once 
brought  into  antagonism  with  a  prostrate  and  diseased  body.  The  result 
was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  a  state  of  great  nervous  excitability,  and 
extreme  bodily  feebleness  ;  but  his  faith  and  patience  never  faltered.  "All 
the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait  till  my  change  come,"  was  one 
of  the  many  passages  of  Scripture  in  which  he  gave  utterance  to  his  quiet, 
submissive  and  trusting  spirit. 

On  the  23d  of  February,  1835,  he  resigned  his  charge  of  the  Third  Bap- 
tist Church,  having  served  as  its  Pastor  twelve  years.  On  this  occasion, 
he  dictated  to  his  daughter  a  most  appropriate  and  afi"ectionate  letter  to  his 
flock,  assuring  them  that  the  measure  was  prompted  not  le.ss  by  a  regard 
to  their  spiritual  interests  than  the  necessity  of  his  own  exemption,  in  his 
then  feeble  state,  from  all  pastoral  responsibility.  He  was  never  well 
enough  to  attempt  any  active  service  after  this,  though  he  was  sometimes 
taken  out  to  ride.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  he  requested  to  be  carried 
to  his  church  ;  and  when  he  reached  it,  he  asked  to  be  taken  into  the  pul- 
pit and  seated.  This  was  done  ;  but  the  scene  well-nigh  overwhelmed  him. 
He  sat  for  a  while  in  silence  ;  and  then  his  feelings  found  vent  in  a  flood 
of  tears. 

Mr.  Ashton  had,  several  times,  during  his  illness,  been  apparently  nigh 
unto  death,  and  then  would  rally,  and  for  a  time  seem  comfortable.  But, 
on  the  Friday  preceding  his  decease,  he  was  violently  seized  with  cholera 
morbus,  which  so  prostrated  his  worn-out  frame,  that  death  came  to  his 
release  on  the  Tuesday  following, — July  20,  183G, — he  being  only  a  little 
more  than  forty-three  years  of  age.  His  mind  was  clear,  calm,  and  full 
of  joyful  trust,  to  the  last  moment.  His  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  G.  Jones,  one  of  his  oldest  and  most  intimate  friends. 
His  death  occasioned  great  mourning,  not  only  in  his  own  immediate  con- 
gregation, but  in  every  circle  in  which  he  was  known. 

Mr.  Ashton  was  identified  with  various  public  benevolent  enterprises  of 
his  day,  and  especially  with  the  earlier  eff"orts  put  forth  by  his  denomina- 

Yor..  YL  80 


534  BAPTIST. 

tion  in  aid  of  tlie  cause  of  Missions.  He  was  the  first  President  of  the 
Baptist  General  Association  of  Pennsylvania  for  missionary  purposes,  and 
was  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  to  whom  was  entrusted  all  the 
business  of  the  Association  during  the  intervals  between  the  meetings  of 
the  Board.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  the  Baptist  General  Con- 
vention for  missionary  purposes  ;  was  a  very  active  member  of  the  Baptist 
Tract  Society,  and  a  warm  supporter  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  jMis- 
sion  Society.  When  Haddington  College  was  projected  and  established 
by  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association,  in  the  county  of  Philadelphia,  he 
was  elected  its  first  Principal,  though  he  declined  the  appointment.  He, 
however,  accepted  the  Professorship  of  Natural  Science,  and  lectured  reg- 
ularly to  the  students  without  any  pecuniary  recompense.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  and  the  Treasurer  of  the  Institution. 

Mr.  Ashton  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  from  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  in  1830. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  181.5,  he  was  married  to  Harriet  Burr,  of  Bur- 
lington County,  N.  J.  She  died  in  the  second  year  after  her  marriage, 
leaving  an  infant  daughter.  On  the  12th  of  January,  1819,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Sarali,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  Keen  of  Philadelphia.  By 
this  marriage  lie  had  five  children,  all  of  them  sons.  One  of  them,  Samuel, 
graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1841,  studied  Medicine, 
and  is  now  fl859)  a  practising  physician  in  Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Ashton 
still  survives. 

FROM  THE  REV.  J.  H.  KENNARD,  D.  D. 

Philadelphia,  January  28,  1859. 

Dear  Sir :  The  Eev.  William  E.  Ashton,  concerning  whom  you  inquire,  I 
regarded  as  a  very  dear  friend  and  brother  in  Christ.  An  intimacy  between 
us  was  formed  immediately  after  my  conversion  in  early  youth,  in  consequence 
of  the  affectionate  interest  he  took  in  my  spiritual  welfare,  when  on  a  visit  to 
Wilmington,  De.,  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry.  To  me  the  acquaintance, 
rendered  sacred  by  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  formed,  was  very  profit- 
able, and  it  continued  until  interrupted  by  death. 

Though  many  years  have  passed  since  that  event,  bis  benignant  countenance 
and  erect  form  come  up  before  me  with  every  mention  of  his  name.  In  social 
intercourse,  he  was  gentlemanly,  genial  and  cordial  in  a  high  degree. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  ministry,  his  fervent  spirit  reminded  me  of  the 
"Angel  "  represented  by  John  as  "  flying  in  the  midst  of  Heaven,  having  the 
everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  to  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth."  Intensely 
desirous  of  winning  souls,  he  showed  that  zeal  and  devotion  so  well  befitting 
a  noble  purpose.  His  preaching  was  exceedingly  earnest  and  awakening, 
though  tender  and  impressive. 

His  appearance,  manly,  grave  and  dignified,  added  effect  to  his  impressive 
utterance  of  holy  truth.  So  powerful  were  his  impulses,  and  so  great  his 
efforts,  that  his  constitution^ naturally  strong,  yielded  under  the  pressure,  and 
he  was  subjected  to  years  of  bodily  debility  and  suffering.  Though  his  min- 
istry closed  at  a  comparatively  early  period,  he  was,  as  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  the  instrument  of  leading  many  souls  to  Christ,  not  a  few  of  whom 
are  with  liim  in  glory,  beholding  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne. 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  H.  KENNARD. 


WILLIAM  EASTERLY  ASllTON.  535 


FROM  THE  REV.  G.  B.  PERRY,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Natciikz,  Miss.,  March  25,  1859. 

Dear  Sir:  The  intimate  and  clicrisheil  friendsliip  that  existed  between  the 
Kev.  ^Ir.  Ashton,  late  of  riiiladclphia,  and  myself,  during  my  lirst  sojourn  in 
that  city,  was  indeed  sacred  and  clo.se.  AVe  met  almost  daily  for  several 
years,  to  revieAV  and  prosecute  our  studies  together,  as  mutual  assistants,  as 
well  as  to  counsel  and  strengthen  each  other  in  our  official  duties.  They  were 
valued  htuirs  to  us  then,  and  very  dear  to  my  memory  now. 

Mr.  Ashton  was  by  nature  endowed  with  a  penetrating  and  applying  mind. 
lie  never  wearied  in  the  pro.secution  of  what  he  undertook,  lie  was  a  ripe 
and  practical  .scholar.  He  excelled  in  ^lathematics.  It  was  a  science  to  which 
he  gave  much  attention,  and  in  which  he  made  high  attainments.  He  was  a 
good  linguist,  lie  spoke  the  French  language  fluently  and  accurately.  His 
ability  as  a  teacher  of  youth  was  much  above  mediocrity,  as  his  long  con- 
tinued success  in  his  profession  abundantly  proves.  His  pulpit  powers  were 
very  considerable — he  was  argumentative  without  coldness, — earnest  without 
incohcrency.  His  scriptural  exegesis  was  usuall}'  clear  and  convincing,  while 
a  marked  kindness  of  manner  won  upon  the  hearer.  He  uttered  himself  with 
great  ea.se  and  accuracy,  and  often  with  much  force  and  eloquence. 

Strictly  pious,  bland  in  manner,  pure  in  design  and  true  in  friendship,  he 
was  greatly  beloved  and  honoured  by  his  associates.  There  arc  still  not  a  few 
who  gratefully  cherish  his  memory. 

I  remain  yours  truly, 

G.  B.  PERRY. 


GUSTAVUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS,  D.  D. 

1814—1836. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D, 

Hartford.  June  18,  185G. 

My  dear  Sir  :  Of  Dr.  Davis,  one  of  my  predecessors  in  the  ministry, 
whose  memory  is  yet  so  fresh  and  fragrant  among  us,  my  knowledge  is,  I 
believe,  sufficiently  extended  and  minute  to  enable  me  to  give  you  such  a 
sketch  of  his  life  and  character  as  you  desire.  He  was  one  of  our  ablest 
and  mo.st  successful  ministers,  and  it  is  only  a  labour  of  love  with  me  to 
render  any  service  I  can,  in  honour  of  his  memory. 

GusTAVUS  Fellowes  Davis,  a  son  of  Isaac  Davis,  was  born  in  Boston, 
on  the  I7tl)  of  March,  1797.  At  his  father's  death,  which  occurred  in 
Gustavus'  sixth  year,  he  removed,  with  his  surviving  parent,  to  the  neigh- 
bouring town  of  Iioxbury.  ITis  mother  having  formed  a  new  connection 
in  marriage,  he  was  sent  to  Dedham,  and  placed  under  the  instruction  of 
the  llev.  Mr.  White.  Subsequently  he  returned  to  Roxbury,  and  attended 
the  school  of  Dr.  Prentiss.  He  had  some  religious  instruction  from  his 
mother,  and  was  taught  to  pray.  lie  imagined  himself  (|uite  pious,  and 
was  wonderfully  pleased  with  his  "  pharisaic  attainments,"  as  he  after- 
wards   deemed    them.     Indeed,    his    notions   of    religion   were    extremely 


036  BAPTIST. 

superficial,  and  it  was  not  till  he  resided  in  Braintree  that  he  reall}'  had 
any  livel}'  solicitude  in  respect  to  his  salvation.-  lie  was  much  affected  by 
the  preaching  of  the  llev.  3Ir.  Fisk  ;  but  still  had  no  just  conception  of 
the  way  of  life.  Ileligion  to  him  was  yet  a  matter  of  outward  observance 
and  artificial  work.  At  length,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  he  went  to  Worcester, 
to  learn  a  trade.  There  he  was  attracted,  with  many  others,  to  hear  the 
llev.  William  Bentley,*  whose  quaint  and  simple,  but  fervid,  appeals  had 
produced  a  great  effect,  and  finally  issued  in  the  formation  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  that  place.  The  very  first  sermon  that  Mr,  Davis  heard, 
affected  him  more  deeply  than  any  he  had  ever  heard  before.  He  Avent 
home,  "  burdened  in  spirit,"  and  began  in  earnest  to  cry  for  mercy.  At 
first,  he  relied  for  acceptance  with  God  upon  himself  and  his  good  deeds, 
but  soon  found  that  this  was  a  foundation  of  sand.  He  was  sinking  in 
deep  waters.  But  he  cried  earnestly  for  merc}^  and  clung  to  the  Word  of 
God,  searching  it  constantly,  and  hoping 

"  To  Hglit  on  some  sweet  promise  tbere, 
•''  Some  sure  support  against  despair." 

He  kept  a  New  Testament  in  a  little  drawer  under  his  work-bench,  and 
embraced  every  opportunity  to  find  in  it  something  to  relieve  his  troubled 
mind;  but  all  seemed  arrayed  in  judgment  against  him.  He  frequently 
went  to  .church,  and  the  evenings  when  there  was  no  religious  service,  he 
spent  in  reading,  meditation,  and  prayer.  But  his  gloom  became  deeper 
and  still  deeper.  Befuge  failed  him.  It  happened  to  be  a  rainy  season  : 
often,  while  the  water  was  gushing  down  the  streets,  he  would  sa}^  to  him- 
self,— "  Grace  flows  freely  as  the  water,  but  alas  !  not  for  me." 

At  length,  one  evening,  while  he  was  searching  the  Scriptures,  he  read 
the  passage, — "  The  Lord  also  will  be  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  a  refuge 
in  times  of  trouble.  And  they  that  know  thy  name  will  put  their  trust  in 
thee,  for  thou.  Lord,  hast  not  fursaken  them  that  seek  thee."  Psalm  ix. 
9,  10.  It  seemed  peculiarly  applicable  and  precious.  He  believed  in 
God  ;  his  burden  left  him  ;  he  felt  that  he  was  in  a  new  world.  He  walked 
into  the  open  air.  The  moon  shedding  her  mild  radiance  upon  the  earth, 
and  the  stars  trembling  in  the  firmament,  shone  with  a  new  lustre.  All 
things  indeed  seemed  pervaded  with  the  love  and  power  of  God,  and  were 
silently  praising  him.     For  a  short  time,  he  felt  that  he    could   mingle  in 

*WiLLiA5t  Cf.ntlf.v,  son  of  Thomas  and  Abigail  Bentley,  was  born  in  Newport,  11.  I.,  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1775.  Wlien  he  was  two  voars  old  the  English  took  Newport  by  storm;  in 
consequence  of  which  his  parents  fle<l  widi  their  children  to  Providence,  where  his  father  died 
shortly  after.  In  his  fourteenth  year,  William,  having  had  scarcely  any  advantages  for  educa- 
tion, was  sent  to  Boston  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  baker.  Here  he  became  seriously  impressed 
under  the  preaching  of  Jesse  Lee,  a  celebrated  Methodist  preacher  from  Virginia;  and  he  after- 
wards became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Stilitnan,  and  joined  tlic  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  of 
which  Br.  S.  was  Pastor,  on  the  5th  of  June,  17i'l.  On  reaching  his  majority,  he  set  up  busi- 
ness for  himself,  and  the  next  year  was  married  to  Polly  J5arb(uir  of  Boston,  who  proved  an 
excellent  help-meet  to  him,  during  nearly  his  whole  life.  He  subsequent!}'  translVrrcd  his 
church-uienibership  to  the  Second  Church,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  througii  whose  influ- 
ence he  was  induced  to  become  a  jircacher.  He  commenced  preaching  in  ISUt);  and,  after 
preaching  six  months  at  Woburn,  and  a  year  at  Maiden,  he  became  a  settled  Pastor  at  Tiverton. 
R.  I.  His  ordination  took  place  at  Salem,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1807.  In  the  spring  of  1812, 
he  removed  to  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  became  Pastor  of  a  church  there,  which  he  had  been 
instrumental  in  establishing.  From  Worcester,  ho  removed,  in  1815,  to  Wctherslield,  Coim., 
and  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church  in  that  place.  After  exercising  his  ministry  here 
with  great  success,  for  six  years,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and,  during  the  rest  of  his  life, 
laboured  as  an  itinerant  in  different  parts  of"  the  State,  lie  died  greatly  lamented  on  the  24th 
of  December,  1855.     He  was  distinguished  for  tenderness,  boldness,  energy,  and  fidelity. 


GUSTAVUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS.  637 

their  liannouy ;  but,  all  at  once,  a  fearful  doubt,  like  a  dark  oluud, 
shrouded  his  mind.  He  feared  that  the  whole  thing,  so  evanescent,  yet  so 
delightful,  was  a  mere  delusion.  IJut  it  occurred  to  him  to  repair  once 
more  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  the  very  first  words  which  met  his  eyes,  on 
opening  the  blessed  ]Jook,  completely  reassured  him — "  Wait  on  the  Lord, 
be  of  good  courage;  and  lie  shall  strengthen  thy  heart:  wait,  I  say,  on 
the  Lord."     Psalm  xxvii.  14. 

His  soul  overflowed  with  joy.  Sleep  departed  from  his  eyes.  The  room 
was,  so  to  speak,  full  of  angels ;  nay,  rather,  full  of  God.  A  considerable 
portion  of  the  night  was  spent  in  sweet  meditation,  in  prayer  and  praise. 
His  views  were  entirely  changed.  Clirist,  whom  he  recognised  as  tlic  only 
and  all-sufficient  lledeemer  of  the  lost,  powerfully  attracted  his  soul.  He 
dwelt  with  delight  on  his  character,  offices,  and  work.  The  ]jible  now 
seemed  full  of  consolation,  and  became  more  and  more  interesting  to  him. 
Christians  were  very  dear  to  his  heart,  and  he  sought  to  be  in  their 
company  as  often  as  possible. 

He  began  to  feel  it  his  duty  and  privilege  to  make  a  public  profession. 
He  had  many  inducements  presented  not  to  unite  with  the  Baptist  Church, 
to  which  he  was  powerfully  attracted ;  but,  after  a  careful  examination  of 
the  Scriptures,  he  was  constrained  to  make  a  profession  of  his  faith  in  that 
eummunion,  and,  in  April,  1S13,  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Bentle}-, — ever  after 
his  devoted  friend  and  fellow-helper.  He  was  filled  with  joy  on  the 
occasion,  and  uttered  an  audible  Amen,  as  he  was  descending  into  the 
water  to  have  the  ordinance  administered  to  him. 

Soon  after,  while  engaged  in  learning  the  trade  of  a  painter  with  a  Mr. 
Rice,  he  began  to  feel  an  irresistible  "  impression  "  to  preach  that  Gospel 
to  others,  which  had  done  so  much  for  him.  He  was  very  young,  and  had 
enjoyed  but  little  opportunity  of  school  instruction  since  his  tenth  year. 
But  the  whitening  harvest  waved  before  his  vision,  and  the  command  of 
Christ, — "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature," 
rang  in  his  ear.  He  could  not,  and  he  would  not,  resist  the  sacred  impulse  ; 
but  he  scarcely  knew  how  the  thing  was  to  be  brought  about.  One  day 
Mr.  Rice  sent  him  into  the  garden  to  hoe  some  cucumbers.  He  went 
.sedulously  to  work,  but  his  heart  was  elsewhere.  "Why,  Gustavus," 
said  his  kind-hearted  employer, — "  what  are  you  about  ?  Look  here;  you 
have  hoed  up  all  these  cucumbers.  Well,  it's  of  no  use ;  I  see  that  you 
will  preach  ;  and  if  you  stay  with  me,  you  will  be  of  no  service.  You 
are  at  liberty,  therefore,  to  quit.  I  hold  that  'he  whom  the  Son  makes 
free,  is  free  indeed.'  "  So  they  parted  with  the  kindest  feelings  on  both 
sides.  But  he  had  no  one  to  aid  him  in  the  matter  of  an  education  ;  so  he 
entered  a  book-bindery,  hoping  thereby  to  gain  some  funds,  as  also  to  store 
his  mind  with  useful  knowledge.  But  he  soon  found  that  binding  books 
was  a  very  diflferent  thing  from  reading  them  ;  and,  having  spoiled  a  lot  <>f 
dictionaries,  just  as  he  had  spoiled  the  cucumbers,  he  left  the  business; 
and,  as  he  knew  not  whither  to  go,  made  his  way  to  his  mother's  housf. 
But  his  principles  as  a  Baptist  were  very  obnoxious  to  his  worthy  mother. 
She  regarded  them  as  the  cause  of  all  his  failures.  His  sister,  moreover, 
began  to  think,  and  even  to  weep,  with  reference  to  her  salvation.  The 
mother  took  the  alarm ,  and  told  Gustavus  that  he  must  quit   the  house,  or 


638  BAPTIST. 

she  would.  With  a  sad  heart  he  left  his  home,  but  not  before  he  had 
affectionately  expostulated  with  his  mother,  and  urged  her  to  become 
reconciled  to  God, — a  conversation  subsequently  blest  to  her  hopeful  con- 
version. My  limits  do  not  permit  me  to  detail  all  the  methods  which  he 
adopted  to  improve  his  mind,  as  also  "  to  improve  his  gifts,"  as  the 
expression  then  was,  in  teaching  and  preaching  the  Word  of  Life.  At 
last  he  was  compelled  by  the  providence  of  God,  and  the  urgent  solicita- 
tions of  many  who  desired  his  ministrations,  to  "addict  himself"  more 
fully  to  this  great  work.  His  extreme  youth,  (being  then  only  about 
seventeen,)  his  vivacity  of  manner,  the  simplicity  and  energy  of  his  dic- 
tion, his  earnestness  and  unction,  all  conspired  to  make  him  an  object  of 
curiosity  and  interest.  Multitudes,  in  various  places,  flocked  to  hear  the 
young  Evangelist,  and  some  were  converted  to  God. 

The  Church  at  Worcester,  with  the  Pastor,  requested  him  to  return 
thither,  and  preach  before  them  with  a  view  to  their  sanction  of  his  min- 
istry. He  promptly  complied  with  their  request.  Quite  a  congregation, 
containing  many  of  his  old  friends  and  acquaintances,  gathered  to  hear 
him.  He  took  for  his  text  "  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  you  that 
are  at  Rome  also  :  for  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  &c. 
The  church  were  satisfied,  and  gave  him  a  regular  license  to  "  improve  his 
gifts  "  in  the  matter  of  preaching. 

He  now,  therefore,  continued  to  preach  occasionally,  but  his  great  aim 
was  to  secure  a  more  complete  literary  and  theological  training.  All  his 
efforts  to  accomplish  this,  in  a  regular  or  formal  way,  completely  failed. 
With  occasional  assistance  from  clergymen  and  others,  he  was  thrown 
almost  entirely  upon  his  own  resources.  In  subsequent  life,  he  made 
almost  superhuman  efforts  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  his  early  training, 
and  succeeded  in  securing  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and 
a  fair  acquaintance  with  English  literature.  And  thus,  though  not 
"  college  bred,"  he  became,  in  many  respects,  a  well  educated  man.  He 
had  an  accurate  and  easy  command  of  the  English  language,  and  a  familiar 
acquaintance  witli  the  Scriptures, — two  of  the  most  important  requisites 
of  a  minister  of  Christ. 

His  first  field  of  labour  was  Hampton,  Conn. ;  but  he  continued  there 
but  a  short  time,  for  in  March,  1S15,  he  removed  to  Preston,  Conn.,  wlierc 
he  remained  till  April,  181S. 

He  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Preston,  on  the  loth  of 
June,  1816.  The  next  SalWiath  after  his  ordination,  he  administered  the 
ordinances  both  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  first  person 
whom  he  baptized  was  but  nine  years  old. 

On  the  rHh  of  January,  1817,  ]Mr.  Davis  was  married  to  Abigail,  daugh- 
ter of  George  Leonard,  of  Preston,  who,  to  the  close  of  his  brief,  but 
honourable,  career,  proved  "  a  true  help-meet,"  and  yet  survives,  honoured 
alike  for  her  own  virtues  and  the  memory  of  the  departed.  They  had  six 
children, — three  sons  and  three  daughters. 

As  his  support  at  Preston  proved  inadequate,  Mr.  Davis,  in  1818, 
accepted  an  urgent  call  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  South  Reading,  Mass., 
and  was  publicly  recognised  as  Pastor  on  the  23d  of  April,  of  that  year. 
This  connection  continued,   profitably  and  delightfully  for  both  parties, 


GUSTAVUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS.  639 

about  eleven  years.  Here  lie  improved  his  own  niuul  by  study,  as  well  as 
by  tlic  more  aetive  duties  of  the  ministry.  AVe  find  hiui  often  walking  to 
lio.ston,  a  distance  of  ten  miles,  to  read  Greek  with  Mr.  Winchell,  and  Mr. 
(now  Dr.)  Francis  Wayland.  lie  extended  his  acquaintance  in  the  denom- 
ination tu  wliich  ho  belonged,  and  continued  in  an  increasing  degree  to 
secure  the  respect  of  his  brethren,  and  tlie  good-will  of  the  coninnuiity. 

In  the  spring  of  18'29,  he  came  to  Hartford  to  assist  the  llev.  William 
Brentley,  at  that  time  labcruring  here  in  an  interesting  revival  of  religion, — 
a  circunistanco  which  issued  in  Mr.  Davis'  settlement  in  this  place.  He 
had  some  powerful  inducements  to  remain  in  Soutli  Heading.  He  had  been 
preaching  there  during  a  succession  of  years,  and  liis  labours  had  issued  in 
the  increase  of  the  church,  and  the  baptism  of  a  hundred  converts,  many 
of  whom  were  the  evident  seals  of  his  ministry,  and  of  course  the  objects 
of  his  tender  affection.  Through  his  exertions,  the  meeting-house  had  been 
removed  to  a  more  eligible  site,  and  twice  enlarged,  while  the  Society  had 
nearly  doubled  in  numbers.  He  enjoyed  the  affection  of  the  neighbouring 
ministers  and  churches  ;  and  the  Academy,  which  he  had  been  mainly  instru- 
mental in  establishing,  was  becoming  increasingly  respectable  and  useful. 

But  his  income  was  still  insufficient  for  the  support  of  his  family;  a  few 
persons  had  become  alienated  from  him  ;  and  possibly  the  time  had  come, 
when  a  change  might  prove  beneficial  both  to  himself  and  to  them.  So  he 
reasoned,  as  ministers  are  wont  to  reason  in  similar  circumstances.  The 
call  from  Hartford  was  earnest  and  cordial.  The  people  here,  who  had 
been  divided  on  the  subject  of  a  Pastor,  were  united  in  him.  The  field 
was  extensive  and  promising.  It  was  his  duty  to  go  ;  and  thus,  humbly 
craving  the  Divine  l^lessing,  he  actually  came  and  began  his  work.  And 
here  he  continued  till  his  Master  called  him  home. 

In  1835,  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from 
the  Wesleyan  University,  ^liddletown. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1830,  Dr.  Davis  made  a  journey  to  Boston, 
the  place  of  his  nativity,  with  the  intention  of  visiting  some  of  the  neigh- 
bouring towns,  and  enjoying  the  Anniversaries  held  at  that  season  of  the 
year.  It  was  his  last  journey  on  earth.  His  work  was  done.  His  last 
sermon  was  preached — this  was  from  the  text, — Matthew  v.  45 — "  That  ye 
may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  in  Heaven  ;  for  He  maketh  his  sun  to 
rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  scndeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the 
unjust."  He  was  full  of  hope,  as  usual,  but  somewhat  unwell,  wlien  he 
reached  the  house  of  his  brother  Isaac,  then  resident  in  Boston,  but  after- 
wards lost  in  the  burning  of  the  Steamer  Lexington.  In  a  few  days, 
alarming  symptoms  appeared.  Though  the  fever  seemed  at  first  to  yield 
to  the  force  of  medicine,  it  soon  returned  with  increased  violence,  and  over- 
powered his  exhausted  frame.  But,  through  the  whole,  he  was  patient, 
submissive,  hopeful.  He  was  often  heard  praying  in  delightful  submis- 
sion,— "  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  He  lingered  a  few  days  in  the 
most  serene  and  heavenly  triumph,  and  took  his  departure  for  the  better 
world.  At  the  last  moment,  the  words  "Grace,  Grace,"  trembled  on  his 
lips,  and,  as  if  parting  from  the  body,  and  borne  aloft  by  invisible  wings, 
he  exclaimed,  "/w7?/w/.'"  He  died  on  the  17th  of  September,  183G,  in  the 
fortieth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers  and  useful 


640  BAPTIST. 

iiess.  An  immense  concourse,  containing  representatives  from  all  denomi- 
nations of  Cliristians,  attended  Lis  Funeral,  and  followed  his  remains  to 
the  grave,  with  every  demonstration  of  affectionate  respect  for  his  memor}'. 

Dr.  Davis,  while  at  South  Reading,  compiled  a  Hymn  Book  for  the  use 
of  Conference  meetings,  and  another  after  he  came  to  Hartford.  He  pub- 
lished also  The  Nature  of  Christ's  Kingdom  ;  a  Sermon  delivered  at  South 
Reading,  on  the  day  of  the  Annual  Thanksgiving,  1828  ;  A  Lecture  on 
the  Necessary  Qualifications  of  Teachers  in  Common  Schools,  delivered 
before  the  Connecticut  Convention  of  Teachers  and  the  Friends  of  Educa- 
tion, assembled  in  Hartford,  1880  ;  The  Bible  Doctrine  of  Temperance  : 
a  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Baptist  Meeting  House,  Hartford,  1831  ;  Christ 
the  Prince  of  Peace :  An  Address  delivered  before  the  Hartford  County 
Peace  Society,  at  their  Semi-Annual  Meeting,  in  the  Baptist  Meeting 
House  at  Hartford,  1831  ;  also  a  Familiar  Dialogue  between  Peter  and 
Benjamin,  on  Close  Communion,  and  an  Essay  on  Christian  Courtesy. 

Dr.  Davis'  career  in  this  place  was  highly  honourable  and  useful.  With- 
out extensive  attainments  in  learning,  or  any  unusual  depth  of  mind,  he 
yet  combined,  in  a  high  degree,  all  the  qualities  which  secure  pastoral  suc- 
cess. Deeply  pious,  active,  versatile,  persevering,  hopeful,  he  was  instant 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  in  all  kinds  of  labour  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the,  extension  of  his  Kingdom  among  men.  Of  a  noble  and  winning 
presence,  great  force  of  character  as  well  as  aptness  and  power  of  expres- 
sion, he  acquired  extensive  influence  both  as  a  Pastor  and  a  Preacher. 
During  his  ministry  here,  a  large  number  were  added  to  the  church,  a  new 
house  of  worship  Avas  erected,  and  a  Second  Church  formed  by  members 
dismissed  for  that  purpose  from  the  First  Church, — a  movement  in  Avhich 
Dr.  Davis  took  the  liveliest  interest.  He  was  the  cliief  agent  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institution.  All  our  Benevolent 
Societies  shared  his  sympathies,  and  he  was  never  happier  than  in  promo- 
ting their  interests.  He  laboured  much  to  build  up  the  feeble  churches  in 
the  State,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  cause  of  Ministerial  Edu- 
cation and  of  Foreign  Missions.  His  heart  was  in  his  work,  and  this  was 
one  leading  clement  of  his  success. 

While  very  active  as  a  Pastor,  Dr,  Davis  spent  much  time  in  the  direct 
culture  of  his  mind  and  heart.  He  had  great  enjoyment  in  social  life, 
particularly  among  Christians.  His  conversation  was  racy  and  cheerful, 
and  many  sought  his  company  for  its  pleasant  exhilarating  effect.  But 
nothing  was  allowed  to  interfere  with  his  habits  of  devotion,  and  the  read- 
ing of  his  favourite  book,  the  Bible.  In  this  respect  he  was  truly  what  u 
Roman  critic  advises  every  thinker  and  orator  to  be, — "  a  man  of  one 
•book."  "For  many  years,''  says  he,  "I  read  ten  chapters  in  the  Bible 
every  d;iy,  until  I  had  read  the  ]5iblo  through  in  course  fifteen  or  sixteen 
times;  and  this  was  a  profitable  en)ploymcnt,  as  it  made  me  familiar  willi 
the  lively  oracles.  After  this,  I  adopted  the  plan  of  reading  a  chapter 
critically,  and  all  the  notes  of  Henry  on  that  chapter.  This  enriched  my 
mind  with  Scripture  knowledge  ;  but  when,  in  addition  to  this,  I  read 
another  chapter  on  my  knees  with  express  reference  to  my  own  religious 
benefit,  it  often  imbued  my  soul  with  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  and  I  experienced 
more  fully  what  is  denominated  'the  comfort  of  the  Scriptures.'  " 


GUSTAYUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS.  (541 

Dr.  Davis  lunl  a  tenacious  memory,  and,  as  one  of  Lis  hearers  remarket], 
"the  whole  Bible  was  at  his  fingers'  ends."  His  sermons  were  always 
studJeil  with  scriptural  gems.  He  was  also  pre-eminently  "a  Bible 
preacher."  He  was  singularly  apt,  and  sometimes  not  a  little  grotesque 
and  amusing,  in  his  selection  of  texts.  For  example,  on  a  stormy  Sabbath, 
when  there  were  only  eight  persons  present,  he  chose  for  his  text, — 
"  Wherein  few,  that  is  eight  souls,  were  saved  by  water ;  "  and,  on  another 
similar  occasion,  when  only  ten  wore  in  the  house, — "  Ten  Virgins — five 
of  them  were  wise  and  five  were  foolish."  Immediately  after  his  ordina- 
tion, whoii  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  preached  from  the  text, — "And 
a  little  child  shall  lead  them  ;  "  and,  after  a  three  years'  ministry,  from  the 
words, — "  Therefore,  watch  and  remember  that,  by  the  space  of  three 
years,  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  of  you,  night  and  day,  with  tears." 
When  the  meeting-house  in  South  Heading  was  removed  from  the  Hill  to 
the  Common,  his  text  was, — "  So  David  went  and  brought  the  ark  of  God 
from  the  house  of  Obededom  to  the  City  of  David  with  gladness."  When 
the  church  in  Hartford  removed  from  their  old  place  of  worship,  under  the 
hill,  to  the  new  one  in  Main  Street,  he  took  for  his  text, — "  If  thy  pre- 
sence go  not  with  us,  carry  us  not  up  hence."  On  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary 
of  American  Independence,  which  occurred  in  1S2G,  he  preached  from  the 
words, — "A  Jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth  year  be  to  you."  When  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  was  formed  in  this  city,  and  many  vacant  seats  were  seen 
in  the  old  house,  his  text  was, — "  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things 
that  remain."  On  one  occasion,  one  of  his  friends  had  made  him  a  present 
of  a  handsome  cloak — his  text,  the  next  Sabbath,  was  "  Clad  with  zeal  as 
a  cloak."  A  Jew,  under  pretence  of  being  a  Christian  convert,  induced 
Dr.  Davis  to  give  him  ten  dollars, — nearly  all  the  money  he  had.  Finding 
that  he  had  been  duped,  he  consoled  himself  by  preaching  from  the  words, — 
''  He  is  not  a  Jew  that  is  one  outwardly." 

These  things  may  be  regarded  as  only  bubbles  on  the  surface ;  but  they 
serve  to  indicate  his  remarkable  facility  at  adaptation,  and  this  was  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  qualities  that  gave  power  to  his  ministry. 

Dr.  Davis'  preaching  was  not  characterized  by  imagination  or  passion, 
or  by  any  remarkable  exhibition  of  originality.  It  was  plain,  logical  and 
lively,  full  of  the  word  of  God  and  glowing  with  evangelical  unction.  His 
language,  without  rising  to  any  high  degree  of  elegance,  was  accurate, 
clear,  and  frequently  vivacious.  He  was  "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures  ;"  and 
hence  "  much  people  were  added  unto  the  Lord,"  under  his  ministry.  He 
carefully  prepared  himself  for  the  pulpit,  and  preached  either  without  any 
manuscript  or  from  brief  notes.  He  had,  like  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Cush- 
man,  the  gift  of  accurate  expression  and  ready  utterance.  He  took  an 
active  share  in  the  business  of  such  deliberative  bodies  as  he  had  occasion 
to  attend.  Always  self-possessed,  good-natured  and  cheerful,  he  was  an 
excellent  debater,  and  presided  with  dignity  and  ease,  when  called,  as  he 
often  was,  to  occupy  the  place  of  Moderator  in  our  religious  meetings.  His 
career  was  brief,  but  extensively  useful.  His  memory  is  fragrant  among 
al!  the  churches  of  this  State. 

With  sincere  regard,  faithfully  yours, 

ROBERT  TURNBULL. 

Vol.  YI.  81 


542  BAPTIST. 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE,  D.  D.* 

1815—1855. 

Spencer  Houghton  Cone  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Roger  Conant, 
■who  was  among  the  earliest  emigrants  to  New  England,  and  noted  for  extra- 
ordinary vigour  and  courage.  His  father  was  Conant  Cone,  a  native  of 
East  Haddam,  Conn.,  where  his  ancestors  for  several  generations  had 
lived  :  he  migrated — at  what  age  is  not  known — to  Hunterdon  County,  N. 
J.,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  mother  was  Alice, 
daughter  of  Joab  Houghton,  of  the  same  State  and  County,  who  was 
actively  engaged  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  iu  Prince- 
ton, N.  J.,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1785.  His  parents  were  intelligent  and 
highly  respectable,  and  his  mother  particularly  was  distinguished  for  great 
strength  of  character,  and  an  insatiable  desire  for  knowledge.  Spencer, 
who  was  her  eldest  son,  was  evidently  her  favourite  child,  and  she  seems 
to  have  had  a  presentiment,  from  his  early  boyhood,  that  he  was  destined  to 
a  career  of  honourable  usefulness. 

When  he  was  but  eight  years  old,  and  while  spending  a  few  months  with 
his  grandfather  Houghton,  he  accompanied  him  to  an  annual  Baptist  gath- 
ering, known  as  the  "Hopewell  Grreat  Meeting."  Here  he  was  awakened 
to  a  conviction  of  his  sinfulness,  and  was,  for  a  time,  much  concerned  for 
his  salvation  ;  but  the  impression  gradually  wore  off,  and  he  returned  to 
his  childish  sports  with  as  keen  a  relish  as  ever.  About  two  years  after, 
his  mother  took  him  to  hear  a  sermon  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green, 
of  Philadelphia,  which  was  the  means  of  bringing  back  his  earlier  convic- 
tions, and  putting  him  upon  a  temporary  course  of  effort  to  become  better ; 
but  his  efforts  were  dictated,  as  he  afterwards  felt,  by  a  mere  self-righteous 
spirit,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  resumed  his  accustomed  gaiety. 

During  his  boyhood,  he  was  subject  to  severe  attacks  of  illness,  and 
especially  to  frequent  and  violent  turns  of  sick-headache.  In  consequence 
of  this,  he  was  sent  to  live  with  his  grandfather ;  and,  by  running  about 
on  the  farm,  and  taking  constant  and  hardy  exercise,  he  overcame  the  ten- 
dency to  headache,  and  his  constitution  acquired  a  degree  of  firmness  that 
never  even  faltered  under  the  intense  labours  of  nearly  a  whole  life. 

He  was  very  early  put  to  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  so  rapid 
was  his  improvement  that  at  the  age  of  twelve  he  entered  the  Freshman 
class  of  Princeton  College.  During  the  first  two  years,  he  acquitted  him- 
self with  great  credit  in  all  his  studies,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  both 
his  fellow-students  and  the  Faculty.  President  Smith,  on  hearing  him 
declaim  for  the  first  time,  i?aid  to  him,  with  an  approving  nod, — "Young 
man,  your  voice  will  be  your  fortune." 

But  the  prospects  of  literary  distinction,  which  seemed  opening  before 
him,  were  now  suddenly  clouded.  His  father,  who  was  constitutionally  at 
once  generous  and  improvident,  found  himself  suddenly  reduced  to  indi- 
gence.    The  shock  was  greater  than  he  knew  how  to  endure.     He  sunk 

*  Memoir  by  his  sons. 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE.  043 

first  into  deep  nielancliol}',  anil  tins  was  followed  by  positive  mental  aljcr- 
ration.  Being  utterly  unable  to  do  any  thing  for  the  support  of  liis  family, 
there  seemed  no  alternative  but  that  Spencer,  then  only  fourteen  year.s  of 
age,  should  leave  College,  and  become  the  helper  of  his  mother  in  provid- 
ing for  their  common  necessities.  He  met  the  emergency  with  heroic 
resolution,  as  became  a  son  and  an  elder  brother,  under  such  trying  cir- 
cumstances. 

Having  heard  that  an  assistant  was  wanted  in  the  school  at  Basken- 
ridgc,  he  made  a  journey  thither  on  foot  to  apply  for  the  place ;  but,  on 
his  arrival,  he  found,  to  his  great  disappointment,  that  it  was  already  filled. 
He  returned  home  to  Princeton  the  next  day  with  a  heavy  heart,  feeling 
how  necessary  it  was  that  he  should  be  employed,  and  yet  not  knowing  in 
what  direction  to  look  for  employment.  But,  after  a  short  time,  he  was 
so  fortunate  as  to  procure  the  situation  of  Latin  teacher  in  the  Princeton 
Academy.  His  salary  here  was  very  small,  and,  in  referring  to  it  at  a 
subsequent  period,  he  says, — "it  barely  kept  us  alive  ;"  but,  as  it  was  the 
best  he  could  do,  he  was  glad  to  continue  in  the  place  till  a  better  should 
present  itself. 

After  remaining  thus  employed  at  Princeton  for  a  few  months,  he  had 
the  ofi'er  of  becoming  master  of  the  district  school  in  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Burlington,  and,  as  the  compensation  was  a  considerable  advance 
upon  what  he  was  receiving  at  Princeton,  he  gladly  availed  himself  of  the 
opportunity.  Though  he  was  not  yet  quite  sixteen,  and  many  of  his  pupils 
were  older  than  himself,  he  was  exceedingly  popular,  not  only  in  the 
school,  but  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  was  the  life  of  every  social  circle  in 
which  he  mingled.  Among  those  whom  he  fitted  for  College  at  this  school, 
was  George  Wood,  who  afterwards  became  one  of  the  most  eminent  law- 
yers in  the  State. 

Having  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Abercronibie,  then  Principal 
of  an  Academy  in  Pliiladelphia,  the  Doctor  was  so  much  impressed  by 
his  fine  intellectual  and  social  qualities,  that  he  invited  him  to  become  an 
assistant  in  his  Institution.  The  invitation  was  gladly  accepted,  and  he 
removed,  with  the  family,  to  Philadelphia.  But  he  quickly  found  that, 
though  his  salary  was  increased,  the  expenses  of  living  were  propor- 
tionally larger  ;  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  betake  himself  to  something 
else  than  teacliing,  in  order  to  gain  a  decent  support.  He,  therefore, 
resolved  to  study  Law  ;  and,  that  he  might  acquire  the  means  of  doing  so. 
he  entered  a  lawyer's  office  in  Philadelphia,  as  both  a  student  and  a  copy- 
ist. After  discharging  his  duties  as  a  teacher,  during  the  school  hours,  he 
hastened  to  Coke  and  Blackstone,  and  was  occupied  with  them  till  the  day- 
light failed,  and  then  wrote  till  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  But  this 
complication  of  severe  labour  began,  after  a  while,  to  affect  his  health,  and. 
though  he  was  still  resolved  to  persevere,  it  became  apparent,  at  length,  to 
himself  as  well  as  his  friends,  that  his  life  was  in  jeopardy. 

At  this  juncture,  conscious  of  his  remarkable  powers  of  elocution,  he 
formed  the  purpose  of  becoming  an  Actor.  His  first  appearance  on  the 
stage  was  in  July,  1805,  as  Achmet,  in  the  tragedy  of  Mahomet;  and  it 
was  considered  as  giving  promise  of  eminence  in  his  profession.  To  this 
step  his  mother  was  strongly  opposed,  and  it  was,  by  no  means,  in  harmony 


544        ,  BAPTIST. 

with  his  own  principles  and  feelings  ;  hut  he  endeavored  to  justify  it  to  his 
conscience  as  a  necessary  means  of  providing  for  the  wants  of  a  dependant 
family.  He  pursued  the  profession  with  great  zeal,  studying  the  most 
approved  models,  and  availing  himself  of  the  best  instruction  within  his 
reach.  His  playing  was  confined  chiefly  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
Alexandria ;  and  it  is  understood  that  he  took  rank  among  the  more  dis- 
tinguished actors  of  the  time.  But  his  own  mind  was  all  the  time  restless — 
in  his  inmost  soul  he  condemned  and  often  loathed  the  employment  in 
which  he  was  engaged — he  felt  that  it  was  a  perversion,  a  prostitution  of 
tlie  noble  faculties  which  God  had  given  him ;  and  he  was  evidently,  for  a 
good  while  before  he  abandoned  it,  watching  for  an  avenue  to  some  more 
honourable  calling.      In  a  letter  written  in  October,  1810,  he  says, — 

"  My  ijrofession,  which  I  adopted  from  necessity,  is  becoming  every  day  more  dis- 
gusting to  me.  It  destroys  all  reflection,  which  alone  can  improve  and  enlighten  the 
Imnian  mind.  I  pray  Heaven  that  I  may  speedily  exchange  it  lor  something  better 
in  itself,  and  also  more  congenial  to  my  feelings-  What  can  be  more  degrading  to 
the  nature  of  man  than  to  be  stuck  upon  a  stage  for  fools  and  clowns  to  gape  at  or 
criticise.  Fellows  who  can  hardlj*  write  their  own  name,  and  yet  think  themselves 
qualifled  to  judge, — approve  or  condemn." 

In  the  spring  of  1812,  Mr.  Cone  resolved  to  open  a  school  in  Baltimore, 
provided  he  could  obtain  leave  of  the  Managers  of  the  Theatre  to  absent 
himself  from  the  morning  rehearsal.  To  this,  however,  they  would  not 
consent,  and  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  project.  He  had  the  mortifi- 
cation also  to  find  that  his  profession  as  an  actor  was  adverse  to  the  success 
of  his  proposed  enterprise  ;  and  he  reflects  with  some  degree  of  severity 
upon  those  who  did  not  care  to  send  their  children  to  school  to  a  play- 
actor. 

As  the  War  of  1812  approached  and  opened,  Mr.  Cone  seems  to  have 
had  much  of  not  only  the  patriotic  but  the  martial  spirit,  and  even  to  have 
sought  an  opportunity  to  enter  the  army  that  was  to  march  for  Canada.  He 
bad  shortly  before  joined  the  Baltimore  Union  Artillery,  and  had  been 
devoting  every  leisure  moment  to  the  study  of  military  science.  Some  of 
his  friends  offered  their  influence  in  procuring  for  him  a  Captain's  commis- 
.sion,  but  he  declined  it,  having,  upon  reflection,  become  convinced  that  his 
duty  as  a  son  and  a  brother  forbade  his  subjecting  his  life  to  the  perils  of 
war.  He,  however,  not  only  regarded  the  War  as  perfectly  just  on  the 
part  of  his  country,  but  watched  its  progress  with  most  intense  interest ;  and, 
at  a  later  period,  became  personally  engaged  in  it,  and  was  one  of  the 
vanquished  host  in  the  battle  of  Bladensburg. 

Sometime  in  1812,  he  entered  the  oflBce  of  the  "Baltimore  American," 
as  treasurer  and  book-keeper  to  the  establishment.  After  serving  here 
somewhat  more  than  a  year,  he  joined  with  his  brother-in-law,  John 
Nowcll,  Esq.,  of  Kentucky,  in  purchasing  and  conducting  the  "Baltimore 
Whig." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1812,  he  took  his  final  leave  of  the  stage,  and 
devoted  himself  vigorously  to  the  support  of  Mr.  Madison's  administra- 
tion, and  the  defence  of  the  then  existing  War.  His  articles  were  written 
with  great  spirit,  and  are  said  to  have  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  aid 
of  the  cause  they  were  designed  to  support. 

In  May,  1813,  he  was  married  to  Sally  Wallace,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Mary  Price  Morrell,  of  Philadelphia.     She  became  attached  to  him, 


SPENCER  UOUGHTON  CONE,  g45 

from  seeing  hhn  ou  the  stage,  as  early  as  1810  ;  and,  eoTitrar}-  to  the 
earnest  wishes  and  expostulations  of  her  fashionul)le  relatives,  engaged  to 
become  his  wife.  She  was  a  gay  and  beautiful  girl,  and  entered  with  keen 
relish  into  all  the  popular  amusements  of  the  day.  Her  family  belonged  to 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  they  were  married  by  the  llev.  (now  the  lit. 
llev.  Dr.)  Jacksou  Kemper.  Mr.  Cone's  residence  was  still  in  Balti- 
more. 

In  November,  I8I0,  after  breakfast,  he  took  up  a  newspaper,  and  noticed 
in  it  an  advertisement  of  a  lot  of  books  to  be  sold  that  evening  at  an 
auction  room  ;  and  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  would  look  in  and  sec  what 
they  were.  He  did  so ;  and  the  first  book  he  took  up  was  a  volume  of  the 
Works  of  John  Newton.  He  instantly  recollected  that,  when  at  Prince- 
ton, he  took  that  book  out  of  the  College  Library  and  read  it  to  his  mother  ; 
and  the  thought  introduced  a  train  of  solemn  reflection.  He  immediately 
left  the  room,  after  having  obtained  a  promise  from  the  auctioneer,  who 
was  his  intimate  friend,  that,  as  soon  as  he  saw  him  there  in  the  evening, 
he  would  put  up  that  book  for  sale,  as  it  was  the  only  one  he  wished  to 
purchase.  He  had  scarcely  reached  the  middle  of  the  street,  when  he 
thought  he  heard  a  voice,  saying  to  him  most  impressively, — "Tliisis 
your  last  warning."  His  whole  life  seemed  to  be  reproduced  before  his 
mind,  as  in  a  flash  of  lightning,  filling  him  with  the  deepest  dismay.  He 
went  to  his  oflice,  took  down  the  day-book  to  charge  the  new  advertise- 
ments, but  his  hand  trembled  so  that  he  could  not  write,  and  he  returned 
the  book  to  its  place.  He  then  walked  about  the  city,- in  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  resume  his  wonted  cheerfulness  ;  but  the  appalling  words — "  This 
is  your  last  warning" — kept  ringing  in  his  ears.  The  day  passed  off",  but 
brought  no  peace  to  his  troubled  spirit.  "When  the  auction  commenced  he 
was  there,  purchased  his  book,  and  went  home  and  spent  the  evening  in 
reading  the  history  of  John  Newton's  eventful  life.  He  resolved  now  that 
the  salvation  of  his  soul  should  be  his  chief  concern  ;  and  he  immediately 
set  himself  to  the  diligent  study  of  the  Bible,  and  attended  upon  the 
preaching  of  those  clergymen  whose  instructions  he  considered  most  evan- 
gelical ;  but  week  after  week  passed  away,  and  not  a  gleam  of  hope  pene- 
trated his  darkened  soul.  At  length,  as  he  was  reading  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  John,  his  heart  seemed  to  melt — he  fell  upon  his  face,  and 
wept,  and  praised  God,  and  then  came  the  peace  that  passeth  understand- 
ing,— a  peace  which  seems  to  have  continued  with  remarkable  uniformity 
during  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  next  day  after  this  change,  he  called  on 
Elder  Lewis  Richards,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Baltimore, 
to  relate  to  him  his  experience,  with  a  view  to  being  baptized.  The  result 
was  that,  a  few  days  after,  (February  4,  1814,)  Elder  Richards  baptized 
him  in  the  Patapsco,  the  ice  having  been  cut  for  the  purpose.  As  he 
came  out  of  the  water,  he  felt  a  strong  impulse  to  recommend  the  Saviour, 
whom  he  had  found  so  precious,  to  others,  but  his  sense  of  propriety,  as  he 
afterwards  said,  kept  him  silent.  His  wife  marked  the  change  with  amaze- 
ment, and  even  strong  disgust,  while  yet  her  enthusiastic  devotion  to  him 
was  in  no  wise  diminished.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  she  followed 
in  the  way  in  which  he  had  led,  and  he  had  the  pleasure  to  welcome  her  as 
a  sharer  with  him  in  both  the  trials  and  enjoyments  of  the  Christian  life. 


646  BAPTIST. 

The  influence  of  the  War,  which  paralyzed  so  many  branches  of  American 
industry,  was  specially  disastrous  to  the  establishment  in  which  Mr.  Cone 
was  a  partner ;  for  while  thousands  of  dollars  stood  upon  their  books, 
scarcely  one  could  be  realized.  Meanwhile,  those  to  whom  the  conceru 
was  indebted,  became  clamorous  for  their  money  ;  and  the  demands  which 
were  thus  made  upon  them  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  meet.  The 
pleasant  house  whicli  he  had  taken,  and  to  which,  but  a  little  while  before, 
he  had  had  so  much  pleasure  in  welcoming  his  young  wife,  now  had  to  be 
relinquished,  and  every  thing  it  contained  sold  under  the  hammer  for  the 
benefit  of  creditors.  In  short,  he  was  overwhelmed  with  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments. Mrs.  Cone  returned  to  Philadelpliia,  with  her  little  boy, — for 
they  could  not  afford  to  live  together  in  Baltimore  ;  while  her  husband 
remained  behind  to  endeavour  to  settle  his  aff"airs,  and  to  procure,  if  possi- 
ble, an  honourable  release  from  the  creditors  of  "The  Whig." 

About  tliis  time,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  retrieve  himself, 
he  was  oflFered  the  position  of  supercargo,  and  an  interest  in  a  promising 
mercantile  adventure,  by  a  friend  in  Baltimore  ;  but  he  declined  the  off"er, 
principally  because  his  wife  could  not  consent  to  it.  And  an  additional 
reason  was  that  another  eligible  place  was  now  offered  him,  which  was 
in  some  respects  more  congenial  with  his  own  feelings  than  that — Mr. 
Dallas,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at  the  instance  of  his  son,  George 
M.  Dallas;  who  had  been  a  friend  of  Mr.  Cone  in  Philadelphia,  gave  him. 
an  appointment  in  the  Treasury  Department — this  he  gladly  accepted,  and 
immediately  after  removed  his  little  faniilj^  to  Washington.  He  left  Bal- 
timore, however,  with  great  regret,  having  a  large  circle  of  friends  there, 
who  parted  with  him  with  extreme  reluctance,  and  whom  he  ever  after- 
wards cherished  with  fond  affection. 

On  his  removal  to  the  Seat  of  Government,  he  transferred  his  church-mem- 
bership from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Baltimore  to  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Wasliington,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Obadiah  B.  Brown. 
Within  tliree  or  four  weeks  after  his  removal,  the  Deacon  of  the  little 
church  at  the  Navy  Yard  proposed  that  he  should  accompany  him  to  the 
Sabbath  morning  prayer-meeting.  As  they  had  no  Pastor,  Mr.  Cone  was 
re((uested  to  give  to  the  little  assembly,  consisting  of  some  twenty  or 
thirty  persons,  a  word  of  exliortation.  lie  consented  to  do  so  ;  and,  open- 
ing the  Bible  at  I  John  ii.  1.,  he  spoke  from  that  passage  for  nearly  an 
hour  in  a  manner  that  surprised  himself,  and  well-nigh  entranced  his  audi- 
ence. By  their  request,  he  consented  to  speak  to  them  the  next  Sabbath ; 
but,  as,  in  the  mean  time,  it  had  leaked  out  that  a  Mr.  Cone,  formerly  an 
actor,  was  to  preach,  he  found,  as  he  approached  the  place  of  worship,  that 
it  was  surrounded  by  an  immense  crowd,  and,  when  he  entered  it,  that  it 
was  so  full  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could  make  his  way  to  tlie  pul- 
pit. At  first  his  courage  failed  him  at  the  idea  of  addressing  so  large  an 
audience  ;  and,  even  when  he  commenced  the  service,  he  was  by  no  means 
certain  that  he  should  attempt  to  preach  ;  but,  when  the  time  came  for  liim 
to  begin,  he  found  no  lack  of  cither  thoughts  or  words,  but  was  enabled  to 
deliver  himself  with  perfect  freedom  and  to  universal  acceptance.  lie 
allowed  another  appointment  to  be  made  for  him  the  next  Sabbath  ;  and 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE.  (347 

his  efforts  carac  to  attract  so  much  attention  that,  within  a  short  time,  he 
was  licensed  to  preach. 

Mr.  Cone's  early  popularit}-  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the 
Congress  of  1815-lG,  almost  immediately  after  he  had  received  license, 
appointed  him  their  Chaplain.  Here  he  preached  with  great  fidelity  and 
earnestness,  and  some  were  hopefully  converted  under  his  ministrations. 

Shortly  after  his  Chaplaincy  closed,  he  made  a  visit  to  Alexandria,  and 
preached  there  with  groat  effect  in  the  Presbyterian  chuvch.  A  plan  was 
immediately  set  on  foot  for  retaining  him  there  ;  and,  as  there  was  a 
Baptist  church  in  so  feeble  a  state  that  even  its  existence  had  almost 
become  dubious,  it  was  resolved  to  attempt  to  resuscitate  it,  and  place  it 
under  Mr.  Cone's  pastoral  care.  A  call  was  forthwith  made  out  for  him, 
and  having,  after  due  deliberation,  accepted  it,  he  removed  his  family  to 
Alexandria,  and  entered  upon  his  labours  as  Pastor  of  the  Church. 

Mr.  Cone  continued  in  Alexandria,  labouring  with  great  popularity  and 
success,  for  about  seven  years.  During  this  period,  he  built  up  a  strong 
and  vigorous  church,  and  his  preaching  attracted  great  attention  among 
all  the  denominations.  An  impression  soon  began  to  prevail  that  the 
sphere  of  usefulness  which  he  occupied  was  too  narrow  for  his  commanding 
powers  ;  and  overtures  were  accordingly  made  to  him  by  many  of  the  most 
respectable  churches  in  different  parts  of  the  country  to  assume  the  pas- 
toral charge  among  them.  At  length,  in  1823,  after  a  somewhat  protracted 
negotiation,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Oliver  Street  Baptist  Church  in 
New  York,  to  become  Co-pastor  with  the  Rev.  John  Williams.  The  part- 
ing with  his  flock  at  Alexandria  was  attended  by  mutual  expressions  of 
strong  affection  and  deep  regret. 

He  arrived  in  New  York,  and  entered  upon  his  new  charge  in  the  month 
of  May.  In  June  of  the  next  year,  he  met  with  a  severe  affliction  in  the 
death  of  his  mother,  who  had  long  been  distinguished  for  a  devotion  to  her 
family,  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  truly  heroic.  The  same  year  he  repub- 
lished "  The  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  &c.,  by  William  Jones,  of 
London."  But,  owing  to  several  causes,  the  demand  for  the  edition  was 
much  less  than  he  had  expected,  and  the  result  was  that  he  was  subjected 
to  pecuniary  embarrassments  that  continued  through  many  years.  In 
1827,  he  published  a  small  work  called  "  The  Backslider,"  which,  though 
not  a  source  of  pecuniary  profit  to  him,  occasioned  him  no  serious  loss. 

Mr.  Cone  continued  in  connection  with  the  Oliver  Street  Church  about 
eighteen  years.  In  1841,  having,  from  various  causes,  become  unhappy  in 
his  pastoral  relation  to  that  church,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  accepted 
a  unanimous  invitation  to  become  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  the  same  city.  The  church  of  which  he  now  took  charge  was  much 
smaller  than  the  one  he  left,  but  it  was  united  and  efficient,  and,  as  he 
thought,  promised  to  him  a  much  higher  degree  of  comfort  and  usefulness. 
An  additional  reason  for  his  making  the  change  was  that  the  congregation 
with  which  he  now  became  connected  proposed  to  build  a  convenient  house 
of  worship  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  to  connect  with  it  commodious 
offices  for  the  Bible  and  Missionary  operations  of  the  denomination.  He 
began  his  labours  in  the  First  Church  on  the  1st  of  July,  1841,  and  not  a 
small  number,  who  had  been  his  attached  friends  and   admiring  hearers  in 


g48  BAPTIST. 

Oliver  Street,  followed  him  to  Lis  new  scene  of  labour,  A  large  and 
splendid  meeting-house  was  built  in  Broome  Street,  which  was  very  soon 
filled,  and  even  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  church  immediately 
rose  from  its  depressed  state,  and  at  no  di.stant  period  became  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  churches  in  the  whole  country. 

Mr.  Cone,  from  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  took  a  deep  interest 
in  the  subject  of  Missions.  During  his  residence  in  Alexandria,  he  not 
only  succeeded  in  bringing  up  his  own  church  to  a  high  tone  of  missionary 
feeling  and  action,  but  he  did  much  to  diffuse  the  same  spirit  widely  among 
the  Baptist  churches  of  Virginia.  He  was  not  a  member  of  the  Baptist 
Triennial  Convention,  at  its  organization  in  1814  ;  but,  in  1817,  almost  at  the 
very  outset  of  his  career  as  a  preacher,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Managers,  and,  from  that  time  till  his  death,  was  never  without  some 
important  office  in  the  institution.  One  of  the  most  important  reasons  for 
his  removal  to  New  York  was  that  he  supposed  a  residence  there  would  be 
the  means  of  facilitating  and  extending  his  efforts  in  aid  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  ;  and  he  did  not  fail  diligently  to  improve  all  the  opportunities 
that  were  thus  brought  within  his  reach.  In  1832,  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  Convention,  and  continued  to  be  re-elected  until  1841,  when 
he  absolutely  declined  to  serve  any  longer.  On  the  disruption  of  the 
General  Convention  in  1845, — an  event  which  Mr.  Cone  did  his  utmost 
to  avert, ^^ — a  Missionary  Convention  was  formed  at  the  South,  and  a 
Missionary  Union  at  the  North.  But,  though  he  disapproved  of  the  action 
of  his  Northern  brethren,  he  still  retained  his  connection  with  them,  not 
doubting  that,  considering  his  home  was  in  New  York,  he  could  co-operate 
with  them  to  better  purpose  than  he  could  with  his  brethren  at  the  South. 
But  he  was  not  less  zealously  engaged  in  Home  Missions  than  in  Foreign 
Missions.  For  many  years  he  discharged  the  duties  of  both  Correspond- 
ing and  Recording  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Baptist  Domestic  Mission 
Society.  Ho  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society,  at  its  formation,  in  1832,  and  from  that  time  till  1839, 
served  as  one  of  its  Directors.  In  1840,  and,  for  the  three  following 
years,  he  was  elected  Vice  President  of  the  Society.  He  was  annually 
elected  a  member  of  the  Executive  Board,  from  the  commencement  of 
the  Society  till  1845,  when  he  declined  a  re-election.  In  1839,  he  was 
chosen  Chairman  of  the  Board,  and  held  the  office  till  his  resignation 
in  1845.  He  was  again  elected  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  by  the  Board 
was  appointed  their  Chairman,  in  1849,  and  remained  in  both  positions 
till  1855,  when  he  again  tendered  his  resignation. 

Mr.  Cone  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  about 
the  year  1832.  I  understand  it  was  conferred  by  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  though  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  Catalogue. 

I  am  indebted  to  my  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Babcock,  for  the  following 
details  of  Dr.  Cone's  course  in  connection  witli  the  Bible  Society: — 

"  The  prominent  part  which  Dr.  Cone  took  in  the  discussion  which  led  to 
the  separation  of  the  Baptists  generally  from  the  American  Bible  Society, 
and  the  consequent  formation  of  a  distinct  organization,  called  the  Ameri- 
can and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  demands,  in  justice  to  himself  and  his  asso- 
ciates, some  particularity  of  statement.    Up  to  the  year  183G,  the  American 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE.  649 

Bible  Society,  of  which  Dr.  Cone  \y;i.s  one  of  tlio  Managers,  and,  timing  a 
part  of  the  period  of  his  settlement  in  Now  York,  one  of  the  active  and 
valued  Sccrctarie.'^,  had  been  accustomed  to  appropriate  money  to  the 
Scripture  versions  into  Heathen  languages,  made  by  Baptists  as  well  as 
other*.  But,  on  an  application  from  Baptist  Missionaries  in  Calcutta  fur 
aid  in  puMishing  the  Bengalee  New  Testament,  then  translated  by  Mr. 
Yates — which  aid  had  been  refused  by  both  the  Calcutta  and  Britisli  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  because  baptizo  and  its  cognates  had  been  transla- 
ted in  conformity  with  the  Baptist  and  Greek  Church  usages, — the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  also  returned  a  negative,  except  on  condition  that  tlic 
said  words  should  l)c  translated  as  in  the  common  English  version.  In  the 
debates  on  this  subject  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Bibk- 
Societ}',  Dr.  Cone  took  a  prominent  part,  showing  that  the  usage  of  the 
Society  had  been  in  favour  of  making  such  grants.  To  this  it  was  replied 
that,  if  it  were  so,  it  had  been  done  ignorantly.  He  responded  that  he  had 
laid  on  their  table,  along  with  applications  for  continued  aid  to  the  Buruian 
Mission  of  Dr.  Judson,  the  Resolutions  of  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  fully  instructing  all  their  missionaries,  in  their  translations,  to 
transfer  no  words  susceptible  of  a  literal  translation.  If,  therefore,  the 
Society  had  acted  ignorantly,  it  was  their  own  fault.  The  discussions 
were  long,  earnest,  and  for  the  most  part  fraternal ;  but  resulted  in  the 
refusal  above  stated, — which  action  of  the  Board  was  confirmed  at  the 
annual  meeting,  May,  183G,  by  the  Society  itself.  This  led  to  the  imme- 
diate formation  of  a  provisional  organization,  called  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society ;  and,  in  April  of  the  following  year,  a  Society 
under  the  same  name  was  fully  organized,  in  a  very  large  Convention  at 
Philadelphia, — of  which  Society  Dr.  Cone  was  unanimoiisly  chosen  Presi- 
dent, and  was  reappointed  from  year  to  year  until  1850.  Tliis  office  was 
by  no  means  merely  nominal — he  was  the  very  life  and  soul  of  the  institu- 
tion, giving  to  it  a  large  portion  of  his  time,  and  care,  and  labour,  cor- 
responding in  its  behalf  very  extensively,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
particularly  with  all  Baptist  Missionaries  engaged  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures.  He  also  ably  defended  the  Society  as  vot  sectarian,  but  set 
for  the  defence  of  important  and  fundamental  principles,  underlying,  as  he 
claimed,  all  truly  evangelical  endeavours  for  diffusing  the  pure  word  of  God. 
The  principle  to  which  he  more  particularly  referred  is  this — that  every 
translator  of  the  Scriptures  is  under  infinitely  higher  obligations  to  God 
to  render  the  true  meaning  of  every  sentence  of  Divine  Revelation  intelli- 
gible, than  he  can  be  to  any  conventional  rules  of  men  to  cover  up,  or  in 
the  least  degree  misrepresent,  any  portion  of  God's  truth.  Hence,  while 
men  and  Societies  may  restrict  themselves  as  they  please  in  regard  to  what 
they  shall  undertake  to  carry  on  in  union,  in  diffusing  merely  their  own 
compositions,  there  is  no  room  for  such  a  principle  in  the  translation  of  the 
Oracles  of  God.  Tliis  Society,  of  whicli  he  was  the  head  and  soul,  flour- 
ished greatly,  and  for  years  made  larger  appropriations  for  Foreign  IMissions 
than  the  American  Bible  Society. 

"After  Dr.  Cone's  unanimous  re-election  as  President,  in  1850,  he 
declined  to  serve,  on  the  ground  that  several  of  his  associates,  who,  like 
himself,  had   favoured  a  new  English  version,  had  not   been  reappointed 

Vol.  VI.  82 


650  BAPTIST. 

with  liiui.  Soon  aftcrwarils,  these  advocates  of  such  an  English  version  or 
revision  fornied  a  new  organization,  called  the  American  Bible  Union,  and 
made  him  its  President;  and  to  this  new  Society  he  transferred  the  same 
earnest  regard  and  vigorous  effort,  which  he  had  before  given  to  the  Ame- 
rican and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  with  similar  success.  In  this  official 
relation  he  remained  till  his  death.  It  certainly  was  not  strange  that  this 
latter  separation  from  so  large  a  portion  of  those  with  whom,  through  a 
long  life,  he  had  been  intimately  associated, — with  whom  he  had  made  great 
sacrifices  and  efforts  to  promote  a  cause  mutually  dear  to  them, — should 
have  been  intensely  painful  to  him.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  also  that  ho 
was  now  at  an  advanced  period  of  life,  and  less  able  to  endure  such 
reverses  than  at  an  earlier  period ;  and  if  he  did  sometimes  evince  some 
restiveness  of  spirit,  it  is  only  what  the  imperfection  of  our  common 
humanitj'  might  lead  us  to  expect.  His  large  and  influential  church,  for 
the  most  part,  not  only  adhered  to  him,  but  admired  him  the  more  for 
remaining  so  steadfast  to  his  own  convictions  ;  while  there  were  others  from 
whom  this  painful  schism  sadly  alienated  him.  As  the  line  of  division 
between  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  the  American  Bible 
Union  became  more  distinctly  drawn,  and  the  irritation  consequent  on  the 
recent  separation  had  time  to  subside,  more  of  the  genial  tone  of  former 
days  was  obviously  returning,  and,  probably,  if  he  had  lived  a  few  years 
longer,  the  alienation  on  both  sides  would  have  entirely  passed  away." 

The  air  of  New  York  had  never  been  favourable  to  Mrs.  Cone's  health. 
She  had  suffered  several  times  from  severe  attacks  of  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  and  had  been  obliged  to  resort  temporarily  to  a  milder  climate,  as 
soon  as  she  was  able  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  travelling.  Early  in  August, 
1854,  while  she  was  on  a  visit,  for  the  benefit  of  her  health,  at  Schooley's 
Mountain,  she  was  riding  out  with  her  husband  one  day,  and,  as  they  passed 
a  little  secluded  cemetery  in  the  neighbourhood,  she  asked  him  to  stop,  and, 
after  looking  over  the  place,  and  marking  its  peculiar  features,  said  to 
him, — "Spencer,  I  have  a  horror  of  city  burying  places.  They  do  not 
let  even  the  dead  rest  near  cities.  Promise  me,  when  I  am  dead,  that  you 
will  lay  me  here, — here  in  this  quiet  place  " — and  he  promised  her.  A  few 
days  after  this,  she  was  attacked  by  typhoid  fever  ;  and  she  evidently  felt 
that  her  time  had  come.  Her  husband  and  son  did  every  thing  for  her  that 
conjugal  or  filial  devotion  could  dictate ;  but  nothing  could  stay  the 
destroyer's  hand.  When  her  husband  spoke  to  her  about  taking  her  home 
as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  be  moved,  her  gentle  reply  was, — "I  shall  go 
home, — to  Heaven, — from  the  mountain  this  time,  dearest."  And  on  the 
15th  of  August  her  prediction  was  fulfilled.  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
serenity  of  her  last  moments.  When  her  husband  leaned  over,  and  asked 
if  Jesus  was  with  her  in  the  dark  valley,  she  looked  at  him  with  an  expres- 
sion of  joy,  and  sweetly  whispered  her  Saviour's  name, — and  shortly  after 
breathed  licr  last.  When  liis  son  entered  his  room,  and  found  him  sitting 
alone,  with  liis  head  bowed  upon  liis  breast,  he  turned  to  him,  and  seeing 
him  weep,  said, — "Weep  on,  my  boy,  you  are  young.  Your  poor  old 
father  has  not  been  able  to  weep  yet."  The  next  day,  as  there  was  no 
other  minister  at  hand,  he  stood  by  her  coffin,  in  the  little  chapel  in  the 
neighbourhood,    and  preached   Christ  to  the  people,  with  a  calmness   and 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE.  651 

imprcssivcuess  that  showed  the  jirosciice  of  a  supoihuman  power.  Aud 
then  they  buried  her  in  the  little  grave-yard  at  Pleasant  (J rove,  agreeably 
to  the  promise  whieh  had  been  made  to  her  a  few  days  before. 

In  May,  1855,  Dr.  Cone  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Union  at  Chicago,  From  that  time  it  became  apparent  to  his  friends  that 
his  physical  powers  had  begun  rapidly  to  wane,  and  he  was  himself  evi- 
dently impressed  with  the  idea  that  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand. 
On  Sabbath,  the  5th  of  August,  he  administered  the  ordinance  of  Bap- 
tism in  the  morning,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service  seemed  greatly 
exhausted,  and  complained  of  numbness  in  his  limbs.  But  he  insisted 
upon  preaching  in  the  afternoon,  and  did  preach  what  proved  to  be  his  last 
sermon.  He  again  addressed  his  people  at  a  prayer-meeting  on  Tues- 
day evening,  but  in  a  manner  that  indicated  that  he  had  not  his  accustomed 
command  of  thought.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  he  conducted  his 
family  devotions  in  a  way  so  peculiar  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of 
his  children  that  he  was  threatened  with  a  severe  attack  of  illness.  Imme- 
diately after,  he  went  into  his  chamber,  aud  became  paralyzed.  Both  his 
physical  and  intellectual  powers  felt  the  shock  ;  and,  though  he  did  not 
immediately  lose  the  power  of  speech,  his  mind  became  confused  and 
incapable  of  intelligent  action.  After  languishing  eighteen  days,  with  lit- 
tle apparent  suffering,  he  passed  gently  away,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1855. 
His  remains  were  buried  by  the  side  of  those  of  his  wife,  in  the  Pleasant 
Grove  Cemeter}',  and  a  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  llev.  Dr. 
Armitage,  which  was  published. 

Dr.  Cone  had  two  sous,  both  of  whom  are  in  the  legal  profession  in  the 
city  of  New  York. 

He  edited  a  popular  edition  of  Jones'  Church  History,  and  was  the 
author  of  a  pamphlet  on  Communion,  and  joint  author,  with  Mr.  William 
H.  Wyckoff,  of  "The  Bible  Translated,"  "The  Bible,  its  Excellence," 
and  "A  Corrected  A''ersion  of  the  English  New  Testament."  He  pub- 
lished also  various  Addresses,  delivered  before  the  American  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  and  the  American  Bible  Union,  and  before  Missionary 
Bodies,  &c. 


FROM  THE  REY.  J.  L.  DAGG,  D.  D. 

CcTHBERT,  Ga.,  March  14,  1859. 
Dear  Sir:  !Mrs.  Daggand  1  were  intimately  acquainted  with  the  late  Spencer 
H.  Cone.  She  was  baptized  by  him  in  February,  1818,  and  was  under  his 
pastoral  care  until  his  removal  from  Alexandria  in  1823.  I  lived  in  London, 
a  neighbouring  County  of  Virginia, and  was  frequently  in  his  company.  Soon 
after  his  removal  to  Xew  York,  I  went  to  Pliiladelpliia,  and  circumstances 
often  occurred  that  brought  us  together.  Because  of  our  known  acquaintance 
with  him,  his  sons,  in  preparing  the  Memoir  which  they  have  iiul)lishcd, 
sought  such  recollections  of  him  as  it  was  in  our  power  to  furnisli.  We  gave 
them  in  more  extended  form  than  would  be  adapted  to  your  work;  and  1  shall 
be  glad  if  you  will  refer  such  of  your  readers  as  may  desire  to  see  a  full 
account  of  that  useful  man  of  God  to  the  volume  which  his  sons  have  given  to 
the  public.  In  the  summer  of  1856,  I  sat,  for  some  weeks,  under  the  ministry 
of  a  young  Pastor,  who  procured  the  book,  and  read  it  with  so  intense  interest 
that,  after  spending  almost  the  whole  night  upon  it,  he  came  to  me  the  nest 


(552  BAPTIST. 

morning-,  witli  a  burdened  heart,  and  anxiousl}'  inquired  how  he  could  become 
a  more  useful  minister  of  Christ.  He  earnestly  desired  to  be  like  Dr.  Cone 
in  spirit,  labour,  and  success.  Such  eftects  on  many  a  youthful  Pastor  will  be 
produced,  1  hope,  by  the  reading  of  your  "  Annals." 

As  you  ask  for  my  general  estimate  of  Dr.  Cone's  character,  I  know  not 
that  1  can  comply  with  your  request  better  than  by  quoting  the  following  para- 
graphs from  what  I  have  already  published  : — 

"  As  a  public  speaker.  Dr.  Cone  possessed  extraordinary  endowments. 
Such  was  his  command  of  language  that  in  all  the  sermons  I  ever  heard  him 
preach,  he  never,  so  far  as  I  remember,  hesitated  for  a  word,  or  recalled  one 
that  had  dropped  from  his  lips.  Yet  his  words  conveyed  his  thoughts  per- 
spicuously and  expressively.  They  bore  no  marks  of  previous  study,  and 
betrayed  no  ambition  for  literary  reputation;  but  they  came  spontaneously  to 
render  the  service  which  he  required,  and  took  their  places  in  proper  order. 
His  gestures  were  simple,  appropriate  and  graceful.  I  have  known  orators 
who  could  exhibit  more  of  dazzling  brilliance,  or  who  could  take  loftier  and 
bolder  flights,  or  who  could  put  in  motion  a  deeper  tide  of  feeling.  His  elo- 
quence was  more  uniform,  and  rendered  his  discourse  throughout  mteresting 
and  attractive.  His  voice  corresponded  to  the  style  of  his  eloquence.  He  did 
not  sometimes  thunder  and  at  other  times  whisper;  but  he  proceeded  through- 
out his  discourse  Avith  an  utterance  even,  distinct,  firm  and  strong,  and  yet 
■with  sweetly  varied  modulation,  and  with  appropriate  and  expressive  empha- 
bis.  On  visiting  an  Association  in  Virginia,  where  he  had  never  preached,  he 
rose,  'in  the  progress  of  the  business,  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  a  subject 
which  was  under  discussion;  and,  although  he  made  no  effort,  and  designed 
to  produce  no  special  effect,  the  tones  of  his  voice  not  only  fixed  the  attention 
of  all  Avho  were  within  the  building,  but  caused  many  who  were  outside  to 
enter  immediately.  In  the  pulpit,  he  was  ever  solemn,  ever  earnest;  and 
addressed  his  hearers  as  one  who  bore  to  them  a  message  from  God.  All  felt 
that  he  believed  what  he  spoke. 

'<  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  that  system  of  doctrine  which  ascribes  the  sal- 
vation of  men  to  the  free  grace  of  God.  He  maintained  that  men  arc  by 
nature  totally  depraved  and  helpless;  that  they  can  be  justified  only  by  the 
righteousness  of  Christ;  that  they  can  be  renewed  and  sanctified  onh'  by  the 
influence  of  the  IIolj'  Spirit;  and  that  salvation  throughout  is  God's  work,  in 
which  He  fulfils  his  eternal  purpose  and  displays  his  sovereign  love.  In  pre- 
senting these  truths,  he  never  lost  sight  of  man's  obligation  to  obey  the  law 
of  God,  and  to  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel.  He  preached  the  truth  boldly, 
not  shunning  to  declare  the  Avhole  counsel  of  God.  He  was  a  decided  Baptist. 
His  maintenance  of  Baptist  principles  awakened  considerable  opposition,  in 
the  early  part  of  his  ministry  in  Alexandria;  but,  while  he  treated  with 
courtesy  tho.se  who  differed  from  him,  he  freely  discussed  in  his  own  pulpit 
the  points  of  difference,  and  convinced  many  who  came  to  hear.      *      *     *     * 

'<  His  walk  as  a  Christian  and  his  Avork  as  a  Pastor  were  in  harmony  with 
his  ])ulpit  ministrations.  In  every  thing  he  exhibited  the  man  of  God.  He 
taught  the  road  to  Heaven  and  led  the  way. 

"  Brotherly  love  filled  a  large  place  in  his  heart.  In  his  intercourse  Avith 
brethren,  Avhen  present,^-he  Avas  kind  and  courteous;  and  AA'hen  absent,  he 
scrupulouslv  avoided  speaking  ill  of  anj-  one.  "With  his  brethren  in  the  ministry 
he  cultivated  the  most  friendly  relations;  and,  during  that  part  of  his  life  in 
"which  I  Avas  most  intimate  Avith  him,  there  Avas  but  one  minister  Avith  Avhom 
I  ever  kncAV  him  to  have  any  difficulty,  and  he  was  a  man  of  an  intolerant 
spirit,  Avho  did  not  hesitate  to  denounce  from  the  pulpit  those  Avho  Avould  not 
sub.scribe  to  his  Antinomian  creed.  To  refute  the  unfounded  allegations  of 
such  a  man  became  a  Christian  duty. 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE.  653 

"  But  love  to  his  Master's  cause  was  his  ruling  passion.  This  prompted  liis 
eti'ort.s,  and  rendered  him  indefatifrahle  in  liis  toils.  As  he  felt  and  laboured, 
so  lie  taught  his  people  to  feel  and  labour;  and  abundant  proof  of  the  tendency 
and  etleot  of  his  instructions  appears  in  the  amount  of  contributions  for 
religious  purposes,  which  he  always  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  those  to 
whom  he  ministered." 

in  the  Memoir  of  Dr.  Cone,  (p.  439,)  one  of  the  contributors  says, — "  A 
year  after  my  marriage,  when  1  was  in  deep  allliction,  both  mentally  and 
physically,  1  wrote  to  him  again."  [  learned  the  interesting  fact,  last  sum- 
mer, that  the  lady  Avho  has  given  this  account  was,  at  the  time  to  which  she 
refers,  an  inmate  of  a  Lunatic  Asylum,  and  that  her  correspondence  with 
Dr.  Cone  became  an  important  means,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  of  her 
restoration  to  sanity,  and  to  intercourse  with  her  family,  which  has  ever  since 
been  made  happy  by  her  presence  and  Christian  deportment.  That  he  should, 
amidst  his  arduous  and  incessant  labours,  have  taken  time  to  write  a  long 
letter  to  a  person  in  such  circumstances,  beautifully  disjjlays  his  untiring 
assiduity  in  doing  good;  and  that  God  blessed  the  letter  to  the  removal  of  the 
cloud  winch  darkened  the  reason  of  his  correspondent,  is  a  fact  which  may 
encourage  other  ministers  of  Christ  to  labour  in  cases  which  seem  almost  to 
forbid  hope.  Yours  truly, 

J.  L.  DAGG. 

FROM  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  H.  COX,  D.  D. 

Leroy,  N.  Y.   JLirch  29,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  !My  first  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Spencer  IL  Cone,  D.  D. 
was  when  the  difTercnce  in  our  respective  ages  was  relatively  as  great  as  eight 
and  a  third  years  could  well  be,  in  his  senioritj'.  It  was  about  the  winter  of 
1808-9,  that  I  first  saw  him  on  the  stage,  when  I  was  in  the  theatre,  about 
sixteen  years  of  age, — he  being  then  in  the  acme  of  his  career  as  an  actor.  A 
spirited  melo-drama,  by  M.  G.  Lewis, — TTie  Bandit  of  Venice, — was  performed. 
The  chief  part  was  jlbelino,  by  his  principal  rival,  William  B.  Wood;  but  his 
well  sustained  part — that  of  a  prominent  Senator — was  so  personated  that  Mr. 
Cone  made  his  mark  on  the  whole  theatre,  and  especially  on  my  own  glowing 
ami  susceptible  mind.  After  tliat,  I  often,  and  for  several  years,  witnessed  his 
])erformance;  and  felt  all  the  more  interested  in  his  character  because  all  that 
I  learned  of  him,  in  private  and  in  public,  showed  him  a  rare  specimen  of  his 
]irofession,  for  moral  consistency,  and  filial  and  domestic  purit}'.  Ilis  fame 
was  in  keeping  with  his  appearance.  As  an  actor,  he  was  singular,  almost 
solitary.  Such  was  the  common  report,  and  I  knew  enough  to  believe  it. 
Hence  the  respect  he  inspired,  and  the  pleasure  with  which  1  ever  viewed  him, 
even  transiently,  as  we  often  met  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia.  His  reputa- 
tion resulted  from  his  manners,  and  implied  some  moral  courage,  self-denial, 
principle,  as  its  basis.  I  knew  no  other  of  the  Thespians  of  whom  so  much 
could  be  said — and  I  ought  also  to  record  that  I  never  obtained  the  pleasure 
of  my  own  conscience  in  frequenting  the  theatre.  After  February,  1812,  I 
ceased  to  indulge  the  fascination  once — forever! 

His  style  and  status  as  an  actor  were  prominent,  marked,  respectable — he 
was  the  youngest  of  his  peers,  and  not  without  many  attached  and  partisan 
admirers.  Uis  voice,  so  long  associated  in  my  ear  with  the  drama,  always 
affected  me  strangely,  though  not  on  the  whole  ungratefully,  when,  in  after 
life,  I  witnessed  so  often  its  consecrated  use,  in  preaching,  prayer,  and  Chris- 
tian oratory  on  the  platform.  It  is  not  often  that  an  actor  becomes  such  a 
convert,  such  a  preacher,  .^'uch  a  thorough-going  champion  for  the  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  God.     The  prai.se  be  all  his  own  I 


g54  BAPTIST. 

Milnor,  Cone,  and  mj'self  left  secular  pursuits  for  sacred,  nearly  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  same  city,  and  witli  some  peculiar  interest  in  the  piety  and  history 
of  each  other;  and  as  we  tliree  were  settled  afterwards  as  neighbouring  Pastors 
in  the  city  of  New  York  for  so  many  years,  it  was  known  to  ourselves  in  com- 
mon, that  our  past,  our  present,  our  future,  were  strangely  correlated,  and 
also  connected,  in  the  kingdom  of  grace.  This  was  all  the  more  appreciated 
by  us,  that  each  was,  resolutely  enough,  connected  with  a  different  denomina- 
tion! Dr.  ISIilnor  was  an  Episcopalian,  Dr.  Cone  a  Baptist,  I — a  Presbyterian. 
Let  me  write  it  to  tlic  glory  of  our  common  blaster,  that,  in  all  ourintercour.se, 
we  maintained  fraternal  kindness,  uninterrupted,  cordial — our  topics,  almost 
exclusivel}',  the  things  in  which  we  agreed, — those  of  our  common  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  mind  and  manners  of  Dr.  Cone  were  express  and  energetic.  He  was 
earnest  in  every  thing.  Hence  his  zeal  in  religion  was  aggressive  and  con- 
tinual. As  a  Baptist,  he  was  intense,  outspoken,  assured,  thorough;  and  my 
views  of  what  is  true  and  right  were  equally  decisive  with  his  own.  But  it 
Avas  our  common  wisdom  not  to  open  a  discussion,  and  we  never  did  it  with 
each  other. 

His  learning,  general  reading,  and  devout  familiarity  with  the  Scriptures, 
the  firmness  of  his  evangelical  convictions,  his  zeal  and  power  in  the  cause  of 
God,  and  his  devotedness  as  a  Christian  Pastor,  in  all  which  no  man  of  com- 
petent sense  ever  doubted  his  sincerity,  commanded  an  elevated  standing 
among  his  contemporaries  of  the  sacred  profession,  and  peculiarly  endeared 
him  to  his  peers  and  his  people  of  the  Baptist  persuasion.  He  was  a  whole- 
hearted man.  There  was,  in  his  religious  goings,  pre-eminently,  a  momentum, 
that  ever  illustrated  its  own  centripetal  attraction  to  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, while  its  power  was  full  and  regular  in  the  prescribed  orbit  of  its  duties. 

He  entered  the  ministry  about  a  j'ear  before  myself.  While  I  was  then  a 
student  Avith'the  excellent  James  Patriot  Wilson,  D.  D.  of  Philadelphia,  near 
the  spring,  I  think  of  1815,  it  was  announced  in  that  city, — causing  a  strange 
and  mingled  sensation,  that  Cone,  the  converted  actor,  was  to  preach  in  the 
church  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton.  Its  courts  were  spacious,  and  so  was  its 
pulpit;  but  on  that  occasion  they  Avere  all  a  jam.  Thousands  that  knew  him 
Avell  in  his  former  sphere,  Avere  urged  by  A'arious  motives,  some  loving  and 
some  hating,  to  see  him  and  to  hear  him  in  his  new  one.  Dr.  Staughton  AA'as 
my  personal  friend,  and  verj'  courteously  he  gave  IMilnor  and  myself  a  seat 
in  the  pulpit.  Tlic  audience  was  vast,  compact,  attentiA'c,  and  most  attractive 
to  a  Christian  minister;  such  a  rare  combination  of  all  the  liiglier  stratifica- 
tions of  society,  as  Ave  find  only  on  occasions  '<  few  and  far  between."  So 
near  I  could  see  and  feel  him,  as  I  did  Avith  a  brother's  affection,  and  Avith 
thrilling  appreciation,  through  the  entire  service. 

The  audience  Avere  all  alive  Avith  luiAvonted  and  absorbing  interest.  Chris- 
tians seemed  to  hear  and  hope  for  others;  desirous  that  the  preacher,  so  new 
and  so  signal  in  the  cause  of  God,  might  be  prospered  in  his  ministrations, 
that  night,  especially  to  the  good  of  those  who  were  wonted  generally  to  fre- 
quent much  more  the  theatre  tiian  the  house  of  God.  All  the  ordinary  mono- 
tony of  public  Avorship,  as  the  Avorldling  misdeems  it,  Avas  relegated  from  that 
living  .scene,  and  the  chief  performer  was  now  accredited  as  more  than  an 
actor,  in  scA-eral  aspects  more  as  Avell  as  better,  through  all  the  solemn  repre- 
sentation, not  of  fictions  human,  but  of  realities  Divine.  Intelligence,  atten- 
tion, breathless  concentration,  Avcre  the  characteristics  of  that  large  assemblage, 
as  they  sat  expectant  and  listening;  a  mass  of  human  beings,  heterogeneous 
in  all  other  relations  and  conditions  of  their  social  existence. 

We  all  Avaited  for  the  subject  and  the  sermon,  Avith  some  realized  concern 
that  his  topic  might  prove  appropriate,  as  Avell  selected,  well  mastered  in  pre- 


SPEXCKU  HOUGHTON  CONE.  (J55 

vious  thought,  and  well  delivered  in  present  demonstration.  In  all  this,  suc- 
cess was  in  fact  enjoyed  in  a  degree  as  extraordinary  as  was  the  occasion  that 
convened  us.  His  manner  was  subdued,  solemn,  graceful,  as  well  as  earnest 
and  manly.  His  text  was  announced  with  grave  articulation  and  directness, 
and  a  thrill  seemed  responsive  througli  the  bosoms  of  tlie  whole  concourse; 
as,  pausing,  and  looking  at  them  all,  he  said — "  What  think  yc  of  Christ.' 
Whose  son  is  He.'  "     Matt.  xxii.  42. 

I  was  struck  then,  as  oftener  since,  with  a  perception  of  the  great  import- 
ance of  manner  in  sacred  oratory;  especially  in  the  elements  of  articulation, 
pitch  of  voice,  tone,  and  very  especiall}'  pauses!  "\Vc  arc  often  led  to  say, 
almost  «'  speakin'  right  out  in  nicetin',"  when  a  rapid  orator  precipitates  a 
torrent  of  loud  dashing  words  on  our  overwhelmed  attention — "  there!  stop! 
give  us  space  to  think  what  you  mean — if  you  really  do  mean  any  thing;  and 
if  you  wish  us  to  receive  an  impression  from  it!  Space  for  the  Spirit,  too,  if 
this  is  what  He  saith  to  the  Churches!  "  But — no!  Niagara  still  Hows,  and 
dashes,  and  preaches  too,  better  than  such  ordained  ones  of  the  profession! 
If  it  was  all  oflicial  hocus-pocus,  or  the  skilful  manipulation  and  brandish- 
ment  of  the  wand  of  a  magician,  tiien — swifter  and  more  roaring  in  style,  all 
the  better,  possibly.  But — not  that  it  is  to  illumine  and  conciliate  a  soul  to 
(Jod;  according  to  the  laws  of  mind,  the  grandeur  of  truth,  the  necessity  of 
individual  appreciation,  the  genuine  sway  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  real  vitali- 
zing way  of  the  Spirit.  Take  time — make  pauses — let  it  work  and  take  effect — 
not  too  much  at  once — not  immerse  and  drown  the  soul  in  your  rushing 
freshet — not  exhaust  j'ourself  by  vocal  wind  too  excessive — not  react  ruinously 
on  the  engine  that  throws  olf  such  an  inundation  of  lucubration  and  lexical 
tornado — spare  your.self  as  well  as  your  hearers,  a  little — you  arc  not  racing 
against  time — too  much  friction  sets  the  machine  on  fire  or  wears  it  out — pray, 
is  that  the  Gospel  that  he  is  storming  down  on  us?  And  how  much  of  it,  so 
pelting,  in  order  to  salvation?  Or  as  the  infant  boy  at  church  to  his  mother, — 
«'  Why  do  they  not  let  him  out  of  that  box,  he  scolds  so  loud?  "  These  obiter 
hints  I  give,  as  possibly  of  some  use,  occasionally,  in  sacred  homiletics.  Slow 
enough  is  not  .sj-nonj'mous  with  dull  or  stupid. 

That  evening  the  speaker  and  the  hearer  were  all  in  sympathy.  We 
digested  one  sentence,  and  then  another.  So  feeds  a  child  ils  good  nurse.  The 
clfect  was  luminous, — better  than  electric:  it  was  cumulative,  spirit-stirring, 
nutritious,  and  j)urely  evangelical,  as  well  as  distinguishingly  line,  devout, 
grand  and  Christ-commending  to  every  lost  sinner  there.  He  preached  not 
himself-^CoxK  was  hid  in  a  blaze  of  Christ.  Nothing  low,  mean,  exclusive, 
sectarian,  or  seemingly'  out  of  keeping.  And  it  was  a  rich  success.  If  every 
one  went  away  not  better  than  they  came,  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the  preacher. 
"  I,"  said  Milnor,  «<  have  often  heard  him  before,  from  a  box  .seat,  a  dollar 
each  time;  but  this  was  worth  more  than  they  all,  yet  without  money  and 
without  price." 

In  the  conclusion,  he  ran  a  gorgeous  contrast,  a  most  aggressive  antithesis, 
between  the  way  of  grace  in  Christ,  and  the  way  of  self-righteousness  against 
Christ — between  the  hopes  that  waft  men  to  hell,  and  the  iiopes  tiiat  wing 
them  to  Heaven.  "  Is  it  merit  ?  " — said  he.  "Aye,  the  merit  of  the  Son  of 
God;  the  rewardableness  of  Jesus  Christ;  his  compensation  and  satisfaction, 
in  a  seed  to  serve  Him  of  myriads  of  millions,  as  the  final  aggregate.  But  all 
without  or  against  oiR  merit!  As  our.s — perish  the  thought,  the  word,  the 
blasphem}'.  Or,  write  in  blazing,  burning  capitals,  flaming  too,  over  the  gates 
of  Hell — Merit.  There  it  is  in  place.  There  it  has  a  meaning.  But  high 
over  the  glorious  archway  of  the  portals  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  let  it  shine  in 
Heaven's  own  serene  white  light,  <<  Bt  grace,  free  grace,  rich  grace  in 
Jescs  Christ. " — by  grace  are  te  saved!  " 


656  BAPTIST. 

I  have  virtually  epitomized  and  reproduced  that  memorable  peroration  and 
appeal.  But,  as  in  another  instance,  the  circumstances,  the  social  scenery, 
the  novelties,  the  intense  interest,  no  canvass  can  convey  through  the  eye  to 
the  mind,  no  Guido,  or  Angelo,  or  Raphael,  portray  on  its  glossy  surface. 
After  i)r.  Bellamy  had  preached  once  a  sermon  in  a  thunderstorm,  and  used 
the  mingled  electricities  of  the  aerial  and  spiritual  heavens,  in  harmonious 
hursts  of  glory  around  him,  as  he  dared  the  infidel  to  contend  with  the 
Almighty,  or  awed  the  sinner  to  melt  at  his  feet,  while  those  grand  tokens 
were  gleaming  and  roaring  through  all  nature  as  he  preached,  some  deacon- 
like committee  soon  waited  on  liim  with  a  request  that  he  would  be  sure  to 
pri7it  it,  for  they  never  heard  such  a  sermon  in  all  their  life  as  that:  the 
Doctor  replied  "  Yes,  if  you  will  also  print  the  thunder  and  lightning  at  the 
same  time;  since  this  it  was  that  made  it  so  powerful."  The  occasion  could 
never  be  repeated;  and  I  refer  to  it  as  suggestive  too  of  some  specialities  in  the 
history  and  the  character  of  the  preacher,  peculiarly  signal  indeed,  and  yet 
illustrative  of  his  identity,  in  relations  which  neither  his  friends  nor  the  gene- 
ral reader  may  regret  to  see  and  to  peruse,  as  well  as  to  have  snatched  from 
oblivion,  and  recorded — even  though  imperfectly,  as  I  have  consciously  done 
it  here. 

One  of  the  best  of  visible  compliments  to  a  preacher  is  paid  by  his  auditory, 
when  they  disperse  in  silence,  and,  showing  a  thoughtful  and  serious  mood 
of  mind  and  action,  return  to  their  own  homes,  as  if  in  colloquy,  not  Avith  each 
Dthcr,  but  with  the  everlasting  God,  wiiose  message  they  have  just  heard  with 
full  appreciation.  So  it  seemed  after  the  sermon  then.  He  left  an  aroma  as 
of  Heaven,  solemn  and  serene,  on  all  of  us. 

Dr.  Cone  endured  as  Preacher  and  Pastor,  and  was  well  esteemed,  especially 
by  his  own  people,  to  the  last. 

It  suits  not  the  tenor  of  this  contribution  to  tell  many  incidents  of  our  inter- 
communication, though  interesting  and  possiblj^  useful,  from  1820,  or  near  it, 
till  1854,  when  I  came  to  have  a  vicinal  habitat  in  New  York  or  Brookljni, 
near  the  residence  of  Dr.  Cone.  It  Avas,  however,  the  occasion  only  of  a 
friendly  smile,  when  we  received  each  other's  letters,  our  initials  being  the 
same  three,  (S.  H.  C.)  and  the  last  name  in  both  cases  a  monosyllable.  AYhen 
swiftly  written,  the  officials  at  the  Post-Office  sometimes  failed  to  read  Cone 
or  Cox,  as  it  was  meant;  and  yet  no  secrets  were  ever  betrayed,  no  hard  feel- 
ings engendered,  as  the  consequence.  Thus  the}"-  came  to  me,  now  and  then 
blurred,  looking  like  mine;  Rev.  S.  H.  Cone,  D.  D.  more  like  mine  than  his, 
and  •-' New  York  "  being  often  added  to  the  name,  alone,  when  I  lived  in 
Brookljn,  New  York. 

I  might  say  much   more  concerning  my  early  friend,  but  as,  I  doubt  not, 
what  I  have  said  is  suflicient  for  j^our  purpo.se,  I  will  only  add  that 
I  am  yours  fraternally,  cordially, 

in  our  ever  blessed  Redeemer, 

SAMUEL  H.  COX. 


ABNER  WENT  WORTH  CLOPTON.  557 


ABNER  WENTWORTH  CLOPTON.* 

1816—1833. 

ABNER  Wentwortii  Clopton,  SOU  of  llobcrt  and  Frances  (Anderson) 
Cloptou,  was  born  in  Pittsylvania  County,  Va.,  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1784.  His  father  was  a  plain,  thrifty  planter,  and  was,  for  many  years,  a 
leading  member  in  the  Shockoe  Baptist  Church.  Abucr  was  the  second 
of  ten  children.  In  his  very  early  years,  he  was  put  to  work  on  his  father's 
farm,  and,  by  this  means,  acquired  a  habit  of  diligence,  which  was  of  great 
importance  to  him  in  after  life. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  taken  from  manual  labour,  and  sent 
to  school ;  and,  though  he  was  successively  at  several  different  schools,  the 
advantages  which  they  furnished  were  not  of  a  very  high  order.  He, 
however,  showed  himself  apt  to  learn,  and  his  proficiency  in  his  studies 
was  highly  gratifying  to  his  friends.  While  attending  one  of  these  schools, 
he  received  from  a  playmate,  accidentally,  a  severe  wound  over  one  of  his 
lungs,  which  occasioned  him  great  suffering,  and  from  the  effects  of  which 
he  was  supposed  never  to  have  fully  recovered. 

At  the  age  of  about  sixteen,  he  was  placed  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  father's  residence.  In  this  employment  he 
continued  four  years ;  and,  by  his  strict  attention  to  business,  and  his 
amiable  and  exemplary  conduct,  gained  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
employer.  Though  his  early  religious  education  preserved  him  from  a\i 
immoral  practices,  yet  he  took  great  pleasure,  at  this  period,  in  fashionable 
amusements  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  neither  the  love  of  God  nor  the  fear 
of  God  was  with  him  a  controlling  principle  of  action. 

In  the  autumn  of  1803,  when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year,  young  Clop- 
ton formed  an  unfortunate  matrimonial  connection.  Scarcely  was  this 
connection  consummated  before  he  became  convinced  that  its  continuance 
must  ruin  all  his  prospects  ;  and,  believing  that  the  Law  of  God  sanctioned 
its  dissolution,  he  obtained  from  the  Virginia  Legislature  a  divorce.  He 
acted  in  the  affair  with  great  consideration  and  firmness,  and  the  painful 
nourse  which  he  felt  constrained  to  adopt  fully  justified  itself  to  his  friends. 

This  sad  event  in  Mr.  Clopton's  history  seems  to  have  given  a  new  com- 
plexion to  his  life.  He  resolved  to  abandon  mercantile  pursuits,  and  obtain 
a  collegiate  education.  Accordingly,  early  in  1804,  he  commenced  his 
classical  studies,  at  Bannister  Academy,  in  his  native  county.  After 
remaining  here  a  few  months,  he  removed  to  a  private  classical  school  in 
Guilford  County,  N.  C,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  David 
Caldwell,  one  of  the  most  eminent  teachers  of  his  day.  Here  he  continued 
till  the  summer  of  1800;  when,  his  funds  being  exhausted,  he  travelled 
into  Williamsburg  District,  S.  C,  and  engaged  in  teaching  a  small  private 
school.  After  having  been  thus  occupied  for  a])0ut  a  year,  he  returned, 
with  the  reward  of  his  industry,  to  his  paternal  home  in  Pittsylvania. 

•  Memoir  by  Rev.  Dr.  Jeter. 

Vol.  VI.  83 


658  BAPTIST. 

Here  he  spent  a  few  montlis  in  visiting  his  relatives,  and  reviewing  his 
studies,  preparatory  to  entering  College. 

In  Januar}',  1808,  he  entered  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at 
Chapel  Hill  ;  and,  by  special  favour,  was  invited  to  occupy  the  same  room 
with  Dr.  Joseph  Caldwell,  the  President.  This  invitation  he  gratefully 
accepted;  the  consequence  of  which  was  that  his  studies  were  greatly 
facilitated,  and  he  enjoyed  the  best  advantages  for  general  improvement. 

Not  long  after  he  entered  College,  having  again  exhausted  his  means  of 
pursuing  his  studies,  he  was  induced  to  become  a  candidate  for  a  vacant 
Tutorship  in  the  Institution.  He  received  the  appointment,  and  entered 
forthwith  on  the  discharge  of  its  duties.  He  was  required  to  spend  two 
hours  a  day  in  giving  instruction ;  and,  by  vigorous  effort,  he  was  enabled 
to  do  this,  and  still  attend  to  all  the  studies  of  his  own  class.  He  was 
graduated  in  the  year  1809. 

Mr.  Clopton  now  returned  to  his  paternal  home;  and,  as  the  time  had 
arrived  when  it  was  proper  that  he  sliould  make  choice  of  a  profession,  he 
resolved  on  that  of  Medicine.  He,  therefore,  employed  himself,  during 
the  greater  part  of  a  year,  in  studies  preparatory  to  entering  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  These  studies  he  prose- 
cuted under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Rice  of  Halifax,  Va.  ;  after  which,  he 
repaired  to  Philadelphia,  and  joined  the  medical  class  in  the  University. 

While  he  was  there,  pursuing  his  medical  studies,  he  was  suddenly 
arrested  by  a  disease  which  assumed  an  alarming  character,  and  threatened 
a  fatal  issue.  Removed,  as  he  was,  far  from  home  and  from  friends,  his 
situation  was  favourable  to  serious  reflection  ;  and  reflection  came,  and 
then  shame  and  remorse,  and  then  repentance  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  From  this  time  he  resolved  that  all  his  faculties  should  be  conse- 
crated to  the  service  of  his  Redeemer. 

In  the  spring  of  1812,  having  regained  his  health,  he  returned  to  glad- 
den the  heart  of  his  father,  who  had  hitherto  watched  his  course  witli  the 
deepest  interest,  always  hoping  that  the  time  of  his  conversion  might  not 
be  far  distant.  On  the  1st  of  August  following,  he  was  baptized,  and 
received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Shockoe  Baptist  Church,  of  which  his 
father  had  long  been  an  influential  member.  He  had  been  educated  in 
Baptist  principles,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  under  any  tempta- 
tion to  renounce  them,  or  had  any  doubts  in  regard  to  their  being  in 
accordance  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture.  For  some  time,  however,  he 
was  an  Open  Communion  Baptist ;  but,  in  consequence  of  this  producing 
dissatisfaction  in  the  church,  he  was  led  to  review  the  subject  with  much 
care,  and  finally  reached  the  conclusion  that  Strict  Communion  is  fully 
justified  by  Scripture,  and  is  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Baptist 
denomination. 

About  the  close  of  the  year  1812,  Mr.  Clopton  was  invited  to  take 
charge  of  the  preparatory  school  connected  with  the  University  of  North 
Carolina.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  held  the  office  for  six  years, 
discharging  its  duties  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  all  concerned.  In  con- 
nection witli  liis  duties  as  teacher,  he  frequently  administered  to  the  sick  ; 
for,  though  he  had  never  taken  a  complete  medical  course,  he  had  thought, 
and  read,  and  heard,  extensively  on  the  subject,  and  was  well  qualified  to 


ABNER  W'ENTWORTII  CLOPTON.  659 

be  a  practitioner.  Though  his  thoughts  luul  a  general  direction  towards 
the  ministry,  he  had  evidently  a  strong  predilection  for  the  medical  pro- 
fession ;  and,  during  the  early  part  of  his  residence  as  a  teacher  at  Chapel 
Hill,  it  was  a  matter  of  no  little  doubt  in  his  own  mind,  whether  lie  would 
come  out  a  Physician  or  a  Minister.  In  consequence,  however,  of  a  revival 
of  his  religious  feelings,  occasioned  by  a  very  severe  illness,  he  finally 
decided  in  favour  of  the  ministry ;  and,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1816, 
he  commenced  his  public  labours,  in  the  way  of  exhortation  and  prayer,  in 
the  room  appropriated  to  the  preparatory  school.  In  the  spring  of  1810, 
a  convenient  house  of  worship  was  erected,  about  two  miles  from  Chapel 
Hill,  chiefly  through  his  liberality  and  personal  exertions. 

It  is  a  somewhat  anomalous  fact  that  Mr.  Clopton,  during  his  residence 
at  Chapel  Hill,  Baptist  though  he  was,  placed  himself  under  the  care  of 
the  Orange  Presbytery,  in  order  to  secure  to  himself  a  thorough  course 
of  preparation  for  the  ministry.  Finding,  however,  that  the  advantages 
of  this  connection  were  not  so  great  as  he  anticipated,  and  that  its  con- 
tinuance caused  dissatisfaction  among  his  Baptist  brethren,  he  dissolved 
it.  He  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  with  a  distinct  understanding  that 
he  was  a  Baptist,  and  that  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  in  the 
Baptist,  and  not  in  the  Presbyterian,  Church. 

Mr.  Clopton  left  Chapel  Hill  in  the  summer  of  1819.  He  had  been 
invited  to  settle  in  various  places,  but  he  resolved,  after  much  deliberation, 
to  accept  a  call  from  IMilton,  N.  C.  Here,  besides  preaching,  he  superin- 
tended an  Academy  ;  but  he  quickly  found  that  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  combine  advantageously  the  two  vocations.  In  the  latter  part  of  1822, 
he  was  strongly  solicited  to  talce  charge  of  the  Baptist  Churches  in  the 
County  of  Charlotte,  vi'hich,  from  the  neglect  of  discipline  and  various 
unpropitious  circumstances,  had  become  greatly  reduced  in  both  numbers 
and  spirituality.  He  yielded  to  the  solicitation,  and,  in  January,  1823, 
entered  this  new  field  of  ministerial  labour,  where,  during  a  period  of 
more  than  ten  years,  he  performed  the  most  important  services  of  his  life. 
After  he  settled  in  Charlotte,  he  found  that  he  had  to  encounter  various 
unexpected  difficulties,  which  put  his  faith  and  patience  to  a  severe  test. 
For  some  time,  his  eff"orts  seemed  to  meet  with  no  favourable  response  from 
either  the  church  or  the  world  ;  and  he  was  twice  on  the  eve  of  retiring 
from  the  field,  under  the  impression  that,  if  he  should  remain,  it  would  be 
only  to  spend  his  strength  for  naught.  He,  however,  persevered,  and  the 
eff'ect  of  his  labours  was  that  the  churches  were  brought  under  strict  evan- 
gelic discipline,  and  that  there  were  several  revivals,  by  means  of  which 
they  were  greatly  increased,  and  built  up  in  faith  and  holiness. 

Mr.  Clopton  became  connected  with  the  Appomatox  Association  in  1823. 
The  next  year  he  furnished  a  Circular  Letter  for  that  Body  on  "  Church 
Discipline;"  and  another  in  1827,  on  "Ministerial  Ordination."  Both 
of  these  were  highly  creditable  to  the  writer,  passed  through  more  than 
one  edition,  and  were  extensively  circulated  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States. 

In  1830,  the  Appomatox  Association,  mainly  through  Mr.  Clopton's 
influence,  adopted  Resolutions  strongly  disapproving  the  peculiar  doctrines, 
then  recently  broached,  by  Alexander  Campbell.     Mr.  Clopton,  believing 


O60  BAPTIST. 

these  doctrines  to  constitute  a  dangerous  heresy,  opposed  them,  in  public 
and  in  private,  from  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press,  as  he  had  opportu- 
nity. He  published  a  series  of  articles  on  this  subject,  in  the  Christian 
Index,  which  were  considered  as  evincing  no  small  ability,  though  some 
thought  they  might  have  been  improved  by  a  more  courteous  and  gentle 
spirit. 

It  belongs  to  Mr.  Clopton  to  have  conceived  and  had  a  primary  agency 
in  carrying  into  eifect,  the  plan  of  the  Virginia  Temperance  Society.  In 
(.)ctober,  1826,  a  meeting  was  held  at  Ash  Camp  Meeting  House,  Charlotte 
County,  at  which  he  presented  a  Constitution,  Circular  Address,  and  cer- 
tain llesolutions,  which  had  been  prepared  by  himself,  and  which,  with  a 
few  slight  alterations,  were  adopted  the  next  day.  From  this  time  till  the 
close  of  his  life,  he  laboured  in  this  cause  with  a  zeal  and  perseverance 
which  were  an  overmatch  for  the  strongest  opposition. 

Mr.  Clopton  was  a  uniform  and  earnest  friend  of  education, — especially 
of  ministerial  education.  Hence  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  founding  and 
raising  the  Columbian  College  in  Washington  City,  At  the  close  of  1827, 
and  again  at  the  close  of  1828,  he  went  as  an  Agent  to  collect  funds  for 
the  Institution  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  In  both  cases,  he  was  received 
with  great  kindness  by  his  brethren,  and  his  appeals  in  behalf  of  the 
College  were  responded  to  with  a  good  degree  of  liberality. 

Mr.  Clopton  was  scrupulously  careful  to  fulfil  all  his  appointments  for 
preaching.  Exposure  to  the  most  inclement  weather  he  counted  a  light 
thing,  where  it  was  necessary  to  meet  his  engagements,  even  when  he  had 
at  best  a  dubious  prospect  of  meeting  a  congregation.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  winter  of  1832-33,  he  preached  several  times  in  the  County  of 
Mecklenburg,  in  a  cold  and  sleety  season,  and  thus  contracted  the  disease 
which  terminated  his  life.  On  the  4th  of  March,  he  was  attacked  with 
pleurisy.  For  a  time,  no  serious  danger  was  apprehended ;  but,  after 
some  days,  it  was  apparent  that  the  disease  was  gaining  strength.  Nine 
days  after  the  attack,  he  wrote,  by  an  amanuensis,  to  his  aged  and  excellent 
father,  a  most  touching  letter,  informing  him  of  the  severe  illness  of  his 
body,  and  the  happy  state  of  his  soul,  and  bidding  him,  and,  through  him, 
his  other  friends,  an  afi"ectionate  farewell.  He  endured  his  sufferings  with 
perfect  tranquillity  and  resignation,  until  the  20th  of  March,  when  he  closed 
his  earthly  existence,  just  four  daj'^s  before  he  would  have  been  forty-nine 
years  old.  His  remains  were  buried  near  the  residence  of  his  father  in 
Pittsylvania  County.  A  Sermon  in  reference  to  his  death  was  preached  at 
the  Ash  Camp  Meeting  House,  by  the  Rev.  John  Kerr. 


FROM  THE  REV.  JEREMIAH  B.  JETER,  D.  D. 

Richmond,  Va.,  July  19,  1855. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  "With  the  Rev.  Abner  W.  Clopton,  formerly  Pastor  of 
several  Baptist  Churches  in  Charlotte  County,  Ya.,  I  enjoyed,  for  several 
years,  the  pleasure  of  a  very  intimate  acquaintance;  and  the  more  intimately 
I  knew  him,  the  more  highly  1  esteemed  him.  He  was,  in  many  respects,  a 
remarkable  man.  Tn  talents,  he  was  little,  if  any,  above  mediocrity.  His 
sermons  were  always  good, — distinguished  for  simplicity,  earnestness,  and 
eflBciency,  rather  than  depth,  originality,  and  elegance.     In  truth,  he  never 


ABNEIl  WENT  WORTH  CLOPTON.  Qgl 

aimed  to  preach  fine  discourses,  but  discourses  adapted  to  the  necessities  and 
circumstances  of  his  hearers.  It  was  impossible  to  hear  him  without  being 
impressed  with  his  sincerity  and  holy  zeal.  The  solemnity  of  his  countenance, 
his  tears,  every  gesture,  indicated  that  his  own  mind  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  tiie  worlc  in  which  he  was  engaged,  it  was  not,  how- 
ever, so  muili  for  ihe  attractiveness  of  his  preaching  as  for  his  high  moral 
qualities,  indefatigable  labours,  and  great  u.sefulness,  that  he  was  esteemed 
and  admired. 

1  will  endeavour,  at  your  request,  to  delineate  briefly  some  of  the  most 
striking  traits  in  the  character  of  this  excellent  and  lamented  servant  of  Christ. 

Diligence  was  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Mr.  Clopton.  Of  all  the 
persons  I  have  known,  he  seemed  to  have  the  highest  appreciation  of  time; 
and  it  was  prized  by  him  as  a  means  of  usefulness.  lie  appeared  fully  to 
comprehend,  and  fivithfully  to  follow,  the  wise  man's  counsel, — "  AVhatsoever 
thy  hand  lindeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might."  Redeemed  by  the  blood, 
sanctitied  by  the  Spirit,  and  animated  by  the  love,  of  Christ,  he  conscien- 
tiously and  cheerfully  devoted  all  his  powers  and  all  his  time  to  the  service  of 
Christ.  Had  the  words  of  his  Master — "Occupy  till  I  come*' — been  ever 
sounding  in  his  ears  from  Heaven,  he  could  scarcelj"^  have  been  more  deeply 
impressed  with  the  duty  of  spending  every  moment  in  efforts  to  do  good. 

But  Mr.  Clopton's  industry  may  be  best  illustrated  by  the  record  of  a  day's 
labour.  He  was,  when  in  good  health,  an  early  riser, — the  dawn  rarely  find- 
ing him  in  bed.  By  this  habit  he  redeemed  much  precious  time,  which,  by 
many,  is  wasted  in  useless,  if  not  hurtful,  slumber.  His  first  business  was 
reading,  meditation,  and  prayer.  lie  was  accustomed  to  read  two  chapters 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  one  in  the  New,  a  Discourse  in  Dwight's  Theology, 
or  an  equal  amount  in  Scott's  Commentary,  or  in  some  other  approved  author, 
and  tlien  spend  half  an  hour  or  more  in  meditation  and  private  devotion. 
Having  attended  to  his  toilet,  in  Avhich  he  was  very  particular,  he  was  pre- 
pared for  family  worship.  In  the  family  in  which  he  boarded,  and  in  the 
numerous  families  which  he  visited,  he  usually  led  the  stated  devotions.  His 
manner  was  to  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  offering  a  brief  comment  upon  it, 
or  making  a  pointed  address  to  saints  and  sinners,  sing  a  few  appropriate 
stanzas,  and  offer  a  short,  comprehensive,  and  most  fervent  prayer.  After 
breakfast,  he  was  prepared  to  enter  upon  the  labours  of  the  day. 

If  he  remained  at  home,  his  time  was  closely  occupied  in  reading  mostly 
theological  books,  in  meditation  and  writing,  and  in  arranging  with  great  care 
and  exactness  his  numerous  concerns.  But,  residing,  as  he  did,  in  a  sparsely 
settled  country,  and  preaching,  as  he  generally  did,  to  several  churches, 
remote  from  each  other,  he  spent  but  little  time  at  home.  Frequently  he 
would  ride  twenty  miles  in  the  morning  to  reach  an  appointment,  preach  a 
sermon  of  an  hour's  length,  organize  a  Missionary,  or  Tract,  or  Temperance 
Society,  or  a  Sunday  School,  ride  again  several  miles  to  dinner,  present  a 
subscription  for  some  benevolent  object  to  the  family,  converse  most  faith- 
fully and  tenderly  with  every  accessible  person,  old  or  young,  high  or  low, 
on  the  subject  of  personal  piety,  and  then  travel,  regardless  of  heat,  or  cold, 
or  rain,  many  miles,  to  attend  an  evening  meeting,  or  to  be  near  the  place  of 
his  next  appointment.  Nor,  after  all  this  toil,  would  he  ever  retire  to  bed 
without  severe  .self-examination  and  fervent  prayer. 

I  have  detailed,  not  the  extraordinary  labours  of  a  single  day,  but  the 
uniform  cour.se  of  his  life.  I  knew  him  for  years,  and  never  knew  him  to 
waste  an  hour.  His  relaxations  were  a  change  of  labour,  and  his  recreations 
holy  meditation  and  prayer. 

Disinterestedness  was  another  prominent  feature  in  Mr.  Clopton's  character. 
Selfishness,  so  prevalent  and  mischievous  in  the  world,  seemed  to  be  no  part 


662  BAPTIST. 

of  his  nature.  He  relinquished  a  lucrative  employment  to  devote  himself 
wholly  to  the  Christian  ministry,  and  took  the  oversight  of  poor  churches 
for  a  stipend  barel}-  sufficient  for  his  economical  support.  In  his  will,  he 
devoted  the  earnings  of  his  early  years  to  the  cause  of  Christian  beneficence. 
His  desire  for  the  salvation  of  sinners  was  most  intense.  It  was  the  object 
that  occupied  all  his  thoughts  and  engrossed  all  his  effort^.  He  made  little 
of  ease  and  comfort  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  self-denial  and  exhausting  toils  on 
the  other,  if  he  could  but  win  souls  to  Clirist.  Other  ministers  might  seek 
for  the  largest  salaries,  the  most  refined  and  respectable  congregations,  the 
most  agreeable  society,  or  the  most  desirable  abode — he  sought  for  a  lield  in 
which  his  labours  could  contribute  most  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-men. 

Moral  courage  was  another  element  which  entered  largely  into  the  charac- 
ter of  Mr.  Clopton.  His  opinions  on  most  moral  and  religious  subjects  were 
deliberately  formed,  and  generally  held  with  a  tenacity  bordering  on  obstinacy. 
From  the  publication  and  maintenance  of  his  opinions  he  was  not  a  man  to 
shrink.  Vice,  of  every  kind,  he  held  in  the  deepest  abhorrence,  and  no  sta- 
tion nor  reputation  could  shield  it  from  his  withering  reproofs.  His  labours 
in  the  Temperance  cause  furnish  a  striking  illustration  of  this  quality.  He 
was  the  father  of  this  Reformation  in  Virginia.  The  practice  of  social  drink- 
ing was  almost  universal.  In  high  places  and  in  low,  without  and  within  the 
churches,  among  old  and  young,  it  prevailed  without  a  suspicion  of  its 
impropriety.  Mr.  Clopton  perceived  that  the  prevalence  of  drunkenness,  and 
the  difficulty  of  maintaining  discipline  in  the  churches,  against  this  sin,  had 
its  origin  in  this  practice.  He  resolved,  at  once,  to  attack  it.  It  was  forti- 
fied by  immemorial  prescription;  the  cherished  rites  of  hospitality;  a  taste 
for  strong  drink  long  indulged;  the  interests  or  supposed  interests  of  a  nume- 
rous class  of  the  community;  and  by  all  the  wit,  ridicule,  and  eloquence, 
which  these  combined  influences  could  command.  To  attack  such  a  custom 
.seemed  like  becoming  a  voluntary  exile  from  refined  and  respectable  society. 
In  this  bold  attack,  he  was  encouraged  by  no  high  precedent.  When  he 
formed  the  Virginia  Temperance  Society,  he  had  not  heard  of  the  American 
Temperance  Society,  which  had  then  been  recently  organized  in  Boston.  The 
Virginia  Society  numbered,  if  I  rightly  remember,  in  the  beginning,  eight  or 
nine  members,  and  these  were  mostly  persons  who  resided  far  from  his  field 
of  labour,  and  who  had  convened  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  its  formation. 
The  war  was  now  fairly  commenced;  and  in  sermons,  lectures,  essays,  and 
conversation;  by  arguments,  statistical  statements,  appalling  facts,  and  pun- 
gent appeals,  he  maintained  the  fight.  Never  was  a  man  subjected  to  a  fiercer 
onslaught  of  ridicule,  abuse,  and  misrepresentation  than  he  was.  A  man  of 
less  nerve  and  self-reliance  musf  have  been  discomfited  in  such  a  conflict;  but 
he  had  measured  the  strength  of  his  adversaries,  and  estimated  the  means  of 
his  success.  The  opposition  which  he  encountered,  far  from  dispiriting  him, 
did  but  confirm  his  purpose,  and  call  into  vigorous  and  concentrated  action 
all  the  powers  of  his  mind.  He  lived  to  see  the  cause  triumphant  in  the 
region  about  him,  and  to  receive  the  heart-felt  thanks  of  many,  who  had 
been  foremost  in  denouncing  him  as  an  enthusiast  and  madman. 

Fervent  devotion  was  ^another  distinguishing  trait  in  his  character.  He 
was  eminently  a  man  of  prayer.  For  this  privilege  he  conceived  tliere  could 
be  no  substitute, — not  even  the  daily  converse  of  all  the  Apostles,  if  thej- 
■  were  on  earth.  He  possessed,  in  an  unusual  degree,  the  spirit  of  prayer. 
His  heart  rose  spontaneouslj',  easily,  frequently  and  pleasantly,  to  the  Throne 
of  Grace.  His  most  earnest  and  cheerful  conversation  Avas  mingled  with 
ejaculatory  pra3'er.  He  spent  much  time  in  secret  devotion;  and  scarcely  any 
combination  of  circumstances  could  prevent  him  from  retiring,  morning  and 
evening,  to  commune  with  his  own  heart  and  his  God.     He  might  be  in  a 


ABNER  TVENTWORTU  CLOPTON.  (3g3 

strange  place;  exhausted  by  labours;  surrountlcd  by  kind  friends,  who  hung 
with  delight  on  his  words;  the  weather  might  be  inclement,  and  a  suitable 
place  for  retirement  remote  or  hard  to  find;  but  none  of  these  difficulties,  nor 
all  of  them  combined,  could  divert  him  from  engaging  in  his  usual  devotions. 
In  prayer  he  frequently  became  entirel}'  unconscious  of  his  situation  and  of 
all  surrounding  objects.  He  has  been  known,  while  thus  engaged,  to  speak 
so  loudly  as  to  be  heard  several  hundred  yards;  and,  on  being  told  of  it, 
has  expressed  surprise  that  he  had  prayed  in  a  tone  above  a  whisper. 

So  fervently  devout  was  his  spirit  that  no  man,  not  insusceptible  of  religi- 
ous impressions,  could  associate  with  him  for  a  single  day,  without  a  solemn 
conviction  of  the  reality  and  overwhelming  importance  of  Divine  things.  I 
never  failed  to  find  that,  after  spending  some  days  with  him,  my  own  spiritual 
affections  were  quickened,  and  my  religious  duties  performed  with  increased 
interest  and  pleasure;  and  I  have  had  the  testimony  of  many  that  they  were 
affected  in  the  same  way  by  his  company. 

I  need  not  dwell  longer  on  the  traits  which  distinguished  this  excellent 
man.  Those  which  I  have  noticed,  and  others  which  I  might  notice,  gave  him 
a  mighty  influence  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it.  By  the  good  he  was  loved  and 
venerated;  by  the  wicked  he  was  viewed  with  mingled  feelings  of  awe  and 
respect.  Ilis  ministry  became  more  and  more  popular.  The  austerity  of  his 
manners  and  the  severity  of  his  reproofs,  at  first,  made  him  many  enemies; 
but,  by  his  consistency,  uprightness,  and  forbearance,  they  were  gradually 
changed  into  his  warmest  friends.  Before  his  death,  he  had  nearly  van- 
quished all  opposition  in  the  field  of  his  labours.  His  goodness  all  acknow- 
ledged; his  talents  all  resjiected;  his  influence  all  felt. 

The  life  of  Clopton,  more  fully  than  that  of  any  minister  with  whom  I  have 
been  acquainted,  demonstrated  that  piety  is  one  of  the  leading  elements  of 
pulpit  efficiency.  He  was  a  preacher  of  great  influence;  of  influence  for  good 
and  only  for  good;  and  for  this  influence  he  was  mainly  indebted  to  his  sanc- 
tity— a  sanctity  marked,  known  and  admired  by  all  men.  I  have  known  many 
ministers  of  far  greater  and  more  popular  talents,  who  did  not  exert  a  tithe  of 
his  influence;  because  they  wanted  that  spirituality  of  mind,  and  that  unction 
of  the  Holy  One,  which  ever  accompanied  his  ministrations. 

He  has  passed  from  his  labours  to  his  reward;  but  he  has  left  behind  him 
memorials  of  his  fidelity,  which  cannot  soon  perish.  He  lives  in  the  grateful 
remembrance  of  many  who  were  converted,  comforted  and  blessed  by  his  holy 
example  and  his  devoted  ministry. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

J.  B.  JETER. 


THOMAS  MEREDITH* 

1816—1850. 

Thomas  Meredith,  the  son  of  John  and  Charlotte  Meredith,  was  horn 
in  the  township  of  Warwick,  near  Doylestown,  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  on  the 
7th  of  July,  1795.  He  was  the  eldest  of  eight  children.  His  father  was 
a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  was  distinguished  for  a  great  thirst 
for  knowledge,  an  uncommonly  amiable  temper,  and  earnest  piety.  His 
mother  was  educated  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  was  remarkable  for  her 
ambition  and  energy, — traits  to  which  he  is  said  to  have  been  indebted  for 
his  collegiate  education. 

•  MSS.  from  his  family  and  Dr.  S.  J.  Wheeler. 


664  BAPTIST. 

From  liis  early  childhood,  he  evinced  great  sprightliness  of  mind  and 
quickness  of  apprehension,  and  an  uncommonly  tenacious  memory.  After 
being  kept  for  some  years  at  a  school  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  was  sent  to 
a  classical  school  of  considerable  note,  at  Doylestown,  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Uriah  Dubois,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  here  he  continued, 
a  vigorous  and  successful  student,  till  he  was  ready  to  enter  College.  In 
due  time,  he  became  a  member  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  graduated  with  honour  on  the  4th  of  January,  1816. 

When  he  was  in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  was  summoned  home  from  Col- 
lege, to  be  present  at  the  death-bed  of  his  mother.  Until  this  time  he  had 
fully  expected  to  devote  himself  to  the  profession  of  Law  ;  but  his  mother's 
parting  counsels  and  blessing  left  an  impression  of  deep  solemnity  upon  his 
mind,  which  proved  the  germ  of  a  renovated  character, — in  consequence 
of  which  he  changed  his  purpose,  and  resolved  to  become  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  He  was  baptized,  shortly  after,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton,  and 
connected  himself  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Sansom  Street,  Philadelphia, 
of  which  Dr.  S.  had  the  pastoral  charge.  He  immediately  commenced  a 
course  of  theological  study  under  the  direction  of  his  Pastor,  and,  on  the 
30th  of  December,  1816,  just  about  a  year  after  he  was  graduated,  was 
licensed  by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member  to  preach  the  Grospel. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  next  two  years,  he  was  occupied  as  a  mis- 
sionary in  North  Carolina,  and,  near  the  close  of  1818,  was  ordained  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry  in  Edeuton.  In  1819,  he  was  settled  as  Pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Newbern,  having  previously  served  them  for  some 
time,  and  with  great  success,  as  a  supply.  Here  he  was  married  to  Georgia, 
daughter  of  Capt.  George  and  Mary  Tears.  In  1822,  he  accepted  a  call 
from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah,  and  remained  there  nearly  two 
years.  He  left  Savannah  in  January,  1824,  and  spent  eight  months  at  his 
father's  in  Pennsylvania,  and  then  returned,  to  the  South,  and,  in  1825, 
became  Pastor  of  the  church  at  Edenton,  N.  C.  :  he  retained  this  charge 
nine  years,  preaching  to  the  Edenton  Church,  and  also  to  the  Bethel 
Church,  a  few  miles  distant.  During  his  residence  at  Edenton,  he  com- 
menced the  publication  of  the  "  Baptist  Interpreter,"  the  first  Baptist 
paper  of  any  kind  ever  printed  in  North  Carolina,  and  continued  it  through 
the  years  183,3  and  1834.  In  1835,  he  removed  to  Newbern,  and  took 
charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  place.  Here  he  commenced  publish- 
ing the  "  Biblical  Recorder,"  another  Baptist  paper  ;  and  this  was,  for 
some  time,  the  denominational  organ  of  the  Baptists  of  both  North  and 
South  Carolina.  In  1840,  he  removed  to  Raleigh,  where  he  continued  to 
issue  the  paper,  though  his  health  was  too  feeble  to  allow  him  to  take  a 
pastoral  charge.  He  died  on  the  13th  of  November,  1850,  in  the  fifty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Meredith  published  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Christianity  and 
Slavery :  Strictures  of  Rev.  William  Hague's  Review  of  Doctors  Fuller 
and  Wayland  on  Domestic  Slavery."  This  appeared  originally  in  the 
Biblical  Recorder. 

Mr.  jMeredith  had,  for  nearly  twenty  years  previous  to  his  death,  been 
an  invalid.  His  disease  was  a  complicated  one,  but  it  finally  terminated  in 
dropsy  of  the  chest.     For  weeks  before  he  died,  he  had  abandoned  all  hope 


THOMAS  MRREDITU.  (5g5 

of  recovery,  ami  he  sustaiucJ  himself  with  culm  Christian  dignity  in  the 
prospect  of  his  departure,  though  he  said  that  he  "dreaded  the  slow  wear- 
ing out  of  the  old  inachiuery."  He  was  able  to  say  but  little  to  his  family, 
beyond  commending  thorn  to  God,  as  their  distress  agitated  him  so  much 
that  his  utterance  was  obstructed.  His  death  scene  was  perfix-tly  tran- 
quil,— worthy  of  his  elevated  character  and  eminently  useful  life.  He  wa:> 
greatly  lamented,  much  beyond  the  State  that  had  been  tlie  principal  thea- 
tre of  his  ministry. 

The  folloAving  is  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone: — "This  monument 
was  erected  by  the  Baptists  of  North  Carolina,  in  memory  of  their  beloved 
brother,  the  Ecv.  Thomas  Meredith,  who  departed  this  life  on  the  13th  of 
November,  1850,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age." 

Mr.  Jloredith  was  the  father  of  eleven  children, — six  of  whom, — two 
sons  and  four  daughters,  survived  him.  His  eldest  son  is  a  medical  practi- 
tioner in  Augusta,  Ark. 


FROM  TUE  REV.  WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE, 

Centre  Hill,  De  Soto  Co.,  Miss., 
February  18, 1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request  in  respect 
to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Meredith — he  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  first  intellects 
of  North  Carolina,  during  his  lifetime,  and  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  all  its  enterprises  in  behalf  of  Education  or  Church- 
extension.  He  was  about  five  feet,  nine  inches  bigli,  sparely  built,  erect  in  car- 
riage, with  a  face  exhibiting  the  unmistakable  evidences  of  profound  tliought. 
His  bearing  and  manner,  superadded  to  more  than  ordinary  natural  and 
acquired  endowments,  would  have  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  in  any  com- 
munion, or  any  sphere  of  action.  Jlis  mind  had  been  drilled  by  close  applica- 
tion in  the  way  of  deep  and  consecutive  thought.  While  he  did  not  spurn  the 
graces  of  cla.ssical  diction,  he  was  much  more  at  home  amid.st  the  rigid  pro- 
cesses and  sober  deductions  of  logic.  For  instance,  he  would  have  been  far 
more  interested  in  reading  Butler's  Analogy,  or  Edwards  on  the  AVill,  than 
Robert  Ilall  on  ^lodern  Infidelity.  In  North  Carolina,  where  he  lived,  he  Avas 
the  compeer  of  Judge  AVilliam  Gaston;  and  yet  no  two  were  ever  moi-e  unlike 
The  one,  a  high-toned  Romanist,  revelling  in  the  graces,  beauties  and  jewels 
of  antiquity,  and  asking  for  nothing  better  on  which  to  found  an  argument 
than  precedent;  the  other,  an  unflinching  Protestant,  despising  all  ornament, 
laying  no  stress  on  precedents,  and  marching  to  his  conclusions  in  the  light 
of  naked,  unadorned  truth.  Had  Thomas  Meredith  been  a  Senator  in  Wash- 
ington, I  have  little  doubt  that  he  would  have  coped  with  John  C.  Calhoun, 
and  perhaps  would  have  gained  as  high  renown  in  the  political  world.  But 
his  powers  were  sacredly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  As  a  I'ruachcr,  he 
did  not  sway  men  V)y  touching  appeals,  so  much  as  by  presenting  the  truth  to 
them  with  irresistible  power.  It  was,  however,  chiefly  as  a  writer,  that  hi.-^ 
intellectual  superiority  was  manifested.  The  columns  of  the  Bib'ical  Recorder 
show  that  he  was  mighty  in  the  defence  of  what  he  believed  to  l)e  true  and 
right.  lie  took  delight  in  controversy, — not  in  rude,  personal  assaults,  whose 
object  is  victory  and  destruction,  but,  in  defending,  in  a  fair  and  Christian 
manner,  what  he  believed  to  be  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Ilcnce, 
in  setting  forth  and  maintaining  the  peculiarities  of  Baptists,  he  wielded  a 
Damascus  blade;  and  some  of  his  arguments  are  now  recognised  in  his 
denomination  as  among  the  ablest  that  have  ever  been  advanced.     The  most 

Vol.  VI.  84 


QQQ  BAPTIST. 

remarkable  theological  conflict  in  which  ho  was  engaged,  was  with  Alexander 
Canipliell,  touching  peculiarities  in  the  creed  of  that  famous  controvertist — I 
will  only  saj'  that  Mr.  Meredith's  friends  Avere  more  than  satisfied  with  the 
part  which  he  bore  in  it,  and  the  manner  in  Avhich  it  issued.  In  the  Educa- 
tional and  Missionary  enterprises,  he  was  a  worthy  associate  of  John  Arm- 
strong, Samuel  Wait,  and  William  Hooper.  In  the  old  Triennial  Convention, 
and  the  Southern  Baptist  Churches,  it  was  not  easy  to  fix  the  limit  to  his 
influence.  In  the  meridian  of  life,  with  powers  just  fully  developed  in  all 
their  breadth,  and  at  a  jjeriod  when  he  was  fitted  for  the  highest  usefulness, 
he  was  summoned  away,  with  his  armour  on,  to  the  world  of  undying  love 
and  joy. 

Mr.  Meredith  wrote  little  for  the  public  except  what  appeared  in  the  news- 
paper that  he  conducted; — a  circumstance  which  his  friends  who  knew  how 
highly  gifted  he  was,  now  deeply  regret.  But  his  influence  in  moulding 
opinion,  and  directing  the  energies  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  North  Carolina 
and  throughout  the  Southern  States,  will  not  die. 

I  have  thus  complied  with  your  request,  according  to  the  measure  of  my 
knowledge,  though  I  would  have  preferred  that  the  task  of  writing  concerning 
him  should  have  devolved  upon  some  one  who  knew  him  better.  My  personal 
acquaintance  and  association  with  him  was  wholly  in  the  Triennial  and  South- 
ern Baptist  Conventions;  but  our  intercourse  was  nevertheless  cordial  and 
confiding. 

Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  CARET  CRANE. 


FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  MoDANIEL. 

Fatetteville,  N.  C,  March  8,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  opportunities  for  knowing  the  Rev.  Thomas  Meredith 
intimately  could  scarcely  have  been  better,  under  any  circumstances,  than 
they  were.  I  believe  there  was  no  one  out  of  his  own  family,  with  whom  he 
was  in  relations  of  more  confidential  intimacy  than  myself.  And  as  I  knew 
him  well,  so  I  admired  and  loved  him  greatly,  and  am  happy  now  to  add  my 
testimony  to  his  exalted  worth. 

Mr.  Meredith  had  a  mind  at  once  richly  endowed  and  highlj^  cultivated. 
But  he  was  as  far  as  possible  from  making  any  parade  of  his  attainments. 
He  wrote  Avith  great  clearness  and  force,  and,  as  an  editor,  often  with  great 
wit.  He  showed  much  tact  and  ingenuity  in  the  management  of  a  controversy, 
and  usually  bore  off  the  palm,  whoever  might  be  his  opponent. 

Though  he  often  seemed  reserved,  yet  he  really  possessed  a  very  social  dis- 
position. He  was  never  otherwise  than  dignified  in  social  intercourse,  but  he 
was  often  facetious  and  playful,  and  would  sometimes  make  himself  the  life 
of  the  company  into  Avhich  he  was  thrown.  No  one  could  be  his  guest  or 
companion,  without  finding  himself  attracted  towards  him  in  an  unusual 
degree. 

He  was  distinguished  for  a  high  sense  of  honour,  and  would  make  any  sacri- 
fice rather  than  incur  the  suspicion  of  a  mean  or  disingenuous  action.  He 
was  most  rigid  in  his  adherence  to  truth,  avoiding  all  exaggeration,  and  never 
indulging  in  statements  of  du1)ious  import.  He  was  liberal  in  his  contribu- 
tions for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  or  the  relief  of  the  suffering 
poor, — perhaps  be3'ond  his  ability.  He  pos.sessed  the  most  warm  and  genial 
sympathy,  which  it  was  easy  to  call  into  exercise,  while  yet  his  passions  were 
kept  under  strong  and  steady  control.  His  religion  was  more  a  matter  of 
principle  than  emotion.  He  had  little  confidence  in  any  demonstrations  of 
piety  that  were  not  associated  with  an  habitual  uprightness  of  life.     Neither 


THOMAS  MEREDITH.  067 

the  force  of  opposition,  nor  the  prospect  of  gain,  nor  the  persuasions  of 
friendship,  nor  any  earthly  consideration,  could  lead  him  to  conii)roniise,  in 
the  smallest  degree,  his  conviction  of  (Jod's  truth. 

Mr.  Meredith  had  uncommon  qualiiications  for  the  pulpit;  and  yet  tliey 
were  rather  of  the  solid  than  the  dazzling  kind.  His  manner  was  dignified 
and  impressive;  and  his  voice,  though  by  no  means  powerful,  wa.s  very 
pleasant;  but  yet  he  was  not  an  impassioned  speaker.  He  addressed  himself 
to  the  understanding  and  the  conscience  rather  than  the  passions.  His  lan- 
guage was  always  chaste  and  appropriate,  but  plain  and  easy  to  be  under- 
stood. He  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  extemporaneous  speakers  to  wiiom  I 
have  ever  listened.  His  unwritten  discourses  (and  such  were  His  di.scourses 
generally)  might  have  been  advantageously  printed,  witlx  very  little  alteration. 
His  thoughts  were  arranged  with  logical  accuracy,  and  the  great  truths  of  the 
(iospel  were  brought  out  in  his  preacliing  with  such  skill  and  force  as  to 
enchain  tlie  attention  of  the  most  enlightened,  and  such  simplicity  and  clear- 
ness that  the  least  informed  could  not  mistake  his  meaning.  Indeed  I  consider 
him  as  having  been  a  model  preacher. 

With  sentiments  of  high  esteem, 

I  am  yours  truly, 

JAMES  McDANIEL. 


ELISHA  TUCKER,  D.  D.* 

1816—1852. 

Elisha  Tucker,  a  son  of  Charles  and  Charity  (Stevens)  Tucker,  was 
born  iu  lleussclacrville,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.,  December  24,  1794.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Berkshire  County,  Mass.,  and,  after  his  removal  to 
the  State  of  New  York,  was  engaged  for  some  time  in  the  business  of 
teaching.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel,  but  was  never  ordained  ; 
and  he  continued  to  preach  occasionally,  even  after  he  was  eighty  years 
old,  and  had  become  entirely  blind.  He  spent  his  last  years  with  his 
children  in  the  West,  and  died  at  Laportc,  Ind.,  in  September,  1853,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six. 

P^lisha  Tucker  was  the  eldest  of  six  brothers,  five  of  whom  became  use- 
ful   ministers  of  the    Gospel. t     While    he   was    yet   a   child,    liis    father 

•M.S?.  from  Mrs.  Tuckor,  Rev.  Dr.  Burroughs,  Mr.  Xatlianicl  Crosby,  and  others. 

t  Of  Levi  Tdcker  a  distinct  sketch  will  be  found  in  this  volume.  Charles  Tucker  was 
burn  in  15roome,  .Schoharie  County,  X.  Y.,  in  April,  18(11).  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  became 
hopefully  the  subject  of  a  spiritual  renovation,  and  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Purliam,  (Greene  County,  N.  Y.  lie  subseauently,  however,  became  a  convert  to  the  Baptist 
views,  and  was  baptized  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Levi  Tucker,  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church 
in  Deposit,  N.  Y.  lie  soon  after  entered  the  Hamilton  Institution,  and  remained  there  two 
years,  whrn  his  failing  health  led  him  to  seek  a  temporary  home  with  his  brother,  then  Poster 
"of  the  Blookley  Church,  near  Philadelphia.  He  now  became  connected  with  the  Haddington 
Institution,  and  pursued  his  studies  there  for  about  two  years.  In  IS."?",  he  wiis  called  to  the 
Pasturnte  r,f  the  .Milesburgh  Church,  Pa.,  and,  after  being  ordained  in  Philadelphia,  entered 
iiI>on  the  active  duties  of  his  profession.  He  continued  at  Milcsburgh  about  two  years  and  a 
half,  when  he  removed  to  .Jersey  Shore,  Pa.,  and  became  Pastor  of  the  church  in  that  to^rn. 
Thence  he  wa."  called  to  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church  in  Pliiladelphia,  where  he  laboured  with 
trrcat  fidelity  between  two  and  three  years, — until  liis  death,  which  occurred  suddmly  in  Sep- 
tember. 18.')0.  Anson-  Tucker,  another  of  the  brothers,  spent  most  of  the  years  of  his  minis- 
try in  the  West,  and  died  at  Monmouth,  111.,  in  the  spring  of  1859.  Silas  Tucker,  the 
youngest  of  the  five,  still  survives,  and  is  settled  at  Galesburg,  111. 


G68  BAPTIST. 

removed  his  family  into  the  adjoiuing  county  of  Schoharie,  and  there  this 
son  lived  till  he  was  about  twenty  years  of  age.  He  early  evinced  a  great 
thirst  for  knowledge,  and  while  other  boys  of  his  age  were  engaged  at  their 
sports,  he  was  sure  to  be  engaged  with  his  books.  Such  was  his  profi- 
ciency in  the  different  branches  of  study,  that  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was 
a  teacher  in  a  public  school ;  but  his  advantages  were  exceedingly  limited, 
and  it  was  only  by  his  own  persevering  efforts  that  he  became  as  much  of 
a  scholar  as  he  actually  was. 

In  ISOG,  when  he  was  only  twelve  years  old,  he  was  supposed  to  be  con- 
verted, and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Levi  Streeter.  In  his  ardent  reli- 
gious exercises,  he  seems  to  have  found  little  sympathy  in  the  church  with 
which  he  became  connected  ;  and  at  no  distant  period  the  vigour  of  his  own 
devout  feelings  began  essentially  to  abate,  and  within  two  years  from  the 
time  that  he  made  a  profession  of  his  faith,  so  far  had  he  yielded  to  the 
temptations  to  worldly  gaiety  and  pleasure  that  he  was  actually  excluded 
from  the  church.  He  was  the  more  willing  to  retain  this  position  on 
account  of  its  having  been  for  some  time  impressed  upon  his  mind  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  and  the  idea  was  so  unwelcome  to  him 
that  he  was  glad  to  be  in  any  situation  in  which  he  could  find  an  apology 
for  not  entertaining  it.  He  was  recovered  from  his  wanderings,  and 
restored' to  his  relation  in  the  church,  in  1814. 

On  the  12th  of  June  of  this  year,  Mr.  Tucker  was  married  to  Abigail 
Sellick,  a  young  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  attached  from  childhood.  In 
May,  1816,  he  removed  to  Tioga  County,  Pa.,  with  a  view  to  bury  him- 
self, as  far  as  he  could,  in  worldly  care,  in  the  hope  of  escaping  the  con- 
viction by  which  he  was  still  haunted,  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  Soon  after  his  arrival  there,  a  magistrate  of  the  place  called  upon 
him,  on  the  Sabbath,  and  invited  him  to  join  a  Sabbath  hunting  party. 
Young  Tucker  promptly  told  him  that  he  could  not  thus  profane  the  Lord's 
day ;  that,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  his 
mother  had  taught  him  to  reverence  that  day,  and  her  teachings  it  was 
impossible  that  he  should  forget.  The  circumstance,  being  somewhat 
remarkable  in  that  community,  became  extensively  known  and  talked  about. 
There  were  two  Baptist  Societies, — one  seven  miles  from  Tucker's  resi- 
dence, and  the  other  fifteen  in  the  opposite  direction  ;  and  these  people,  as 
they  passed  to  their  monthly  meetings,  heard  of  the  repulse  of  the  magis- 
trate, and  sought  out  the  young  man  who  had  evinced  so  much  conscien- 
tiousness and  decision.  At  the  suggestion  of  one  of  them,  he  consented 
to  attend  a  meeting ;  and  at  its  close  was  induced  to  appoint  one  in  his  own 
immediate  neighbourhood.  On  this  occasion,  he  undertook  to  conduct  the 
service,  but  his  courage  and  his  voice  both  faltered,  and  he  found  himself 
utterly  unable  to  proceed  ;  the^consequence  of  which  was  that,  after  a  long 
and  embarrassing  pause,  another  person  offered  a  prayer  and  concluded  the 
exercise.  He  went  home  deeply  chagrined  at  his  unsuccessful  attempt ; 
and,  when  the  next  Sabbath  came,  he  remained  in  his  house  during  a  part 
of  the  day,  in  great  agony  of  mind,  and  then  went  into  an  adjacent  forest, 
and  spent  several  hours  in  devotion,  making  a  solemn  renewal  of  liis  cove- 
nant with  God.  He  appointed  a  meeting  for  the  next  Sabbath,  at  which 
he  was  enabled  to  officiate  with  a  good  degree  of  freedom  ;  and  thus  com- 


ELISHA  TUCKER.  (JOQ 

luenced  his  career  as  a  preacher  of  tlic  Clospcl.  From  a  r(H'i)ril  of  his 
early  texts  which  he  has  left,  it  appears  that  he  began  to  preach  as  early 
as  September,  1816. 

Some  time  after  this,  being  called  by  the  death  of  a  sister  to  visit  his 
former  home,  he  passed  a  Sabbatli  in  the  town  of  Coventry,  Chenango 
County,  N.  Y.,  and,  as  the  church  there  was  destitute  of  a  Pastor,  his 
services  were  put  in  requisition  for  the  day  ;  and  they  proved  so  accepta- 
ble as  to  induce  the  wish  that  he  might  be  permanently  retained.  Accord- 
ingly, a  call  was  presented  to  him  which,  in  due  time,  he  accepted;  and, 
ou  the  19th  of  August,  1818,  he  was  regularly  ordained  to  tlie  ministry 
by  a  Council  convened  for  the  purpose, — the  Rev.  Levi  Molcoinbc,  of 
Oxford,  preaching  the  Ordination  Sermon. 

Mr.  Tucker  continued  at  Coventry,  labouring  with  great  acceptance  and 
success  for  about  four  years.  Towards  the  close  of  his  Pastorate  here,  he 
made  a  missionary  tour  of  several  months,  chiefly  in  the  States  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio,  under  the  direction  of  the  New  York  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society.  While  ou  this  tour  he  stopped  at  Fredouia,  N.  Y.,  where 
there  was  a  promising  field  of  ministerial  usefulness  open,  and  he  finally 
yielded  to  the  urgent  solicitations  of  the  people  to  become  their  Pastor. 
Accordingly,  he  resigned  his  charge  at  Coventry,  and  was  received  as  Pas- 
tor of  the  Fredouia  Church  on  the  12th  of  August,  1822,  though  he  was 
not  formally  installed  until  December  4,  1823. 

Mr.  Tucker's  relations  with  this  church  continued  every  way  agreeable 
until  1826,  when  the  great  Antimasonic  agitation  in  the  Western  part  of 
New  York  placed  him  in  an  attitude  of  antagonism  not  only  with  a  portion  of 
liis  own  charge,  but  with  many  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry.  lie  was  him- 
self a  member  of  the  Fraternity,  and  was  unwilling  to  yield  to  the  popular 
voice  that  required  him  formally  to  abjure  all  connection  with  it ;  while 
yet  he  was  willing,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  that  his  relation  to  the  institution 
should  be  a  mere  passive  one.  After  a  protracted  scene  of  alienation  and 
strife,  during  which  he  seems  to  have  demeaned  himself  with  great  calm- 
ness and  dignity,  he  had  the  opportunity  of  defending  himself  before  an 
Ecclesiastical  Council,  and  though  it  was  composed  chiefly  of  those  who 
were  decidedly  adverse  to  Masonry,  the  result  was  that  he  had  an  honour- 
able and  triumphant  acquittal. 

3Ir.  Tucker,  having  tlius  outlived  a  most  violent  controversy,  and  liad 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  many  who  had  been  temporarily  alienated  from  him, 
reconciled,  was  not  unwilling  to  escape  from  the  painful  associations  of  the 
place  in  which  he  had  suffered  so  much  disquietude ;  and,  accordingly,  in 
September,  1831,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  First  Baptist  CImrch  in  Buf- 
falo. Here  he  remained,  greatly  prospered  in  his  labours,  until  October, 
1836,  wlion  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  became  Pastor  of  the  Scoon  1  B:ip- 
list  Church  in  Rochester,  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Elon  Galusha.*     During 

•  Elon  Galu.sha  was  born  at  Shaftsbury,  Vt.,  on  tho  18th  of  June,  1790.  llis  father, 
Jonas  Galiishft,  was  Governor  of  Vermont,  and  his  mother  was  a  ilaughter  of  Thomas  Chitteii- 
lien,  and  a  sister  of  Martin  Chittenden,  both  (Jovcrnors  of  the  s.uuc  State.  ];iim  tiaiuslia  was 
educated  partly  at  Granvillo  Academy;  and  though  he  never  took  a  regular  Coilegi;  course,  he 
received  the  degree  of  .Master  of  Arts  from  tho  University  of  Vermont,  in  181i!,  and  from 
Brown  University,  in  1820.  Ho  originally  studied  Law,  an  1  had  tho  fairest  prospects  of  suc- 
cess in  that  profession;  but,  in  consequence  of  becoming  docjily  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
Christian  obligation,  he  directed  his  thoughts  to  the  Ministry,  and  soon  appeared  as  an  eloquent 
aud  effective    preacher.     His   first   settlement  was   at  Whitesboro',  N.  Y.,   in   1816;  and  ho 


670  BAPTIST. 

his  Pastorate  here,  he  was  not  a  little  tried  by  the  prevalence  of  what 
were  technically  called  "  new  measures,"  in  connection  with  revivals  of 
religion — on  this  point  he  felt  constrained  to  diiFer  from  many  of  his 
brethren  whom  he  loved  and  honoured  ;  but  nothing  could  induce  him  to 
relax  his  adherence  to  what  he  regarded  as  the  great  principles  of  evangeli- 
cal order.  From  Rochester  he  removed,  in  May,  1841,  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  assumed  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Oliver  Street  Baptist 
Church.  In  this  relation  he  continued  until  1848,  when  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  the  Pastorship  of  a  church  in  Chicago.  About  this  time  he 
was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Madison  Uni- 
versity. 

Previous  to  his  leaving  New  York,  he  had  suffered  much  from  a  rush  of 
blood  to  the  head,  which,  it  was  feared,  indicated  a  tendency  to  apoplexy  ; 
but  this  was  in  some  measure  checked  by  his  removal  to  Chicago.  In 
September,  1849,  he  was  prostrated  by  the  cholera,  and  this  was  followed  by 
turns  of  headache  so  violent  as  Avell-nigh  to  paralyze  temporarily  the  power 
of  thought.  In  the  spring  of  1851,  he  was  much  inclined  to  resign  his 
charge,  but  yielded  to  the  objections  of  his  people,  and  left  home  with  a 
view  to  try  the  efiect  of  an  indefinite  suspension  of  labour.  He  went  first 
to  Louisville,  where  one  of  his  sons  lived,  and  then,  after  travelling  seve- 
ral months,  returned  to  Louisville,  and  passed  several  months  there,  occu- 
pying, during  part  of  the  time,  a  vacant  pulpit.  In  May,  1852,  he 
attended  the  Anniversary  meetings  in  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg,  and  with 
these  closed  his  public  labours.  After  this  he  spent  some  time  at  the  Vir- 
ginia Springs,  and  then  visited  another  son  in  Cumberland,  Md.,  where  he 
had  an  attack  which  the  physician  pronounced  apoplexy.  He,  however, 
so  far  recovered  from  it  as  to  be  able  to  travel ;  and,  on  stopping  at  Fredo- 
nia,  his  former  home,  he  was  strongly  inclined  to  remain  there  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Here  he  had  yet  another  attack  ;  but  recovered  from  that 
also,  so  far  as  to  resume  his  journeyings,  and  make  another  trip  to  the 
South.  He  returned  to  his  son's,  at  Cumberland,  in  July,  1853,  and 
remained  there,  in  a  state  of  great  feebleness,  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  suddenly,  from  paralysis,  on  the  29th  of  December  following. 
His  remains  were  placed  temporarily  in  a  vault  at  Cumberland,  but  were 
removed  in  April  following  to  New  York,  to  find  their  final  resting  place  in 
the  Greenwood  Cemetery. 

Dr.  Tucker  published  a  Sermon  delivered  at  Fredonia,  at  the  Ordination 
of  Mr.  Jarius  Handy,  1826. 

Dr.  Tucker  had  nine  children, — five  sons  and  four  daughters.  Mrs. 
Tucker,  with  four  sons  and  a  daughter,  survived  him. 

retained  the  charge  of  the  Baptist  Cluirch  in  that  place  sixteen  years.  During  this  time  he 
was  engaged  in  a  somewhat  protracted  Agency  for  the  Columbian  College,  in  which  he  showed 
himself  at  once  energetic  and  sucorfsfiil.  Tn  1832,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Broiid  Street 
Baptist  Church  in  Utiea.  lie  was  an  earnest  friend  of  i\Iinisterinl  Education,  and  was  among 
the  most  active  of  the  founders  of  the  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary.  He  removed  to  Ham- 
ilton, and  laboured  hard  for  the  Institution,  for  about  one  year,  at  the  time  of  its  greatest 
embarrassments.  lie  was  called  thence  to  take  charge  of  tlie  Church  in  Rochester;  and,  at  a 
later  period  still,  officiated  several  years  as  I'nstor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Perry.  In  1840, 
ho  visited  England,  in  behalf  of  an  object  of  public  philanthropy,  in  which  he  was  deeply 
interested.  In  1841,  he  became  I'astor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Lockport,  and  continued  to 
reside  there  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  6tl)  of  January,  1856.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
pulpit  talents,  of  gentlemanly  manners,  of  an  eminently  benevolent  spirit,  and  of  distinguished 
usefulness  in  his  denomination. 


ELISUA  TUCKER.  Q71 


FROM  THE  KEY.  V.  U.  IIOTCUKISS,  D.  U., 

PROFESSOR  IN  TUE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ROCHESTER. 

Rochester,  April  IL,  IC&j. 

Dear  Sir:  In  complying  with  jour  request  that  I  should  pen  a  paj^b  of  My 
personal  ivcoUections  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elisha  Tucker,  I  would  say  tl*al  as  /le 
belonged  to  a  generation  in  advance  of  myself,  I  could  .scarcely  have  l>ocu,  in 
any  circumstances,  on  terms  of  companionship  with  him.  And,  nioieuYcr, 
though  1  twice  succeeded  him  in  the  Pastorate,  once  immediately,  ana  once 
after  an  interval  of  years,  yet  1  was  never  thrown  much  into  his  society. 
Still  I  saw  him  in  deliberative  bodies,  and  in  social  gatherings,  as  weil  as  at 
his  own  hearth,  often  enough  to  obtain  a  somewhat  distinct  impression  of 
some  of  the  main  traits  of  his  character. 

Dr.  Tucker  was  a  man  of  noble,  commanding,  and  attractive  personal 
presence.  Above  the  average  height,  of  full  habit,  his  manner  an  unusual 
blending  of  dignity  and  suavity,  his  eye  large  and  intelligent,  his  countenance 
open,  bland  and  expressive,  his  address  full  of  warmth  and  earnestness,  he 
was  a  man  to  draw  attention  and  win  confidence  wherever  he  went. 

He  was  a  person  of  remarkable  social  adaptations.  There  was  about  him  a 
quick  and  generous  sj-mpathy  that  enabled  him,  and  in  fact  made  it  a  necessity 
of  his  nature,  to  adapt  himself,  within  the  limits  of  strictest  propriety,  to 
whatever  social  circumstances  he  might  be  in. 

It  scarcely  need  be  added  to  this  statement  that  he  possessed  the  power 
easily  and  surely  to  win  to  a  cordial  trust  in  his  wise  friendship  persons  of 
all  ages  and  classes.  Wherever  he  became  a  Pastor,  the  people  of  his  charge 
soon  came  to  understand  that  he  had  a  heart  large  enough  to  feel  for  them  all 
a  brother's  interest,  a  sympathy  wide  enough  in  its  range  to  enter  into  the 
circumstances  of  their  several  histories,  and  the  practical  wisdom  to  speak 
discriminatively  <<a  word  in  season"  to  each.  And  thus,  bv  a  kind  of  instinctive 
and  common  appreciation  of  his  brave  and  generous  fellow-feeling,  his  parish- 
ioners, particularly  the  young,  were  drawn  into  respectful  intimacy  Avith  him 
as  a  personal  counsellor  and  friend.  In  speaking  of  this  and  other  character- 
istics, I  have  in  mind  his  ministry  in  Western  New  York,  where  he  made  his 
strongest  and  best  impression  as  a  Christian  Pastor. 

Dr.  Tucker  was  "given  to  hospitality."  To  all  Avho  had  any  claim  on  the 
kindness  of  his  house,  that  kindness  was  extendc<l  without  grudging  and 
without  stint.  And  he  was  equally  open-handed  and  free  in  the  way  of  general 
charities.  Indeed,  his  character  was,  perhaps,  open  to  criticism  on  the  score 
of  a  too  indiscriminate  liberality. 

As  a  Preacher,  it  may  without  impropriety  be  said  that  Dr.  Tucker's  ser- 
mons were  less  searching  in  analj'sis,  and  less  remarkable  for  depth  and 
power  of  argument,  than  if  he  had  been  early  trained  to  severe  and  protracted 
processes  of  mental  application;  but  they  were  always  full  of  good  .sense, 
thoroughly  evangelical  in  doctrine,  and  often  etlectivc  by  reason  of  their  prac- 
tical adaptation  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  congregation.  His  evening 
lectures,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  were  scarcely  less  instructive  than  his  more 
formal  pulpit  efforts. 

His  ministry  was  bles.sed  with  encouraging  results.  Churches  and  congre- 
gations became  large,  and  thrived  in  many  of  the  elements  of  religious  pros- 
perity, under  his  ministry.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in  tiie  Western 
part  of  our  State,  in  the  Pastorates  that  he  liUed  in  Fredonia,  Bull'alo,  and 
Rochester.     Here,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  was  manifestly  the   field  in 


672  BAPTIST. 

which  he  was  most  happy  and  most  successful,  and  where  many  still  survive 
to  testify  their  grateful  remembrances  of  his  exalted  worth. 
Excuse  the  meagreness  of  this  sketch. 

Yours  most  respectfully, 

V.  R.  HOTCIIKISS. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  L.  HODGE,  D.  D. 

Bridgeport,  Conn.,  March  4, 1859. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  It  was  my  happiness  to  know  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elisha  Tucker 
long  and  intimately.  I  was  many  years  his  junior,  and  while  I  cherished  for 
him  the  veneration  due  to  a  father,  he  admitted  me  to  the  unrestrained  inter- 
course of  an  equal  in  age.  Many  of  his  wise  and  pious  counsels  I  can  never 
forget. 

Dr.  Tucker  had  a  fine  figure  and  commanding  presence.  His  countenance 
was  benevolence  itself;  and  hence,  wherever  he  went,  or  in  whatever  company 
he  mingled,  all  were  predisposed  to  treat  him  with  the  regard  which,  upon  an 
acquaintance,  they  found  he  merited.  I  have  often  been  impressed  by  the 
respect  and  deference  with  which  even  an  entire  stranger  would  approach  him. 
He  had  that  dignity  that  generally  accompanies  true  goodness  and  native  gen- 
erosity. His  beaming  eye,  his  genial  smile  and  kindly  words,  made  you  feel 
that  he  was  a  friend  indeed;  and  his  actions  often  indicated  that  he  was 
thinking  of  his  friends,  and  studying  how  he  might  do  them  good,  when  they 
liad  no  idea  of  even  being  in  his  thoughts.  Indeed  his  moral  nature  was  as 
generous  as  his  physical  frame  was  imposing.  He  was  also  one  of  the  most  guile- 
less of  men;  and  yet  he  was  remarkable  for  keen  discernment.  Either  from 
a  habit  of  careful  observation,  or  from  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  men  and 
things,  he  rarely  mistook  in  regard  to  the  spirit  and  motives  by  which  those 
around  him  were  influenced.  But  though  he  easily  discovered  men's  failings, 
lie  was  exceedingly  indulgent  towards  them,  and  always  ready  to  admit  any 
apology  that  charity  could  suggest. 

Dr.  Tucker's  good  sense  and  practical  wisdom  made  him  a  most  useful 
member  and  Director  of  the  many  benevolent  organizations  of  his  denomina- 
tion. In  times  of  great  perplexity,  owing  to  conflicting  interests,  we  were 
often  made  to  feel  how  much  we  were  indebted,  under  God,  to  his  clear  appre- 
hension of  facts  and  principles.  He  would  rise  amidst  the  scenes  of  stormy 
debate,  and,  by  a  few  bland  words,  accompanied  with  his  genial  smile,  would 
hush  the  contending  elements;  and  then,  b}'  a  lucid  statement  of  the  facts, 
and  such  an  application  of  principles  as  all  could  feel,  he  would  indicate  what 
ought  to  be  done,  and  the  right  manner  of  doing  it.  He  was  an  irreconcilable 
(uiemj'  to  all  sham  and  pretence,  and  was  the  very  soul  of  integrity  and 
honour.  He  would  never,  for  a  moment,  sufi'er  another  to  be  in  ignorance  of 
any  thing  that  was  likely  to  ensnare  or  harm  him,  provided  that  it  was  in  his 
power  to  give  the  information.  On  one  occasion,  when  we  were  travelling 
together,  some  one  pointed  out  to  him  a  person  who  was  known  to  be  a  pick- 
pocket; and  told  him  of  the  strange  manner  in  which  the  fellow  carried  on  his 
l)usincss — by  a  spring  touched  in  the  inside  of  a  large  gold  ring  which  he  wore, 
a  sharp  lance,  like  a  knife,  would  protrude  from  the  ring,  and  an  incision  be 
made  on  the  coat,  so  that  the  pocket-book  Avould  at  once  drop  into  the  scoun- 
drel's possession.  Dr.  Tucker  was  amazed  at  this  description  of  diabolical 
skill;  and  forthwith  his  large  heart  began  to  prompt  him  to  generous  action. 
He  went  all  over  the  steamer,  informing  his  fellow-passengers  that  there  Avas 
such  a  man  on  board,  and  pointing  him  out  to  them;  but,  behold,  on  arriving 
at  their  place  of  destination,  he  found  that  the  skirt  of  his  own  coat  was  gone, 
though  his  money  happened  to  be  secure  in  another  pocket. 


ELISIIA  TUCKER. 


673 


Dr.  Tucker  was  a  highly  intorestiii'ji:  jiroiiohor,  tliougli  I  think  liis  suhjcct.s 
were  more  of  a  practical  than  doctrinal  cast.  IIi.s  views  of  Christian  doctrine, 
however,  were  well  defined,  and  thoroughly  evangelical.  lie  had  less  of  :i 
sectarian  spirit  than  almost  any  minister  I  ever  knew;  and  hence  he  had  the 
conlidence  of  good  men  and  nunisters  of  all  communions.  In  latter  years  he 
made  much  more  use  of  his  manuscript  in  preaching  than  at  an  earlier  period; 
hut  this,  while  it  gave  more  precision  and  iinisli  to  his  thoughts  and  style,  rather 
lessened  his  power  in  the  pulpit.  [  have  often  known  him  to  become  so  much 
excited  by  his  subject,  as  to  swing  off  from  his  previously  digested  train  of 
thought,  and  burst  forth  in  a  torrent  of  eloquence  by  which  his  audience 
would  be  well-nigh  electrified.  He  was  an  eminently  useful  minister.  The 
blessing  of  many  ready  to  perish  came  upon  him,  while  he  was  with  us;  and 
when  he  died,  we  mourned  as  when  a  standard-bearer  faileth. 
Very  respectfully  your  brother, 

JAMKS  L.  HODGE. 


STEPHEN  CHAPIN,  D.  D. 

1818—1845. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ALVAII  WOODS,  D.  D. 

Providence,  February  14,  1852. 

Dear  Sir :  I  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  for  some  brief 
biographical  notices  of  the  late  Stephen  Chapin,  D.  D.  I  liave  had  con- 
siderable opportunities  of  knowing  his  character.  Besides  having  often 
been  with  him  in  public  and  private,  and  carefully  read  his  published  works, 
I  have  conferred  freely  in  relation  to  him  with  one  who  was  a  member  of 
the  Faculty  of  Watervillc  College,  during  Dr.  Chapin's  connection  with 
that  Institution,  and  have  also  received  important  hints  from  one  of  the 
present  Professors  of  the  Columbian  College.  Still,  from  the  scantiness 
of  the  materials  in  my  possession,  my  sketch  must  be  confined  chiefly  to 
the  more  prominent  historical  events  of  his  life,  and  the  more  salient 
points  of  his  character. 

Stephen  Chapin  was  born  at  Milford,  jMass.,  November  4,  1778.  At 
the  early  age  of  eight  or  nine  years,  he  was  the  subject  of  deep  religious 
impressions,  and,  as  he  believed,  of  a  spiritual  renovation  ;  but  it  was  not 
till  the  age  of  seventeen  that  he  made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  and 
united  with  the  Congregational  Church.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  is 
found  in  charge  of  a  farm,  and  possessed  of  great  vigour  of  body.  In 
1799,  he  began  to  fit  for  College,  with  a  view  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
In  1804,  he  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  the  same  class  with 
Professor  Norton  of  Cambridge,  and  Judge  Ware  of  Maine  ;  and  imme- 
diately after  began  the  study  of  Theology  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Emmons  of 
Franklin,  Mass.  Soon  after  entering  College,  sedentary  hiibits  and  severe 
study  impaired  his  health,  and  brought  on  dyspeptic  complaints,  and  a 
nervous  weakness,  which  attended  him  through  life.  On  the  19th  of  June, 
1805,  he  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Cliurch  in  Hills- 
borough. N.  II.     In   thi.^  office  he   exhibited  that   firm  adherence  to  what 

Vol.  Vr.  85 


674  BAPTIST. 

lie  believed  to  be  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  which  eminently  characterized 
his  subsequent  life.  His  conscientious  convictions  compelled  him  to  oppose 
the  Half-way  Covenant,  or  the  Baptism  of  children  whose  parents  made  uo 
profession  of  having  felt  the  power  of  religion.  Througli  his  influence  the 
church  adopted  an  orthodox  Confession  of  Faith,  and  required  a  profession 
of  experimental  piety  as  a  condition  of  membership ;  and  their  numbers 
were  increased  by  the  addition  of  many  efficient  members.  On  the  30th 
of  July,  1809,  he  took  leave  of  this  church,  and,  on  the  26th  of  November 
following,  was  installed  as  Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Mount 
Vernon,  N.  H.  In  this  year  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Mosher,  of 
Hollis,  N.  H.  He  remained  in  connection  with  the  Mount  Vernon  Church 
for  nine  years, — until  the  change  of  his  sentiments  on  the  Subjects  and 
Mode  of  Baptism.  On  account  of  this  change,  he  was  dismissed  from 
this  church,  on  the  18tli  of  November,  1818,  and,  in  the  same  month, 
was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  and  received  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  of  which  Dr.  B.  was  Pastor. 

It  seems  that,  some  two  years  previous  to  this  time,  for  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  himself  in  the  practice  of  Infant  Baptism,  he  determined  on 
a  careful  review  of  Ecclesiastical  History.  The  results  at  which  he 
arrived  were  very  different  from  what  he  had  anticipated,  and  led  him  to 
a  fresh  exaiuination  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
and  finally  to  a  change  in  his  ecclesiastical  connections.  In  1819,  he  pub- 
lished a  series  of  Letters,  giving  the  processes  through  which  his  own 
mind  passed  in  his  inquiries  after  trutli  and  duty.  These  Letters  are 
characterized  by  plainness  and  simplicity  of  style,  gentleness  of  spirit,  and 
vigour  of  reasoning.  While  ho  earnestly  contends  for  what  he  believes 
to  be  the  truth,  he  does  it  without  any  of  the  acrimony  and  bitterness  too 
often  exhibited  in  controversial  writings. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  (1819,)  he  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  North  Yarmouth,  Me.,  where  he  was  greatly  esteemed 
and  beloved.  In  1822,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  Brown '  University.  In  1823,  he  removed  to  AVaterville 
College,  Me.,  to  accept  the  Professorship  of  Theology  in  that  Institution. 
This  chair  he  continued  to  fill  with  distinguished  ability  for  five  years, 
until  he  was  appointed  President  of  the  Columbian  College,  Washington, 
D.  C.  He  was  inaugurated  President  of  this  College  in  March,  1829. 
This  was  the  scene  of  his  most  valuable  labours,  and  of  his  most  costly 
sacrifices.  This  College  had  been  ushered  into  existence  under  many 
favouring  auspices.  The  Baptist  denomination  throughout  the  country  felt 
an  interest  in  its  opening  prospects.  Some  of  her  ablest  men  were  placed 
in  its  corps  of  instructers.  Many  of  her  most  promising  sons,  from  Maine 
to  Georgia,  were  gathered  ^s  pupils  in  its  halls.  Great  liberality  was 
manifested,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  even  in  England,  in  contributing 
to  its  funds,  its  library,  and  its  philosophical  apparatus.  But  these  bright 
prospects  of  a  glorious  future  were  early  overcast.  The  expenditures  for 
buildings  and  otlier  still  more  necessary  purposes  far  surpassed  the  receipts. 
The  financial  affairs  of  the  College  became  involved  most  deeply,  and  it 
wa.s  feared  inextricably.  The  members  of  the  Faculty  generally  were 
compelled   to  leave   for  more  inviting   fields  of   labour.     It  was  at  this 


STEPHEN  CIIAPIN.  Q75 

darkest  hour  in  thehistor}^  of  tlic  College,  when  its  Professors  and  students 
had  become  scattered  as  widely  as  the  8'tates  from  which  they  oriji^iuallv 
came,  when  all  hope  of  extricating  tlie  Institution  from  its  onibarrassmcnts 
was  ahandoned,  except  by  a  few  of  stout  heart,  strong  faith,  and  unwaver- 
ing purpose,  that  Dr.  Chapin  embarked  in  the  almost  desperate  cause  of 
the  College,  and  resolved  to  sink  or  swim  with  its  fortunes.  He  took 
hold  of  the  conscience  of  the  denomination  as  to  the  religious  duty  of 
liuildiiig  up  a  College.  He  became  a  liond  of  union  between  his  brethren 
and  the  College.  He  removed  prejudices  and  conciliated  favour.  For 
twelve  years  he  laboured,  as  the  President  of  the  College,  with  unflagging 
zeal  and  energy.  The  depressed  state  of  its  finances  demanded  of  him  the 
sacrifice  of  much  tinie  and  painful  labour.  As  the  corps  of  instructers 
was  necessarily  limited,  his  duties  as  a  teacher  were  often  very  laborious, 
but  always  discharged  with  ability,  and  with  credit  to  himself.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  the  College,  in  a  good  degree,  to  the  confidence  and 
sympathies  of  its  early  religious  friends.  The  superincumbent  mass  of 
debt,  which  had  pressed  as  an  incubus  upon  its  vital  energies,  was,  by 
piece-meal,  and  by  years  of  unceasing  effort,  thrown  off.  The  Institution 
once  more  breathed  freely,  and  again  assumed  a  rank  and  character  befit- 
ting, in  a  measure,  its  beautiful  and  accommodating  site  on  "  College  Hill." 
That  this  central  Institution,  which  has  shared  so  largely  in  the  prayers 
and  benefactions  of  the  wise  and  good,  may  accomplish  for  sound  learning, 
Christian  morality,  and  national  union  and  prosperity,  all  that  its  most 
ardent  friends  have  desired,  is  most  devoutly  to  be  wished. 

In  consequence  of  enfeebled  health  and  growing  infirmities.  Dr.  Chapin 
resigned  his  Presidency,  and  retired  to  a  small  farm,  which  he  had  pur- 
chased in  the  neighbourhood  of  Washington.  Here  he  lived  some  three 
or  four  years,  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  a  refined  and  affectionate  family 
circle,  and  witnessing  the  widening  influence  and  growth  of  his  loved  Col- 
lege, under  the  Presidency  of  his  able  and  worthy  successor.  Dr.  Bacon, 
aided  liy  that  long-tried  and  most  excellent  Professor,  William  Ruggles, 
and  other  competent  teachers. 

But  his  health  rapidly  declines.  He  has  already  entered  the  privileged 
chamber  where  the  good  man  meets  his  fate.  During  his  protracted  ill- 
ness, he  most  carefully  and  conscientiously  reviews  the  reasons  of  his 
Christian  faith  and  hope.  He  finds  them  strong  and  firm  ;  for  he  had  built 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself 
being  the  chief  corner  stone.  In  his  family  devotions,  he  had  prayed  that 
we  might  honour  God  in  death  ;  and  most  remarkably  was  this  prayer 
answered  in  his  own  case, — for  he  was  blessed  with  extraordinary  commu- 
nications of  God's  favour,  and  with  the  full  assurance  of  hope.  His  peace 
was  as  a  river. 

It  was  on  a  cool  and  bright  autumnal  day,  October  1,  1845,  when  the 
exercises  of  the  Annual  Commencement  of  his  beloved  Columbian  College 
Avere  being  performed,  in  a  crowded  assembly,  honoured  by  the  presence 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  other  distinguished  members 
of  the  National  Government,  that  the  spirit  of  Chapin,  in  his  own  quiet 
chamber, — his  eye  beaming  with  hope,  and  radiant  with  light  from  another 
world, — took  its  flight  to  the  abodes  of  the  blessed.     He  had  nearly  com- 


576  BAPTIST. 

pleted  the  sixty-seventli  year  of  his  age.  Due  honours  were  paid  to  liis 
memory,  not  only  by  his  friends  and  the  public  at  Washington,  but  by 
various  Religious  and  Benevolent  Societies  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. 

In  addition  to  the  pamphlet  on  Baptism,  already  referred  to,  Dr.  Chapiu 
published  the  following  : — The  Immoral  Tendency  of  Error  in  Sentiment  : 
A  Farewell  Sermon,  delivered  at  Hillsborough,  N.  H.,  1809.  On  the 
Duties  of  an  Ambassador  of  Christ  :  Two  Sermons  at  Mount  Vernon. 
1809.  The  Duty  of  living  for  the  good  of  Posterity  :  A  Sermon  delivered 
at  North  Yarmouth,  in  Commemoration  of  the  close  of  the  Second  Century 
from  the  Landing  of  the  Forefathers  of  New  England,  1820.  A  Sermon 
at  the  Ordination  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Cook  over  the  Baptist  Church  and 
Society  in  Effingham,  N.  H.,  1822.  Triumphs  of  Intellect:  A  Lecture 
delivered  in  the  Chapel  of  Waterville  College,  1824.  A  Sermon  at  the 
Ordination  of  A.  Merriam,  W.  Metcalf,  and  E.  Johnston,  at  Royalston, 
Mass.,  1825.  Moral  Education  :  An  Address  delivered  at  China,  at  the 
Installation  of  Central  Lodge,  1825,  Divine  Economy  in  raising  up  Great 
Men  :  A  Sermon  delivered  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  before  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Columbian  College,  with  an  Obituary  notice  of  its 
Principal  Founder,  the  Rev.  Luther  Rice.  A  Discourse  before  the  xVmer- 
ican  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  delivered  at  their  Annual  Meeting  in 
Baltimore,  1841. 

As  to  his  exterior  man,  the  height  of  Dr.  Chapin  was  a  little  short  of 
six  feet ;  his  habit  thin ;  his  complexion  dark  ;  his  temperament  phleg- 
matic;  his  air  and  demeanour  characterized  by  great  meekness;  his  coun- 
tenance beaming  with  benevolence,  while  marked  by  deep  lines  of  tliought 
and  serious  meditation.     His  manner  was  entirely  unassuming. 

As  a  public  speaker,  he  was  deficient  in  vivacity,  having  never  cultivated 
the  arts  of  impassioned  oratory,  and  depending  for  the  efficiency  of  his 
address  upon  the  weight  of  his  thoughts,  rather  than  the  graces  of  elocu- 
tion. He  could  always  do  more  justice  to  his  powers  and  resources  by 
his  pen  than  by  his  delivery. 

He  was  not  rapid  in  his  investigations;  but  clear,  close,  and  logical  in 
his  reasonings,  and  careful  in  his  scrutiny  of  what  he  accepted  as  truth, 
impressing  all  with  the  belief  that  he  was  honest  in  his  researches,  and 
prepared  to  carry  out  his  doctrines  to  their  full  and  necessary  consequences. 

While  President,  he  wrote  and  delivered,  to  general  acceptance,  Lectures 
on  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy,  and  Logic.  Locke  and  Reid  were 
his  favourite  metaphysical  authors. 

He  was  unaccustomed  to  those  circles  of  society  in  which  a  high  estimiite 
is  placed  upon  the  graces  of  person  and  dress,  and  on  the  many  elegances 
of  polished  life.  But  he  aimed  at  something  of  higher  and  more  intrinsic 
value.  He  desired  more  to  possess  the  interior  of  a  gentleman  than  the 
oxterior.  At  all  times,  he  was  a  perfect  gentleman  in  heart,  and  he  would 
never  inflict  pain  by  sarcastic  remarks,  or  unhandsome  treatment  of  those 
whom  he  addressed.  Indeed,  he  was  a  man  of  great  meekness,  and  always 
disposed  to  appeal  to  principle,  rather  than  to  carry  a  point  by  hostile  or 
angry  demeanour.  The  feelings  of  all  were  sacred  in  his  estimation  ;  and 
he  never  allowed  himself  to  inflict  pain  unless  duty  demanded  it. 


STEPHEN  ClIAPIN.  (577 

lie  was  distinguishcil  by  great  siiiij)licity  of  inind  and  freedom  from  nil 
affectation  or  pretension  ;  and  also  by  great  reflection  rather  than  by 
extensive  reading.  In  speculations  as  to  truth,  he  went  into  the  useful, 
not  the  unprolitablc  ;  into  what  men  needed  to  know, — the  diflicult  points 
of  truth. 

His  theological  views,  while  Calvinistic,  were  entirely  practical.  Ilis 
belief  of  the  Divine  Sovereignty  never  interfered  with  his  failhfid  effortii 
for  the  conversion  of  men.  In  short,  his  religion  was  eminently  practical, 
and  not  stiffened  by  the  frosts  of  theory. 

Like  Abraham,  he  was  a  friend  of  God.  He  was  great  as  a  good  man, 
if  not  pre-eminent  for  his  talents  and  learning.  The  aim  of  his  life 
appeared  to  be  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  his  Saviour  in  all  things  ;  and 
this  consecration  coloured  all  his  actions  public  and  private.  A  paramount 
desire  for  truth  was  predominant  in  all  his  teachings.  His  pupils  regarded 
him,  not  as  a  brilliant,  but  a  remarkably  useful,  teacher.  3Iany  young 
ministers  who  were  trained  by  him  for  the  sacred  oflice,  both  at  Waterville 
and  at  Washington,  will  ever  ascribe  much  of  their  success  to  his  judicious 
counsels,  his  wise,  pious  and  aide  instructions. 

Dr.  Chapin's  widow  is  .still  living  in  Washington,  D.  C.  He  had  three 
sons,  and  three  daughters,  who  grew  up  to  adult  age.  One  daughter  mar- 
ried a  Baptist  clergyman  of  Virginia,  and  died  about  eight  years  ago.  Two 
of  his  sons  studied  Medicine  ;  the  other  is  now  living  upon  a  farm  in  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

ALVAn  WOODS. 


EBENEZER  NELSON. 
1818—1852. 

FROM  THE  REV.  HENRY  JACKSON,  D.  D. 

Newport,  R.  I.,  April  19,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  My  acquaintance  with  the  Kev.  Ebenezcr  Nelson  was  long 
and  intimate,  and  enables  me,  without  much  effort,  to  furnish  you  the 
desired  sketch  of  him.  Indeed,  such  are  my  recollections  and  impressions 
concerning  him,  that  it  would  be  easy  for  me  to  extend  my  delineation  of 
his  character  much  beyond  the  limit  which  the  plan  of  your  work  contem- 
plates. 

Ebenkzer  Nelson  was  born  in  Middleborough,  Mass.,  November  9, 
1787.  He  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Ebenezcr  Nelson,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  place,  October  2G,  1753,  and  whose  grandparents  were  the  first  Bap- 
tists in  the  County  of  Plymouth. 

He  (the  father)  was  awakened  to  the  importance  of  religion  during  a 
revival,  when  he  was  only  eight  or  nine  years  old,  and  during  another, 
when  he  was  fifteen  ;  but  in  both  cases  his  serious  impressions  quickly,  in 
a  great  measure  at  least,  passed  away.  But  in  the  year  17S0  there  was 
still  another  revival  in  which  he  had  a  deeper  and  more  permanent  share. 
Having  entered,  as  he  believed,  on  the  religious  life,  and  become  a  member 


678  BAPTIST. 

uf  the  SecouJ  Baptist  Cburcli  in  his  uative  town,  he  was  deeply  concerned 
to  know  in  what  way  he  could  best  serve  the  cause  of  his  Master  ;  and, 
after  about  eighteen  months,  he  became  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Fruni  this  time  he  gave  him- 
self much  to  meditation  and  study ;  and,  in  about  four  years  from  the 
period  of  his  conversion,  the  church  volunteered  to  give  him  a  letter  of 
license.  He  now  commenced  supplying  destitute  churches,  and  was  thus 
engaged  for  two  years  and  six  months.  In  May,  1788,  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  preach  to  the  Church  in  Taunton,  which  was  at  that  time  in 
a  divided  state ;  but,  by  his  prudent  and  faithful  efforts,  he  succeeded  in 
restoring  harmony,  and,  in  November,  1790,  was  ordained  as  its  Pastor. 
Here  he  remained  seven  years,  and  then,  on  account  of  some  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances, returned  to  Middleborougli.  In  1801,  he  removed  his  family 
to  South  Reading,  and,  in  1804,  when  a  church  was  constituted  there,  he 
accepted  an  invitation  to  become  its  Pastor.  This  relation  continued  till 
1815,  when  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  shortly  after  received  and  accepted 
a  call  from  the  church  in  the  adjoining  town  of  Maiden.  Here  he  remained 
till  the  27th  of  October,  1823, — the  day  that  completed  his  seventieth 
year, — when  he  preached  his  Farewell  Sermon.  Prom  this  time  a  disease, 
by  which  he  had  been  for  some  time  afflicted,  assumed  a  more  alarming 
aspect,  and  it  was  quickly  found  that  it  baffled  the  highest  medical  skill. 
During  the  rest  of  his  life,  he  was  subjected  to  severe  suffering,  but  he 
bore  it  with  the  utmost  patience,  until  the  4th  of  May,  1825,  when  he 
gently  passed  to  his  rest,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the 
fortieth  of  his  ministry.  He  was  a  man  of  highly  respectable  talents,  and 
an  acceptable  and  instructive  preacher. 

Ebenezer  Nelson  (the  son)  was  early  trained  to  a  habit  of  self-reliance 
and  persevering  effort.  He  received  a  respectable  education,  partly  in  his 
native  town,  and  partly  in  Taunton  and  Soutli  Heading.  xVt  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  entered  a  store  as  a  clerk,  and,  when  he  reached  manhood,  estab- 
lished himself  in  active  business  in  Providence,  R.  I.  Here  he  made  many 
friends,  and  acquired  a  high  reputation  for  suavity,  integrity,  and  diligence. 

During  his  residence  here,  he  became  united  in  marriage  with  Eliza  P., 
daughter  of  Caleb  Williams,  Esq.  But  scarcely  had  a  year  passed  when 
the  object  of  his  warmest  affections  was  removed  by  death.  Though  he 
was  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  the  bereavement,  it  was,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  rendered  instrumental  of  bringing  him  to  regard  the  world  in  a  new 
light,  and  ultimately  of  working  a  thorough  change  in  his  heart  and  life. 
He  was  now  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gano,  and  became  a  member  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Providence.  Shortly  after  this,  he  abandoned  his 
secular  employment,  with  a  view  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry,  and, 
having  studied  for  a  time  und^r  a  neighbouring  clergyman,  went  to  prose- 
cute his  theological  studies  at  Water villc.  Me.,  under  that  venerable  and 
most  thorough  divine,  Jeremiah  Chaplin. 

It  was  in  the  year  181G, — the  year  in  which  the  change  to  which  I  have 
just  referred,  took  place,  that  my  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Nelson  com- 
menced. As  I  had  resolved,  about  the  same  time,  to  devote  myself  to  the 
ministry,  our  sympathies  were  blended  ;  and  the  bond  of  our  union  for  the 
next  succeeding  thirty-five  years  was  never  even  weakened  for  a  moment. 


EBKNEZEU  NKLSOX.  Q79 

During  this  whole  period  he  uniformly  showed  himself  a  failliful,  zealous, 
consistent,  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

It  was  not  until  IS18  that  he  was  ready  to  enter  fully  on  the  preparation 
for  his  chosen  profession  ;  and,  in  the  same  year,  he  was  approved  as  a  min- 
ister of  Christ  by  the  church  with  which  he  first  united.  His  occasional 
labours  in  preaching  and  exhorting  were  highly  acceptable  and  useful  to 
those  by  whom  they  were  shared  ;  and  his  course  as  a  student  at  Water- 
ville  was  marked  by  uncommon  diligence,  decision,  and  success.  Having 
devoted  al)out  two  years  to  the  work  of  preparation,  he  accepted  a  call 
from  the  Baptist  Church  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  and  was  ordained  their  Pastor  on 
the  26th  of  July,  1820, — the  sermon  on  the  occasion  being  preached  by 
the  Rev.  Daniel  Sharp,  of  Boston. 

To  the  Church  in  Lynn  he  ministered  seven  years  ;  and  with  many 
unequivocal  tokens  of  the  Divine  blessing.  Here  also,  in  the  second  year 
of  his  settlement,  he  was  married  to  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Amariah 
Childs  Esq.,  by  whom  he  had  six  children,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy, 
and  the  rest  survived  him,  having,  previous  to  his  death,  become  members 
of  the  Baptist  Church. 

Mr.  Nelson  resigned  his  charge  at  Lynn,  on  account  of  tlic  failure  of  his 
health  ;  and  the  next  year  he  was  employed  as  an  Agent  in  behalf  of  the 
Newton  Theological  Institution,  in  which  capacity  he  rendered  a  most 
important  service,  not  only  in  collecting  funds,  but  in  giving  a  fresh 
impulse  to  the  churches  in  aid  of  the  cause  of  Theological  education. 
Having  regained  his  health,  and  a  new  Baptist  meeting-house  having  been 
l)uilt  in  "West  Cambridge,  he  accepted  a  call  from  that  church  to  become 
their  Pastor,  and,  on  the  9th  of  September,  1828,  the  house  was  dedicated, 
and  he  was  installed. 

In  his  pastoral  relation  at  "West  Cambridge  he  was  unusually  happy. 
His  congregation,  by  their  frequent  and  liberal  offerings,  testified  their 
high  appreciation  of  his  services,  and  grateful  respect  for  his  character. 
The  membership  of  the  church  increased  rapidly  under  his  faithful  labours. 
He  also,  during  this  period,  rendered  very  efficient  and  important  service 
to  the  Federal  Street  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  during  the  absence  of  its 
Pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Malcom.  It  was  at  his  house,  in  "West  Cambridge, 
in  1831,  that  a  meeting  was  held  in  reference  to  the  wants  of  flie  Great 
"West,  from  which  the  late  Dr.  Going  went  forth  on  an  exploring  tour, 
which  led  to  the  most  important  results  ;  and  no  one's  heart  went  more 
fully  and  earnestly  into  all  such  measures  than  did  that  of  Mr.  Nelson. 

In  1834,  he  yielded  to  the  earnest  solicitations  of  the  Northern  Baptist 
Jlducation  Society  to  become  their  Secretary.  In  this  office  he  continued, 
labouring  most  indefatigably  and  successfully,  for  about  two  years  and  a 
half.  At  the  close  of  that  period,  his  health  being  considerably  reduced, 
and  his  family  requiring  his  constant  supervision,  he  became  convinced 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  withdraw  from  an  employment  that  took  him  so 
much  from  home  ;  and  he,  accordingly,  resigned  his  office  as  Secretary, 
and  accepted  a  call  from  the  Central  Baptist  Church  in  Middlol)orough, 
Mass.     He  commenced  his  regular  ministry  here  in  January,  1837. 

Mr.  Nelson's  connection  with  this  church  continued  fourteen  years; 
during  which  period  he  made  full  proof  of  his  ministry  in  the  fear  of  God. 


QgO  BAPTIST. 

lie  fuuud  an  object  of  great  interest  here  in  Pierce  Academy, — an  insti- 
tution which  has  done  much  for  the  Church  as  well  as  civil  society  ;  and  he 
not  only  served  as  President  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  but  co-operated 
with  its  efficient  and  able  Principal,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  for  the 
accomplishment  of  its  legitimate  ends. 

Mr.  Nelson's  residence  in  Middleborough,  though,  in  most  respects, 
exceedingly  pleasant,  devolved  upon  him  a  large  amount  of  labour, — too 
large  for  his  greatly  enfeebled  constitution.  During  the  last  two  years 
particularly,  he  endured  much  physical  suffering;  and  the  conviction  that 
he  was  no  longer  able  to  meet  the  wants  of  his  people,  compelled  him,  in 
September,  1850,  to  take  a  season  of  rest.  After  a  few  weeks'  absence, 
he  returned  to  his  labours,  and  continued  them  till  December,  when, 
having  become  fully  satisfied  of  his  inability  any  longer  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  office,  he  accepted  an  agency  for  the  Newton  Institution,  in 
the  hope  that  he  might  be  benefitted  by  change  of  employment.  He 
laboured  in  this  cause,  feebly  but  heartily,  from  March,  1851  until  June 
following,  when  his  increasing  debility  obliged  him  to  resign  this  office 
also,  and  to  give  himself  either  to  moderate  journeying  or  to  absolute 
repose.  As  the  fatal  tendencies  of  his  disease  became  more  manifest,  he 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  close  his  life  in  Lynn,  among  the  friends  of  his  wife, 
and  the  people  of  his  first  settlement;  and,  accordingly,  he  I'emoved  thither 
on  the  11th  of  March,  1852.  The  event  proved  that  he  went  only  to  die  ; 
for,  after  a  constant  decline  for  three  weeks,  he  closed  his  life,  in  perfect 
peace,  on  the  Gth  of  April.  His  disease  was  found,  on  examination,  to  be 
an  ulceration  of  the  left  lobe  of  the  liver.  At  his  Funeral  there  were 
present  some  twenty  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  a  sermon  was 
preached  on  the  occasion  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sharp,  who  had,  thirty-two  years 
before,  in  the  same  place,  preached  his  ordination  sermon. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  every  way  an  able  and  efficient  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  one  grand  object  at  which  he  aimed  was  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  his  fellow-men.  As  a  preacher,  he  was  original  and  energetic 
in  thought  and  manner,  clear  and  striking  in  illustration,  pungent  and 
stirring  in  appeal  ;  and  the  results  of  his  labours  show  that  God  of  a  truth 
was  with  him.  He  had  also  a  high  degree  of  Christian  public  spirit.  His 
heart  was  in  every  well  directed  elfort  for  the  diffusion  of  religious  know- 
ledge ;  and  for  nothing  was  he  more  earnest  than  the  cause  of  ministerial 
education.  His  influence  in  connection  with  the  Northern  Baptist  Educa- 
tion Society,  and  in  the  establishment  and  support  of  the  Newton  Theolo- 
gical Institution,  has,  of  itself,  justly  embalmed  his  name  in  the  hearts 
of  his  denomination.  Often  was  he  heard  to  remark  that  "  a  pious  and 
educated  ministry  is  the  right  arm  of  the  Church." 

Mr.  Nelson  was  small  in  stajture,  thin  in  flesh,  and  of  a  strong  nervous 
temperament.  He  was  modest  and  gentlemanly  in  his  deportment,  and 
commanded,  in  a  high  degree,  both  the  respect  and  the  affection  of  his 
brethren.  Indeed,  I  may  safely  say  that  he  adorned  every  relation,  and 
rendered  each  a  channel  of  blessing  to  the  Church  and  the  world. 

I  remain  very  truly  yours, 

HENRY  JACKSON. 


EBENEZEU    RODUEUS.  Qgl 


EBENEZER  RODGERS. 

1818—1854. 
FROM  TUE  REV.  WASHINGTON  LEVERETT, 

PROFESSOR    IN    SUORTLEFF    COLLEGE. 

Upper  Alton,  III.,  May  2G.  iSo'J. 

My  dear  Sir  :  The  public  life  of  the  Rev.  Ebeuezer  Rodgcrs  was  wliat 
might,  in  some  respects,  be  termed  an  eventful  one.  As  a  faithful  and 
efficient  pioneer  preacher,  he  "left  his  mark"  upon  Avhat  were  then  the 
frontier  settlements  of  the  "  Upper  Missouri,"  as  well  as  upon  the  churche.-^ 
which  he  assisted  in  organizing. 

A  short  time  previous  to  his  decease,  he  consented  to  write,  in  a  serich 
of  letters,  a  narrative  of  the  principal  events  and  incidents  of  his  life. 
When  I  received  your  request.  I  supposed  this  narrative  could  be  obtained. 
But,  upon  inquiry,  I  learned  that  it  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck,  who  was  preparing  a  Memoir  of  Mr.  llodgers  for  the 
press.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  P.,  the  manuscript  was  mislaid,  and 
could  not  be  found.  These  letters  would  have  supplied  the  material 
requisite  for  giving  to  the  sketch  a  greater  degree  of  completeness.  By  his 
nephew,  Rev.  J.  B.  Jenkins,  of  Newport,  England,  I  have  been  furnished 
with  an  account  of  Mr.  Rougers'  parentage,  and  his  history  to  the  time  of 
his  coming  to  the  United  States.  My  acquaintance  with  him  com- 
menced in  the  autumn  of  1836,  and  continued,  with  growing  intimacy,  till 
his  decease.  From  himself  I  had  learned  many  facts  and  incidents  con- 
nected with  his  life  in  this  country,  and,  since  his  departure,  my  informa- 
tion has  been  much  increased  from  surviving  friends  and  other  sources.  1 
trust  the  imperfect  sketch  I  am  about  to  give  you,  will  prove  correct,  but 
am  conscious  of  my  inability  to  do  full  justice  to  the  subject. 

Ebenezer  Rodgers,  the  eldest  child  of  William  and  Cecelia  Rodgers, 
was  born  on  the  IGth  of  March,  1788,  in  the  Blaiiia  Valley,  near  Newport, 
in  the  County  of  Monmouth,  South  Wales.  His  parents  occupied  a  farm, 
and  were  descended  from  families  of  respectability,  whose  ancestors  had 
lived  in  the  same  neighbourhood  for  centuries,  and  ramified  in  their 
relationships  through  the  surrounding  districts.  At  the  lower  end  of  the 
Blaina  Valley  was  an  old  Baptist  chapel,  erected  in  the  year  1715,  and, 
with  one  exception  the  oldest  in  the  country.  In  this  sanctuary,  the 
services  were  conducted  with  that  warmth  and  fervour  characteristic  of 
Welsh  worship.  From  the  first  organization  of  the  Blaina  Church,  when 
they  met  for  worship  in  neighbouring  farm-houses,  or  in  some  retired  and 
out  of  the  way  spot,  for  fear  of  the  persecutor,  the  ancestors  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  were  associated  in  sympathy  and  faith  with  the  perse- 
cuted band.  Both  his  parents  and  grandparents,  and  proltably  their  parents 
before  them,  were  communicants  in  the  Church,  so  that  he  was  descended 
from  a  pious  Christian  ancestry. 

Whilst  Ebenezer  was  a  child,  death  deprived  the  family  of  a  loving 
mother's    fostering    care,   and    the    father  conscientiously   objecting   to   a 

Vol.  Vr.  86 


682  BAPTIST. 

second  marriage,  they  were  brought  up  under  his  watchful  eye.  Appre- 
ciating the  importance  of  education  himself,  he  gave  to  all  his  children  the 
advantages  of  the  best  schools  in  the  neighbouring  towns.  Soon  after 
Ebeuezer's  return  home  from  school,  his  mind  was  deeply  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  the  importance  of  personal  religion.  Having,  for  some  time, 
been  the  subject  of  deep  and  pungent  convictions,  and  having,  at  length, 
found  peace  and  joy  in  believing,  he  resolved  to  consecrate  himself  to 
the  service  of  the  Saviour  by  an  open  profession  of  his  faith.  He  was 
joyfully  accepted  by  the  church,  and  baptized  when  he  was  in  his  sixteenth 
year,  receiving  the  warm  congratulations  of  numerous  Christian  friends. 
In  less  than  twelve  months  after  he  had  joined  the  church,  the  more 
experienced  members  perceiving  that  he  possessed  gifts  that  qualified  him 
for  ministerial  usefulness,  he  was  invited  to  speak  before  the  church,  and 
then  warmly  urged  to  exercise  his  gifts  whenever  opportunity  offered. 
Having  acquired  considerable  popularity  from  his  fluency,  and  unction,  as 
well  as  youthful  appearance,  the  church  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Kilpin,  of  Leominster,  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Here- 
ford, who  received  young  men  for  training  for  the  ministry.  Here  he 
enjoyed  the  counsels  and  instruction  of  an  eminently  devoted  minister, 
and  the  companionship  and  sympathy  of  young  men  preparing  for  the  same 
blessed  service  with  himself.  After  he  had  spent  two  years  at  Leominster, 
his  Tutor  and  the  Church  at  Blaina  made  a  request  that  he  might  be 
admitted  to  the  newly  formed  Baptist  College  at  Stepney,  London,  under 
the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Newman.  The  application  was  favourably  responded 
to,  and  soon  after  he  removed  to  the  metropolis.  Four  years  were  spent 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  high  advantages  of  this  rising  Institution.  Little 
is  known  of  his  college  history,  excepting  his  persevering  industry  and 
great  popularity.  Wherever  sent  to  supply  a  pulpit,  he  was  warmly 
received,  and  his  labours  were  greatly  honoured  and  blessed  of  God. 

From  a  child,  he  had  felt  a  desire  for  missionary  labour,  and,  during  his 
residence  at  Stepney  College,  he  was  favoured  with  the  acquaintance  and 
friendship  of  most  of  the  founders  of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary 
Society.  Soon  after  the  completion  of  his  studies  in  London,  business  of 
a  secular  character  made  it  necessary  that  he  should  visit  America.  He 
arrived  in  the  fall  of  1818,  intending  to  return  in  a  few  months  ;  but 
a  guiding  Providence  ordered  the  event  otherwise.  In  his  travels  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  business,  he  became  the  welcome  guest  of  Benjamin 
Edwards,  a  prominent  citizen  and  distinguished  Baptist  of  Nelson  County, 
Ky.*  Three  of  the  sons  of  his  host  subsequently  migrated  to  Illinois, — 
Gov.  N.  Edwards,  called  the  "  Father  of  Illinois,"  Hon.  C.  Edwards  and 
Dr.  B.  F.  Edwards, — whose  name  was  given  to  the  County  seat  of  Madison 
County.  The  friendship  formed  between  these  gentlemen  and  Mr.  Ilodgers, 
on  his  first  visit  to  their  father's  house,  was  mutually  cherished  and  richly 
enjoyed  till  the  close  of  his  life.  During  his  sojourn  of  several  months  in 
Kentucky,  he  frequently  preached  in  different  towns  and  counties,  and  with 
great  acceptance  and  success.  He  was  persuaded  by  some  of  his  Kentucky 
friends  to  vi-^it  the  Slate — then  Territory — of  Missouri,  before  returning  to 

•  This  gentleman's  liberality  and  fosterinpcarc  had  contributed,  in  no  small  measure,  to  shape 
the  character  and  dcvelopc  the  energies  of  the  celebrated  Statesman, — William  Wirt. 


EBENEZKR   UUDUEUS.  083 

England.  In  ^lay,  1819,  Mr.  (now  the  Hon.)  Cyrus  Edwards,  witli  his 
newly  married  wife  and  a  sister,  being  about  to  make  a  tour  to  Howard 
County,  JMo., — or,  as  it  was  called,  the  IJoon's  Lick  country,  he  consented 
to  accompany  them.  Travelling  in  "the  West"  by  .steamboats  on  the 
rivers,  ;uul  by  railway  cars  over  the  prairies,  was  a  ])art  of  the  Apocalypse 
not  then  understood,  and  public  stage-coaches  were  great  strangers  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  The  vicissitudes  of  the  journey — performed  by  his, 
wayfaring  companions  in  a  private  vehicle,  while  he  rode  on  horseback — 
presented  to  the  young  Welsh  graduate  a  striking  contrast  to  his  late  mode 
of  life  in  the  metropolis  of  old  England.  But,  adapting  himself  with 
wondrous  facility'  to  his  new  position,  he  enjoyed  the  journey  with  its 
varied  incidents,  and  daily  amused  his  fellow-travellers  by  his  tender  devo- 
tion to  the  quadruped,  named  "  Fox,"  which  carried  him.  Little  did  he 
then  think  of  the  tliousands  of  miles  which  he  would  thus  travel  in  the 
saddle,  during  the  many  months  and  years  of  his  itineracy  in  the  Boon's 
Lick  country.  The  Upper  Missouri  was  then  but  very  thinly  settled, 
the  tide  of  immigration  having  just  commenced.  He  found  "  the  whole 
country  almost  entirely  destitute  of  preachers."  In  the  prime  of  early 
manhood,  enriched  with  a  liberal  education,  endowed  with  a  rare  facility 
of  popular  address,  and  animated  with  holy  aspirations  to  promote  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  his  fellow-men,  he  beholds  opened  before  him  a  field  of 
usefulness,  which,  though  not  sought,  he  could  not  refuse  to  enter.  He 
desired  to  cast  the  leaven  of  evangelical  truth  into  the  heterogeneous  mass 
of  society,  then  in  its  forming  state,  and  thus  to  aid  in  shaping  the  charac- 
ter and  consequent  destiny  of  the  existing  and  succeeding  generations. 
His  purpose  of  returning  to  his  native  land  was  relinquished,  and  all  his 
energies  were  summoned  to  the  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  "  Far 
West."  He  soon  commenced  itinerating  from  settlement  to  settlement, 
preaching  in  the  settlers'  rude  log  cabins,  in  the  shade  of  the  forest  trees 
skirting  some  prairie  stream,  in  the  open  air  on  the  treeless  prairie,  in 
every  variety  of  sanctuary,  and  from  every  variety  of  pulpit :  each  place 
being  alike  consecrated  by  the  object  of  the  assembly,  and  verifying  the 
ancient  declaration, — "  God  dwelloth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands." 
Upon  these  primitive  assemblies  the  Holy  One  poured  down  his  richest 
blessings.  In  a  short  lime  a  few  scattered  Baptists  were  collected  at 
Chariton,  about  a  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  West  of  St.  Louis,  a 
church  of  nine  members  was  organized,  and  Mr.  Rodgers  was  ordained  its 
Pastor.  A  gracious  revival  accompanied  his  labours  there,  and  soon  the 
number  of  his  church-members  exceeded  a  hundred.  The  people  for 
whose  welfare  he  laboured,  contributed  in  return  almost  nothing  for  his 
support,  and,  the  country  being  destitute  of  schools,  he  engaged  in  teaching 
to  defray  his  current  expenses.  Yet  he  continued  his  ministerial  labours, 
not  only  at  Chariton,  but  East  and  "West,  North  and  South,  in  the  rising 
settlements,  generally  having  the  charge  of  four  churches,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  miles  apart,  preaching  to  them  severally  one  Saturday  and  Sab- 
bath in  each  month.  Nor  were  his  itinerant  labours  confined  to  the 
churches  of  which  he  was  Pastor,  but  he  made  occasional  lours  of  forty 
or  fifty  miles  into  the  destitute  regions  around.  He  used  to  say  that 
his  was  the  first  Protestant  preacher's  voice  heard  West  of  Grand  River. 


(3g4  BAl'TJST 

From  tiicse  excursions  lie  was  accustomed,  in  the  warm  season,  to  rido 
home  by  niglit,  that  he  might  early  resume  his  chair  at  the  teacher's  desk. 
Sometimes  amusing,  and  sometimes  grave,  occurrences  gave  variety  to  his 
adventures.  To  swim  across  the  swollen  stream  on  horseback  was  a  fre- 
quent incident,  at  times  attended  with  danger.  On  one  occasion,  after 
excessive  labour,  his  strength  failed  him,  and,  far  from  any  human  habita- 
^tion,  he  found  himself  compelled  to  pass  the  night.  Accordingly,  tying 
his  horse  to  a  swinging  bough,  and  collecting  grass  for  him  to  eat,  he  com- 
mended himself  to  God,  and  then,  placing  his  saddle  for  a  pillow,  he  slept 
safely  and  quietly  till  morning.  The  difficulties  he  had  to  contend  with, 
and  the  privations  he  endured,  were  numerous,  yet  his  attachment  to  the 
young  brethren  whom  he  had  baptized  became  so  strong  that  he  "  knew 
not  how  to  leave  them  and  return  to  England,"  and  the  period  of  his 
"  itinerating  through  that  new  and  wild  country," — a  period  of  nearly 
sixteen  of  his  best  years, — he  was  accustomed  to  say  was  the  happiest 
part  of  his  life.  During  all  this  time,  his  ministerial  services  were  almost 
entirely  gratuitous,  his  support  being  derived  partly  from  teaching  school, 
and  partly  from  cultivating  the  soil.  For  his  ministerial  labours,  "  in 
season  and  out  of  season,"  his  receipts  in  money  did  not  amount  to  fifty 
dollars.  Of  tlie  converts  under  his  preaching  he  baptized  more  than  five 
hundred  on  a  profession  of  their  faith.  He  assisted  in  the  organization 
of  about  fifty  churches,  and  several  Associations  in  the  Upper  Missouri. 
As  Scribe  of  the  Association  to  which  he  belonged,  he  prepared  Circular 
Letters  on  several  special  topics, — at  one  time  embodying  an  able  argument 
in  support  of  the  "  Divine  Nature  and  Mediatorial  Office  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  " — at  another,  exhibiting  the  "  Discipline  of  the  Primitive 
Churches," — and,  at  other  times,  vindicating  some  scriptural  doctrine  held 
by  all  evangelical  denominations,  or  some  one  or  more  peculiar  to  his 
own. 

In  the  year  1832,  he  visited  his  native  land,  and  was  joyfully  received 
by  numerous  friends.  During  this  visit,  he  frequently  preached  in  and 
around  his  native  place,  but  not  in  his  native  tongue.  Long  disuse  had 
obliterated  the  language  of  his  infancy  and  youth,  but  had  not  quenched 
its  characteristic  fire.  Crowds  flocked  to  liear  him  preach  in  English,  and, 
owing  to  the  peculiar  unction  ever  apparent  in  his  ministrations,  a  conside- 
rable number  were  savingly  impressed,  and  subsequently  united  with  dif- 
ferent churches,  and  many  others  had  reason  to  bless  God  for  liis  visit 
to  the  home  of  his  youth.  The  changes  in  the  neighbourhood,  during 
the  interval  of  his  absence,  greatly  affected  him.  His  two  brothers,  having 
passed  through  a  course  of  religious  experience  similar  to  his  own,  were 
baptized  in  their  youth,  and  subsequently  devoted  themselves  to  the  minis- 
try. But,  on  his  return,  his^beloved  father  was  dead.  His  paternal  uncle, 
for  many  years  a  Deacon  and  pillar  of  the  old  Blaina  Church,  was  dead. 
Many  of  the  associates  of  his  boyhood  were  reposing  in  the  quiet  grave- 
yard of  the  old  sanctuary.  His  youngest  brother  also  was  dead,  cut  down 
in  the  midst  of  youth  and  usefulness,  amongst  a  devoted  people  at  Mon- 
mouth, where  his  labours  had  been  greatly  honoured  of  the  Master.  But 
most,  if  not  all,  had  died  to  live  in  the  Master's  presence.  His  second 
brother  was  still  labouring  with  great  success  as  Pastor  of  the  large  Bap- 


EBENEZER  RODGERS.  685 

tist  Church  at  Dudley.*  When  about  to  return  to  America,  a  company  of 
intimate  friends  assembled  at  the  house  of  his  only  sister,  then  residing  in 
Blaina,  for  a  valedictory  service.  It  was  felt  to  be  a  melancholy,  yet  hal- 
lowed, occasion.  Before  separating,  he  gave  out  the  hymn,  which  he  had 
sung  on  parting  with  his  friends  in  Mis.^ouri,  coniiuencing — "Farewell, 
loving  Christians,  farewell  for  awhile," — and  concluding  with — "  To  meet 
you  in  glory,  I  give  you  my  hand," — and  then,  rising  from  his  scat,  he  affec- 
tionately shook  hands  with  all  the  company,  who,  like  himself,  were  suf- 
fused with  tears,  and  yet  exulting  in  the  assurance  of  a  glorious  reunion 
in  the  spirit  world.  One  of  his  last  acts,  on  leaving,  was  to  give  to  the 
old  Blaina  Church  a  piece  of  his  land,  adjoining  the  graveyard,  for  its 
enlargement. 

On  his  return  from  England,  he  made  arrangements  to  carry  out  a  pur- 
pose cherished  for  years, — to  remove  his  residence  into  a  free  State. 
Desiring  a  location  furnishing  good  educational  advantages  for  his  rising 
family,  he  visited  Alton,  111.,  in  May,  1834.  After  remaining  there  a 
few  weeks,  he  received  a  unanimous  call  to  the  twofold  Pastorate  of  the 
Baptist  Churches  in  Alton  and  Upper  Alton,  and  in  November  following 
removed  his  family  to  Upper  Alton.  He  officiated  at  the  Altons  somewhat 
more  than  a  year,  preaching  alternately  at  the  two  places,  and  dividing  his 
pastoral  labours  between  the  churches.  For  the  three  succeeding  years,  he 
gave  his  undivided  services  to  the  church  at  Upper  Alton.  During  this 
period,  the  church  enjoyed  several  seasons  of  revival,  and  upwards  of  a  hun- 
dred and  eighty  members  were  received,  by  letter  and  Baptism.  Mainly 
through  his  personal  agency,  a  capacious  stone  house  of  worship  was 
erected,  and  dedicated  two  years  previous  to  his  resignation.  In  a  sermon 
on  the  occasion  of  his  resignation,  he  said, — "  What  is  exceedingly  pleasing 
to  me  is  the  union  and  harmony  which  have  ever  subsisted  between  mc  and 

the  church Not  the  least  difficulty  has  ever  existed  between 

us,  and  much  unanimity  of  sentiment  has  prevailed  in  the  church  in  the 
transas^tion  of  business  of  the  highest  importance."  He  immediately 
became  Pastor  of  two  or  three  other  churches  in  the  vicinity,  and  preached 
frequently  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  in  several  destitute  settlements.  Nor 
was  his  voice  seldom  heard  from  the  pulpit  of  his  former  charge,  and  on 
most  occasions  he  was  called  to  officiate  at  the  Weddings  and  the  Funerals 
of  members  of  the  church  and  congregation.  In  Illinois  he  baptized  more 
than  two  hundred  converts  into  the  fellowship  of  different  churches. 

Entering  upon  ministerial  life  at  the  period  when  Fuller,  and  Pearce, 
and  Sutcliff,  and  Hall,  and  Ryland,  and  their  illustrious  coadjutors  were 
impressing  their  own  features  upon  the  entire  denomination,  extending  the 
views,  elevating  the  aims,  c|uickcning  and  combining  the  energies,  of  the 
churches  in  both  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  IMr.  Kodgers  imbibed  their 
spirit, — or  rather  with  them  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  benevolent  ^Master, 
and  in  labours  and  sacrifices  iniitated  his  example.  Popular,  Collegiati-, 
and  iilinisterial  Education,  and  the  various  objects  of  Christian  Benevolence, 
found  in  him  a  warm  advocate  and  supporter.  From  his  location  at  Upper 
Alton,  he  occupied  a  seat   in   the   Board  of  Trustees  of  Shurtleff  College, 

•  After  nearlv  forty  years'  service  in  the  Pastorate  of  this  church,  the  Rev.  William  Rodgers 
hasj  recently  (May,  fsi'J)  resigneil  the  office,  on  account  of  the  increasing  infirmities  of  age. 


ggg  BAPTIST. 

and  was  a  vigilant,  judicious  and  efficient  member  till  his  death.  To  pro- 
mote the  object  of  the  Illinois  Baptist  Education  Society,  he  generously 
contributed  both  money  and  personal  service. 

In  1852,  his  nephew,  a  son  of  one  of  his  sisters,  who  had  just  completed 
his  college  course  for  the  Baptist  ministry  in  England,  made  him  a  visit 
at  Alton.  "  On  my  way  up  the  Mississippi,  from  New  Orleans  to  Alton," 
he  writes,  "I  enquired  of  several  passengers  who  were  going  up  the  Mis- 
souri and  Illinois  if  they  knew  Elder  Ilodgers.  '  Oh  yes,  I  guess  I  do,' 
they  rejoined,  '  every  one  knows  Father  Rodgers.  He  is  one  of  the 
patriarchs  of  the  West,  and  he  has  done  more  good  than  any  man  I  know. 
He  is  revered  as  a  saint.'  "  Possessing  a  happily  adjusted  physical  con- 
stitution, with  a  "heart  fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord,"  ever  cherishing 
unwavering  confidence  in  his  superintending  Providence,  Mr.  Ilodgers 
experienced  perhaps  more  of  positive  enjoyment,  domestic,  social,  and 
spiritual,  amid  his  varied  labours  and  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  than  is  com- 
mon for  men  in  either  public  or  private  stations.  Considering  his  labori- 
ous life  and  his  frequent  exposures,  the  infirmities  of  age  were  slow  in 
coming  upon  him.  Three  or  four  months  previous  to  his  departure,  the 
influence  of  local  disease  manifested  itself,  and,  being  beyond  the  reach  of 
medical  skill,  it  daily  wasted  his  physical  energies.  During  his  illness,  the 
doctrines  of  grace  which  he  had,  for  forty  years,  so  aff"ectionately  preached 
to  others,  were  his  unfailing  support  and  consolation. 

The  nephew  who  visited  him  in  1852,  writes, — "  Shortly  before  leaving 
Alton,  he  took  me  to  the  cemetery,  and,  after  walking  over  it  for  some 
time,  he  directed  my  attention  to  a  marble  monument,  and  bade  me  read 
the  inscription.  To  ni}'^  great  surprise,  I  found  that  it  was  in  men)ory  of 
himself,  and  fully  inscribed,  with  the  exception  of  the  date  of  his  death. 
Struck  with  the  great  singularity  of  the  circumstance,  I  asked  him  what 
could  be  the  object  of  so  eccentric  an  act.  He  rejoined  that  its  object 
was  to  familiarize  himself  with  death,  and  concluded  his  reply  by  saying, — 
'There  the  body  of  your  poor  old  uncle  will  soon  lie.'  In  less  than  two 
years  after,  I  received  intelligence  of  his  lamented  death.  And  T  prayed 
that  my  life  might  be  as  useful,  and  my  end  as  peaceful,  as  that  of  Father 
Rodgers:'     He  died  on  the  25th  of  May,  1854. 

In  August,  1823,  Mr.  Rodgers  was  united  in  marriage  with  Pamelia. 
daughter  of  Deacon  John  and  Susan  Jackson,  of  Howard  County,  Mo. 
Of  their  ten  cliildren,  two  sons  preceded  him  to  the  spirit  world,  and 
another  has  followed  him.  His  widow,  with  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
still  survives. 

With  great  esteem,  yours  truly, 

WASHINGTON  LEVEUETT 


FROM  JOHN  RUSSELL,  ESQ. 

Bluffpale,  111.,  March  18,  1859. 
My  dear  Sir:  With  the /lis/ori/ of  the  late  Ebcnezcr  Rodgers  I  am  little 
acquainted,  though  familiar  with  his  character,  both  as  a  man  and  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel.  From  the  spring  of  1819  down  to  the  period  of  his  death,  I 
knew  him  well.  Tlie  first  few  years  by  reputation  only.  The  latter,  by  per- 
sonal acquaintance.     On  my  arrival  in  Missouri,  at  the  date  first  named,  he 


EBENEZER    ItODGEKS.  §87 

rcsidtMl  ia  tliat  part  of  tlio  Territory  (Missouri  was  not  yet  a  State)  whieh 
bore  the  general  designation  of  the  " //ooh's  Lick  Country."  It  was  new, 
but  even  then,  comparatively  well  jjopulated.  Tlie  inhabitants  wore  princi- 
pally from  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  many  of  whom  wore  in  better  pecuniary 
circumstances  than  frontier  settlers  usually  are,  not  a  few  being  the  owners 
of  one  or  more  slaves. 

The  prevailing  religious  denomination  of  the  Boon's  Lick  Country  was  the 
Baptist.  An  Association  had  been  formed,  composed  of  ciiurches  scattered 
over  that  region.  None  of  these  churches  had  preaching,  as  a  general  rule, 
oftencr  than  once  a  month.  Their  Pastors  had  no  salary,  and  neither  in  edu- 
cation nor  talents  were  superior  to  the  mass  of  their  hearers.  "Whatever  dif- 
ferent shades  of  opinion  on  other  subjects  might  have  existed  among  the 
Pastors  and  members  of  these  churches,  there  was  a  striking  unanimity  of 
sentiment  upon  tlie  Keligious  Benevolent  Institutions  of  the  age.  All  were  bit- 
terly hostile  to  Mission,  Bible,  Sunday  School,  and  Tract  Societies. 

Hardly  any  field  could  apparently  have  been  more  unpropitious  to  the  suc- 
cess of  Mr.  Bodgers  than  this.  Decidedly  a  friend  to  all  those  institutions, 
young,  well  educated,  he  had  the  further  objection  of  being  a  native  of  the 
country  against  which  these  frontiersmen  had  so  recently  fought.  Most 
others,  under  similar  circumstances,  would  soon  have  found  it  advisable  to 
quit  the  field.  But  here,  three  traits  of  character,  which  have  been  conspicu- 
ous in  Mr.  Rodgers  through  life,  stood  him  in  good  stead.  These  traits  were 
great  kindness  of  heart,  a  large  share  of  prudence,  and  a  self-sacrificing  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  Zion. 

When  manifest  duty  required  of  him  to  advocate  unpalatable  doctrines  and 
opinions,  he  never  shrunk  from  that  duty  for  fear  that  he  might  render  him- 
self unpopular.  But  he  opposed  error  in  his  brethren  with  so  much  kindness 
of  language  and  manner,  so  much  Christian  humility,  that  his  faithfulness 
seldom  aroused  any  feeling  of  hostility  toward  him.  All  felt  that,  however 
widely  tliey  might  differ  from  the  young  preacher  on  the  subject  of  Missions, 
he  was  sincerely,  deeply  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Zion.  It  is  not  bj-  making 
ourselves  the  apologists  of  popular  error,  nor  yet  by  remaining  silent  when 
duty  demands  of  us  to  raise  our  voice  against  it,  that  we  can  gain  the  esteem 
of  errorists  themselves.  They  are  not  slow  to  fathom  our  selfish  motives,  and 
inwardly  despise  the  hoUowness  of  our  moral  principles. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  influence  of  Mr.  Rodgers  began  to  be  felt.  Like 
the  leaven  hid  in  two  measures  of  meal,  it  slowly  and  insensibl}'  produced  it.-* 
effect. 

I  cannot,  in  justice  to  his  character,  forbear  saj'ing  a  fcAV  words  upon  the 
su1)ject  of  his  domestic  relations,  for  it  is  not  on  the  theatre  of  public  life,  but 
in  the  seclusion  of  home,  around  his  own  hearth-stone,  that  the  real  charac- 
ter of  a  man  is  best  discovered. 

Mr.  Rodgers  M'on  the  heart  and  hand  of  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  most 
respectable  families  of  Boon's  Lick.  She  was  quite  young,  some  j-ears  younger 
than  himself,  but  was  sincerely  pious,  and  had  the  discernment  to  form  a  cor- 
rect estimate  of  his  character.  To  the  last  throb  of  his  life,  she  was  devotedly 
attached  to  her  hrisband, — his  best  earthly  friend  and  comforter.  Whatever 
might  betide,  slie  always  wore  a  cheerful  air,  and  spoke  to  him  the  language 
of  hope,  inspiring  him  with  renewed  courage  in  the  hours  of  despondency 
that  often  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  most  faithful  clergyman.  That  Mr.  Rodgers 
possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the  love  and  esteem  of  his  whole  hou.sehold. 
speaks  of  him  in  tones  that  cannot  be  mistaken. 

I  distinctly  remember  the  first  time  I  heard  him  preach.  It  was  a  public 
occasion.  Besides  a  large  congregation  of  other  liearers,  a  goodly  number  of 
clergymen  were  present.     Knowing,  as  I  did,  that  he  was  born  in  the  Princi- 


688  BAPTIST. 

|)ality  of  Wales,  spoke  the  language  of  Christinas  Evans,  and  in  youth  had 
attended  upon  the  ministry  of  the  Welsh  Baptists,  I  felt  no  little  curiosity  to 
liear  him. 

His  sermon  was  extempore,  except  that  he  had  before  him  a  narrow  slip  of 
j>aper  about  four  inches  long,  written  upon  one  side.  Neither  his  language 
nor  manner  bore  any  resemblance  to  the  ideas  I  had  formed  of  Welsh  preach- 
ing. The  discour.se  was  impressive,  but  his  style  was  plain,  simple,  and 
severely  chaste.  There  was  an  utter  absence  of  all  the  rhetorical  flourishes  and 
violent  gesticulation  I  had  anticipated,  and  I  liked  his  sermon  all  the  better 
for  their  absence. 

He  is  gone.  The  grave  has  closed  over  him,  but  the  good  he  has  accom- 
plished still  survives,  and  will  survive  forever. 

Very  trulj^  yours, 

JOHN  RUSSELL. 


JESSE  BABCOCK  WORDEN  * 

1818—1855. 

Jesse  Babcock  Worden  was  born  July  18,  1787,  in  Richmond, 
Washington  County,  R.  I.  He  was  a  grand-nephew  of  the  Eev.  Peter 
Worden,  of  Cheshire,  Mass.,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  was  the 
Patriarch  of  the  Baptist  Churches  in  New  England.!  His  parents — John 
and  Elizabeth  (Babcock)  Worden — were  exemplary  members  of  a  missionary 
Baptist  church  ;  but  they  enjoyed  few  facilities  for  educating  their  younger 
children,  as  was  evident  from  the  fact  that  Jesse,  the  last  of  the  family  of 
nine,  had  not  mastered  the  alphabet  at  the  age  of  twelve.  About  that 
time  he  attended  school  for  a  few  months,  and  subsequently  made  such 
rapid  improvement  as  to  become  a  teacher  at  eighteen  years  of  age.  When 
he  was  sixteen,  the  death  of  his  father  subjected  him  to  the  necessity  of 
making  provision  for  himself.  He  went  first  to  live  in  Preston  and  Yolun- 
ti>wn,  Conn.  Unfortunately,  one  person  with  whom  he  was  intimate  was 
an  accomplished,  subtle  infidel ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  became  one 
:\\>ci.  About  1808,  he  migrated  to  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.,  and  in  Septem- 
ber, 1812,  was  drafted  with  the  sixteenth  Regiment  of  New  York  Militia, 

•  Fun.  Scrm.  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Curtis. — MS.  from  0.  N.  'Worden,  Esq. 

t  Pktfr  "Wouden  was  born  June  6,  1728,  and  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  minititry  at 
Warwick,  R.  I.,  in  May,  1751.  At  the  commencement  of  his  ministry  lie  was  too  zealous  a 
New  Light  to  bo  very  popular  in  a  portion  at  least  of  the  Baptist  Churches  in  Rhode  Ipjand, 
which  are  said  to  have  been  somewh.Tt  inclined  to  Arminianisni.  A  man,  by  the  name  of  Carter, 
was  about  to  be  executed  at  Tower  Hill;  and,  as  he  stood  under  the  gallows,  Mr.  Worden,  by 
the  assistance  of  tlic  Sheriff,  made  his  way  up  to  the  criminal,  and,  after  exchanging  a  few 
words  with  him  cijncerning  bis  prospects  for  eternity,  offered  a  prayer  of  such  extraordinary 
fervour  and  ])i)uor,  that  the  whole  audience  were  greatly  moved  by  it.  This  circumstance 
niade  him  oxtriipively  known,  and  opened  a  door  for  his  ministration?  in  different  parts  of 
the  State.  lie  preached  at  AVarwick.  Coventry,  and  several  other  places,  with  great  snc- 
<'css,  for  about  nineteen  years;  and  in  1770,  removed  to  Cheshire.  Mass.,  where  he  lived  and 
preached  nc;ir1y  thirty-eight  years.  He  published  a  small  work  of  sixty-four  duodecimo 
[lagf-s,  entitled  ''  Letters  to  a  Friend,  containing  Remarks  on  a  pamphlet  written  by  .Job  Scott, 
entitled  •  The  Lajitisin  of  Christ  a  Gospel  Ordinance,  being  altogether  inward,  spiritual,'  <tc.," 
1790.  lie  was  a  fervent  and  useful  preacher,  and  was  remarkable  for  integrity,  discretion,  and 
Belf-control. 


JESSE  BABCOCK  WORDEN.  ggQ 

and  marcbcJ  to  the  Niagara  froulicr,  serving  Crst  as  Sergeant  IMajur,  and 
afterwards  as  Lieutenant.  After  participating  in  the  battle  of  Queens- 
town,  he  received  from  (Jovernur  Toinj)kins  a  brevet  coniniis.sioii  as  Quarter 
Master,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  discharge  of  the  lleginicnt. 
At  Manlius,  on  his  wa}'  home,  in  January,  1813,  he  had  a  violent  attack 
of  the  ojjidemic  or  camp  fever,  from  which  his  naturally  robust  consti- 
tution never  fully  recovered.  When  he  bad  so  far  regained  his  health 
as  to  justify  it,  he  returned  to  mercantile  business,  and  settled  in  Sanger- 
tield,  Oneida  County,  N.  Y.  Here,  in  December,  1813,  he  was  married 
to  Hannah,  daughter  of  Deacon  Oliver  and  Martha  (Beach)  Norton,  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  most  worthy  and  devoted  wife.  She  died  at 
Jackson,  Pa.,  on  the  4th  of  July,  18-49.  They  were  the  parents  of  five 
children,  of  whom  all  that  survive  arc  connected  with  the  Baptist  church. 
Although  a  decided  skeptic  in  regard  to  revealed  religion,  and  a  leader 
in  circles  of  youthful  gaiety,  he  could  never  escape  altogether  from  the 
influence  of  early  parental  instruction  and  counsel.  Especially  would  the 
dying  words  of  his  father,  and  the  fervent  supplications  of  his  widowed 
mother  in  his  behalf,  sometimes  disturb  his  composure.  Yet  his  moral 
conduct  was  never  otherwise  than  irreproachable.  Of  his  final  acceptance 
of  Christianity,  not  only  as  a  system  of  doctrine,  but  as  a  practical,  vita! 
principle,  the  llev.  John  Peck  has  given  the  following  account  in  his  Dis- 
course containing  the  History  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Cazenovia,  pub- 
lished in  1845.  Having  stated  that  a  great  revival  of  religion  existed 
within  the  bounds  of  the  congregation,  he  proceeds  thus  : — 

•' Some  of  tbe  greatest  opposers  of  religion,  and  most  stout  hearted  in  sin,  were 
made  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  listen  with  delight  to  his  word.  One  instance  we 
will  mention — it  is  the  case  of  a  merchant,  trading  in  this  place  at  tlie  time,  who 
denied  the  truth  of  Revelation,  though  in  other  respects  a  valued  citizen.  He  was  a 
regular  attendant  on  the  public  worship  of  Cod,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  mem- 
bers of  our  choir,  but  an  avowed  opposer  of  religion.  His  wife  had  obtained  a  hope 
in  Christ,  and  desired  to  unite  with  the  church,  but  she  met  in  him  a  spirit  of 
unyielding  opposition.  He  was  then  erecting  a  store  in  this  village,  about  a  mile  from 
his  residence.  At  that  time  we  were  mucii  engaged  in  finisliing  our  present  meeting- 
house, so  as  to  accommodate  the  Association  tliat  was  to  hold  its  session  with  us  in  a 
few  weeks.  He  came  into  the  village  to  give  some  direction  to  the  men  in  his  eniploy- 
meut,  and,  on  his  return,  called  into  the  meeting-house,  where  lie  beheld  the  workmen 
all  engaged  in  completing  the  inside  of  the  editico.  They  were  so  busily  employed  in 
their  work  that  they  did  not  notice  him.  While  lie  stood  looking  at  the  arch  of  the 
house,  the  following  train  of  rellection  passed  in  liis  mind: — '  Why  can  men  be  so 
deluded  as  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  a  God, — as  to  waste  their  energies  in  building 
iiouses  fur  his  worship  !  These  are,  indeed,  men  of  as  sound  judgment  vu  otiier  sub- 
jects as  can  be  found;  and  why,  upon  the  subject  of  reli.vnon,  should  tlu^ybe  mis- 
guided by  fanaticism  ?'  While  he  stood  thus  rellecting,  it  suddenly  rushed  upon  his 
mind,  like  a  message  from  another  world, — 'There  is  a  God,  who  should  be 
wousHii'i'ED  AND  OBKYED:  aiid  how  fearful  is  my  condemnation  in  despising  Uim,  and 
irami)ling  on  his  authority  !'  He  said  that  ho  was  so  overcome  with  a  view  of  the 
relation  he  held  to  God,  and  the  stui)endous  magnitude  of  his  sins,  that  he  should 
have  fallen  to  the  floor,  had  he  not  sup])orted  himself  by  a  work -bench,  near  whieh  he 
was  .standing.  As  soon  as  he  partially  recovered  his  strength,  he  started  for  home,  but 
his  s(ml  was  in  anguish.  When  about  half  way,  his  eyesight  left  liini,  and  he 
thought  himself  dying  and  siiddng  to  perdition,  and,  in  the  bitterness  ofhis  soul  lie 
jirayed,  in  the  languagi!  of  the  Pui)lican, — 'God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner!'  His 
siglit  returning,  and  f'eling  much  relieved  in  his  mind,  he  proceeded  homewari|. 
admiring  God  as  exhibited  in  his  works.  Entering  his  store,  he  confessed  to  liis 
partner  in  business,  (who,  with  his  wife,  had  lately  been  baptized,)  and  then  proceeded 
to  his  house.  As  he  came  in.  liis  wife  was  greatly  alarmed  at  his  death-like  ai)pear- 
ance:  she  supposed  at  first  that  he  was  sick,  or  angry  because  one  of  our  sisters  was 
present,  visiting,  and  conversing  with  her  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He,  however, 
said  nothing,  but  retired  to  his  room,  followed  by  his  wife,  and  to  her  earnest  entreaty 

Vol..  vr.  87 


090  BAPTIST. 

to  know  what  was  the  matter,  he  replied  that  he  was  a  great  sinner,  and  besought  her 
forgiveness.  Her  bursting  into  a  flood  of  tears  spoke  the  language  of  her  lioart.  Soon 
he  made  a  like  confession  to  all  in  the  house,  and  asked  their  forgiveness.  lie  theu 
went  to  the  house  of  the  Pastor,  and,  not  linding  him  at  home,  returned,  and  said  he 
could  find  no  rest  till  he  had  seen  him.  The  Pastor,  returning  from  a  meeting  in  the 
evening  and  passing  the  house,  was  requested  by  a  brother  standing  in  the  road,  to 
call  in.  lie  readily  did  so,  when  this  gentleman  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  conduct- 
ing him  to  his  room,  confessed  to  him  and  asked  his  i)ardon,  for  things  he  had  said  of 
liim  and  his  wife,  of  which  the  Pastor  had  never  heard,  and  indeed  never  would,  if  he 
had  not  himself  told  him.  The  Pastor  had  nothing  against  him  to  forgive,  and  felt 
only  to  join  with  the  neighbours  who  were  present  in  giving  glory  to  God  for  what  He 
was  doing  for  his  soul.  In  about  three  days  he  obtained  full  evidence  of  his  adoption 
into  the  family  of  Christ.  Very  soon,  he,  in  company  with  his  wife,  bowed  his  neck 
to  the  yoke  of  Jesus,  by  being  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  and 
uniting  with  the  church." 

The  regenerated  merchant  was  baptized  by  Polder  Peck  in  October,  1816, 
and  soon  after  closed  up  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged,  with  a  view 
to  devote  the  residue  of  his  life  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  In  1818, 
he  commenced  preaching  for  the  Baptist  Church  in  Marcellus,  Onondaga 
County,  where  he  was  ordained  in  March  of  the  year  following.  Here  he 
remained  nearly  seventeen  years,  during  which  period  he  baptized  more 
than  three  hundred  persons  into  the  fellowship  of  that  church,  besides 
many  others  in  other  churches.  In  the  same  period,  he  performed  several 
commissions  from  the  Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York 
into  Northern  Pennsylvania  and  Western  New  York,  and  was  desired  to 
explore  other  fields,  which  he  felt  unable  to  do.  His  first  visit  to  Pennsyl- 
vania was  in  August,  1825,  thirty  years  prior  to  his  decease.  During  that 
month  and  part  of  September,  he  preached  from  one  to  three  sermons  each 
day,  to  a  comparatively  thin  population,  extending  from  Great  Bend  and 
Choconut  down  to  the  lower  end  of  Luzerne  County,  in  almost  every  town- 
ship of  Susquehanna,  Wyoming,  and  part  of  Luzerne,  and  his  preaching 
awakened  no  inconsiderable  interest.  He  was  then  in  the  vigour  of  his 
days,  and  sowed  the  good  seed  with  the  utmost  diligence  and  alacrity. 

In  1835,  he  yielded  to  a  pressing  invitation  to  settle  in  Montrose,  Pa., 
as  Co-pastor  with  Davis  Dimock*  of  the  Bridgewater  Church.  In  this 
relation  he  continued  for  three  years,  until  Elder  Dimock  removed  his 
official  connection  to  the  church  in  Braintrem.  Mr.  Worden  now  became 
the  sole  Pastor  of  the  Bridgewater  Church,  which  he  continued  to  serve 
with  great  fidelity  about  six  years.  He  removed  hence  in  1844,  and  took 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Jackson  and  Gibson  Church,  expecting  and 
desiring  there  to  close  his  pilgrimnge.  His  labours  at  Montrose  were 
blessed  to  the  great  enlargement  and  spiritual  improvement  of  the  church. 
During  the  period  of  his  connection  with  the  Church  in  Jackson,  and 
also  the  New  Milford  Church,  which  he  partially  served,  he  was  in  the 
decline  of  life  ;  his  physical  strength  at  least  had  begun  perceptildy  to 
wane  ;  and  his  powers  of  endurance  were  not  what  they  had  been  in  former 
years;  yet   his  preaching,    his  counsel,   and   his   efforts   in    promoting   the 

•  Davis  Dimock  was  born  in  Connecticut,  May  27,  1770,  was  baptized  in  Exeter,  Wyoming 
Valley,  Pa.,  August  9,  1801,  and  at  onceooniraenced  to  preach  the  Gospel  whose  Divine  autho- 
rity he  had  previously  denied.  A  pioneer  and  founder  of  Baptist  churches  in  Luzerne,  Wyo- 
ming and  Su.^quchanna  Counties — acting,  many  years,  as  a  successful  physician  for  the  body  as 
well  as  for  the  soul,  in  his  self-appointed  itineracy — for  twenty-seven  years;  also  an  Associate 
Judge  of  Susquehanna  County,  he  fell  asleep  at  Montrose,  Pa.,  September  27,  1868,  in  the 
eighty -second  year  of  his  age  and  the  fifty-seventh  of  his  ministry.  Few  men  of  no  greater  early 
opportunities  have  exerted  a  more  powerful  or  better  influence  in  the  sphere  of  their  acquaint- 
ance. 


JESSE  BABCOCK  WOIIDEN.  691 

spiritual  and  temporal  interests  of  the  church  were  still  highly  appreciated. 
Though  all  official  labours  as  Pastor  ceased  about  two  years  before  his 
death,  yet  he  prcaclicil,  as  often  as  strength  would  permit,  to  weak  churches 
and  in  destitute  neighbourhoods.  His  last  sermou  was  to  the  Church  in 
Jackson,  a  month  before  his  decease,  from  the  text,  "See  that  ye  love  one 
another  with  a  pure  heart,  fervently."  He  died  of  cholera  morbus,  on  the 
6th  of  August,  1855,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  after  an  illness  of 
a  single  day.  From  it.--:  commencement  he  anticipated  a  fatal  issue.  To 
his  family  and  neighbours  gathered  at  his  bedside,  he  said, — "I  think  the 
time  has  come  for  me  to  leave  you  now  ;  and  I  am  prepared.  I  can  no 
longer  be  of  much  use  to  any  one  in  particular,  and  have  done  all  the  good 
I  can.  I  have  no  anxiety  to  recover,  but  would  rather  go  now,  if  it  is  the 
Lord's  will."  He  told  the  physician  that  he  was  dying ;  that  he  felt  pre- 
pared to  meet  death  with  all  his  terror;  that  soon  he  should  have  the 
sweet  privilege  of  praising  his  Redeemer  in  Heaven.  No  fears,  no  trans- 
ports, but  a  calm,  clear,  firm  faith,  the  growth  of  many  years,  awaited  his 
approach  to  the  region  of  spirits.  He  gave  the  few  directions  necessary 
for  the  settlement  of  his  worldly  concerns,  after  which  the  vital  current 
gradually  ebbed  away,  and  he  fell  asleep  in  perfect  peace. 

FROM  THE  REV.  NATHAN  C ALLEN DER. 

Laporte,  Pa..  September  14,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  Your  request  for  my  estimate  of  the  labours  and  character  of 
the  late  Rev.  Jesse  B.  "Worden,  I  am  every  way  disposed  to  comply  with,  and 
yet  I  feel  scarcely  competent  to  the  task,  from  not  having  known  him  in  the 
days  of  his  greatest  power  and  usefulness.  As  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  him  as  Co-pastor  in  the  last  year  of  his  regular  ministrj',  I  w'as  of 
course  brought  into  intimate  relations  with  him;  and  1  knew  how  he  was 
appreciated  by  those  who  had  known  him  for  a  much  longer  time  than  1  had. 

iJardly  any  thing  in  respect  to  him  impressed  me  more  forcibly  than  the 
strength  and  exactness  of  his  memory.  lie  could,  for  instance,  report  with 
remarkable  accuracy,  the  doings  of  religious  bodies,  many  years  after  their 
occurrence;  and  these  he  would  not  unfrequently  make  available  to  the  illus- 
tration or  enforcement  of  the  subject  of  his  discourse.  "When  I  first  made  his 
acquaintance,  in  the  year  1847,  I  was  surpri.sed  at  the  contrast  between  his 
power  of  memory  and  my  own;  although,  at  that  period,  he  was  sixty  years 
of  age,  and  spoke  of  a  sensible  decline  of  his  ability  to  retain  facts  as  in 
former  years. 

He  possessed  the  faculty  of  judgment  also  in  a  very  high  degree.  He  wa.s 
able  to  predict — it  would  seem  almost  by  intuition — results  from  certain 
courses  of  action,  which,  to  most  minds,  would  have  been  wholly  out  of  sight, 
or  so  indistinct  as  to  have  left  the  individual  in  utter  doubt.  This  gave  him 
the  reputation  of  being  an  eminently  wise  man.  As  his  opinions  were  gene- 
rally correct,  so  he  always  bad  arguments  at  hand  with  which  to  sustain 
them;  and  he  not  only  held  them  with  great  firmness,  but  was  perhaps 
sometimes  inflexible  even  to  a  fault. 

If  he  possessed  any  «' organ"  which  the  phrenologists  would  call  "very 
large,"  and  with  which  one  n)ight  almost  dread  to  be  highly  endowed  in  this 
world  of  confusion,  it  was  that  of  order.  This  made  him  a  most  jmnctual 
man  himself,  and  the  want  of  this  virtue  in  others  affected  him  in  an  unusual 
degree.  His  character  in  this  respect  eminently  fitted  him  to  be  a  Moderator 
in  Public  Bodies, — a  post  which  be  was  often  called  to  fill;  and  no  member  of 


692  BAPTIST. 

an  assembly  of  which   he  was  Chairman  could   long  act  at  random  without 
being  called  to  order. 

Ilis  moral  sense  always  appeared  to  nie  to  be  remarkably  quick  and  deli- 
cate. He  never  e.xhibited  any  of  that  obtuseness  in  his  notions  of  practical 
religion  which  characterizes  so  many  professing  Christians,  and  I  must  add, 
even  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  If  moral  integrity  ever  dwelt  in  a  merely 
human  being,  I  am  confident  it  found  a  home  in  his  bosom.  He  always  took 
counsel  of  an  enlightened  conscience  in  respect  to  his  duty,  and  whithersoever 
that  led,  he  followed  with  an  unfaltering  step. 

He  was  distinguished  also  for  great  transparency  of  character — no  man  was 
at  a  greater  remove  from  dissimulation — no  man  spoke  or  acted  with  greater 
frankness  than  he.  His  admonitions  and  reproofs  were  usually  administered 
at  the  proper  time,  and  were  for  the  most  part  adapted  to  the  case  they  were 
designed  to  meet;  though  they  were  sometimes  marked  by  undue  severity. 
The  high  views  which  he  took  of  ministerial  faithfulness  sometimes,  no  doubt, 
led  him  into  the  common  error  of  dealing  in  a  public  manner  with  faults 
which  would  have  more  readily  yielded  to  private  reproof  or  exiwstulation. 
]t  was  not  that  he  feared  to  deal  with  the  wrong  doer  foce  to  face,  for  this  he 
would  be  sure  to  do  at  the  first  opportunity;  but  he  sought  to  frown  down 
the  sin,  and  wherever  it  might  present  itself;  and  he  was  more  than  willing  to 
hold  up  one  offender  as  a  warning  to  others. 

As  a  Pastor,  he  was  accustomed  to  visit  all  who  belonged  to  his  charge  at 
least  once  a  quarter;  and  those  visits  ministered  greatly  to  the  religious 
improvement  of  his  church.  He  was  most  attentive  to  the  sick  and  afflicted. 
On  Funeral  occasions  he  was  peculiarly  appropriate  and  impressive,  but  never 
allowed  himself  to  sacrifice  truth  or  principle  to  sympathy. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  attracted  highly  respectable  congregations.  His  sermons 
contained  much  sound  instruction,  interspersed  with  thrilling  anecdotes, 
suited  to  illustrate  his  subject,  with  an  occasional  comparison  or  flash  of  wit 
that  could  hardly  fail  to  provoke  a  smile.  Strongly  attached  to  the  ancient 
landmarks,  he  would  never  consent,  without  cogent  reasons,  to  any  thing 
like  innovation.  The  Bible  was  his  Law  Book  in  the  widest  sense;  and  I 
know  of  no  man  who  confined  himself  more  scrupulously,  both  in  public  and 
in  private,  to  what  he  believed  were  its  teachings.  He  prized  a  sermon,  not 
so  much  for  the  talent  or  learning  it  displayed,  as  for  the  scriptural  tj'^pe 
which  it  bore.  That  he  possessed  the  elements  of  great  efficiencj-  as  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel,  his  more  than  ordinary  success,  during  the  greater  part  of 
his  ministry,  demonstrates;  and  his  precepts  and  example  made  an  indelible 
impression  upon  hundreds  in  Northern  Pennsylvania,  even  while  he  regarded 
him.selfas  «<  a  broken  reed." 

Man's  character  is  not  full)'-  developed  until  he  has  passed  through  the  fiery 
ordeal  of  this  world.  He  endured  that  ordeal  as  "a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ."  t  saw  him  when  he  gave  the  last  look  and  token  of  love  to  the  life- 
less form  of  the  angel  of  his  sunny  days;  and  I  saw  him  in  the  depths  of  a 
yet  deeper  affliction,  without  any  of  those  resentful  demonstrations  whicli 
could  in  any  way  lessen  his  u.sefulness,  or  cloud  his  good  name.  I  revere  his 
character  and  cherish  his  mcmpry. 

Very  truly  yours, 

N.  CALLENDER. 

FROM  O    N.  WORDEN,  ESQ. 

Lewisburo,  Pa.,  October  18,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  Your  request  that  1   should  furnish  some  memorials  of  my 
deceased  father,  shall  be  briefly  answered.     Without  undue  filial  partiality,  I 


JESSE  BABCOCK  WORDEN.  593 

may  say   that   I    regard    him  as  one  of  a  chiss  of  Baptist   ministers  whose 
experience  and  character  may  well  be  commemorated  in  your  Annals. 

It  is  with  regret  that  I  look  in  vain  for  a  living  compeer  of  his  earlier  and 
most  ellective  ministry,  in  Central  New  York.  The  first  of  his  fellow-labourers 
1  recall  in  the  AVest,  was  Cornelius  P.  Wyckoif,*  of  Auburn;  Sylvanus 
Hayncs,  of  Elbridge,  on  the  North;  John  Peck,  of  New  Woodstock,  on  the 
East;  Alfred  Bennett,  of  Homer,  on  the  South.  A  most  worthy  and  devoted 
band  of  men,  like  these, — all  with  him  now,  I  trust,  in  glory, — it  was  his 
privilege  to  associate  with;  and  their  frequent  exchanges  of  pulpits,  and  rich, 
loving,  instructive  epistles,  evinced  a  cordial  interest  and  confidence  in  their 
younger  co-worker. 

My  own  earliest  recollections  are  indissolubly  connected  with  his  arduous 
labours  for  Christ.  I  have  known  no  one  more  conscientiously  faithful  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  Christian  ministry.  For  thirty-seven  years, 
the  salvation  of  souls  was  the  great,  absorbing,  overmastering  desire  of 
his  being.  His  tender  and  wise  consideration  for  his  famil}',  the  purity  of  his 
private  life,  the  Christian  simplicity  and  manliness  of  his  public  acts,  and 
above  all  his  supreme  devotion  to  his  pastoral  calling,  impressed  me  as  forcibly 
when  a  child  as  when  I  became  a  man.  Trials  known  only  to  his  bosom 
friends,  and  to  the  Saviour  with  whom  he  so  intimately  communed,  he  met 
with  an  abiding  confidence  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Truth,  and  of  the  reality 
of  «<  the  rest  that  romaincth  for  the  people  of  God." 

Soon  after  his  removal  into  Pennsylvania,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of 
the  Rev.  Henry  Curtis,  who  preached  his  Funeral  Discourse,  from  which  I 
extract  the  following  paragraphs  touching  his  personal  appearance  and  cha- 
racter: — 

'<  Nature  had  conferred  upon  Elder  Worden,  a  stout,  manly  and  well  pro- 
portioned frame,  considerably  above  the  medium  size,  and,  previous  to  the 
ravages  of  disease,  possessed  of  uncommon  power  of  endurance.  His  per- 
sonal appearance,  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  elsewhere,  indicated  a  thought- 
ful habit  of  mind.  He  was  occasionally  a  little  humorous,  but  Avas,  for  the 
most  part,  grave  and  earnest. 

"  In  his  habits,  he  was  noted  for  his  love  of  order;  industrious  and  econo- 
mical, temperate  and  frugal;  exercising  a  wise  forethought  in  regard  to  the 
future;  neither  prodigal  nor  parsimonious,  but  using  the  gifts  which  Provi- 
dence placed  within  his  reach,  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  given. 

"  Intellectually,  he  stood  considerably  above  the  common  height.  Had  he 
been  favoured  with  an  early  and  thorough  mental  culture,  he  would  have 
.shone  with  a  brilliancy  not  much  inferior  to  stars  of  the  first  magnitude.  As 
it  was,  he  was  "  self-made."  And  without  desiring  either  to  disparage  the 
living  or  unduly  to  praise  the  dead,  it  may  in  truth  be  said  that,  as  a  man  of 
general  intelligence,  and  as  a  preacher,  he  was  not  a  whit  behind  many  who 
have  enjoyed  far  superior  advantages. 

'<  His  mind  was  more  than  ordinarily  clear,  comprehensive,  and  vigor- 
ous. What  he  attempted  to  impress  upon  others,  had  been  first  tho 
roughly  digested  by  an  intellectual  process  of  his  own.  Hence  that  admirable 
power   of  concentration    of   thought,    on    any    point   he   attempted    to    illus- 

•  ConNELius  P.  Wyckopf  was  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  N.  J.  He  made  a  profession 
of  religii)n  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  and  became  a  member  and  subsequently  an  Klder  of 
the  Collegiate  lleformed  Dutcli  Cliurch  in  the  City  of  New  York.  Having  in  1S07  changed 
his  views  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  and  transferred  liis  relation  to  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  the  same  city,  lie  was  licensed  to  preach  in  that  connection  in  1808;  was  ordained  in  1809; 
and  served  the  Beriah  Church  as  Pastor  for  ten  years.  Subsequently,  for  twenty  ycar.i,  he 
laboured  as  Pastor  of  the  Auburn  and  Oswego  Churches,  N.  Y.,  and  preached  occasionally  until 
his  decease,  which  occurred  at  Newport,  N.  Y.,  in  February,  186(i,  in  the  eighty-eighth  year 
of  hi?  age.  His  character  was  marked  by  sterling  honesty  and  earnest  pi'ety,  and  his  life  was 
one  of  great  usefulness. 


694  BAPTIST. 

trate,  that  was  so  conspicuous  in  all  his  intellectual  efforts.  He  was  not  at  a 
loss  for  suitable  words  in  which  to  convey  his  ideas,  and  his  mode  of  expres- 
sion was  characterized  by  great  brevity  and  fulness.  None  who  heard  him 
with  attention,  could  ever  doubt  in  respect  to  his  meaning. 

"  As  a  Preacher,  he  was  eminently  practical,  while  yet  he  '  earnestly  con- 
tended for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.'  Ilis  theological  views  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  celebrated  Andrew  Fuller.  Ilis  practice,  both  in  and 
out  of  the  pulpit,  was  to  address  the  saint  and  the  sinner  apart — he  had  an 
appropriate  message  for  each.  His  manner  of  address  was  usually  earnest 
and  solemn,  and  sometimes  very  affecting.  When  the  scenes  of  Calvary 
were  presented,  the  joys  of  Heaven,  or  the  terrors  of  Hell,  or  the  anguish  of 
the  convicted  and  penitent  sinner,  the  tears  would  often  be  seen  working  their 
way  down  the  cheeks  of  his  hearers.  When  he  felt,  in  an  uncommon  degree, 
the  weight  of  his  responsibility  to  God,  and  to  his  dying  fellow  men,  his 
reasonings  were  often  very  powerful,  and  his  appeals  to  the  consience  well- 
nigh  overwhelming." 

With  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  work, 

I  remain  yours  truly, 

O.  N.  WORDEN. 


EZEKIEL  SKINNER,  M.  D.=* 

1819—1855. 

EzEKiEL  Skinner,  the  only  child  of  Ezekiel  and  Mary  Skinner,  was 
born  in  Glastenbury,  Conn.,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1777.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  five  years  old,  and  his  father  when  he  was  ten.  Being 
thus  early  left  an  orphan,  he  was  consigned  to  the  care  of  his  uncle,  Ben- 
jamin Skinner,  who  resided  at  Marlborough,  Conn.,  and,  when  he  had 
readied  a  suitable  age,  was  apprenticed  to  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith. 
Here  he  laboured  diligently  with  his  hands,  but  his  vigorous  mind  was  also 
at  work  in  higher  departments  of  knowledge,  and  without  any  assistance 
he  had  very  soon  gone  througli  an  extended  course  of  Arithmetic.  Having 
resolved  on  a  different  course  of  life  from  that  to  which  his  trade  would 
have  destined  him,  he  bought  the  last  year  of  his  apprenticeship,  and 
spent  it  in  attending  school.  He  then  commenced  the  study  of  Medicine, 
under  the  direction  of  Doctor,  afterwards  Governor,  Peters,  of  Hebron, 
Conn.,  where  he  reniaincd  three  years.  At  the  end  of  this  time,  notwith- 
standing his  poverty,  he  obtained  the  means  for  going  to  Philadclpliia,  to 
complete  his  medical  studies  under  Dr.  Hush,  and  liis  illustrious  associates, 
in  the  Medical  Institution  of  tliat  city.  At  this  period,  Skinner  was  a 
Deist;  and  his  natural  frankness  and  boldness  led  him,  on  this  subject  as 
on  every  other,  to  speak  out  his  convictions  with  the  utmost  freedom. 
Many  years  afterwards,  wlien  he  had  become  not  only  a  Christian,  but  a 
Christian  Minister,  he  is  said  to  liave  remarked  that  there  were  two  places 
in  which  he  greatly  wished    to   preach   before   he   died — one  was    Hebron, 

*  Christian  Secretary,  1856.— MS.  from  Mrs.  Skinner. 


EZEKIEL  SKINNER. 


695 


where  he  ^vas  brought  up, — tlie  otlier  was  PhilaJelphia,  where  he  had  once 
stood  up  iu  an  assembly  of  three  thousand  people,  and  declared  to  them 
that  he  wished  to  have  his  infidel  sentiments  engraved  on  his  tomb-stone — 
he  wanted,  he  said,  to  preach  in  I'hiladelphia,  and  take  these  words  back. 
His  wish  in  respect  to  preaching  in  both  places  was  gratified. 

Mr.  Skinner  received  his  license  to  practise  Medicine  in  1801;  and,  on 
the  22d  of  November  of  that  year,  was  married  to  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  and  Agnes  Mott, — a  native  of  Chatham,  Conn.  His  first  settle- 
ment as  a  Physician  was  at  Granville,  Mass.;  and  here  he  was  brought  to 
a  serious  review,  and  ultimately  to  an  abandonment,  of  his  Deistical 
opinions,  and  to  a  hearty  reception  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  a 
very  satisfactory  experience  of  its  power.  He  now  became  a  member  of 
the  Congregational  church  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Joel  Uaker, — 
having  been  educated  in  that  communion.  On  his  removal  to  Lebanon, 
(Exeter  parish,)  in  the  same  State,  shortly  after,  heat  first  joined  the  Con- 
gregational church,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Gurley, 
but,  having  subsequently  adopted  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  he  was 
immersed,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Lebanon,  it  is  believed 
in  1807.  He  had,  for  some  time  before,  been  troubled  with  doubts  on  the 
subject  of  Baptism,  but  had  never  heard  a  sermon  from  a  Baptist  preacher 
until  after  his  removal  to  Lebanon. 

Dr.  Skinner's  sympathies  in  politics  were  strongly  with  the  Democratic 
party  of  that  day;  and  when  the  War  of  1812  with  Great  Britain  began, 
no  man  was  more  confident  than  lie  that  his  country  was  in  the  right.  Not 
long  after  the  commencement  of  the  War,  as  the  enlistments  for  the  army 
were  not  sufficiently  numerous  to  meet  the  demand,  Dr.  Skinner,  with  his 
characteristic  patriotic  ardour,  enlisted  himself, — not  as  a  Surgeon, — a 
place  which  he  might  have  honourably  filled,  but  as  a  Sergeant.  He  joined 
the  army  on  the  Canada  frontier  in  1812  ;  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
he  was  a  skilful  physician,  and  he  was  taken  out  of  the  ranks,  and  made 
au  assistant  of  some  sort  in  the  hospital.  He  left  the  army  after  a  few 
months,  on  account  of  the  failure  of  his  health,  having  procured  another 
person  to  take  his  place. 

From  Lebanon  Dr.  Skinner  removed  to  Staflford,  Conn.,  and,  while 
engaged  there  in  the  practice  of  Medicine,  began  to  preach,  and  was  licensed 
in  1819,  by  the  Baptist  church  in  that  place,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  M.  Hill.  His  preaching  proved  highly  acceptable  ; 
and  in  1822  he  was  ordained  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Ashford,  Conn.,  where  he  officiated  nine  years,  and  also  Pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Westford,  where  he  officiated  seventeen  years,  including 
a  period  of  four  years  which  was  spent  in  the  service  of  the  Colonization 
Society.  He  continued  his  medical  practice  in  connection  with  his  duties 
as  a  Minister. 

Dr.  Skinner's  son,  Benjamin  Rush  Skinner,  a  young  gentleman  of 
much  promise,  was  born  in  Granville,  Mass.,  January  7,  1803,  and,  haying 
completed  his  Literary  and  Theological  course  at  Hamilton,  was  ordained 
as  an  Evangelist  at  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  November  19, 1827  ;  was  accepted 
by  the  Foreign  Missionary  Board  as  one  of  their  missionaries,  and,  on  the 
12th  of  October,  1830,   embarked  from  near  Norfolk,  Va.,  for   Liberia. 


ggg  BAPTIST. 

Within  less  than  a  year,  however,  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  climate;  and, 
when  the  tidings  of  his  death  reached  his  father,  who  was  then  settled, 
both  as  a  minister  and  a  physician,  at  Ashford,  he  began  almost  immedi- 
ately to  inquire  whether  it  was  not  his  duty  to  go  and  occupy  the  place 
whicli  his  son's  death  had  vacated.  Though  he  had  reached  a  period  of 
life  (nearly  sixty  years)  when  most  persons  would  have  shrunk  from  such 
an  enterprise,  his  faith  and  fortitude  were  found  fully  adequate  to  it,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  was  making  arrangements  for  his  departure. 
In  the  summer  of  1834  he  sailed  for  Liberia,  where,  in  several  different 
capacities,  he  rendered  most  important  services  to  the  Colony;  of  which  a 
sufficiently  detailed  account  will  be  found  in  the  two  letters  appended  to 
this  narrative,  from  gentlemen  who  were  officially  connected  with  the 
enterprise. 

On  his  final  return  from  Africa,  in  1837,  (for  he  visited  this  country 
during  his  sojourn  there,)  he  resumed  his  pastoral  relations  with  his  former 
charge,  and  continued  his  labours,  both  as  a  Physician  and  a  Minister,  Avithout 
interruption,  till  a  few  months  before  his  death,  when  he  was  disabled  for  con- 
tinuous effort,  by  bodily  infirmity.  In  April,  1855,  having  resigned  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  Church  at  Westford,  he  went  to  reside  with  his  only  sur- 
viving son,  (Dr.  E.  D.  Skinner,)  a  respectable  medical  practitioner  at  Green- 
port,  L.,I.,  where  he  gradually  declined,  though  he  did  not  entirely  desist  from 
active  service  till  two  weeks  before  his  death.  He  died  on  the  25th  of 
December,  1855,  aged  seventy-eight  years.  A  Sermon  on  the  occasion  of 
his  death  was  preached  by  the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Greenport, 
from  II.  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

Dr.  Skinner  was  the  father  of  six  children,  three  of  whom,  with  their 
mother,  (1858,)  survive. 

Dr.  Skinner  published  a  series  of  articles  on  the  Prophecies,  in  the 
Christian  Secretary,  in  1842. 


FROM  TI'IE  REV.  R.  R.  GURLEY. 

Washington,  July  12, 185S. 
Reverend  and  dear  Sir:  The  llcvercnd  Benjamin  Rush  Skinner,  a  young 
Baptist  Missionary  to  Africa,  sailed  for  that  country  with  his  wife  and  child 
in  the  autumn  of  1831.  He  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Ezekiel  Skinner,  and  in  his 
childhood  was  remarkable  for  his  seriousness  and  intelligence.  He  appeared 
to  be  of  a  feeble  constitution,  and  was  of  a  very  slender  frame.  His  father 
bled  him  repeatedly  to  relieve  some  serious  attacks  of  disease,  and  never 
doubted  the  propriety  of  his  practice,  having  adopted  the  opinions  on  this 
subject  of  Dr.  Rush,  whose  lectures  he  heard,  and  whose  honoured  name  he 
had  given  to  tliis  his  eldest  son.  After  I  had  entered  into  the  service  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  this  interesting  youth,  (who  early  united  with 
the  Baptist  church,  of  which  his  venerable  parents  were  members,)  was 
accustomed  to  call  on  my  ever  to  l)e  honoured  mother,  and  converse  with  her 
about  Africa,  and  read  such  books  and  pamphlets  as  she  was  able  to  give 
him  in  relation  to  Liberia.  Having  completed  his  classical  and  theological 
studies,  and  entered  the  ministry,  he  dedicated  himself  to  the  cause  of  Mis- 
sions in  Africa.  But,  in  the  mysterious  providence  of  God,  his  wife,  child, 
and    himself,  were    destined   early    to    enter    the    Heavenly    Kingdom.     The 


EZEKIEL   SKINNER.  Q97 

departure  of  those  missionaries  is  announced  in  tlie  Fourteenth  lleport  of  tlie 
American  Coh>nization  Society,  while  the  Fifteenth  Report  thus  records  their 
death : — 

<<Dr.  Ihuni)liries  died  on  the  17th  of  Februarj',  of  a  pulmonary  afi'ection, 
with  which  he  had  long  been  alHicted.  The  decease  of  the  wife  and  child  of 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  Rush  Skinner  occurred  soon  after;  and  this  devoted  mis- 
sionary, extremely  reduced  by  fever,  took  passage  for  the  United  States  in 
the  Brig  Liberia,  with  hopes  of  recovering  his  health,  and  speedily  renewing 
his  Christian  labours  in  Africa.  Heaven  was  pleased  to  disappoint  these 
hopes.  His  strength  gradually  declined,  but  his  spirit  was  so  calm  and 
uncomplaining,  that  no  immediate  danger  M'as  apprehended  until  the  lirst  of 
March,  when  he  was  found  speechless  in  his  berth,  and  soon  after  gently  an<l 
humbly  resigned  his  soul  to  God. 

'<Mr.  Skinner  possessed  a  sound  and  improved  understanding,  remarkable 
prudence  and  fortitude,  with  the  piety  and  zeal  of  an  Apostle.  He  had  early 
consecrated  himself  to  the  work  of  Missions,  had  prepared  himself  for  it  amid 
difficulties  which  would  have  appalled  ordinary  resolution,  and  he  engaged  in 
it  with  the  spirit  of  a  Martyr.  A  like  spirit  animated  his  amiable  wife,  and 
the  death  of  these  self-sacrificing  Missionaries  is  to  the  church  of  which  they 
were  members,  the  cause  to  which  they  were  devoted,  and  to  Africa,  which 
their  efforts  would  have  blessed,  a  severe  calamity.  In  the  light  of  their 
example,  others  will  go  forward  to  the  Avork  which  they  desired,  but  were 
not  permitted  to  accomplish,  and  Africa,  regenerated,  will  remember  and 
honour  them." 

The  venerable  father  of  this  worthy  and  exemplary  Missionar}', — Ezekiel 
Skinner,  or  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezekiel  Skinner,  as  was  his  title  after  he  became  a 
minister  in  the  Baptist  Church, — I  knew  somewhat  intimately  in  my  child- 
hood and  youth,  since  he  resided  in  the  same  parish  (Exeter)  in  Lebanon  with 
my  father,  and  was  our  near  neighbour.  In  .several  respects  he  was  a  very 
remarkable  man.  A  student  of  Medicine  under  the  celebrated  Dr.  Rush,  he 
naturalh'  imbibed  many  of  his  opinions,  and  for  the  cure  of  many,  if  not 
most,  diseases,  relied  mainly  upon  calomel  and  the  lancet.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  cite  his  personal  experience  to  illustrate  the  correctness  of  his  medi- 
cal practice.  Predisposed,  from  his  youth,  to  consumption,  and  afllicted 
repeatedl)'  by  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  he  reduced  by  the  lancet  the  arterial 
action,  and  engaged  in  habitual  manual  labour,  cultivating  his  own  farm,  and, 
after  several  hours  of  labour  in  the  day  at  home,  walking,  with  his  portman- 
teau on  his  arm,  for  long  distances,  to  visit  his  patients.  I  think  lie  had  been 
bled,  or  bled  himself,  nearly  a  hundred  times  before  he  was  sixty  years  of 
age.  Ardent,  frank,  cheerful,  kind  and  W'arm-hearted,  yet  utterly  fearless  in 
the  discharge  of  duty,  he  entered  heartily  into  political  questions,  and  had  a 
wide  influence  in  that  part  of  Connecticut,  as  a  Democratic  leader,  during  the 
agitations  which  preceded  and  attended  the  War  of  1812. 

Very  soon  after  the  decease  of  his  beloved  son,  Dr.  Skinner  expressed  an 
earnest  wish  himself  to  go  to  Africa.  His  sole  motive  was  to  do  good;  and 
his  theory  that  those  who  are  far  advanced  in  life  (which  was  true  in  regard 
to  himself)  are  less  susceptible  to  the  causes  that  produce  fever  than  younger 
persons,  led  him  to  cherish  the  hope  that  he  would  be  able,  for  some  time,  to 
contribute  to  the  health  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  Liberia. 
But  he  dreaded  no  consequences,  when  conscious  that  he  was  engaged  in  the 
service  of  his  fellow-men  and  his  God.  He  embarked  as  Physician  to  the 
Colony  on  the  21st  of  June,  1834.  In  the  Report  of  the  Society,  which  men- 
tioned his  departure,  it  is  said: — "  Dr.  Skinner's  treatment  of  the  diseases  of 
the  Colony  has  thus  far  been  successful.  He  considers  Millsburg  as  the  most 
healthy  of  the  Colonial  settlements;  and  states  that  there  are  mountains  in 

Vol.  VI.  88 


698  BAPTIST. 

its  vicinity,  which  wouUl  furnish  an  eligible  site  for  a  medical  High  School.  As 
a  proof  of  its  salubrity,  he  mentions  that  there  are  living  there,  in  good 
health,  two  families,  each  consisting  of  nine  persons,  who  were  aniong  the 
first  settlers,  and  that  they  all  passed  through  the  fever  without  physician  or 
medicine.  Dr.  Skinner  is  of  opinion  that  every  part  of  Liberia  may  be  ren- 
dered more  healthy  than  at  present,  and  that  nothing  is  wanting  but  industry 
and  perseverance  to  overcome  the  obstacles  which  now  obstruct  its  pros- 
perity. In  promoting  religion  and  morality  among  the  Colonists,  and  in 
stimulating  them  to  active  u.sefulness,  this  officer  has  been  an  eflScient  co-opera- 
tor with  the  Agent.  The  Board  are  gratified  to  learn  from  him  that  he 
found  the  state  of  society  in  the  Colony  moral  and  orderly  in  a  very  high 
degree." 

Dr.  Skinner,  after  very  earnest  and  faithful  labours  in  Liberia  for  several 
months,  visited  the  United  States,  but  soon  returned,  not  only  as  Colonial 
Physician,  but  bearing  a  commission  as  temporary  Governor, — that  office 
having  been  left  vacant  by  the  retirement,  on  account  of  illness,  of  Governor 
I'inney.  His  philanthropic  efforts  for  more  than  two  years  were  most  faith- 
ful, arduous  and  beneficent,  and  the  blessing  of  the  peo2)le  of  Liberia  rested 
upon  him.  The  Society,  in  its  Report  of  December,  183G,  speaks  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  of  this  excellent  man: — 

"  Dr.  Ezekiel  Skinner,  who  consented  to  accept,  until  some  other  well 
qualified  person  should  be  appointed,  the  office  of  Colonial  Agent,  and  who 
has  devoted  himself  with  most  untiring  zeal,  disinterestedness,  and  activity, 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Colonists,  has  been  compelled,  by  ill  health,  to  return  to 
the  United  States.  The  Managers  would  do  injustice  to  their  own  sensibility, 
did  they  not  express  the  esteem  they  cherish  for  that  moral  courage  and 
enthusiasm  which  prompted  this  gentleman,  after  suffering  bereavement  in  the 
loss  of  a  son,  who,  with  his  wife  and  child,  died  in  the  missionary  service  to 
Africa,  to  leave  his  own  family,  that,  on  a  distant  and  heathen  shore,  amid  toil 
and  peril,  he  might  alleviate  human  suffering,  and  assist  to  build  up  the  homes 
of  freedom,  and  the  Churches  of  the  living  God." 
With  great  respect  and  regard. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  your  friend, 

B.  R.  GURLEY. 

FROM  THE  REV.  J.  B.  PINNET. 

New  York,  July  6, 1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Ezekiel  Skinner  began  in 
Liberia,  on  his  arrival,  August  1,  1834,  as  Colonial  Physician,  and  was  con- 
fined to  a  period  of  little  more  than  one  year. 

In  his  official  character  as  Colonial  Physician,  he  was  placed  in  intimate  and 
daily  intercourse  with  me,  for  about  ten  months,  when  he  returned  tempora- 
rily to  the  United  States,  at  which  time  I  wrote  to  the  Colonization  Society 
as  follows : — 

"  The  readiness  with  which  I  have  consented  that  Dr.  Skinner  should  return 
to  America,  arises  from  a  firm  conviction  that  he  can  do  great  good  by  com- 
municating facts  concerning  thcv  folonj^,  and  especially  by  hastening  the  arri- 
val of  another  Agent.  His  absence  will  be  felt  b}'  all  as  an  evil  of  uncommon 
magnitude,  but  will  render  his  return  more  valued.  Under  his  constant, 
faithful  and  indefatigable  efforts,  nearly  all  the  ulcers  and  sore  limbs  are 
cured  or  amputated,  and  the  number  of  the  helpless  and  feeble  is  diminished 
nine-tenths."  He  left  Liberia  early  in  March,  arrived  in  the  United  States  in 
April,  attended  a  public  meeting  in  Richmond,  Va.,  and  another  in  Xew  York 
city  on  the  15th  of  May,  uttering  in  the  latter  meeting  sentiments  like  these, 


EZEKIEL  SKINNER.  gQQ 

as  roiiorloil  for  the  daily  press: — "  lie  coiuluilcil  liy  iirginj;  the  Society  to  leave 
no  means  untried  toditl'iise  the  light  of  knowledge  over  beniglited  Africa,  and 
by  expressing  his  thankfulness  to  (iod,  that,  notwithstanding  all  his  sullerings 
in  Africa, — where  he  had  lost  a  beloved  son  and  his  family,  besides  enduring 
much  himself,  he  had  ever  embarked  in  this  enterprise,  and  added  that  he 
was  willing  now  to  go  back  and  lay  down  his  life  with  joy,  in  the  amelioration 
of  the  condition  of  that  much  injured  race." 

Dr.  Skinner,  having  been  appointed  temporary  (Jovernor  of  the  Colony,  sailed 
from  tlie  United  States,  July  11,  1834,  and  arrived  the  second  time  at  Monro- 
via, on  the  12th  of  August,  accompanied  by  his  daughter,  as  a  teacher,  and 
several  Missionaries  of  the  Baptist  Church,  soon  after  which  I  left  him  to  the 
arduous  duties  which,  in  a  few  months  .so  reduced  his  health  as  to  make  it 
neces.sary  for  him  to  follow  me  to  America. 

lie  possessed  strongly  marked  traits  of  character.  In  his  personal  appear- 
ance there  was  nothing  Chestertieldian.  lie  was  a  tall  man,  not  very  grace- 
fully formed,  of  a  thin  visage,  a  clear,  bright,  grey  eye,  and  a  countenance 
altogether  expressive  of  an  earnest  and  active  mind.  He  gave  no  attention  to 
dress — liis  gait  was  ungainly,  but  you  could  not  be  with  him  an  hour  without 
being  impressed  with  his  untiring  and  ceaseless  energy.  He  appeared  to  think 
aloud,  and,  wherever  he  might  be,  he  was  likely,  with  a  bold  loud  voice,  to 
give  early  announcement  of  his  presence.  lie  seemed  to  live  habitually  under 
the  conviction  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  best  use  of  his  time  and  facul- 
ties, and  that,  wherever  and  in  whatever  circumstances  he  might  be,  he  was 
always  to  be  «'  about  his  Father's  business."  His  mind  being  essentially  bold, 
as  well  as  vigorous  and  persevering,  eminently  qualified  him  for  self-denying 
and  adventurous  enterprises,  and  hence,  nothing  could  exceed  the  energy  and 
industry  with  which  he  laboured  to  promote  the  temporal  and  spiritual  inte- 
rests of  the  Colonists,  and  of  all  who  came  within  the  range  of  his  practical 
philanthropy.  You  might  have  seen  him  going  up  and  down  the  rivers  in 
canoes,  penetrating  the  abodes  of  wretchedness  and  poverty,  and  carrying  about 
and  administering  incessantl}'  medicines  for  the  body  and  consolations  for  the 
mind.  I  can  scarcely  think  of  him  but  as  M'alking  about  with  his  saddle-bags, 
well  filled  with  medicines,  on  his  arm,Teady  to  act  upon  the  first  emergency, 
and  not  unfrequently  culling  from  the  rich  flora  around  him  some  specimen  to 
be  examined  and  descri))ed  botanically.  He  possessed  an  endless  fund  of  good- 
humour,  and  yet  deep  and  tender  sympathies,  so  that  his  presence  was  like  a 
cordial  to  the  sick  and  afflicted.  He  possessed  also  a  power  of  physical  endu- 
rance that  was  truly  wonderful.  On  his  lirst  arrival  in  Liberia,  he  must  have 
been  nearly  sixty  )"ears  of  age;  j^et,  while  undergoing  the  process  of  acclima- 
tion, and  notwithstanding  his  manifold  labours  and  exposures,  his  health 
remained  almost  unimpaired  for  six  months;  and  not  until  he  became  Gover- 
nor, an  office  which  really  combined  the  duties  and  functions  of  a  whole 
administration,  including  the  Judicial,  Legislative,  and  Executive,  did  he  find 
his  .strength  weakened  in  the  way.  No  man  had  a  mind  and  heart  more 
fruitful  in  benevolent  schemes,  and  no  one  could  endure  more  in  their  execu- 
tion. 

Although  Dr.  Skinner's  appropriate  mission  to  Liberia  was  that  of  Medical 
Chief,  yet  he  actually  fulfilled  the  duties  also  of  a  Preacher  of  the  Gospel. 
Almost  every  Sabbath  he  filled  some  pulpit  at  the  invitation  of  the  officiating 
Minister  in  charge.  His  pulpit  performances  were  marked  by  the  characteris- 
tics to  which  I  have  already  referred, — simplicity,  zeal,  energy,  candour.  To 
rhetoric  he  paid  no  attention.  His  style  was  destitute  of  polish,  but  he  was 
ready  ami  .self-possessed.  His  utterance  was  loud,  and  his  manner  fervent  and 
impressive,  indicating  that  he  believed  with  all  his  heart  every  word  that  he 
said.     He  quoted  readily  from  the  Bible,  and  was  evideutl}'  familiar  with  it, 


700  BAPTIST. 

especially  with  the  portions  which  are  most  controverted.  His  denominational 
views  were  unusually  strong,  and  Avore  put  forward  confidently  and  boldly. 
On  more  than  one  occasion,  he  proposed  a  public  debate  with  me  on  the  ques- 
tion of  I'aptism,  which  I  declined;  and  refer  to  it  now  simply  as  illustrative 
of  his  denominational  earnestness.  There  was,  however,  nothing  offensive  in 
his  manner  of  conversing  on  the  subject;  and,  notwithstanding  our  different 
views,  our  fraternal  harmony  as  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  never  inter- 
rupted for  a  moment.  He  had  a  great  fondness  for  the  study  of  the  Prophe- 
cies, especially  the  Book  of  Revelation;  on  one  part  of  which  he  was  quite 
original  and  very  strenuous.  I  refer  to  the  fact  that  he  maintained  that 
"  the  W'oman  "  mentioned  in  that  book,  was  not  emblematical  of  the  Romish, 
but  of  the  Anglican,  Church. 

I  have  referred  to  his  attention  to  Botany.  This  was  quite  a  passion  with 
him.  Whenever  he  travelled,  he  was  gathering  new  plants  Avith  as  much 
enthusiasm  as  if  his  life-work  was  in  this  science.  With  lens  in  hand,  he 
minutely  examined  every  plant  he  passed  that  he  had  not  met  with  before. 
His  mind  Avas  highly  inquisitive,  and,  Avith  better  opportunities  of  study  in  his 
youth,  he  Avould  have  been  an  eminent  scholar. 

On  the  Avhole,  my  recollections  of  Dr.  Skinner  are  very  pleasant  and  inter- 
esting, and  I  am  glad  that  you  propose  to  make  provision  for  keeping  his  name 
alive  with  coming  generations. 

I  am,  with  very  great  respect,  yours  truly, 

J.  B.  PINNEY. 

FROM  THE  REV.  GURDO^I   ROBINS. 

Hartford,  July  7,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  kncAV  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ezckiel  Skinner  well,  and  my  estimate 
of  his  character  leads  me  fully  to  approve  of  your  purpose  to  give  him  a  place 
among  the  prominent  Baptist  ministers  of  the  country.  I  could  tell  you  much 
about  him,  but  as  you  have  doubtless  obtained  what  you  need,  from  other 
sources,  1  Avill  simply  state  a  fact,  Avhich,  though  connected  immediately  Avith 
his  medical  practice,  may  throAv  some  light  upon  his  general  character. 

Just  before  information  of  Dr.  Skinner's  arrival  from  Liberia  Avas  received 
in  this  city,  Dr.  Silas  Fuller  called  at  my  bookstore,  having  just  returned 
from  a  visit  to  a  patient  in  a  very  critical  situation  at  MiddletoAvn.  Her  dan- 
ger arose  from  a  tumour  so  intimately  connected  Avith  a  main  artery  that  Dr. 
Fuller  informed  me  he  did  not  dare  attempt  its  removal,  and  that  he  knew  but 
one  man  in  the  Avorld  Avhom  he  could  trust  to  perform  the  operation,  and  that 
Avas  Dr.  Ezekicl  Skinner — "  he,"  said  Dr.  F.,  "combines  both  the  requisite 
courage  and  skill,  and  if  he  Avere  here,  I  doubt  not  that  he  might  go  through 
the  operation  successfully;  but,  unfortunately  for  this  case,  he  is  in  Liberia." 
Dr.  Fuller  soon  left  my  store,  and,  Avithin  about  an  hour  after.  Dr.  Skinner 
entered  it,  having  just  arrived  from  Liberia,  and  being  then  on  his  Avay  to  his 
home  at  Ashford.  I  mentioned  the  case  to  Dr.  Skinner,  and  told  him  Avhat 
Dr.  Fuller  had  said;  Avhereupon,  he  inquired  where  the  patient  lived,  and  said 
that  he  Avould  go  and  see  her  at  once.  He  did  go  that  evening,  and,  on  his 
return  the  next  forenoon,  informed  me  that  he  had  performed  the  operation 
successfully.  I  haA-e  related  Hiis  incident  as  illustrative  not  only  of  Dr. 
Skinner's  skill  and  energy,  but  especially  of  his  benevolent  and  self-sacrificing 
spirit;  for,  in  order  to  visit  this  patient,  he  Avas  obliged  to  turn  aside  from  his 
homeward  journey,  and  thus  delay  the  meeting  Avith  his  family,  after  a  pro- 
tracted absence  from  them.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  there  are  feAV  charac- 
ters Avhich  combine  the  elements  of  true  heroism  in  a  higher  degree  than  did 
that  of  Dr.  Ezekiel  Skinner.  Fraternally  yours, 

GURDON  ROBINS. 


NOAU  DAVIS.  701 

NOAH  DAVIS* 

18:20—1830. 

Noah   Davis  was  born  July  28,   1802,  in  the  vicinity   of  Salisbury, 

Couuty  of  Worcester,   Md.  ;   to  which    place   his  parents — both    inouibcrs 

of  the  Baptist  Church — removed  when  he  was  about  four  years  old.      The 

following  are  his  own  reflections  upon  his   birth,  in   connection  with  his 

early  years,  as  recorded  in  his  Diary: — 

"  I  was  the  tirst  cliild  the  Lord  gave  my  parents;  and  my  niotlier,  wlio,  before  my 
birth,  hud  dedicated  mo  to  Jlim,  named  me  Noah,  believing  that  1  also  should  be 
made  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  Of  course  no  pains  were  spared  by  my  parents  to 
instruct  me  in  religious  truth,  and  bring  me  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  Though  they 
had  the  grief  to  see  me,  like  others,  taking  the  downward  course,  and  drinking  in 
iniquity  like  water,  yet  my  mother  lield  fast  lier  first  impression  that  I  should  be 
ransomed  by  electing  love,  and  made  to  preach  the  word  of  God  to  dying  men." 

lie  manifested,  at  an  early  period,  a  remarkable  fondness  for  booivs. 
Though  not  without  at  least  the  ordinary  relish  for  youthful  amusements, 
a  favourite  book  would  at  any  time  attract  him  from  them,  and  completely 
rivet  his  attention.  He  evinced,  at  this  period,  somewhat  of  a  romantic 
turn,  and  seemed  to  delight  in  striking  out  novel  thoughts,  and  devising 
plans  which  were  not  very  likely  to  go  into  operation.  The  events  of  the 
War  of  1812  with  Great  Britain,  as  they  were  constantly  chronicled  in  the 
newspapers,  wrought  powerfully  upon  his  imagination,  and  awakened  in 
him  a  strong  desire  to  engage  personally  in  some  grand  enterprise  which 
might  redound  to  the  honour  of  his  country.  In  reviewing  these  cha- 
racteristics of  his  chiMliood,  he  says, — "But  thanks  be  to  God  that  I 
have  undertaken  in  his  name  to  fight  for  another  kingdom  than  that  of  this 
world,  and  to  serve  under  the  High  Captain  of  Salvation." 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  placed  as  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Messrs. 
Fassitt  &  Langstroth,  of  Philadelphia.  This  he  always  regarded  as  a 
peculiarly  auspicious  circumstance.  He  found  in  Mr.  Fassitt  the  prudent 
counsellor  and  pious  friend,  whose  strongest  desire  in  respect  to  the  young 
men  under  his  charge  seemed  to  be  that  they  might  be  found  walking  in 
the  ways  of  true  wisdom.  Prior  to  this,  he  had  had  no  abiding  impression 
of  his  own  moral  necessities ;  but  now  his  spirit  began  most  distinctly  to 
rebel  against  the  Divine  requirements,  and  especially  against  the  proper 
ob.scrvancc  of  the  Sabbath.  Being  compelled  to  labour  through  the  week, 
he  thouglit  that  he  might  surely  claim  Sunday  for  his  own  purposes;  but 
bis  worthy  employers  could  not  dispense  with  his  regular  attendance  in  the 
house  of  God. 

The  account  of  his  first  exercises  in  connection  with  (he  subject  of  reli- 
gion is  thus  given  by  himself: — 

•'  I  cannot  remember  any  particular  sermon  that  had  a  more  than  usual  effect  upon 
my  mind.  If  my  mind  was  ever  operated  upon  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  was  in  a  man- 
ner silent  and  calm.  The  first  material  change  of  life  that  I  remember,  took  place  in 
tiie  winter  of  1818-19,  when  I  found  myself  almost  inii)erceptil)ly  led  to  the  practice 
of  daily  prayer;  and  on  Salibath  afternoons  I  spent  my  time  in  reading  and  prayer. 
Under  this  cliangc  of  my  views  and  habits,  I  began  to  hear  the  word  of  God  with 
increased  attention,  and  obiainrd  a  better  comprehension  than  I   had   previously  had 

•  Am.  Bapt.  Mng.  1830.— MS.  from  II.  (i.  Jones,  Esq. 


702  BAPTIST. 

of  Divine  filings.  I  began  to  acquire  a  greater  relish  for  tlie  services  fif  the  sanctuary, 
and  attended  upon  them  more  from  choice  than  compulsion.  The  administration  of 
the  ordinance  of  Baptism  in  Sansom  Street  Church  had  several  times  a  very  powerful 
<!tFect  upon  my  mind.  Shortly  after  this,  I  wrote  to  my  parents,  informing  them  of 
my  religicus  exercises,  and  of  my  desire  to  become  a  member  of  tlu;  Church  of 
Christ.  They  were  the  first  to  wliom  J  made  known  my  feelings  and  sentiments,  in 
relation  to  thfi  concerns  of  my  soul.  I  mentioned  my  exercises  to  Mr  Fassitt,  at 
the  same  time  requesting  him  to  state  my  case  to  Dr.  Staughton,  who  was  then  Pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Sajisom  Street.  This  he  did,  giving  the  Doctor  an  account 
of  my  experience,  with  which  he  appeared  to  be  satisfied.  After  examination,  the 
church  consented  that  I  should  be  baptized  at.  their  next  regular  meeting,  which  took 
place  July  4,  1810.  I  had  made  known  my  intention  to  be  baptized  on  tlint  day,  and, 
to  my  sur])rise,  my  father  came  from  his  distant  residence  to  Philadelphia,  at  that 
time,  almost  purposely  to  witness  the  scene.  Indeed,  it  appeared  to  be  one  of  a  very 
affecting  kind  to  him.  In  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  I  was  received  into  the  visible 
church  by  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellowship,  i)resented  by  Dr.  Staughton,  the  Pastor; 
and,  for  the  first  time,  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Oh  what  a  day  to  me  !  With 
what  regret  should  I  rtmiember  how  poorly  I  have  sustained  the  i)rofession  then 
assumed.  In  the  church  of  wliich  I  became  a  member,  I  found  the  interchange  of 
religious  affections  most  delightful:  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  became  interesting. 
and  I  could  sing, 

"There  my  best  friends,  my  kindred  dwell." 

From  this  time  ]Mr.  Davis  became  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance 
of  the  Gospel  ministry,  and  began  to  feel  a  desire  to  engage  personally  in 
the  work.  Accordingly,  he  soon  obtained  an  honourable  release  from  his 
engagement  in  the  mercantile  house  in  Philadelphia,  and  returned  to  liis 
home  in  Maryland;  and,  having  removed  his  membership  to  the  Church  in 
Salisbury,  near  where  his  father  resided,  he  was,  by  that  church,  licensed 
to  preacli  on  the  9th  of  July,  1820.  In  November  of  the  same  year,  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  a  course  of  study  in 
the  Literary  and  Theological  Institution,  then  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Staughton  and  Professor  Chase.  On  the  removal  of  the  Seminary  to 
Washington  City,  in  1821,  lie  repaired  thither,  and  continued  his  studies 
preparatory  for  admission  to  the  Freshman  class, — -in  accordance  with  the 
opinion  of  his  most  judicious  friends,  that  he  ought  to  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  short  of  a  thorough  education.  Here  he  manifested,  as  he  had 
previously  done  at  Philadelphia,  great  singleness  of  purpose,  and  a  desire 
to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  service  of  his  Master.  He  preached  fre- 
quently, attended  prayer  meetings,  visited  the  poor,  and  was  especially 
active  as  a  member  of  the  Society  for  Missionary  Inquirj^  lie  was  also 
engaged  in  conducting  a  coloured  Sabbath  School,  where  a  considerable 
number  of  slaves,  ranging  in  their  ages  from  childhood  to  threescore 
years,  were  taught  to  read  the  Scriptures.  At  this  period,  he  had  a  strong 
desire  to  devote  himself  to  the  work  of  a  Foreign  Missionary;  and  he  even 
went  so  far  as  to  make  some  proposal  on  the  subject  to  the  Board  of  Bap- 
tist INIissions,  which  then  had  its  seat  at  Washington  City  ;  but,  for  reasons 
not  now  known,  the  Board  did  not  encourage  him  to  proceed. 

Mr.  Davis  entered  the  Freshman  class  with  an  intention  to  take  the 
full  college  course ;  but  so  strong  was  his  desire  to  be  actively  engaged  in 
the  duties  of  the  ministry,  that  the  idea  of  devoting  several  years  to  pre- 
paration made  him  uneasy,  and  he  at  length  resolved  to  dispense  with  the 
regular  course  of  study,  and  go  forth  at  once  to  his  great  work.  He, 
accordingly,  left  the  Institution,  in  the  summer  of  1823  ;  and,  (hough  none 
of  his  friends  doubted  that  the  step  was  taken  under  a  deep  sense  of  his 
obligations  to  render  the  most  and  best  service  to  his  Master,  not  a  few  of 


NOAH  DAVIS.  703 

them  were  of  the  opinion  that  it  savoured  more  of  conscientiousness  and 
zeal  tlian  of  true  wisdom. 

On  the  10th  »>f  July,  1S23,  lie  was  married  to  jMary  Young,  of  Alex- 
andria, Vd., — a  lady  in  every  respect  worthy  of  him,  lie  was  sul)se(]uently 
settled  at  Drummondtown,  in  the  County  of  Accomac,  Va.,  where  his 
labours  were  greatly  blessed  to  both  the  edification  and  the  increase  of  the 
church.  lie  exerted  a  powerful  influence  for  good  also  upon  many  of  the 
churches  in  that  region,  whieli  had  in  a  great  measure  lost  their  vitality 
under  the  chilling  influence  of  Antiuomianism.  Wherever  he  went,  his 
simple,  clear  and  earnest  exhibition  of  the  truth  not  only  connnanded 
attention,  but  left  deep  and  abiding  impressions. 

After  a  brief  ministry  in  Accomac,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  take 
charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Norfolk,  Ya.  Here  he  found  wide  scope 
for  his  pious  activity.  One  of  the  objects  that  specially  engaged  his 
attention  was  the  moral  improvement  of  seamen — he  made  frequent  and 
powerful  appeals  to  Christian  s^inpathy  and  charity  in  behalf  of  this  much 
uegleeted  class,  and  did  not  rest  until  he  had  succeeded  in  the  establishment 
of  a  Seaman's  Friend  Society.  About  the  same  time  he  made  a  very 
judicious  compilation  of  Hymns  for  the  use  of  mariners.  lie,  also, 
occasionally,  visited  the  Ignited  States  fortress  at  Old  Point  Comfort,  and 
preached  to  the  soldiers.  His  labours  at  Norfolk  were  at  once  arduous  and 
diversified — while  he  discharged  with  great  fidelity  the  duties  he  owed  to 
his  own  immediate  flock,  he  was  always  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to 
any  good  enterprise, — no  matter  under  what  denominational  auspices  it 
had  been  commenced, — tliat  came  witliin  the  legitimate  range  of  his 
influence. 

Though  Mr.  Davis'  proposal  to  enlist  in  the  Foreign  Missionary  work 
did  not  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Board,  he  seems  nevertheless  to  have 
retained  his  predilection  for  that  service,  and  to  have  felt  at  times  pressed 
with  a  sense  of  his  obligation  to  engage  in  it.  But,  after  a  severe  conflict 
of  feeling,  and  consultation  with  several  of  his  brethren,  he  finally  deter- 
mined to  abandon  the  idea  of  becoming  a  Foreign  Missionary,  and  to 
devote  himself  to  the  Tract  enterprise.  Early  in  1824,  he  wrote  to  a 
brother  in  Washington,  expressing  a  strong  wish  that  a  Tract  Society 
might  be  established  in  that  city,  which  should  hold  the  same  place  among 
Baptists  that  the  American  Tract  Society  does  among  Congregation- 
alists.  And  such  was  the  influence  of  his  appeals  on  the  subject  that  a 
meeting  was  called,  and,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1824,  the  Baptist  General 
Tract  Society  was  formed.  It  was  soon  transferred  to  Philadelphia,  and 
Mr.  Davis  was  invited  to  the  management  of  its  concerns.  He  accepted 
the  oflice,  and  brought  to  it  all  the  energies  of  his  mind,  heart,  and  hands. 
Possessing  a  remarkable  talent  for  business,  being  uncommonly  affable, 
active  and  prompt,  and  withal  being  an  eff"ective  and  sometimes  truly 
eloquent  speaker,  he  entered  this  new  field  under  the  highest  advantages. 
The  Rev.  William  T.  Brantly,  who  was  intimately  associated  with  him  in 
the  operations  of  the  Tract  Society,  has  rendered  the  following  testimony 
to  his  success  in  this  important  agency  : — 

"  Tlic  removal  of  our  departed  brother  from  Norfolk,  and  the  transfer  of  the  Tract 
operations  from  "Washington   to  Philadelphia,  at  his  instance,  were  among  the  last 


704  BAPTIST. 

important  changes  of  liis  lifo.  lloro  he  entered  the  field  of  labour  with  all  his  might. 
The  little  interest  which  had  almost  subsided  into  non-existence,  began,  in  his  hands, 
to  gain  strength,  and  to  assume  a  new  character,  lie  enlarged  the  plan,  reduced  to 
method  its  disjointed  parts,  roused  our  dormant  energies,  and  infused  into  the  whole 
concern  a  new  si)irit  oC  action.  His  habits  <>f  good  management  and  economy  were 
carried  into  this  service;  his  capacity  and  readiuess  in  shaping  into  practicable  dimen- 
sions a  complex  system,  were  of  admirable  use  in  a  business  consisting  td' so  many 
minor  details.  But  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Society,  tiie  increasing  demand  for  its 
publications,  the  extension  of  its  ojierations  to  almost  every  part  of  this  Union,  will 
evince  with  more  force  than  we  can  command,  the  value  of  those  labours  bestowed 
upon  it  by  its  assiduous  and  intelligent  Agent.  The  estimate  of  his  usefulness  must 
not  be  restricted  to  the  particular  vocation  which  we  are  now  considering.  Besides 
liis  main  business  of  preaching  by  means  of  tracts,  he  sounded  the  Gospel  abroad  in 
laanj'  places  where  he  travelled,  and  in  others  he  preached  more  stati'diy  with  great 
effect,  lie  collected  and  published  many  useful  facts  connected  with  the  statistics  of 
our  denomination,  lie  was  ready  to  aid,  by  his  presence  and  countenance,  every  good 
proposition ;  and  was  always  among  the  first  to  contribute  such  means  as  were  at  his 
disposal  for  the  promotion  of  useful  expedients." 

Mr.  DavLs'  physical  constitution  was  not  vigorous,  and  lie  often  suffered 
not  a  little  from  infirmity,  even  while  he  was  labouring  with  great  zeal  and 
efficiency.  His  last  illness  was  very  brief.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  loth 
of  July,  1830,  he  felt  slightly  indisposed,  and  took  medicine  in  the  expec- 
tation of  speedy  relief.  But,  as  relief  was  not  obtained,  a  physician 
was  sent  for  in  the  evening,  and  the  case  was  found  to  be  an  alarming  one. 
At  twelve  o'clock,  he  became  in.sensible,  and  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  15th  breathed  his  last,  a  few  days  less  than  twenty-eight  years  of 
age.  It  is  remarkable  that  he  was  born,  was  baptized,  was  ordained,  was 
married,  and  died,  in  the  month  of  July. 

Mr.  Davis  was  the  father  of  four  children, — three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter. Of  these,  two  sons  survive,  (1858,)  the  elder  of  whom, — Oliver  Wil- 
son, is  an  Attorney  at  Law  in  Philadelphia  ;  the  other, — Noah,  is  Principal 
of  the  "Home  School"  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  and  editor  of  the  Alabama 
Educational  Journal.  Mr.  Davis'  widow  was  married,  several  years  after 
his  death,  to  the  llev.  Dr.  Dagg. 


FROM  THE  REV.  .)OIIN  L.  DAGG,  D.  D. 

PiiiLADELrniA,  June  14,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  llev.  Noah  Davis  commenced  m 
December,  1824,  when  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Norfolk,  Va. 
After  his  removal  to  Philadelphia,  we  were  intimatel}'  associated  in  labours 
for  the  Tract  Society,  of  which  he  was  General  Agent,  and  I  a  Director.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  member  of  the  church  which  I  served.  I  would  gladly  do 
any  thing  in  my  power  to  perpetuate  his  memory;  but,  as  my  infirm  health 
renders  it  dilficult  for  mc  to  write,  I  shall,  in  answering  your  request,  draw 
upon  some  brief  notices  of  his  character  which  I  Avrote  shortly  after  his 
ileath,  and  Mhile  his  admirable  qualities  were  perfectly  fresh  in  my  recol- 
lection. 

The  trait  of  Mr.  Davis'  charatiter  which  was  least  known,  even  to  his  inti- 
mate friends,  was  his  disinterestedness.  Though  I  was  myself  ver}'  intimate 
with  him,  my  estimate  of  his  character  in  this  respect  has  undergone  a  great 
change  by  the  perusal  of  his  numerous  and  most  confidential  letters  to  her 
who  shared  equally  in  all  his  secular  interests.  And  yet  I  cannot  make  any 
extracts  which  will  exhibit  the  proof  that  these  manuscripts  furnish  on  this 
point:  for  it  is  not  by  any  professions  or  positive  declarations  which  these 
contain,  that  this  trait  is  discoverable,  but  by  the  absence  of  every  thing  that 


NOAH  DAVIS.  705 

would  have  proceeded  from  a  mind  not  free,  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  from 
worldly  care.  Every  letter  is  religious — not  one  is  secular.  Scarcely  an 
inquiry  or  suggestion  respecting  their  private  interests  is  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  mass.  Many  an  anxiety  is  expressed  for  the  health  and  spiritual  pros- 
perity of  Iiis  family,  and  many  a  calculation  of  dollars  for  tiie  Tract  Society 
is  made;  but  not  one  for  the  replonisliing  of  his  purse,  often  nearly  reduced  to 
emptiness.  His  letters  are  full  of  utlection  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  of 
information,  plans,  hopes,  and  fears,  respecting  the  Tract  Society  and  other 
objects  connected  with  the  interests  of  religion ;  but,  except  the  bare  details 
of  his  journey,  they  contain  nothing  else.  Of  information,  plans,  hopes,  and 
fears,  respecting  the  pecuniary  interests  of  him.self  and  family,  they  are  abso- 
lute emptiness.  Yet  the  great  part  of  this  correspondence  was  carried  on  at 
times,  when  he  was  travelling  in  the  service  of  the  Tract  Society,  and  when 
his  income  was  barely  sufficient  for  the  support  of  his  family.  When  he  left 
Norfolk  to  take  the  Agency  of  the  Tract  Society,  his  income  was  six  hundred 
dollars;  and  a  .school  which  his  wife  taught,  with  his  occasional  assistance, 
added  about  twelve  hundred  dollars.  Instead  of  this,  he  stated  to  her  that 
he  expected,  for  the  first  years  of  his  services,  as  Agent,  to  receive  from  two 
hundred  to  four  hundred  dollars,  per  annum,  and  to  take  a  school  in  Phila- 
delphia was  neither  designed  nor  attempted.  Assuredly  it  was  not;  and  any 
one  who  should  read  the  letters  to  which  I  have  referred,  would  be  convinced 
that  it  was  not  for  the  salary  of  the  Agency  that  he  accepted  the  office. 

To  the  preceding  remarks  there  is  one  exception  that  I  have  noticed,  if 
exception  it  deserves  to  be  called.  It  is  found  in  a  letter  written  on  the  way 
to  Utica,  August  IG,  1827.  An  allusion  is  here  made  to  personal  interest; 
but  it  is  made  in  such  a  manner  as  evinces  the  caution  and  self-distrust  with 
which  he  approached  that  subject: — "There  is  a  time  coming  when,  if  I 
continue  Agent  of  the  Society,  (as  I  presume  I  shall,)  it  will  be  necessary  for 
me  to  remain  almost  constantly  at  home.  The  correspondence,  &c.,  will  be  so 
much  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  leave  it  and  you  long  at  a  time.  AVhen  that 
comes  to  pass,  it  will  be  in  connection  with  such  an  increase  of  funds,  that  I 
shall  have  no  need,  on  account  of  personal  interest,  to  take  journeys.  Though 
I  speak  of  personal  interest  as  having  something  to  do  in  stimulating  my 
exertions,  I  don't  know  how  much  eflcct  it  has  :  I  will  leave  you  to  judge, 
who  know  perhaps  quite  as  well  as  I  do." 

To  evince  his  indifference  or  superioritj'  to  the  praise  of  men,  one  extract 
will  suffice.  It  alludes  to  some  praises  that  the  Rev.  A.  W.  Clopton  had 
bestowed  on  him.  I  must  premise  that  he  had  the  greatest  respect  for 
Brother  Clopton,  and  valued  his  judgment,  honestj^  piety,  and  zeal,  very 
highly.  The  words  are  "  Clopton's  puff  superlative  will  do  us  no  good. 
None  of  us  are  doing  Avhat  we  might  do  for  God's  cause.  All  have  occasion 
to  be  humbled  on  account  of  our  short-comings,  and  confess  ourselves  to  be 
unprofitable  servants.  I  never  felt  my  deficiencies  as  an  Agent  more  than 
lately.  He  does  not  know  how  much  others  arc  doing,  or  he  would  not 
say  so." 

Mr.  Davis  left  a  text  book  of  sixty-two  pages,  in  which  are  regularly  noted 
all  the  sermons  that  he  preached  during  the  last  four  and  a  half  years  of  his 
ministry.  The  last  sermon  was  preached  at  Iladdonfield,  N.  J.,  July  4, 
1830,  from  the  words, — <<  But  of  Him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who,  of  God, 
is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemp- 
tion." I.  Cor.  i.  30.  The  insertion  of  this  text  filled  up  the  last  page  of  the 
book,  except  a  small  space  in  which  he  wrote  the  following  lines,  subscribing 
them  with  his  name  : — "  I  was  baptized  July  4,  1819,  and  have  been  a  jjreacher 
ten  years.  Have  preached  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight  times,  which  is 
eighty-three  and  eight-tenths  sermons  a  year.     Can  only  subscribe  myself  an 

Vol..  VI,  80 


706  BAPTIST. 

unprofitable  servant,  and  beg  for  mercy  to  a  sinner  through  the  sufficient 
merit  of  Jesus." 

Thus  lie  filled  up  his  book  and  his  ministry  precisely  eleven  years  from  the 
day  of  his  Baptism.  Thus  he  sub.scribes  his  name,  and,  casting  himself  upon 
the  merits  of  his  Redeemer,  closed  the  account  of  his  ministerial  labours. 
Death,  unseen,  stood  at  his  side,  as  he  executed  the  deed.  Eut  he  was  pre- 
pared at  any  moment  to  meet  the  ghastly  messenger,  and  had  he  seen  his 
terrific  form,  he  would  probably  have  closed  the  account  just  as  he  did.  A 
few  weeks  before  his  death,  I  was  cast  low  upon  a  bed  of  sickness,  from  which 
I  expected  never  to  rise.  lie  visited  me  with  Brethren  David  Jones,  Thomas 
Brown,  and  Joseph  Cone,  all  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
among  my  most  intimate  friends,  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord.  They  all,  I 
think,  expected,  as  I  did,  that  the  time  of  our  separation  was  near;  but  how 
little  did  any  of  us  understand  the  inscrutable  purposes  of  God.  The  time 
of  separation  was  indeed  near,  for  in  a  few  short  months  all  these  brethren 
were  taken  to  their  rest.  To  the  affectionate  attentions  of  Brother  Davis 
the  restoration  of  my  health  was  in  a  great  measure  attributable.  As  soon 
as  I  was  able  to  exercise  in  a  carriage,  he  not  only  devised  means  to  procure 
that  exercise  for  me,  but  with  assiduous  care  accompanied  me  each  day  in  the 
short  excursions  I  was  at  first  able  to  make.  Afterwards,  he  projected  a  plan 
to  take  me  with  him  on  one  of  his  tours  in  the  service  of  the  Tract  Society, 
designing  to  give  such  attention  to  my  slowly  returning  health,  as  would  tend 
to  re-establish  it.  His  solicitude  for  my  recovery  resulted,  not  so  much  from 
personal  attachment  to  me,  as  from  love  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  in  which  he 
believed  my  life  might  be  useful.  The  shock  which  I  received  from  the 
sudden  announcement  of  his  death  is  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  had  not  heard 
of  his  illness.  He  vanished  from  us,  as  Brother  Brantly  strikingly  expressed 
it,  like  a  winged  dream. 

Allow  me  to  add  a  paragraph  or  two  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Ilev.  James 
D.  Knowlcs,  who  was  Mr.  Davis'  fellow-student  and  room-mate  at  College. 
From  my  knowledge  of  both  the  writer  and  the  subject,  I  am  able  to  endorse 
the  statements  as  worthy  of  perfect  confidence. 

"  I  may  say,  Avith  entire  truth,  that  the  death  of  Mr.  Davis  is  a  loss  to 
our  denomination,  and  to  the  Christian  world.  While  his  feelings  were 
liberal  towards  all  men,  and  he  cordially  prayed  that  grace,  mercy  and  peace 
might  be  multiplied  to  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  he 
felt  a  special  concern  for  the  welfare  of  our  own  churches.  It  was  a  desire  for 
Iheir  benefit,  which  impelled  him  to  exertion  in  the  cause  of  Tracts.  It  was 
because  he  was  convinced  that  our  churches  would  be  more  generally  interested 
in  tracts,  if  there  were  a  Society  under  our  own  control,  that  he  advocated 
its  cause,  whilst,  towards  that  noble  institution,  the  American  Tract  Society, 
he  felt  the  utmost  cordiality.  lie  collected,  with  great  labour,  the  statistics 
of  the  denomination,  and  his  annual  table  of  Associations,  published  in  the 
Tract  ^lagazine,  was  the  most  accurate  and  complete  account  of  our  churches 
which  has  been  published.  J'crhaps  no  young  man  among  us  was  contribut- 
ing more  directly  and  powerfully  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  Baptist 
denomination,  llis  influence  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  importance  of  the 
office  which  he  filled,  though  tlikt  was  a  post  of  great  usefulness.  His  office 
merely  furnished  a  medium  through  Avhich  his  energetic  mind  and  his  warm 
love  to  Ciod  and  man  were  enabled  to  act  on  the  Christian  community.  It 
was  a  kind  of  observatory  from  which  he  could  look  abroad  on  the  wants 
and  interests  of  the  churches,  and  from  which,  with  telegraphic  rapidity,  lie 
could  spread  among  them  the  kindling  emanations  of  his  and  other  minds. 
Though  his  immediate  object  was  the  distribution  of  tracts,  yet  there  was  no 
exclusiveness  in  his  aims  and  efforts.     lie  regarded    the  cause  of  the   Saviour 


NO  All  DAVIS.  'JQ'J 

as  one,  oombiniiif!;,  indocd,  many  interests  which  may  he  ailvantagcously 
separated,  and  pursued  individually,  with  concentrated  force;  yet  he  viewed 
that  cause  like  the  rainbow,  in  which  the  several  rays  of  light  are  blended, 
and  the  prism  through  which  he,  in  his  official  character,  contemplated  it, 
only  presented  its  colours  to  his  eye,  in  a  more  beautiful  and  distinct  relation 
to  each  other.  Missions,  Education,  Sabbath  Schools,  the  distribution  of 
the  Bible, — all  modes  of  benevolent  enterprise,  held  a  place  in  his  heart,  and 
claimed  a  share  in  his  efforts,  while  he  was  directly  toiling  in  the  great  cause 
of  Tracts. 

<<  lie  never  sunk  into  a  mere  Agent.  In  the  pulpit  he  preached  with  the 
zeal  of  a  Missionar}',  and  the  free-hearted  affection  of  a  Pastor.  At  a 
missionary  meeting,  he  would  plead  for  the  heathen  with  an  expression  of 
thought  and  feeling  which  stretched  beyond  the  comparatively  little  space  in 
which  he  was  labouring,  to  the  wide  limits  of  the  great  field, — the  world. 
Those  who  attended  the  session  of  the  Boston  Association  in  1829,  will  not 
soon  forget  the  spirit-stirring  eloquence  with  which  he  urged  the  necessity  of 
efforts  to  increase  the  number  and  the  qualifications  of  our  ministers.  It  is 
worth  mentioning  here,  as  an  illustration  of  the  zeal  and  liberality  of  his 
heart,  that,  at  the  Association,  when  a  subscription  was  commenced  to  aid 
the  Massachusetts  Baptist  Education  Society,  he  rose  and  offered  his  watch, 
as  a  contribution  to  the  funds." 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  L.DAGG. 


JAMES  DAVIS  KNOWLES  *  1 

1820—1838. 

James  Davis  Knowles,  the  second  son  of  Edward  and  Amey  (Peck) 
Knowles,  was  born  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  July,  1798.  His  father  was 
a  respectable  mechanic,  and  both  his  parents  sustained  an  excellent  char- 
acter. It  was  the  cherished  purpose  of  his  father  to  give  this  son  a  libera] 
education  ;  but  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  departure  from  the  world  com- 
pelled him  to  relinquish  this  design,  and  led  him  to  place  his  son,  at  the 
age  of  about  twelve,  as  an  apprentice  in  a  printing  office.  Here  he  not 
only  gained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  part  of  the  business, 
but  acquired  an  uncommon  facility  in  the  use  of  his  pen.  While  he  was 
yet  quite  a  youth,  he  contributed  many  articles,  both  in  prose  and  poetry, 
to  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  some  of  which  were  so  much  above  his  years 
as  to  be  attributed  to  mature  and  highly  cultivated  minds.  In  July,  1819, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  became  a  co-editor  of  the  Rhode  Island 
American,  a  popular  and  widely  extended  journal,  and  evinced,  in  thi:i 
capacity,  much  more  than  a  common  measure  of  prudence  and  ability. 

His  mind  was  seriously  directed  to  the  subject  of  religion,  when  he  was 
only  eight  years  old  ;  but  it  was  not  till  after  he  had  reached  his  majority, 
that  he  ventured  to  indulge  the  hope  that  he  was  reconciled  to  God.  In 
March,  1820,  he  was  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Providence,  then  under  the  pastoral  caro  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gano ; 

•Providence  Journal,  1838.— Christian  Watchman,  1838.— MS.  from  Mrs.  Knowles. 


708  BAPTIST. 

and,  in  the  autumn  following,  having  determined  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry,  he  received  license  from  that  church  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
Shortly  after  this,  he  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  entered  the  Theological 
Seminary,  in  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton  and  the  Rev,  Irah  Chase  were 
Professors.  In  January,  1822,  that  Seminary  was  removed  to  College 
Hill,  near  Washington  City,  and  united  with  the  Columbian  College,  of 
which  Dr.  Staughton  was  President,  and  Mr.  Chase  a  Professor.  Mr. 
Knowles  proceeded  thither,  and  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  Sophomore 
class.  During  his  connection  with  that  Institution,  he  not  only  maintained 
a  high  standing  as  a  scholar,  but  edited  the  Columbian  Star,  a  weekly 
religious  paper,  with  an  ability  that  did  honour  to  the  periodical  literature 
of  the  country.  In  December,  1824,  he  was  graduated  with  the  highest 
honours  of  his  class  ;  and  was  immediately  appointed  one  of  the  Tutors  of 
the  College.  He  accepted  the  office,  and  discharged  its  duties,  while  he 
continued  in  it,  with  marked  fidelity.  In  the  autumn  of  the  following 
year,  he  received  a  unanimous  call  to  become  the  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  then  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Baldwin.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  church, 
December  28,  1825.  Here  he  continued  during  a  period  of  seven  years, 
discharging  the  duties  of  his  office  with  great  acceptance,  and  disappointing 
the  fears  of  some  who  imagined  that,  considering  his  youth  and  compara- 
tive inexperience,  it  was  a  hazardous  experiment  for  him  to  follow  so  dis- 
tinguished a  man  as  his  predecessor.  In  1832,  his  health  had  become  so 
much  impaired,  in  consequence  of  his  various  and  arduous  labours,  that  he 
resigned  his  charge,  and  accepted  the  Professorship  of  Pastoral  Duties  ami 
Sacred  Rhetoric  in  the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  to  which  ho  had 
been  previously  appointed.  In  consequence  of  the  relief  which  this  cluuigc 
brought  to  him,  his  health  soon  began  to  recruit ;  and,  for  a  consideraldo 
time  before  his  death,  his  wonted  vigour  was  fully  restored  to  him.  In 
addition  to  the  duties  of  his  Professorship,  he  was,  for  more  than  two  years, 
the  editor  of  the  Christian  Review,  a  highly  respectable  Quarterly  of  the 
Baptist  denomination,  and  he  conducted  it  with  a  degree  of  energy  and 
good  judgment  that  drew  forth  very  general  commendation. 

The  following  account  of  his  last  illness  and  death  has  been  kindly  fur- 
nished me  by  Mrs.  Knowlea  : — 

"  Early  on  Friday,  May  4,  1838,  just  after  his  return  from  a  short  visit 
to  New  York,  Mr.  Knowles  left  Providence,  and  spent  most  of  the  day  in 
Boston,  on  business  connected  with  the  Christian  Review,  reaching  his 
home  towards  evening,  in  apparent  health  and  spirits,  though  he  complained 
somewhat  of  fatigue  and  unusual  chilliness.  The  following  day,  he  spoke 
of  a  pain  in  his  eyes,  which  rendered  it  difficult  for  him  to  attend  to  his 
accustomed  duties,  though  he  went  out  and  transacted  business  in  the 
neighbourhood.  On  Sunday,  being  too  unwell  to  attend  public  worship,  or 
read  with  comfort,  he  remained  quietly  on  the  sofa,  without  the  least 
apprehension  of  illness  beyond  a  temporary  affection  of  the  stomach,  which 
was  frequently  induced  by  travelling.  Towards  evening,  oppression  and 
nausea  increased,  and  early  on  Monday  his  physician  was  in  attendance, 
who  soon  pronounced  the  disease  Varioloid,  but  the  symptoms  favourable. 
Soon  after  the   Doctor  left   him,  he   took  his  pen   for   the   last   time,   and 


JAMES  DAVIS  KNOWLES.  7()9 

addressed  a  note  to  the  Puljlishors  of  tlic  Review.  Towards  eveniiig  tlie 
Doctor  called  again,  and  found  Iiini  .sitting  up  and  apparently  comfurtablc. 
On  Tuesday,  the  symptoms  were  more  unfavourable — the  swelling  incident 
to  the  disease  had  commenced,  and  the  eruption  assumed  a  livid  appear- 
ance. In  the  afternoon,  with  some  expression  of  regret  that  he  should 
probably  be  laid  aside  from  his  duties  "a  week  or  ten  days,"  at  the  junc- 
ture when  the  term  of  the  Institution  was  about  to  commence  and  the 
Review  was  in  press,  he  dictated  a  note  to  Dr.  Stow  for  assistance  in 
regard  to  the  proof-sheets.  Thus  were  his  latest  thoughts  given  to  the 
"  beloved  Institution,"  as  he  then  expressed  it,  and  to  the  kindred  labours 
which  he  hoped  might  promote  its  interests.  He  had  conversed  but  little 
during  his  illncbs,  on  account  of  the  uncomfortable  state  of  his  mouth  and 
tongue,  but  he  now  became  unusually  cheerful,  and  in  the  same  note  the 
writer  expressed  the  hope  that  the  crisis  of  the  disease  was  past,  and  he 
would  now  be  able  to  resume  his  duties. 

"  On  Wednesday,  May  0,  he  suffered  from  violent  pain,  the  precursor 
probably  of  mortification,  and  which  he  had  experienced  at  intervals  the 
previous  day.  The  Doctor  saw  him  towards  noon,  and,  on  leaving  him, 
remarked  to  him  that  he  would  probably  be  very  sick,  and  might  svish 
additional  advice,  but  he  cheerfully  declined  the  proposal,  and  requested 
him  to  call  again.  Soon  after  this,  he  became  more  restless,  and,  in  the 
temporary  absence  of  his  attendant,  left  his  bed  without  assistance  ;  but 
the  efifort  was  too  much  for  his  failing  strength.  Complaining  of  great 
coldness,  he  was  persuaded  to  lie  down  again,  and  it  was  then  that  his 
friends  first  perceived  the  powers  of  his  mind  to  falter.  His  thoughts,  for 
a  moment,  seemed  to  revert  to  those  topics  of  general  interest  which  would 
naturally  recur  to  the  mind  of  one  who  had  long  been  a  public  journalist. 
But,  partially  recovering,  he  became  somewhat  conscious  of  his  critical 
state,  immediately  adding,  — '  but  the  Lord  is  gracious  and  merciful ' — 
'  the  Lord  lift  up  the  light  of  his  countenance.'  Entire  unconsciousness 
then  ensued,  when  he  could  neither  reply,  or  give  sign  of  recognition,  in 
which  state  he  continued  till  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  he 
gently  expired.  A  few  hours  after  his  decease,  his  physician  returned, 
bringing  with  him  a  medical  gentleman  from  Boston,  eminent  for  his  skill 
in  the  disease,  and,  after  a  few  moments  of  consultation  in  the  chamber  of 
death,  it  was  pronounced  to  be  the  Confluent  Small  Pox,  of  the  worst  type. 
In  the  sad  retrospect  of  the  closing  scenes  of  his  life,  there  was  a  circum- 
stance, which,  though  simple  in  itself,  formed,  in  connection  with  subse- 
quent events,  a  somewhat  striking  coincidence. 

"  The  day  before  he  left  home  for  his  last  fatal  journey,  while  passing 
through  the  grounds  to  attend  public  worship,  ho  observed  the  springing 
vegetation,  and,  with  lifted  hand,  repeated,  with  earnest  emphasis,  these 
lines  of  Beattie  : — 

"  Shftll  I  be  left  forgotten  in  the  dust, 

"  When  Fate  relenting  lets  the  flower  revive  V 

"Shall  Nature's  voice,  to  man  alone  unjust, 

"Bid  him,  though  doom'd  to  perish,  hope  to  live  t  " 

"  The  incident  probably  would  never  have  been  recalled,  had  not  the 
troubled  spirit  sought  relief  in  the  glorious  doctrine  that  this  '  corruptible 
will  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  will  put  on  immortality.' " 


710  BAPTIST. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Mr.  Knowles'  publications  : — Perils  and  Safe- 
guards of  American  Liberty  :  Address  pronounced  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
at  the  Second  Baptist  Meeting  House  in  Boston,  at  the  Religious  Celebra. 
tion  of  the  Anniversary  of  American  Independence,  by  the  Baptist 
Churches  and  Societies  in  Boston,  1828.  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Ann  H. 
Judson,  late  Missionary  to  Burmah,  1829,  Spirituous  Liquors  Pernicious 
and  Useless  :  A  Fast  Sermon  delivered  at  Boston,  1829.  Importance  of 
Theological  Institutions  :  Address  before  the  Newton  Theological  Institu- 
tion, 1832.  Memoir  of  Roger  Williams,  the  Founder  of  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island,  1834, 

Mr.  Knowles  was  married  on  the  11th  of  January,  1826,  to  Susan 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Joshua  H.  Langley,  Esq.,  of  Providence.  They  had 
four  children, — two  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom,  with  their  mother, 
still  (1858)  survive, 

FROM  THE  REY.  BARON   STOW,  D.  D. 

Boston,  April  14,  1853. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir :  You  could  not  have  requested  of  me  a  more  agreeable 
service  than  to  give  you,  in  the  most  familiar  form,  such  facts  and  impressions 
as  my  memor}'  may  retain  with  respect  to  my  esteemed  and  lamented  brother, 
the  ReV.  James  D.  Knowles.  While  many  things  have  faded  from  my  recol- 
lection, his  personal  appearance,  his  many  virtues,  his  manner  of  life,  his 
uttered  opinions,  and  a  thousand  incidents,  extending  in  a  line  almost  con- 
tinuous through  a  period  of  nearly  sixteen  3^ears,  remain  in  all  their  original 
distinctness  and  vividness.  No  one  could  know  him,  as  I  did,  and  fail  to 
respect  him,  or  ever  forget  him. 

1  saw  him  first  on  the  Sabbath,  July  7,  1822,  at  the  Columbian  College,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  Sophomore  Class.  I 
had  arrived  late  on  Saturday  evening,  and  had  seen  none  of  the  officers  or 
students  until  I  entered  the  Chapel  in  the  morning  for  public  worship.  My 
attention  was  at  once  drawn  to  a  young  man,  who  occupied  what  seemed  to  be 
a  particular  seat  near  the  preacher's  desk.  He  was  a  little  better  dressed 
than  the  other  students,  a  little  neater  in  his  whole  appearance,  and 
more  dignified  in  his  whole  aspect.  Ilis  complexion  was  light,  his  f:\cc  regular, 
fair  and  apparently  beardless  as  a  woman's;  his  eye  mild  and  expressive  of 
gentlene-ss.  lie  was  too  young  to  be  a  Professor — he  might  be  a  Tutor.  When 
the  preacher, — a  theological  student,  by  the  name  of  Creath,  from  Yirginia, 
had  read  the  first  hymn,  he  passed  the  book  to  this  fair-haired  young  man  at 
his  left;  who  arose  and  read  two  lines,  and  the  audience  sang  them;  then  he 
read  two  more  which  were  sung,  and  so  through  the  hymn.  This  was  the 
first  time  I  had  witnessed  the  process  of  «' giving  out  the  lines."  I  inquired 
of  one  who  sat  next  to  me  for  the  name  of  "  that  good  looking  young  man." 
"  That  is  Mr.  Knowles,  the  Editor  of  the  Columbian  Star."  His  figure  was 
good,  but  a  little  divergence  from  the  perpendicular,  not  forward  or  laterally, 
but  backward,  gave  him  that  peculiar  air  which  hundreds  have  interpreted  as 
the  effect  of  pride.  His  attitude,  his  intonations,  a  slight  motion  of  his  right 
hand  as  he  read,  and  a  certain  configuration  of  the  muscles  about  his  mouth, 
produced  upon  my  own  mind  the  impression  that  he  was  not  A'ery  dei)endant 
upon  others  for  a  good  opinion  of  himself.  1  was  not  repelled;  but  I  felt  that, 
as  he  was  probably  my  superior,  so  he  w^ould  be  very  likely  to  keep  good  the 
difference.  In  a  word,  I  regarded  him  as  one  who  could  not  be  very  closely 
approached,  and  who  would  never  make  large  demands  upon  the  sympathy  of 
others. 


JAMES  DAVIS  KNOWLES.  722 

After  service,  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  K.  as  "  a  young  brother  from  New 
Hampshire."  He  met  me  courteously,  rather  kindly,  yet  with  something  that 
seemed  to  say, — "I  can  condescend;  it  is  a  Christian  dutj'."  As  he  left  the 
Chapel,  he  said,  "  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you  at  my  room,  No.  30,  and  intro- 
duce you  to  my  chum.  You  are  from  New  England;  so  am  1 — we  shall  soon 
get  acquainted."  If,  in  some  respects,  my  first  impression  was  conlirnied,  in 
others,  it  was  softened.  Within  twenty-four  hours,  1  found  that  lie  was 
greatly  respected  in  College,  and  had  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Faculty. 
Though  he  devoted  a  portion  of  his  time  to  the  editing  of  a  weekly  religious 
paper,  yet  he  was  the  first  scholar  in  his  class.  At  every  recitation  he  was 
the  most  thoroughly  prepared.  Without  anj'  aj)parcnt  preference  for  a  par- 
ticular branch  of  study,  he  was  good  in  all,  and  maintained,  througliout,  that 
equipoise  of  attainment,  which  is  productive  of  harmonious  development  and 
discipline.  If  he  excelled  in  any  department,  it  was  in  Eelles  Lettres.  From 
early  life,  he  had  read  extensively  the  best  authors  in  English  and  French 
literature,  by  which  his  mind  had  become  enriched  with  language,  his  taste 
highly  perfected,  and  his  style  formed  after  the  worthiest  models.  While  an 
operative  in  a  printing  office,  he  WM'ote  much  that  attracted  public  attention, 
and,  when  associated  with  the  late  Professor  Goddard,  of  Providence,  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Rhode  Island  American,  his  articles,  both  in  prose,  and  in  poetry, 
were  regarded  with  peculiar  ftxvour.  His"  earl}^  training,  therefore,  gave 
him,  while  in  College,  a  position  which  no  other  was  able  to  reach. 

Immediately  after  the  Sabbath  to  Avhich  I  have  referred,  a  long  vacation 
commenced.  Mr.  Knowles  M'ent  home  with  his  room-mate,  the  late  Rev. 
Noah  Uavis,  to  pass  a  few  weeks  on  the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland;  but 
returning  to  Washington  before  the  opening  of  the  term,  wo  met  ahnost  daily 
at  the  Star  office,  and  our  acquaintance  soon  ripened  into  friendship.  He 
made  no  professions  of  attachment;  but  I  never  had  occasion  to  question  its 
sincerity.  I  was  not  his  confidant;  I  doubt  whether  he  ever  had  more  than 
one;  but  I  always  understood  that  his  reserve  in  all  personal  matters  was  the 
result  of  constitutional  temperament,  rather  than  of  design. 

Subsequently,  as  Mr.  Davis  had  left  College,  Mr.  Knowles  proposed  to  me 
to  become  his  room-mate,  and  from  that  time  until  he  graduated  we  occupied 
No.  30.  His  room  was  the  neatest  in  the  edifice.  Every  thing  there  was 
orderly  and  quiet.  He  was  not  on  familiar  terms  with  many  of  the  students, 
and  his  room  was  never  the  resort  of  anj-  whose  societ}'  a  good  man  might  not 
covet.  His  cast  of  mind,  and  his  general  temperament,  were  different  from 
my  own;  but  wc  lived  together,  not  only  without  collision,  but  with  uninter- 
rupted harmony.  We  had  fixed  hours  for  rising  and  retiring,  for  study,  for 
general  reading,  for  recreation,  for  conversation,  for  devotion.  On  Sabbath 
evenings  we  ordinarily  went  together  to  Georgetown,  to  hear  the  Kev.  Charles  P. 
McIIvaine,  now  Bishop  of  Ohio,  whose  eloquent,  evangelical  discourses  w'ere 
refreshment  for  the  soul. 

During  this  period  of  our  special  intimacy,  while  my  respect  for  his  worth 
constantly  increased,  I  suflered  occasionally  from  his  apparent  inability  to 
sympathize  with  me  in  my  spiritual  conflicts  and  trials.  He  seemed  to  have 
had  no  experience  in  that  department.  His  disposition  was  remarkably  equa- 
ble and  uniform.  I  never  perceived  any  up  or  down  in  the  movement  of  his 
soul.  He  was  ever  just  about  so  happy,  taking  cheerful  views  of  Divine  Pro- 
vidence, and  expressing  no  doubts  as  to  the  validity  of  his  hope  of  eternal  life. 
The  atmosphere  that  surrounded  him  was  always  temperate.  He  seldom 
made  reference  to  his  own  feelings.  Of  his  religious  experience  I  knew 
nothing,  and  I  made  few  allusions  to  my  own;  for  I  suspected  that  he  could 
not  sympathize  with  it.  Yet  I  saw  that  he  loved  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath,  and 
prayer.     Not  a  hair's-breadth  did  I  ever  see  him   deviate  from   the  severest 


712  BAPTIST. 

morality.  It  seemed  natural  to  him  to  be  perfectly  just  in  both  speech  and 
action.  I  was  satisfied  that  he  had  the  elements  of  true  spirituality;  but 
they  lay  deep  in  his  nature,  and  I  often  regretted  that  they  were  not  allowed 
to  rise  to  the  surface,  and  give  a  savour  to  his  conversation.  His  lack  of 
transparency  was  a  negative  fact,  resulting  not  from  art,  but  from  his  consti- 
tution. He  was  sufficiently  social;  but  there  was  in  all  his  intercourse  with 
his  friends  an  air  of  dignity,,  that  kept  them  at  a  little  distance,  so  that,  while 
they  admirtd  him,  none  could  pretend  that  they  perfectly  knew  him.  lie 
doubtless  had  evils  in  his  nature,  but  they  were  not  visible.  I  never  met  with 
the  individual  in  whose  purity  of  mind  and  regard  for  the  exactly  true  and 
right  I  had  greater  confidence.  I  never  saw  in  him  the  slightest  breach  of 
propriety, — not  an  impure  word  or  allusion  did  I  ever  hear  from  his  lips.  He 
loathed  every  thing  of  the  kind,  and  firmly  discountenanced  it  in  others.  All 
meanness  he  despised;  true  manliness  he  admired  and  commended. 

After  his  graduation,  and  his  appointment  to  the  office  of  Tutor,  I  removed 
to  another  room;  but  our  intimacy,  though  externally  modified,  underwent 
no  real  change.  His  jjosition  rendered  a  seeming  reserve  necessary;  but  his 
heart  remained  in  the  same  place. 

When  he  became  the  Pastor  of  a  church,  he  entered  upon  duties  for  which 
he  had  endeavoured  to  prepare  himself,  and  of  whose  importance  he  had  very 
elevated  conceptions.  In  this  relation,  he  laboured  severely  and  successfully. 
He  was  often  misapprehended;  for  to  those  who  knew  him  not,  he  appeared 
to  be  the  subject  of  large  self-esteem,  and  was  therefore  thought  to  be  proud 
and  haughty.  But  I  have  never  seen  the  individual  whose  opportunities  for 
knowing  him  were  favourable,  who  denied  that  acquaintance  had  increased 
the  estimate  of  his  worthiness.  He  made  no  enemies;  many  loved  him;  all 
respected  him  as  a  man  of  purity,  probity,  intelligence,  and  judiciousness. 

Mr.  Knowles  excelled  as  a  writer.  As  a  public  speaker,  he  was  more  than 
fair;  but  his  pen  was  more  the  instrument  of  power  than  his  voice.  He  was 
accurate  without  being  precise;  elegant  without  being  ornate;  combining  a 
chaste  simplicity  with  sufficiency  of  strength.  His  style  was  Ionic  in  its  pro- 
perties, rather  than  Doric  or  Corinthian. 

In  character  he  was  distinguished  not  for  any  one  peculiar  trait,  but  for  a 
happy  combination  of  many  excellences.  A  more  perfectly  balanced  mind  is 
seldom  found.  Had  he  possessed  more  of  those  protuberances  of  character 
which  attract  attention  and  awaken  wonder,  his  memoir  might  have  been 
written  and  published.  But  his  completeness  as  a  whole,  and  the  sv/eet 
blending  of  his  qualities  in  beautiful  proportion,  rendered  it  impossible  for  the 
biographer  to  make  a  book,  such  as  the  highly  stimulated  taste  of  the  age 
demands.  Monuments  of  his  labour  as  an  author  will  long  survive  to  testify 
to  his  merit;  and  in  the  memories  of  all  who  knew  him  well,  his  unsullied 
virtues  will  remain  forever  enshrined. 

With  true  esteem,  I  am  j^ours, 

BARON   STOW. 


JOUN  EQUALITY  WESTON.  7^3 


JOHN  EQUALITY  WESTON  * 

1822—1881. 

John  Equality!  Weston,  a  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Boutelle)  Wes- 
ton, was  born  in  Amherst,  N.  H.,  on  the  13th  of  October,  179G.  His 
parents,  shortly  after  his  birth,  removed  to  Heading,  Mass.,  where  his  boy- 
hood and  earlv  youth  were  passed  in  attending  school  and  labouring  on  a 
small  farm  which  his  father  had  inherited.  His  ancestors,  for  several  gene- 
rations, are  known  to  have  been  exemplary  professors  of  religion,  and  his 
parents  were  both  members  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Reading, 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Sanborn.  He  was  early  trained 
to  habits  of  obedience,  industry,  economy,  and  the  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  His  mother  died  when  he  was  about  twelve  years  old  ;  and,  in 
about  a  year  afterwards,  his  father  gave  him  another  mother,  who  was 
equally  careful  and  tender  in  conducting  his  education  with  the  one  he  had 
lost.  At  about  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  became,  hopefully,  a  subject  of 
renewing  grace,  and  showed  himself  at  once  disposed  to  a  life  of  great 
Christian  activity. 

A  year  or  two  after  this,  he  left  home,  and  went  to  live  in  Boston,  where 
he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  printer's  trade.  After  having  served  his 
apprenticeship,  he  worked  at  the  trade  several  years,  and,  in  1819,  in  con- 
nection with  a  Mr.  True,  started  the  first  Baptist  newspaper  in  America, — 
the  "Christian  Watchman."  Some  time  previous  to  this,  he  had  become 
acquainted  with  some  excellent  people  in  Boston,  who  were  Baptists  ;  and, 
though  he  had  been  educated  in  the  Congregational  Church,  he  came  to 
adopt  the  Baptist  views,  and  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  church  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sharp. 

He  now  became  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was  his  duty  to  devote 
himself  to  the  Gospel  ministry.  He,  accordingly,  commenced  a  course  of 
study  under  Dr.  Bolles,  of  Salem,  and,  in  1822,  entered  the  Columbian 
College,  at  AVashington,  D.  C.  ;  but  he  was  interrupted  in  his  studies  by 
the  failure  of  liis  health.  He  was  licensed  to  preach,  as  appears  by  a  cer- 
tificate from  Dr.  Sharp,  as  early  as  1822.  After  closing  prematurely  his 
college  course,  he  spent  two  years  as  a  theological  student  at  Andover, 
and  one  year  at  Newton,  being  a  member  of  the  first  class  that  entered  the 
Newton  Institution.  In  1827,  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  East  Cambridge,  and  continued  in  this  relation  till  his  death. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2,  1831,  Mr.  Weston  loft  Lynn,  in 
company  with  his  brother-in-law,  Deacon  J.  Batchcller,  for  Nashua,  N. 
H.,  where  he  was  engaged  to  preach  the  next  day.  While  passing  through 
the  town  of  Wilmington,  they  stopped  at  a  pond,  on  the  road,  to  water  their 
horse.  A  short  distance  from  the  edge  of  the  pond,  there  was  a  steep 
declivity,  of  some  thirty  feet.     Being  unacquainted  with  the   place,  they 

•  Christian  Watchman,  1831. — MSS.  from  his  family. 

t  Mr.  Weston's  father  was  a  combination  of  the  Puritan  and  Democrat,  and  80  named  all  hu 
children  either  religiously  or  politically.  This  son  had  originally  only  the  name  Equality;  but, 
when  he  became  of  age,  he  took  the  additional  name,  John. 

Vor..  Vr.  90 


714 


BAPTIST. 


drove  in  too  far.  As  they  turned  to  come  out,  the  carriage  began  to  sink, 
and  Mr.  Weston  immediately  left  it,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Batcheller. 
"Can  you  swim?" — said  Mr.  B. ;  "I  cannot,"  replied  Mr.  W.,  and  at 
the  same  moment  began  to  sink,  without  apparently  making  any  effort  to 
.save  himself.  Mr.  B.  cauglit  him  by  the  collar,  and  endeavoured  to  swim 
with  him  to  the  shore,  but,  finding  that  he  made  no  progress,  and  that  he 
was  actually  sinking  with  him,  he  relinquished  his  hold,  and  strove  for  liis 
own  preservation.  On  reaeliing  the  shore,  he  stripped  off  his  clothing, 
and  returned  in  search  of  his  brother;  but  alas!  he  had  sunk  beyond  his 
reach.  In  the  course  of  thirty  or  forty  minutes  the  body  was  recovered, 
but  life  had  become  extinct.  The  remains  were  conveyed  to  Lynn  for 
burial,  and  a  Funeral  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  llev.  Dr.  Sharp,  of 
Boston. 

Mr.  Weston  was  married,  in  1819^  to  Hetty  Batcheller,  of  Lynn,  by 
whom  he  had  five  children, — four  sons  and  one  daughter.  One  son, 
(^Francis  Wayland,)  after  graduating  at  Brown  University  in  1847,  and 
spending  two  years  at  the  University  of  Halle,  died  just  as  manhood  was 
opening  to  him  its  fairest  prospects.  Another  son  (Henry  Griggs)  was 
graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1840,  and  is  now  (1859)  Pastor  of  a 
Baptist  church  in  Peoria,  111.  Mrs.  Weston  died  at  the  house  of  this  son, 
in  Peoria,  in  May,  185G. 

FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

Paterson,  N.  J.,  November  18,  1858. 

My  dear- Sir:  ]\Iy  earliest  recollections  of  the  late  Rev.  John  E.  Weston, 
are  connected  with  his  commencing  the  publication  of  the  Christian  Watch- 
man, in  company  with  another  young  man, — Mr.  True.  This  was  the  first 
experiment  ever  made  of  publishing  a  Baptist  Weekly  newspaper;  and, 
although  it  was  a  verj^  small  sheet,  the  enterprise  awakened  much  sympathy 
and  interest  for  the  young  men  Avho  had  assumed  such  a  responsibility.  This 
was  nearly  forty  years  since,  and  Mr.  Weston  must  then  have  been  very 
)''oung.  Within  a  year  or  two,  their  printing  establishment  was  burnt,  occa- 
sioning them  some  loss,  and  much  inconvenience.  This  stimulated  me  (being 
then  a  student  in  College)  to  make  a  vigorous  effort  to  increase  their  list  of 
subscribers.  And  when  I  went  to  Boston  in  1820  or  '21,  I  met  the  good 
brother  for  the  first  time,  and  heard  him  express,  in  his  quiet  way,  the  grati- 
tude he  felt  for  such  assistance. 

We  next  met  in  1822  or  '23  at  the  Columbian  College,  where  he  then  entered 
the  preparatory  department  with  a  view  to  fit  himself  as  soon  as  possible  for 
entering  the  Theological  Seminary;  for  he  had  already  been  licensed  to  preach, 
as  was  tlien  common  in  Baptist  Churches,  espcciall_y  when  the  candidate  com- 
menced his  studies  in  mature  years.  I  very  distinctly  recollect  the  sermon  I 
first  heard  him  preach — it  was  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Washington,  a 
few  weeks  after  he  entered  the  College.  The  text  was,  "There  i-emaineth 
therefore  a  rest  for  the  people^of  God;"  and  the  first  sentences,  which  he 
uttered  in  his  usual  solemn,  impressive  manner,  are  still  fresh  in  my  memorj'. 

He  did  not  recite  to  me  in  any  of  his  studies;  but  in  my  official  rounds  I 
visited  him  in  his  room — not  distant  from  my  own — quite  frequently.  There 
I  began  to  learn  the  great  worth  and  excellence  of  that  most  unassuming  man. 
I  think  he  was  even  then  married,  and  had  left  his  family  behind  him  in  New 
England,  while  he  came  to  spend  a  year  or  two  at  Washington.  Thus  earl}- 
did  he  evince  his  cheerful  self-denial  in  the  service  of  Christ.     To  follow  Jesus 


JOHN  EQUALITY   UKSTOX.  7I5 

iu  all  his  iiuitable  excellences  seemed  then  and  ever  his  liigh  and  steadfast 
aim.  He  was  very  studious  and  entirely  successful  in  his  intellectual  ellorts. 
Without  apparcntl}'  one  thought  of  display  or  one  aspiration  for  brilliancy, 
he  was  all  tlie  time  nnxking  good  progress  in  sound  learning. 

1  left  him  in  tlie  College  at  the  end  of  the  summer  session  of  l!S2i>.  When 
I  went  to  New  England  three  years  later,  1  found  him  a  student  in  Newton 
Theological  Institution;  and  the  following  autumn,  ^October,  1827,  1  think,) 
It  was  my  privilege  to  be  present  at  hiii  ordination,  as  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Kast  Cambridge,  Mass.  They  were  a  small  band  recently  consti- 
tuted, and  had  but  just  erected  for  themselves  a  place  of  worship. 

llencefv>rlh  we  were  neighbouring  young  pastors,  often  meeting  and  fully 
sympathizing  with  each  other.  I  regarded  him  then  as  a  model  pastor — so 
devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  little  tlock,  so  conscientious  and  devout  and 
earnest,  and  yet  so  oblivious  of  his  own  temporal  case,  so  insensible  apparently 
of  his  own  rare  excellence,  so  modest  and  quiet,  and  disposed  even  to  look  for 
the  lowest  scat. 

Though  a  very  studious  and  growing  man,  yet,  as  his  health  was  not  very 
vigorous,  and  he  was  both  constitutionall}'  and  from  principle  and  habit  one 
of  the  most  unobtrusive  of  men,  he  was  far  from  being  duly  appreciated.  It 
used  to  be  remarked  that  if  he  and  liis  excellent  neighbour  D. — the  latter  as 
bold  as  the  former  was  retiring — could  interchange  some  of  their  peculiarities, 
both  would  be  improved.  To  those  most  intimate  with  him  his  earnest 
piety, — his  rapidly  increasing  conformity  to  Christ,  exhibiting  itself  espe- 
cially in  his  work  as  a  Christian  Minister,  appeared,  perhaps,  his  most  promi- 
nent characteristic.  In  reference  to  this  period  of  his  life,  his  son,  the  Rev. 
Henry  C  Weston,  of  Peoria,  111.,  writes  thus: — 

'•  The  great  impression  made  on  me  by  my  father  was  that  he  was  a  man 
of  God.  Every  remembrance  of  him  is  one  of  piety.  It  was  a  common 
thing  for  me,  if  I  went  round  the  corner  of  the  house  where  his  study  was 
situated,  to  hear  him  engaged  in  prayer.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jacobs,*  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  a  sermon  preached  the  next  Sabbath  after  my  father's  death, 
remarked  that  he  was  the  most  like  Enoch  of  any  man  he  ever  knew.  Of  his 
preaching  I  retain  no  distinct  impression,  lie  died  when  I  was  in  my  eleventh 
year;  and  so  powerful  was  his  parental  inllucnce  that,  though  he  said  com- 
paratively little  to  me,  I  have  never  been  able  to  recollect  an  instance  in  which 
I  knowingly  disobeyed  him." 

It  is  not  half  as  strange  as  it  is  lamentable  that  a  young,  ambitious  Society, 
brought  into  sharp  competition  witli  other  neighbouring  churches  struggling 
for  pre-eminence,  should  think,  and  some  of  the  less  considerate  should  sa^', — 
«<  We  need  a  more  brilliant  man, — one  that  will  be  more  attractive  to  the  mul- 
titude." Yet  they  could  not  but  acknowledge  how  holy,  unblamable,  affec- 
tionate, faithful,  even  able  and  successful  too,  had  been  his  ministry  among 
them.     One  of  the  converts  whom  he  baptized  and  welcomed  to  tlie  fellowship 

•  Bela  Jacobs  was  born  in  1786,  in  the  town  of  Dighton,  Mass.  At  tlie  ngo  of  seventeen 
bo  was  converted,  und  was  baptized  in  Somerset,  by  the  llev.  Joshii.a  Dradley.  then  I'astor  of 
a  Cburcli  in  Newport.  In  1807,  he  commenced  study  with  the  Itev.  -Mr.  \Villiaiiis,  in  ^Vrcn- 
tbam;  and  continued  with  him  a  little  more  than  a  year.  lie  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry  in  Somerset,  July  u,  1809.  Here  be  remained  between  two  and  three  years,  when  be 
removed  to  I'awtuxet,  where  ho  laboured  for  seven  years-  In  1818,  he  became  I'astor  of  the 
Daptist  Church  at  Cambridge,  Mass.  In  this  place,  for  fifteen  years,  his  Pastorate  \Nas  most 
prosperous  and  pleasant.  The  two  years  succeeding  his  resignation  at  Cambridge  he  spent 
HS  Secretary  of  the  Western  I-Mucation  Society.  In  Augu.st,  is:j.0,  he  beeanio  I'astor  of  the 
liaptist  Church  in  East  Cambridge.  lie  served  tbeni  but  a  few  months  before  his  Master 
called  him  home.  On  Sabbath  morning.  May  22,  ]8:JC,  he  rode  to  church  as  usual  with  his 
wife.  He  had  just  driven  up  to  the  steps  of  the  church,  when  the  bell,  having  been  set,  again 
struck,  which  so  frightened  the  horse,  that  he  sprang  forward  and  ran  furiously,  bringing  the 
chaise  in  contact  with  the  corner  of  a  building  near  the  church.  The  head  of  .Mr.  Jacobs 
struck  against  the  building,  which  produced  a  fracture  of  the  skull,  and  he  survived  only  about 
one  hour. 


7io  BAPTIST. 

of  the  East  Cambridge  Charch,  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Einney,  so  distinguished  as 
a  Missionary  among  the  Karens.  But  neither  his  judgment  nor  his  feelings 
would  permit  him  to  retain  his  charge  against  the  wishes  of  any  considerable 
number  of  his  people,  and,  therefore,  within  less  than  four  years  from  his 
settlement,  he  resigned  it.  With  such  a  sweet,  humble,  self-renouncing  spirit 
did  he  take  this  painful  step,  that  it  only  served  to  endear  him  the  more  to 
those  Avhom  he  was  leaving.  Even  those  who  had  desired  a  change  seemed 
half  convinced  of  their  mistake. 

Shortly  after  he  resigned  his  charge,  the  Baptist  Churches  in  Salem  held 
unitedly  a  series  of  religious  services,  occupying  four  consecutive  days  and 
nights.  Neighbouring  ministers  were  all  invited,  and  a  large  part  of  them 
accepted  the  invitation.  Among  them  was  our  excellent  and  much  loved 
Weston.  The  morning  of  the  last  of  those  solemn  days  had  come,  and, 
instead  of  the  usual  sermon,  the  time  was  occupied  by  a  free  conference. 
Several  had  spoken — some  had  acknowledged  with  deep  humiliation  their 
grievous  backslidings — others,  particularly  some  young  men  from  Boston,  had 
appealed,  in  all  the  fervour  of  their  first  love  to  the  Saviour,  to  their  young 
friends,  to  avail  themselves  at  once  of  the  free  salvation.  The  tall  form  of 
Weston  at  length  arose.  I  Avished  him  to  occupy  my  pulpit,  but  he  preferred 
to  stand  on  the  platform  below  it,  and  for  some  fifteen  minutes  he  poured  out 
his  heart  in  words  of  such  pathos  and  power  as  I  scarcely  ever  heard  from 
human  lips.  lie  evidently  sought  to  concentrate  all  which  had  been  so  well 
and  powerfully  said  before;  and,  turning  the  united  rays  in  focal  intensity  on 
the  minds  and  hearts  around  him,  it  really  seemed  as  though  nothing  could 
withstand  the  appeal.  The  venerable  Dr.  Sharp,  in  a  discourse  which  had 
preceded,  had  spoken  of  a  lovely  daughter,  deaf  and  dumb,  who,  in  that 
revival, — perhaps  the  very  day  before, — had  replied  to  her  father's  earnest 
inquiry  whether  she  did  not  love  the  Saviour,  by  exhibiting  the  end  of  her 
little  finger, — a  sign  which  she  accompanied  with  tears, — as  an  indication  that 
she  hoped  that  she  loved  him  a  little.  Brother  Weston  referred  to  this  most 
aflecting  case;  and  then,  in  an  indescribable  tone  of  earnestness  and  solem- 
nity, said, — "  Oh  how  many  of  you  cannot,  dare  not,  with  j'^our  enhanced 
privileges,  say  that  you  love  the  Saviour  even  a  little!  How  then  will  that 
dumb  child  condemn  you  in  the  judgment!"  I  thought  then,  and  have  ever 
since  felt  assured,  that  he  made  that  appeal  with  eternity  full  in  view,  and 
under  a  measure  of  the  Spirit's  influence,  which,  alas,  is  very  rarely  experi- 
enced. This  proved  to  be  his  last  message;  for  at  the  very  same  hour  the 
next  morning  he  was  drowned.  The  mournful  tidings  reached  me  the  follow- 
ing day  (Sabbath)  at  noon;  and,  as  I  stood  up,  in  the  very  place  where  the 
solemn  tones  of  his  last  mes.sage  .seemed  still  to  vibrate  on  our  cars,  to 
announce  the  startling  fact  that  he  was  no  more  on  earth, — that  he  had  been 
summoned  by  that  Saviour  whom  he  loved  and  served  so  well  to  render  up 
his  final  account, — to  make  report  about  how  he  had  warned  and  entreated 
us,  all  our  hearts  were  greatly  moved.  It  was  an  occasion  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. Some,  I  trust,  will  thank  him  in  eternity  for  that  last  most  faithful 
and  impressive  message. 

Mr.  Weston  was  of  dark  cornplexion,  witli  black  hair  and  eyes,  very 
tall,  but  attenuated  and  stooping.  His  voice  was  deep  and  mellow  rather 
than  musical.  His  whole  bearing  on  the  Sabbath  and  through  the  week,  in 
the  pulpit,  in  the  family,  and  in  the  street,  was  indicative  of  the  deep  and 
almost  crushing  sense  he  had  of  the  responsibility  of  his  office.  In  these 
respects  I  can  trulv  say  that  I  have  never  known  his  superior.  His  fervent 
piety  still  diffuses  its  delicious  fragrance  in  every  circle  in  which  ho  was  known. 

Yours  truly, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


JOHN  S.  WILLSON.  *Jl^ 

JOHN  S.  WILLSON.=* 

1822—1836. 

John  S.  Wilt.son  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Ky.,  on  the  lofli  of 
July,  1705.  While  he  was  yet  an  infant,  his  parents  moved  into  Adair 
County,  and  settled  near  the  town  of  Columbia.  His  excellent  Christiaii 
mother  guarded  him  with  great  care  against  temptation  during  his  childhood 
and  early  youth;  and  the  influence  of  her  instructions  and  example, 
though  subsequently  for  a  time  counteracted  and  interrupted,  had 
undoubtedly  much  to  do  in  ultimately  determining  his  character.  When 
ho  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  his  propensities  to  evil  began  to 
develope  themselves  in  great  strength,  and  though,  at  first,  they  had  to 
maintain  a  severe  conflict  with  a  wakeful  conscience,  and  the  recollections 
of  his  mother's  counsels  and  prayers,  yet  the  former  gradually  gained  the 
victory,  and  every  thing  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  stripling  had  set  out 
on  a  course  of  confirmed  irreligion.  During  two  sad  years  of  wandering, 
the  eye  and  the  heart  of  his  mother  were  never  withdrawn  from  him ;  nor 
did  she  at  any  time  altogether  despair  of  his  recovery  to  the  paths  of  vir- 
tue. At  length,  she  was  permitted  to  see  this  strongest  desire  of  her 
heart  accomplished.  As  John  was  hearing  a  pungent  sermon  from  the 
Uev.  Isaac  Hodgen,  he  became  suddenly  aroused  to  a  conviction  of  his 
guilt  and  danger,  and  began  to  seek  with  great  earnestness  the  salvation  of 
his  soul.  After  a  short  time,  he  was  brought  to  rest  in  the  gracious 
promises  of  the  Gospel,  and  was  baptized  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Gilead 
Church,  by  its  Pastor,  under  whose  faithful  preaching  he  had  been 
awakened.     This  occurred  when  he  was  in  his  eighteenth  year. 

Mr.  Willson,  when  in  his  twenty-third  year,  was  married  to  Martha 
Waggener, — a  young  lady  whose  views  and  feelings  were  eminently  con- 
genial with  his  own,  and  who  proved  herself  worthy  to  share  the  trials  and 
responsibilities  of  his  future  life. 

For  the  first  four  years  after  Mr.  Willson's  conversion,  he  seems  to  have 
had  an  almost  uninterrupted  course  of  Christian  enjoyment ;  but  there  is 
no  evidence  that,  during  the  ten  years  immediately  succeeding  that  period,  he 
had  any  idea  of  entering  the  ministry.  In  1822,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven, 
he  was  evidently  baptized  afresh  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and  so  far 
overcame  his  constitutional  difiidence  as  to  ofi"er  a  word  of  exhortation  in 
the  prayer-meeting  and  conference.  The  Church,  being  deeply  impressed, 
as  well  by  the  ability  as  the  zeal  which  he  manifested,  proposed  to  him  (o 
enter  the  ministry,  and  actually  gave  him  a  license  to  preach.  His  first 
efi"orts  in  the  pulpit  commanded  great  attention,  and  were  blessed  to  the 
awakening  of  sinners,  and  the  quickening  and  edifying  of  the  church. 

After  preaching  some  time  as  a  licentiate,  he  was  ordained  to  the  work 
of  the  tninistry,  and  accepted  a  call  to  become  the  Pastor  of  LelKiiion 
€hurch,  Todd  County,  Ky.  Here  a  revival  soon  commenced  under  his 
ministry,  which  brought  members  into  the  church,  while  it  increased,  not  a 
little,  its  spirituality  and  efficiency. 

*  Christian  Repository,  1856. 


718  BAPTIST. 

In  1833,  while  Mr.  Willson  was  acting  as  an  Agent  for  tlie  Bible 
Society,  he  became  acquainted  with  tlie  brethren  of  the  Clmreh  in  Louis- 
ville; and  they  were  so  much  struck  with  his  simplicity,  earnestness,  and 
ability  to  be  useful,  that  they  unanimously  invited  him  to  become  their 
Pastor.  He  accepted,  and  soon  moved  to  his  new  field  of  labour.  Here 
he  showed  himself  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  his  Master's  service. 
The  Church  flourished  greatly  under  his  ministrations,  and  the  more  he 
became  known,  the  more  were  his  talents,  piety,  and  ministerial  fidelity 
appreciated. 

Mr,  Willson's  labours,  during  the  whole  period  of  his  ministry,  took  a 
wide  range,  and  many  churches  and  neighbourhoods,  beside  those  with 
which  he  was  more  immediately  connected,  shared  his  faithful  services. 
In  Elkton,  in  the  Bethel  and  Union  Churches,  in  Christian  County,  not 
less  than  three  hundred  are  supposed  to  have  made  a  profession  of  religion 
in  connection  with  his  labours.  In  Western  and  Central  Kentucky  it  is 
said  that  traces  of  his  ministry  are  still  distinctly  perceptible.  In  May 
and  June,  188.5,  he  had  a  principal  agency  in  conducting  a  meeting  of 
fifteen  days'  continuance  at  Shelbyville,  in  connection  with  which  a  revival 
of  great  power  took  place,  which  spread  to  several  other  places  in  the 
region,  and  is  supposed  to  have  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  not  less  than 
twelve  hundred  persons. 

In  August,  1886,  Mr.  Willson  left  Louisville,  to  spend  a  little  time 
in  relaxation  ;  but  such  was  his  zeal  in  the  service  of  his  Master, 
that  he  found  it  difficult  to  intermit  his  labours  even  for  a  brief  period. 
At  Elizabethtown  he  was  extremely  feeble,  but  he  kept  preaching  with 
undiminished  fervour.  At  length  he  commenced  his  homeward  jour- 
ney, but  quickly  found  that  his  strength  was  hardly  adequate  to  the 
prosecution  of  it.  After  stopping  a  short  time  at  Shepherdsville,  however, 
where  it  became  apparent  that  death  had  marked  him  as  his  victim,  he 
proceeded  slowly  on  his  way,  and  at  length  reached  his  much  loved  home. 
His  mother,  who,  he  had  supposed,  would  be  there  to  welcome  him,  was  there 
indeed,  but  was  lying  in  her  grave-clothes.  But  he  met  the  disappoint- 
ment with  cheerful  resignation  ;  and  the  same  spirit  he  evinced  in  respect 
to  his  own  sufl'erings  and  prospects.  His  family  physician  urged  him  to 
try  yet  one  more  prescription  ;  but,  shaking  his  head,  he  whispered, — "  The 
Lord  calls  me  home — no  remedy  will  avail."  Said  the  physician,  who  was 
not  a  religious  man, — "  Mr.  Willson,  I  have  prayed  from  my  soul  to  God. 
to  bless  this  medicine  to  your  recovery,  that  God  may  make  you  yet  the 
instrument  of  my  soul's  salvation."  The  dying  man  could  not  resist  this 
suggestion — he  opened  his  eyes  and  said, — "  I'll  take  the  medicine — to  be 
useful  I  am  willing  to  live  and  labour."  But  the  process  of  dying  went 
on,  and,  after  a  little  while,  he  uttered  the  words, — "  0  Jesus,  my  Saviour, 
I  know  thou  art  mine,"  and  expired.  He  died  on  the  28th  of  August, 
183G,  aged  forty-one  years. 

From  a  biographical  article  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Christian  Reposi- 
tory, written  by  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Ford,  it  would  appear  that  Mr.  Willson 
was  eminently  consistent  and  dignified  in  his  deportment,  had  an  expansive 
and  generous  spirit,  and  was  remarkably  free  from  the  love  of  notoriety, 
as  well  as  the  least  approach  to  affectation.     His  ruling  passion  evidently 


JOHN  S.  WILLSON.  719 

was  to  live  anil  laliour  in  the  serviec  ami  for  (lie  honour  of  the  JMastcr  to 
whom  he  had  devoted  hiniself.  His  ministry  was  an  uncommonly  effective 
one,  and  both  his  personal  and  official  character  commanded  high  respect 
wherever  he  was  known. 


THE  GILLETTES. 

Philander  Dunham  Gillette.     1822-184.5. 
Daniel  Holbrook  Gillette.        1834-1845. 

FROM  THE  REV.  A.  D.  GILLETTE,  D.  D. 

New  York,  Juno  20,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  Your  request  for  some  account  of  my  two  lamented 
brothers,  the  Rev.  Philander  Dunham  Gillette,  and  the  Rev.  Daniel  Hol- 
brook Gillette,  I  cheerfully  comply  with,  believing,  as  I  do,  that  they  both 
possessed  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  and  rendered  services  to  the  Church 
of  Christ,  which  justly  entitle  them  to  be  held  in  enduring  remembrance. 

Philander  Dunham  Gillette,  the  second  child  and  eldest  son  of 
Dr.  Fidclio  Buckingham  Gillette,  and  Tubitha  Dunham,  his  wife,  was  born 
in  Piscataway,  N.  J.,  on  the  8th  of  January,  179.3.*  The  family  was  of 
Huguenot  extraction.  His  paternal  grandmother  was  the  daughter  of  Lt. 
Governor  Ruckingham,  of  Connecticut.  His  parents,  within  a  few  months 
after  his  birth,  removed  to  Cambridge,  Washington  County,  N.  Y. 

During  his  infancy  and  childhood,  he  was  very  feeble,  insomuch  that  his 
parents  had  little  hope  that  he  would  survive  to  mature  age.  Having  spent 
some  of  his  early  years  at  a  district  school,  he  was  transferred  to  an 
Academy  ;  and,  at  seventeen,  was  elected  teacher  of  the  district  school 
near  his  father's  residence.  Here  he  continued  till  the  commencement  of 
the  war  of  1812,  when,  under  a  patriotic  and  martial  impulse,  he  joined  a 
company  of  young  men,  formed  in  Cambridge,  under  command  of  one  of 
his  personal  friends.  On  joining  tlicir  regiment,  the  Colonel  appointed  him 
one  of  his  staff,  and  placed  him  on  hor.seback, — a  position  the  most  favour- 
able to  his  health  of  any  that  could  have  been  chosen.  In  this  service  he 
continued  until  the  restoration  of  Peace. 

•  The  fixmily  of  Gillette  has  been  dislinguishcj  in  this  country  for  its  Inrge  number  of  min- 
isters of  different  ilenominations.  The  greut-giamjfather  of  Pliilandrr  D.,  uiis  AVilliam  (Jil- 
LETTK,  II  native  of  France,  who,  in  bis  own  country,  was  both  a  clergyman  an. I  )ihysic-iun.  In 
consequence  of  his  continuing  to  preach  the  Gospel,  in  spite  of  Papal  proliilpition,  he  was  ban- 
ished friini  his  oountry,  his  property  confiscated,  and  his  life  exposed  to  iinniincit  danger.  He 
came  to  America,  and  the  first  we  hear  concerning  him  is  that  he  was  married  in  Milford,  Conn., 
on  the  14th  of  November,  1722,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Welch.  He  early  u-onimenced 
the  practice  of  Medicine  here,  and,  after  acquiring  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  language, 
resumed  his  labours  as  a  Minister  also.  Tradition  states  that  he  preached  occasionally  at  ^lil- 
ford,  Saybrook,  and  on  Long  Island,  and  sometimes  extended  his  visits  to  New  York  city,  and 
Piscataway.  in  New  .Icrsey.  He  died  at  Lyme,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two.  lie  was  distinguished 
for  his  zeal,  self-denial,  and  eccentricity. 

Ei.iSHA  Oii.Lr.TTK,  the  son  of  William,  and  the  grandfather  of  Philander  D.,  was  born  in 
Milford,  Conn.,  August  17.  K-'JS.  After  reaching  mature  years,  ho  was  licenso.l  to  preach  the 
(xospel,  and  itinerated  extensively  in  Connecticut,  New  York,  including  Long  L-hind,  and  New 
Jersey,  for  many  years.  He  was  ordained  in  Piscataway  in  t')ct'iber,  17S0.  He  established  a 
Church  at  Oyster  Pond,  L.  I.,  of  which  he  had  the  pastoral  charge  for  sevoral  years.  He 
preached  a  .Sermon  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Second  Meeting  ll'iusc  "f  the  Prejbyteriiiii  Congre- 
gation in  Orient,  in  1817,  when  he  was  eighty-four  years  of  age.  He  died  near  Patchogue,  L. 
I.,  in  1820.     He  was  distinguished  for  earnest  piety,  and  untiring  dcA-olion  to  his  work. 


720  BAPTIST. 

Previous  to  his  cutcriiig  tlic  army,  he  had  commenced  the  study  of  Modi- 
cine  under  liis  father,  and  he  resumed  it  on  his  return  home.  But,  the 
climate  not  being  favourable  to  his  health,  he  went  to  Cumberland  County, 
N.  J.,  to  reside  with  his  mother's  sister,  and  there  prosecuted  his  classical 
studies  under  the  Rev.  Josiah  Shepherd,  by  whom  he  was  baptized  into  the 
Salem  Baptist  Church,  at  a  yearly  meeting,  in  June,  1818. 

Having  become  coiiviiieed  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel,  he 
went  to  Philadelphia,  and  placed  himself  under  the  theological  instruction 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton.  After  completing  his  course  of  study,  he  was 
ordained  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Warwick,  Orange  County,  N.Y., 
on  the  23d  of  June,  1822.  The  next  year  he  was  married  to  Harriet, 
daughter  of  the  late  Jeffrey  Wisner,  Esq.,  of  that  town. 

In  182G,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Newtown,  (now  Elmira,)  Chemung 
County,  N.  Y.;  and  there,  and  in  that  vicinity,  spent  more  than  twenty  years. 
He  was  instrumental  in  founding  the  now  flourishing  Baptist  Church  in 
Elmira,  and  several  others  in  the  surrounding  country.  He  laboured  most 
of  the  time  without  pecuniary  compensation,  supporting  his  family  from 
his  own  limited  private  resources. 

The  Third  Church  in  Philadelphia  were  induced,  at  the  suggestion  of 
their  dying  Pastor,  the  Rev.  W.  E.  Ashton,  to  give  my  brother,  who  had 
been  a  fellow-student  of  his,  a  call  to  become  their  Pastor;  and  he  actually 
accepted  it  :  but  he  found  the  confined  air  of  the  city  so  uncongenial,  not 
only  to  his  taste,  but  to  his  health,  that,  within  about  a  year,  he  felt  con- 
strained to  resign  his  charge,  and  seek  for  another  country  residence.  He, 
accordingly,  removed  to  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  where  he  laboured,  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  people,  for  about  three  years.  Thence  he  removed 
to  Union  Village,  and  became  the  successor  of  the   Rev.  Edward   Barber. 

During  all  this  time,  the  Valley  of  the  Chemung  River  was  far  more 
attractive  to  him  than  any  other  field  ;  and,  after  declining  calls  to  several 
churches  which  were  regarded  as  highly  eligible,  he  returned  to  this  scene 
of  his  early  labours,  where  he  passed  a  few  more  years  of  unwearied  and 
faithful  service,  and  died,  in  great  peace,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1845. 

My  brother  was  an  acceptable,  earnest  preacher,  fervent  in  devotion,  and 
always  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  his  Master's  service.  He  had  a 
rich  vein  of  cheerful  humour,  which  always  secured  for  him  a  welcome  at 
the  social  fireside  of  the  early  settlors  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  where 
the  greater  part  of  his  ministerial  life  was  passed.  But  the  Christian 
spirit  prevailed,  and  made  him  prompt  to  avail  himself  of  every  opportu- 
nity to  commend  the  religion  of  Jesus  to  all  with  whom  he  mingled.  He 
was  distinguished  especially  for  sound  judgment,  and  high  executive  ability. 
He  was  generally  Moderator  of  the  Councils  he  attended,  and  presidoil 
over  the  Chemung  Association  many  years.  He  was  eminently  a  lover 
and  promoter  of  peace.  The  grateful  influence  of  his  ministry  still  lingers 
in  many  memories  and  hearts. 


Danikl  Holbrook  Gillette,  the  tenth  child  and  fifth  son  of  Dr. 
Fidclio  Buckingham  and  Tabitha  Dunham  Gillette,  was  born  in  Camb'-idge, 
N.  Y.,  March  25,  1813.     In  his   childhood,  he   evinced  an  uncou^monly 


THE  GILLETTES.  721 

amiable  and  goutlo  spirit,  and  wltluil  some  pretty  decided  tendencies 
towards  the  profession  to  which,  in  his  niaturcr  years,  he  devoted  himself. 
At  the  age  of  seven,  his  father  was  suddenly  taken  from  him  by  death  ; 
and,  soon  after,  he  was  taken  into  the  family  of  his  eldest  living  sister, 
(Mrs.  Taflt,)  who,  with  her  husband,  watched  over  him  with  a  solicitude 
and  afl'ection  truly  parental.  Soon  after  he  became  connected  with  this 
family,  they  removed  about  fifty  miles  farther  North,  and  settled  at  Dres- 
den, amidst  the  enchanting  scenery  bordering  upon  Lake  George. 

In  this  place  he  spent  several  of  his  early  years.  But,  as  there  were 
scarcely  any  advantages  for  education  here,  beyond  tliose  which  were 
strictly  domestic,  he  went,  when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year,  to  a  school 
at  the  village  of  Hague,  on  the  Western  shore  of  the  Lake.  Here,  on  the 
4th  of  December,  1832,  he  was  baptized  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Church 
by  the  llev.  John  Barker,  in  whose  family  he  resided,  and  who  had  an 
important  instrumentality  in  cherishing  and  maturing  his  early  religious 
impressions. 

From  about  this  time,  his  purpose  seems  to  have  been  formed  to  become 
a  Minister  of  the  Gospel.  The  summer  of  1833  he  spent  in  visiting  his 
friends  in  his  native  region,  and  working  part  of  the  time  on  a  farm,  with 
a  view  to  enable  him  to  go  to  Elmira,  the  residence  of  his  elder  brother, 
Philander  D.,  who  had  encouraged  him  to  expect  his  aid  in  preparing  for 
the  ministry.  He,  accordingly,  went  thither  in  the  fall,  and,  while  pursu- 
ing his  own  studies  under  a  gentleman  of  classical  education,  he  gave 
lessons  to  a  few  scholars  in  the  place,  and  occasionally  in  a  female  school 
which  was  taught  under  his  brother's  roof. 

After  living  with  his  brother  a  short  time,  the  Church  called  him  to  the 
"  exercise  of  his  gift,"  though,  for  some  time,  ho  preached  only  in  private 
houses.  In  July,  1834,  he  made  a  visit  to  the  town  of  Friendship,  in 
Alleghany  County,  where  he  preached  to  very  great  acceptance,  insomuch 
that  a  vigorous  effort  was  made  by  the  church  (then  destitute  of  a  Pastor) 
to  secure  his  permanent  services;  and,  though  he  was  half  disposed  to 
respond  favourably  to  their  application,  yet,  after  taking  time  to  deliberate 
and  ask  the  advice  of  his  friends,  he  concluded  to  go  forward  in  his  pro- 
jected course  of  classical  and  theological  study. 

In  due  time,  he  directed  his  course  to  the  Hamilton  Institution,  and  was 
admitted  a  student  there  on  the  15th  of  January,  1835.  He  prosecuted 
his  studies  with  great  vigour  and  success.  During  the  last  two  years  of 
his  college  course,  he  did  something  in  the  way  of  teaching,  and  preached 
and  performed  considerable  pastoral  labour  for  the  neighbouring  Church  of 
Sherburne.  In  his  vacation,  commencing  April,  1840,  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  labour  a  few  weeks  with  the  church  in  Rahway,  N.  J.  ;  and, 
at  the  expiration  of  this  time,  received  a  call  to  become  their  Pastor.  He 
accepted  the  call,  with  a  mutual  understanding,  however,  that  he  should 
return  to  the  Institution,  and  complete  the  regular  course.  He,  accord- 
ingly, returned,  and  graduated  with  high  honour  on  the  10th  of  June. 

Shortly  after  his  graduation,  he  returned  to  Bahway,  and,  on  the  20tli 
of  July,  was  regularly  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  by  a  largo 
and  respectable  Council  convened  for  the  purpose.  The  church  of  which 
he  became  Pastor  was  heavily  oppressed  by  debt,  and  had  hitherto  depended, 

Vol.  VI.  91 


722  BAPTIST. 

iu  part,  ou  the  New  Jersey  State  Convention  for  the  means  of  defra3'ing 
its  necessary  expenses.  By  his  persevering  industry,  he  succeeded  in 
quickly  placing  them  in  circumstances  to  support  themselves,  and  in  par- 
tially liquidating  the  debt  which  had  embarrassed  them.  Soon  after  going 
to  Railway,  he  consented  to  instruct  a  class  in  the  Female  Seminary  there, 
in  the  Languages  and  Moral  Philosophy,  which  occupied  about  three  hours 
a  day,  three  days  in  the  week.  This,  in  addition  to  his  manifold  other 
labours,  was  a  draft  upon  his  constitution  that  he  could  ill  afford  to  endure. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  (1840,)  he  made  a  journey  to  Hamilton, 
and,  during  his  absence,  took  a  severe  cold,  which  brought  on  fever  and 
other  symptoms  of  serious  illness.  He,  however,  returned  to  Rahway  in  a 
few  days,  and  prematurely  resumed  his  labours,  the  consequence  of  which 
was  that  he  was  obliged  to  take  his  bed,  with  at  best  a  very  dubious  pros- 
pect of  ever  again  enjoying  perfect  health,  or  even  of  prosecuting,  to  any 
great  extent,  the  labours  of  the  ministry.  This  affliction  he  felt  the  more 
deeply,  as  there  was  at  that  time  a  greatly  increased  attention  to  religion 
among  his  people,  and  both  the  demand  and  the  encouragement  for  labour 
seemed  specially  great. 

Having  gradually  recovered  from  this  attack  of  illness,  he  resumed  his 
labours  with  his  accustomed  alacrity.  He  was  often  called  to  preach  on 
special  occasions,  and  in  other  denominations  than  his  own.  On  the  Fourth 
of  July,  he  delivered  an  Oration  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Rahway, 
which  was  received  with  high  commendation.  His  congregation,  in  the 
mean  time,  had  become  devotedly  attached  to  him,  and  there  was  nothing 
except  his  still  imperfect  health  to  throw  a  shade  upon  his  prospect  of  long 
continued  and  constantly  increasing  usefulness. 

In  January,  1.842,  he  became  suddenly  much  more  unwell,  insomuch 
that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  he  was  able  to  perform  his  ordinary 
duties ;  and  he  soon  felt  obliged  to  withdraw  from  them.  After  a  confine- 
ment of  several  weeks,  he  journeyed  South  as  far  as  Charlottesville,  Va., 
and,  about  the  same  time,  tendered  the  resignation  of  his  charge  at  Rah- 
way, from  a  full  conviction  that  he  should  not  be  able  any  longer  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  the  place. 

After  this,  (in  May,  1842,)  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  the  Church 
in  Danbury,  Conn. ;  and,  after  spending  three  weeks  with  them,  received 
a  unanimous  call  to  become  their  Pastor.  After  considerable  delibera- 
tion, on  account  of  the  state  of  his  health,  he  accepted  the  call,  and  was  in 
due  time  regularly  introduced  to  the  pastoral  charge.  But,  after  labouring 
there  only  three  weeks,  he  was  suddenly  prostrated  by  a  renewed  attack  of 
his  disease,  which  convinced  both  him  and  the  people  that  his  labours 
among  them  were  at  an  end.  Shortly  after,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and 
returned  to  New  Jersey,  where  he  spent  some  time,  chiefly  in  the  family 
of  his  brother. 

His  health  having  become  somewhat  recruited,  he  left,  in  September 
following,  for  Charlottesville,  Va.  ;  the  Baptist  Church  there,  which  was 
one  of  the  most  respectable  churches  in  the  South,  having  communicated 
to  him  their  wish  that  he  would  come  and  settle  among  them.  After  the 
eommcncemcnt  of  his  labours  there,  his  health  for  a  while  seemed  rapidly' 
to  improve,  and  he  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the  manifest  blessing  which 


THE  GILLETTES.  723 

attended  his  ministrations.  His  preaching  attracted  great  attention  from 
all  chisscs,  and  large  numbers  were  baptized  by  him  into  the  fellowship  of 
the  church. 

About   the   close  of  April,  1843,  he  made  a  journey  to  the  North,  and, 
on  the  4th  of  the  succeeding   month,  was  married  by  his  brother,  the  Rev. 
Walter  li.  Gillette,  to  Miss  Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  Mr.  George  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Wells,  then  of  Plainfield,  N.  J.     After  spending  a  few  day.s  in  visit- 
ing his   friends    in    New  Jersey,   and   in  Washington  County,  N.   Y.,  his 
native  region,  they  hastened  to  their  home  in  Virginia,  and  were  received 
by  their  friends  with  the  warmest  demonstrations  of  respect  and  affection. 
My  brother   now   resumed   his   labours,  but   the   state  of  his  health  was  a 
standing  admonition  to  him  not  to  expect  that  they  would  be  of  long  con- 
tinuance.    On  the  return  of  cool  weather,  his  symptoms  became  decidedly 
more  unfavourable,  and   his  friends — even   those   who   valued   his   services 
most — recommended  strongly  that  he  should  pass  the  winter  months  in  a 
still  more  Southern    latitude.     Accordingly,  he  and  his  wife  were  soon  on 
their   way  to  Mobile ;    and   the    Baptist   church   there  being   vacant,  and 
hearing  of  his   intention    to  visit  that  part  of  the  country,  applied  to  him, 
before  he  commenced   his  journey,  to  render  them  his  services  during  the 
winter.      He   arrived  at  his   place  of  destination   after  a  fatiguing  journey 
of  about  two  weeks  ;  and  the  mild  climate  operated  so  favourably  upon  his 
health,  that  he   found   himself  able   to   supply  the   vacant   pulpit   without 
inconvenience.     In  the  course  of  the  winter  he  received  an  urgent  invita- 
tion to  visit    Columbus,    Miss.,  with  a   view  to  a  settlement   in  that  place  ; 
and,  though  he  accepted  the  invitation  so  tar  as  to  make  a  journey  tliither, 
and  spend  a  short  time  among  the  people,  he  preferred  to  make  his  perma- 
nent home  in  Mobile.     Shortly  after  his  return  to  Mobile,  having  intimated 
to  the  people  there  his  intention  to  become  their  Pastor,   he   set  out  with 
his  wife  for  the    North,    and,    while  she   pursued   her  way  directly  to  New 
Jersey,  he  turned  aside  to  visit  his  flock  at  Charlottesville  ;  for  he  had  not 
yet  formally  resigned  his  charge,  though   the   state  of  his  health   had  for- 
bidden the  hope  of  his  ever  returning  to  them.      He  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion, however,  during  this  visit,  and  it  was  accepted  with  many  expressions 
of  regret  and  sympath}-. 

After  a  short  visit  at  Charlottesville,  he  prosecuted  his  journey  North- 
ward, until  he  overtook  his  wife  at  the  house  of  her  father.  In  October 
following,  (1844,)  he  was  rendered  peculiarly  happy  by  the  birth  of  a  son. 
Towards  the  close  of  November,  he,  with  his  wife  and  child,  embarked  at 
New  York  for  Mobile,  and  though  they  had  a  protracted  and  uncomfortable 
voyage,  he  endured  it  better  than  his  friends  had  expected.  After  his 
arrival  there,  his  strength  rapidly  declined,  and  it  became  apparent  to 
himself  as  well  as  those  around  him  that  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at 
hand.  He  continued,  however,  to  preach  until  two  weeks  before  his  death, 
when  he  prepared  a  sermon  for  the  evening  of  the  Lord's  day,  from  the 
words, — "  A  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief."  After  commenc- 
ing the  devotional  exercises,  his  strength  suddenly  failed,  and  he  sunk  m 
the  pulpit ;  and,  as  he  was  borne  from  the  church  to  his  lodgings,  he 
expressed  the  confident  conviction  that  his  work  was  done.  He  lingered 
in  great  peace  till   the   9th  of  February,  1845,  and  then  passed  triumph- 


724  BAPTIST. 

antly  to  mingle  in  higher  scenes.  An  appropriate  and  touching  Address 
was  delivered  at  his  Funeral,  by  the  Hev.  Dr.  Rufus  Babcock,  of  Now 
York,  who  was  at  that  time  providentially  on  a  visit  at  Mobile.  The  little 
child,  IViUiam  Fariah,  whom  he  had  dedicated  to  God  almost  with  his 
dying  breath,  followed  his  father  to  the  final  resting  place,  on  the  12tli  of 
April  following.  An  elegant  marble  monument  has  been  placed,  by  his 
friends,  beside  the  spot  where  his  remains  and  those  of  his  infant  child  repose. 
The  peculiar  traits  of  this  lamented  brother  have  been  so  fully  developed 
in  the  narrative  of  his  life,  which  I  have  now  given  you,  that  it  is  scarcely 
necessary  that  I  should  add  any  thing,  by  way  of  attempting  to  illustrate 
his  character.  I  may  say,  however,  in  a  single  word,  that  his  intellectual, 
moral  and  Christian  character  bore  an  impress  of  refinement,  dignity,  and 
elevation,  that  rendered  it  singularly  attractive  as  well  as  impressive.  His 
heart  was  always  alive  to  every  interest  of  humanity,  and  his  hand  was 
always  ready  to  dispense  benefactions  where  it  was  in  his  power.  His 
intellect  was  broad  and  far  reaching,  and  it  was  as  practical  as  it  was  com- 
prehensive. His  kindliness  and  gentleness  of  spirit,  his  generous  enthusi- 
asm, his  devotion  to  his  friends,  and  above  all  his  higher  devotion  to  the 
Master  he  served,  combined  to  render  him  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
men.  As  a  Preacher  he  was  universally  acceptable,  and  left  a  broad  mark 
in  evety  place  in  which  he  ministered.  The  l)lessing  of  God  largely 
attested  to  his  fidelity,  and  there  are  many,  I  doubt  not,  both  on  earth  and 
in  Heaven,  by  whom  it  will  be  held  in  everlasting  remembrance. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

A.  D.  GILLETTE. 


CYRUS  WHITMAN  HODGES  * 

1822—1851. 

Cyrus  Whitman  Hodges,  a  son  of  Stephen  and  Mercy  Hodges,  was 
born  in  Leicester,  Vt.,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1802.  In  consequence  of  the 
death  of  his  father,  which  occurred  when  he  was  six  years  old,  he  was 
unfortunately  placed  in  a  family  in  which  there  was  no  Christian  instruc- 
tion or  religious  influence  of  any  kind.  His  first  religious  impressions  he 
received  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  during  a  revival  of  religion  in  connection 
with  the  labours  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perkins,  in  his  native  place.  These 
impressions,  however,  quickly  fled,  in  a  great  degree,  before  surrounding 
influences,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  as  much  at  home  with  his  pro- 
fane and  dissolute  companions  as  ever  ;  though  there  were  still  seasons  in 
which  reflections  would  force  themselves  upon  him  that  made  him  uneasy. 
About  tliis  time,  he  was  provided  with  a  new  home,  where  he  was  brought 
into  a  decidedly  Christian  atmosphere — it  was  in  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Kin- 
ney, of  Salisbury,  Vt.  Here  he  was  received  and  treated  as  a  son  and 
brother,  and  he  never  ceased,  while  he  lived,  to  reciprocate  the  warm  affec- 
tion that  was  bestowed  upon  him.     The  influence  of  this  Christian  family 

•  Introduction  to  his  Sermons. — MS.  from  Mrs.  Hodges. 


CVliUS  WHITMAN   HODGES.  725 

very  soou  began  to  Jiscovcr  itself  iu  leading  liini  not  only  to  attend  j)uljiie 
worship  regularly,  but  greatly  to  delight  iu  it  ;  insoniueh  that  he  would 
not  readily  admit  any  excuse  for  being  absent.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
July,  18lil,  that  he  was  brought,  after  a  protracted  season  of  anxiety  and 
distress,  to  indulge  a  hope  in  God's  forgiving  mercy.  Shortly  after  this, 
he  made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  uniting  himself  with  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Salisbury,  Vt. 

Mr.  Hodges  had  had  doubts  on  the  subject  of  Baptism,  from  the  time 
that  he  had  first  seriously  reflected  upon  it ;  and  those  doubts  at  length 
were  matured  into  a  settled  conviction  that  the  peculiar  views  of  the  Bap- 
tists were  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  God's  word.  He,  accord- 
ingly, transferred  his  relation  to  the  liaptist  Church  in  Brandon,  having 
been  baptized  by  inmiersion  by  the  Kev.  Isaac  Sawyer,  a  well  known  and 
greatly  honoured  Baptist  clergyman  iu  Vermont.  Some  time  iu  1S22,  he 
was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Church  iu  Brandon,  :uul  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year  accepted  an  invitation  to  preach  at  Minerva  for  a  twelvemonth. 
He  commenced  a  course  of  study  in  preparation  for  the  ministry,  and  pro- 
secuted it  for  some  time,  partly  under  the  Bev.  Daniel  0.  Morton,  and 
partly  at  the  Academy  at  Shoreham  ;  but  so  desirous  was  he  of  being 
actively  engaged  in  tjjc  duties- of  his  great  vocation,  that  he  abandoned  the 
idea  of  any  thing  like  a  regular  or  extended  course  of  study, — though  this 
was  subsequently  an  occasion  to  liim  of  deep  regret.  He,  however,  dili- 
gently improved  such  opportunities  as  he  had,  in  connection  with  his 
labours  as  a  Minister,  and  thus  his  acquisitions,  both  in  literature  and 
theology,  became  highly  respectable.  He  was  ordained  in  Chester,  War- 
ren County,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  and  remained  there  three  years.  Thence  he 
removed  to  Arlington,  Vt.,  where  he  laboured  two  years  ;  thence  to  Shafts- 
bury,  where  he  laboured  four  years ;  thence  to  Springfield,  where  he 
laboured  four  years;  thence  to  Westport,  N.  Y.,  where  he  laboured  six 
years  and  a  half;  thence  to  Bennington,  Vt.,  where  he  laboured  five  years  ; 
and  thence  to  Bristol,  where  he  finished  his  course. 

During  the  week  preceding  the  first  Sabbath  in  February,  1850,  he 
became  quite  indisposed,  and  sent  for  a  physician ;  but  his  prescription 
seemed  only  to  aggravate  the  malady.  He  performed  no  public  service 
after  this,  until  the  10th  of  May,  when,  by  a  considerable  effort,  he  was 
enabled  to  preach  one  short  sermon.  After  that,  he  generally  preached 
once  on  the  Sabbath,  and  occasionally  in  the  week,  during  the  summer.  His 
last  sermon  Nvas  preached  in  November  following.  He  was  confined  to  his 
bed  during  the  last  six  weeks  of  his  life,  and  his  physical  sufferings  were 
very  great,  occasioned  by  extreme  irritation  of  the  stomach  and  tlie  lungs. 
But  his  mind  was  in  perfect  peace.  On  the  last  day  of  his  life,  he  was 
asked  whether  he  would  have  some  of  his  friends  sent  for,  that  he  might 
see  them  again  ;  but  his  reply  was, — "  No,  let  me  fall  asleep  with  my  own 
little  family;"  and  thus,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1851,  he  quietly  and  joy- 
fully passed  away. 

Mr.  Hodges  was  married,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1823,  to  Annis, 
daughter  of  Dudley  and  Esther  Higley,  of  Chester,  Warren  County,  N.  Y. 
They  had  two  children,  both  of  them  sons.  Mrs.  Hodges  and  her  children 
still  ^1859)  survive. 


726  BAPTIST. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Hodges  publislied  a  small  volume  of  Sermons,  with  an 
Introduction  by  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Parker, — which  arc  creditable  alike  to  his 
head  and  his  heart. 

FROM  THE  KEV.  SEWALL  S.  CUTTING,  D.  D. 

Rochester,  June  13,  1859. 

Reverend  and  dear  Sir:  I  first  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hodges  at  Brandon,  Vt., 
in  October,  1833,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Vermont  Baptist  State  Convention.  He 
was  then  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Shaftsbury, — one  of  the  principal 
churches  of  the  denomination  in  that  State, — and  in  the  Convention  he  was  a 
man  of  mark.  I  think  he  preached  one  of  the  sermons; — certainly  some  pro- 
duction read  b}^  him  on  that  occasion,  taken  with  his  general  bearing  and 
influence  in  the  deliberations  of  the  bod}^,  determined  in  mj'  own  mind  an 
estimate  of  his  talents  and  character,  which  my  subsequent  more  intimate 
acquaintance  scarcely  changed.  He  became  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  West- 
port,  N.  Y.,  about  183C,  after  I  was  myself  settled  in  the  ministry  in  Massa- 
chusetts, but  I  was  accustomed  to  meet  him  on  my  visits  to  my  parents,  which 
were  nearly  annual.  I  had,  in  this  wajs  frequent  opportunities  to  hear  him 
preach,  and  to  know  the  character  and  results  of  his  pastoral  labours. 

I  have  been  told  that  Mr.  Hodges  Avas  of  humble  origin,  and  that  his  edu- 
cation preparatory  to  his  entrance  upon  the  sacred  office  was  pursued  with 
limited  advantages,  and  amid  great  difficulties.  I  think  no  one,  when  1  knew 
him,  would  have  suspected  any  of  these  circumstances.  His  manners,  modi- 
fied by  a  certain  winning  modesty,  which  was  natural  to  him,  were  those  of  a 
gentleman.  His  sermons,  always  written  with  care,  were  in  structure  logical 
and  well  arranged,  and  in  style  perspicuous  and  preci.se, — such  as,  without 
indicating  high  culture,  would  be  supposed  the  worthy  fruits  of  good  academic 
and  theological  training.  In  this  respect  he  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  some- 
what remarkable  man.  The  signs  of  a  liberal  education  are  such  as  an  edu- 
cated man  can  hardly  mistake.  Such  a  man  might  easily  have  been  mistaken 
in  listening  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hodges. 

While,  however,  the  social  and  the  intellectual  character  of  Mr.  Hodges 
always  commanded  respect,  his  chief  claim  to  an  affectionate  remembrance  in 
the  church  must  rest  upon  his  moral  virtues.  He  was  a  true  Christian  Pas- 
tor. He  believed  heartily,  entirely.  He  lived  under  a  constant  sense  of 
responsibility,  and  laboured  as  one  who  expected  to  give  an  account  of  his 
stewardship.  This  sincerity,  this  thorough  consecration  to  his  work,  was  the 
true  secret  of  his  effective  and  u.seful  ministry.  The  Westport  Church  had 
great  prosperit}'  during  the  period  of  his  Pastorate.  Emigration  had  tlien 
scarcely  begun  its  depleting  process,  and  death  had  as  yet  spared  those  excel- 
lent brethren  who  were  the  pillars  of  the  church.  Repeated  revivals  occur- 
red, and  large  numbers  were  converted  under  his  ministry.  His  general 
influence  in  the  community  was  such  as  springs  naturally  from  a  life  and 
labours  so  characterized.  Never  mingling  in  social  strifes,  never  engaging  in 
affairs  extra-professional  and  doubtful,  he  aimed  to  purify  the  fountains  of 
thought  and  feeling,  by  healing  the  maladies  of  souls,  and  promoting  purity 
of  individual  life.  \ 

!Mr.  Hodges  was  of  more  than  medium  stature,  and  well  formed,  though  a 
little  inclined  to  stooping,  especially  in  his  later  years.  His  manner  in  the 
pulpit  was  mild  and  persuasive,  though  characterized  by  wise  and  earnest 
fidelity.  He  used  little  gesticulation; — his  words  were  made  effective  by  no 
artificial  means; — they  reached  the  hearts  of  others  because  they  came  from 
the  depths  of  his  own.  He  experienced  many  a:nd  severe  trials,  but  he  bowed 
to  his  Father's  will,  and  attained    higher  measures  of  sanctification.     After 


CYRUS  WHITMAN  HODGES.  727 

his  removal  from  AVe^tport,  1  think  1  met  him  but  once.  I  have  been  tohl 
that  the  shadows  of  earthly  sorrow  came  over  him  more  darkly  towards  the 
close  of  his  life,  but  without  disturbing  the  serenity  of  his  trust.  So  it  plea-sed 
God  to  make  him  ready  for  Heaven.  He  died  in  the  meridian  of  life,  greatly 
lamented.  He  is  worthy  of  a  better  tribute  than  it  is  in  my  power  to  ofll-r  to 
his  memory. 

Very  truly  yours, 

SEWALL  S.  CUTTING. 


PETER  LUDLOW  * 

1823—1837. 

Peter  Ludlow,  a  son  of  Peter  and  Elizabeth  (Raynolds)  Ludlow,  was 
born  in  Enfield,  Conn.,  August  8,  1797.  His  father's  residence  wa.s  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  but  his  mother's  parents  lived  at  Enfield,  and  it 
was  while  she  was  on  a  visit  there  that  his  birth  took  place.  His  parents 
were  both  Presbyterians,  and  his  father  was  for  some  time  a  Ruling  Elder 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York.  As  he  early  showed  a 
fondness  for  books,  his  father  determined  to  give  him  a  liberal  education, 
and,  accordingly,  having  gone  through  the  preparatory  course,  he  became 
a  member  of  Princeton  College.  Here  he  maintained  a  highly  respect- 
able standing,  though,  on  account  of  a  serious  illness  towards  the  close 
of  his  college  course,  he  did  not  graduate  with  his  class.  On  leaving 
College,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  Law,  under  the  direction  of 
Ogden  Hoffman,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of  his  day.  Not 
only  was  he  remarkably  successful  in  his  studies,  but  he  manifested,  in 
other  ways,  such  intellectual  superiority  as  gave  promise  of  high  profes- 
sional distinction. 

While  he  was  thus  assiduously  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Law,  or,  as 
one  authority  has  it,  after  he  had  commenced  the  practice,  his  mind  became 
suddenly  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  great  subject  of  his  soul's  salva- 
tion. His  pious  parents  did  their  utmost  to  lead  him  to  the  Saviour,  that 
thus  he  might  find  rest ;  but  his  troubled  spirit  seemed  to  reject  every 
intimation  of  mercy  or  of  hope.  Being  naturally  of  a  delicate  physical 
frame,  and  having  suffered  much  from  diseases  incident  to  childhood,  and 
having  withal  a  mind  of  great  activity,  which  delighted  in  the  most  vigorous 
application,  his  friends  were  apprehensive  that  the  loss  of  his  reason,  and 
perhaps  of  his  life,  would  be  the  consequence  of  the  anxious  and  despair- 
ing state  of  mind  into  which  he  was  now  brought.  The  best  medical  aid, 
as  well  as  the  most  judicious  Christian  counsel,  was  put  in  requisition  in 
his  behalf,  but  it  seemed  as  if  it  were  all  to  no  purpose — he  shut  himself 
up  in  his  chamber, — the  victim  of  unmitigated  despair.  At  length,  he  so 
far  yielded  to  the  importunity  of  his  anxious  mother  as  to  consent  to  leave 
his  chamber  for  a  brief  walk  by  twilight,  and,  as  he  happened  to  be  passing 
a  church,  where  he  saw  that  the  people  were  assembling  for  worship,  he 
•  MSS.  from  Mrs.  Ludlow  and  the  Key.  Dr.  Jackson. 


728  BAPTIST. 

was  himself  induced  to  enter  the  buildiug.  The  preacher  was  Dr. 
Staughton,  of  Philadelphia;  and  the  discourse  which  he  delivered  found 
its  way  at  once  to  the  heart  of  that  heavy  laden  sinner,  and  kindled  there 
a  gleam  of  hope.  That  night  his  mother,  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
listen  to  the  measured  tread  of  despair  in  his  chamber,  heard  the  low  notes 
of  praise  ;  and  from  that  time  he  was  a  believing  and  rejoicing  disciple. 

Mr.  Ludlow  now  felt  impelled  to  abandon  the  profession  towards  which 
his  studies  and  aspirations  had  hitherto  been  directed,  and  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  Christian  ministry.  Accordingly,  after  having  for  some  time 
pursued  a  course  of  theological  study,  in  which  he  received  aid  from  the 
lamented  Summerfield,  and,  having  previously  connected  himself  with  the 
Baptist  Church,  he  received  license  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  became  at 
once  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  popular  preachers  of  his  denomina- 
tion. On  the  2d  of  September,  1823,  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  in  Providence,  11.  I.  On  the  22d  of  November, 
1824,  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the  Bev.  Dr.  Stephen  Gauo,  of  the 
same  city.* 

Mr.  Ludlow's  ministry  at  Providence  was  very  brief;  for  in  1825  his 
health  became  so  much  impaired  as  to  render  it  necessary  that  he  should 
seek  a  milder  climate,  and  he,  accordingly,  accepted  a  call  from  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Georgetown,  S.  C.  Here,  also,  however,  the  period  of  his 
sojourn  was  short ;  for  he  soon  ruptured  a  blood  vessel  which  occasioned 
an  enduring  weakness  of  the  lungs,  that  rendered  him  incapable  of  con- 
tinuous labour.  After  this,  he  preached  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
sometimes  in  New  York  and  sometimes  in  South  Carolina,  as  his  health 
would  permit,  until,  having  exercised  his  ministry  for  some  twelve  years, — 
his  early  developed  disease  having  now  reached  a  point  which  forbade  any 
additional  service, — he  retired  to  his  brother's  residence  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  to  die.  His  death  took  place  on  the  Gth  of  May,  1837,  at  the 
age  of  nearly  forty  years.  The  Bev.  (now  Dr.)  W.  B.  Williams  pronounced 
a  eulogy  at  his  Funeral,  exhibiting  his  strongly  marked  Christian  character, 
his  earnest  and  effective  ministry,  and  the  deep  spiritual  tone  of  his  feel- 
ings during  his  last  illness.  His  remains  were  deposited  in  the  burial 
ground  of  the    amity  Street  Church. 

I  have  been  assured  by  several  persons  who  were  fully  competent  to 
judge  of  the  character  of  3Ir.  Ludlow's  mind  and  ministry,  that  nothing 
but  the  feebleness  of  his  health  prevented  his  attaining  the  highest  rank 
in  his  profession.  With  uncommon  powers  of  eloquence  and  great  inten- 
sity of  religious  feeling,  he  could  sway  his  audience  almost  at  pleasure. 
He  has  been  known  to  utter  the  word  '■  Eternity"  in  the  pulpit  with  such 
awful  impressivcness  as  well-nigh  to  overwhelm  a  whole  congregation. 
He  was  small  in  stature,  and  not  imposing  in  his  general  appearance,  but 
he  preached  with  such  appropriateness,  fervour,  and  power,  that  no  one 
thought  of  noticing  his  bodily  dimensions.  The  Bev.  Dr.  Jackson,  of 
Newport,  says  concerning  him, — "  His  talents  were  of  a  high  order,  and 
he  was  not  less  distinguished  for  his  evangelical  views  than  for  his  attract- 
ive and  effective  eloquence. 

•  Mrs.  Ludlow's  death  has  occurred  since  the  commencement  of  the  year  1859,  and  since  this 
Hketch  was  written. 


GEORGE  LEONARD.  729 

GEORGE  LEONARD  * 

1824—1831. 

George  Leonard,  a  son  of  Eliakim  ami  Mary  (Williams)  Lconanl, 
was  born  in  llaynham,  Bristol  County,  Mass.,  on  the  ITtli  of  August,  1802. 
From  his  very  earl}'  childhood,  he  was  distinguished  for  his  love  of  books, 
and  a  uniform  gentleness  and  propriety  of  conduct.  He  lost  his  father, 
who  was  an  exemplary  and  devout  Christian,  when  he  was  about  five  years 
old  ;  but  his  mother,  who  sustained  a  similar  character,  was  spared,  not 
only  to  exert  an  important  influence  in  his  moral  and  religious  education, 
but  to  mourn  his  early  death.  While  he  was  yet  quite  a  youth,  he  went 
to  reside  with  an  uncle  in  Taunton,  where  he  was  employed  in  labouring  on 
a  farm  and  in  a  brick  yard.  His  work,  however,  so  far  overtasked  his 
constitution  that  he  returned  to  his  mother's  quite  prostrated  with  debility; 
but  the  illness  by  which  he  was  now  taken  from  his  labours,  was  the  means 
of  bringing  him  to  serious  reflection,  and,  ultimately,  as  he  believed,  to 
true  repentance.  And  this  seems  to  have  been  the  starting  point  of  his 
career  towards  the  Christian  ministry.  After  he  was  taken  off"  from 
manual  labour,  and  while  he  was  yet  an  invalid,  more  or  less  of  his  time 
was  devoted  to  study  ;  and  he  had  nearly  mastered  the  Latin  Grammar 
without  an  instructer.  In  the  autumn  of  1819,  he  began  to  study  with  a 
view  to  entering  College,  under  his  early  friend  and  Pastor,  the  Kev.  Silas 
Hall  ;  and  so  rapid  was  his  progress  that  by  September,  1820,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  enter  Brown  University.  He  made  a  profession  of  religion  in  the 
spring  of  1820,  and  became  a  member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Mid- 
dleborough,  of  which  Mr.  Hall  was  then  Pastor.  His  religious  character 
from  the  beginning  was  very  decided,  though  his  natural  modesty  and 
reserve  not  only  prevented  all  ostentatious  demonstrations,  but  kept  him 
more  in  the  shade  than  his  Christian  friends  could  have  desired. 

He  passed  through  Brown  University  with  an  excellent  reputation,  and, 
at  his  graduation  in  1824,  acquitted  himself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave 
no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any  who  listened  to  his  performance,  that,  if  his 
life  were  spared,  he  was  destined  to  a  career  of  honourable  usefulness. 

Having  been  previously  approved  by  the  church  of  whicli  he  was  a 
member,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Christian  ministry,  he  spent  a  few  weeks 
immediately  after  his  graduation,  preaching  with  great  acceptance  to  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  in  Taunton.  He  was  very  soon  solicited  to  become 
a  subordinate  instructer  in  the  Columbian  College  at  Washington  ;  and  he 
consented  to  accept  the  place,  only,  however,  on  the  condition  that  a  con- 
siderable part  of  his  time  should  be  devoted  to  theological  studies.  After 
spending  one  year  in  this  manner,  much  to  his  own  advantage  as  well  as 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Faculty  with  whom  he  was  associated,  on  the  open- 
ing of  the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  he  repaired  thither,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  students  matriculated  in  it.  Both  his  intellectual  and 
Christian  developments  were  such,  during  his  connection  with  both  these 
Institutions,  as  to  mark  him  as  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  promise. 

•  Dr.  Babcock's  Fun.  Serm. 
Vol.  VI.  92 


730  BAPTIST. 

In  the  spring  of  1826,  he  visited  Salem,  Mass.,  and,  for  four  or  five 
Sabbaths  in  succession,  supplied  the  First  and  Second  Baptist  Churches, 
then  worshipping  together.  He  was  soon  apprized  of  the  desire  of  the 
Second  Church  and  Society,  thou  recently  organized,  to  secure  his  services 
as  their  Pastor.  His  characteristic  modesty  and  self-distrust  led  him  at 
first  to  shrink  from  assuming  a  charge  involving  so  much  responsibility, 
and  he  actually  gave  a  negative  answer  to  the  call ;  but,  upon  its  being 
repeated  and  urged,  and  withal  endorsed  by  many  of  his  judicious  friends, 
he  finally  determined  to  accept  it,  and  his  ordination  took  place  in  August 
following. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1827,  Mr.  Leonard  was  married  to  Abigail  C, 
youngest  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Nelson,  and  at  that  time  a  mem- 
ber of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Salem. 

His  connection  with  the  Church  in  Salem  continued  somewhat  more  than 
two  years  and  a  half,  and  was  characterized  by  great  diligence  and  fidelity 
on  his  part,  and  great  cordiality  and  satisfaction  on  theirs.  The  number 
of  communicants  was  more  than  doubled  during  the  first  year,  and  there 
were  considerable  accessions  to  it  afterwards.  But  before  the  close  of 
1828,  his  health  had  become  so  much  impaired  that  he  found  himself  inade- 
quate to  the  duties  of  the  place  ;  and,  accordingly,  as  the  result  of  his  own 
reflection,  and  without  much  consultation  even  with  his  friends,  he  resigned 
his  pastoral  charge  early  in  the  year  1829. 

The  measures  which  he  took  to  regain  his  health  proved  successful.  He 
now  applied  himself  with  great  zeal  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his 
profiting  was  soon  manifest  to  the  congregations  among  whom  he  occasion- 
ally ministered.  Though  scarcely  a  Sabbath  passed  that  he  was  not  in 
some  pulpit,  yet  he  declined  all  invitations  to  a  stated  charge,  until  the 
summer  of  1830,  when  he  was  induced  to  visit  Portland,  Me.,  with  some 
view  of  being  heard  with  reference  to  a  settlement.  He  commenced  his 
labours  there  on  the  4th  of  July  ;  and,  after  preaching  four  or  five  Sab- 
baths, both  the  Church  and  Society  unanimously  invited  him  to  become 
their  Pastor.  After  the  delay  of  a  month  or  two,  he  gave  an  affirmative 
answer  to  their  call ;  and  about  the  1st  of  October  removed  his  family  to 
Portland,  and  entered  upon  his  pastoral  duties  under  circumstances  that 
seemed  highly  auspicious.  The  congregation  of  which  he  took  charge  had 
previously  been  in  a  distracted  state  ;  but,  through  his  influence,  the  utmost 
harmony  was  restored,  the  attendance  at  religious  meetings  was  greatly  in- 
creased, and  a  higher  tone  of  Christian  feeling  began  to  pervade  the  church. 

But  the  history  of  his  ministry  here  reaches  only  through  a  few  months. 
Great  as  was  the  amount  of  good  which  he  seemed  likely  to  accomplish,  he 
had  but  just  thrust  the  sickle  into  the  harvest  before  death  palsied  his 
hand.  On  Sabbath  evening,  April  24.  1831,  after  marrying  a  couple,  he 
went  into  the  conference  meeting,  held  by  the  members  of  his  church,  and 
resuming  the  subject  on  which  he  had  been  discoursing  through  the  day, 
spoke  for  some  time  with  extraordinary  power  and  pathos.  After  one  of 
the  brethren  liad  prayed,  he  rose  yet  again,  and,  if  possible,  with  still 
greater  energy  and  urgency,  spoke  to  them  of  the  glorious  and  dreadful 
future,  and  closed  his  remarks  by  solemnly  warning  them  to  prepare  to  meet 
their  God.     These  were  the  last  words  that  ever  fell  from  his  lips  in  public. 


GEORGE  LEONARD.  731 

The  labours  of  this  Sabbath,  putting  in  rcfiui^itiuii  to  the  uluiost  the 
physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual  man,  were  too  heavy  a  tax  for  his 
already  enfeebled  constitution  ;  and  he  sunk  under  it.  Scarcely  had  he 
reached  his  dwelling  wiien  a  copious  bleeding  ensued,  together  with  extreme 
faint ness,  which  seemed  the  harbinger  of  ileath.  Ilis  case  was  at  once 
pronounced  very  critical,  and  his  medical  attendant  interdicted  the  visits 
of  oven  his  most  intimate  friends,  believing  that  the  only  hope  of  his 
recovery  lay  in  his  having  entire  rest.  After  some  weeks,  wlien  ho  seemed 
to  have  recruited  a  little,  it  was  thought  best  that  he  should  try  the  effect 
of  a  short  journey ;  and,  accordingly,  about  the  20th  of  June  he  left 
Portland,  and  travelled  by  the  easiest  conveyance,  and  very  short  stages, 
to  Salem  ;  hoping  to  be  able  to  proceed  to  llaynham,  the  residence  of  his 
mother.  After  remaining  several  weeks  at  Salem,  and  trying  every 
expedient  that  could  be  suggested  for  the  improvement  of  his  health,  but 
evidently  to  little  or  no  purpose,  he  resolved,  as  a  last  resort,  to  make  an 
effort  to  reach  Worcester.  In  this  he  succeeded;  but  he  went  there  only 
to  die.  It  became  apparent  very  soon  that  he  had  but  little  longer  to  live ; 
but  he  knew  in  whom  he  had  believed,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  pros- 
pect of  dying  which  he  could  not  contemplate  with  composure  and  resigna- 
tion. To  his  wife  he  said, — "  Let  that  child,  if  spared  to  you,  receive  a 
Christian  education — that  is  all  I  desire — and  to  Ilim  iu  whom  I  have 
believed  I  can  cheerfully  commit  both  mother  and  child  in  hope."  He 
lingered  till  the  11th  of  August,  1831,  and  then  passed  gently  away, 
having  just  before  triumphantly  repeated  those  words  of  the  Apostle, — 
"  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to 
keep  that  which  I  have  committed  to  Him  against  that  day." 

Mr.  Leonard  was  an  earnest  friend  to  all  the  great  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  day.  During  his  residence  in  Salem,  he  filled  the  ofBce  of 
Secretary  of  the  Salem  Bible  Translation  and  Foreign  Mission  Society, 
and  his  Annual  Reports  displayed  uncommon  ability.  In  1829,  the  Min- 
isters' jMeeting  of  Essex  County  solicited  a  Dissertation  on  "  the  Duty  of 
Churches  in  reference  to  Temperance ;"  and  he  produced  one  which  was 
considered  as  possessing  extraordinary  merit,  and  was  published  in  the 
Christian  Watchman. 

The  year  after  his  death,  (1832,)  a  small  volume  containing  twelve  of 
his  Sermons,  together  with  the  Sermon  delivered  on  occasion  of  his  death, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Babcock,  was  published  under  the  direction  of  his  widow. 


FROM  TUE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

Paterson,  N.  J.,  March  25,  1858. 
Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  The  Rev.  George  Leonard  was  one  of  my  earliest  and 
most  intimate  friends,  in  the  Christian  ministry.  We  were  one  year  associ 
atcd  in  the  University;  but,  as  he  was  Freshman  and  I  Senior,  our  inter- 
course was  only  casual.  After  his  graduation  in  1824,  lie  became  one  of  my 
successors,  as  Tutor  in  the  Columbian  College.  Two  years  later,  we  were 
simultaneously  settled  in  Salem,  Mass.;  he  as  Pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist 
Church,  and  I  as  Pastor  of  the  First,  from  which  the  constituents  of  his 
had  ju.st  before  been  cordially  dismissed,  with  a  view  to  the  formation  of  a 
Second  Church. 


732  BAPTIST. 

So  iiitiiiiiii,c'  .iiivl  endeared  U'as  the  relation  between  the  two  churches,  that 
a  connnou  council  examined  both  candidates,  and  a  common  public  service 
ordained  him  and  installed  me.  He  hud  then  no  family,  and,  by  his  earnest 
request,  he  became  a  boarder  in  mine,  and  we  occupied  a  common  study  until 
after  his  marriage,  nearly  a  year  later.  This  arrangement  brought  us  into 
closer  contact,  and  more  full)'  developed  us  to  each  other,  than  in  other  cir- 
cumstances would  have  been  possible.  We  both  came,  simultaneously,  into  a 
communitj'  where  we  were  entire  strangers;  we  were  serving  parts  of  a  flock 
which  had  hitherto  been  one;  geographical  lines  had  been  but^ little  regarded 
in  the  separation;  and  indeed  the  division  was  often  between  different  .mem- 
bers of  the  same  family;  so  that  our  work  as  Pastors  was  uncommonly  min- 
gled, while  yet  each  interest  was  separate,  and,  by  a  sort  of  necessity,  in 
competition  with  the  other.  Had  he  not  been  one  of  the  truest,  kindest,  most 
con.sideraLe,  faithful  and  disinterested  of  men,  it  must  needs  be  that  otfences 
and  jealousies  would  have  arisen.  Thei'e  were  none  for  a  single  moment  in  all 
our  intercourse. 

Having  these  best  possible  opportunities  of  knowing  this  dear  brother,  as 
to  the  exercises  of  his  devout  spirit,  as  to  his  habits  of  study,  his  reverence 
for  God's  word,  and  his  intense  desire  to  understand  thoroughly  its  meaning, 
and  then  to  make  all  this  knowledge  practically  available  to  the  welfare  of 
his  whole  Hock,  I  am  constrained  to  saj^  that,  in  each  of  these  particulars,  I 
have  never  known  his  superior,  and  rarely  his  equal.  This  absorbing  solici- 
tude to  be,  and  not  merely  to  appear,  thoroughly  and  everywhere  a  good 
ministerof  Jesus  Christ,  led  him  to  such  concentration  of  his  eff"orts  on  this 
one  thing,  as  proved  too  much  for  his  noble  physical  frame,  and  in  less  than 
three  years  brought  his  eminently  useful  career  to  a  close.  After  once  or 
twice  endeavouring  to  recruit  by  temporary  expedients,  he  resigned  his  Pas- 
torship in  Salem — the  church  of  his  first  lov3. 

How  bitter  were  the  pangs  which  the  sundering  of  these  ties  cost  him,  1 
knew  perhaps  better  than  anj'  other  person.  Yet  he  rose  above  the  trial 
with  a  buoyant  energy  of  spirit,  which  admirably  showed  the  depth  and 
power  of  his  pious  trust  in  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well. 

His  year  of  rest  and  reflection  was  spent  in  Salem.  Our  intimacy  remained 
unbroken.  I  was  the  constant  witness  of  his  con.scientious  and  well  directed 
efforts  to  become  more  richlj^  furnished  as  a  biblical  interpreter,  and  thus 
qualified  to  occupy  any  position  to  which  God's  providence  might  direct  him. 
The  Church  in  Portland,  Me.,  heard  of  him,  and  prevailed  on  him — not,  how- 
ever, without  some  reluctance  on  his  part,  on  account  of  his  uncertain  health — 
to  become  their  Pastor.  My  visit  to  him  at  his  installation  gave  me  an 
opportunity  to  learn  by  personal  observation  what  a  hold  he  had  alread}' 
gained  on  their  confidence  and  love,  and  how  highly  they  appreciated  his 
talents  and  character.  Greatly  as  that  church  and  city  has  been  favoured, 
in  enjo^'ing  the  labours  of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  and  excellent 
ministers,  never  has  one,  in  so  short  a  time,  won  higher  esteem.  The  best  and 
most  influential  members  of  that  cliurch  and  congregation  are  wont  to  say, — ««  0 
how  he  preached,  and  prayed,  and  laboured  for  our  good  from  house  to  house!" 
The  spiritual  success  he  panted  for  was  here  granted  him;  but  when  the  fields 
were  white  and  he  was  thrusting-Jn  his  sickle  to  gather  the  harvest,  God  said 
to  him  '<  Well  done.  Cease  from  these  exhausting  toils  and  cares,  and  enter 
into  thy  final  rest." 

In  person  Mr.  Leonard  was  of  full  medium  height  and  size.  He  was  an 
athletic,  full  grown  man,  when  he  first  came  to  College.  Nor  was  his 
appearance  very  materially  changed  till  after  repeated  bleeding  from  tlie  lungs 
reduced  him.  He  had  a  warm  heart,  but  it  was  in  a  remarkable  degree  under 
the  control  of  Christian  principle  and  judgment.     His  mind,  not  the  quickest, 


GEORGE  LEONAKD.  733 

or  most  lirilliant,  was  reinaikablc  for  its  solid  and  well  balanced  qualities 
and  attainments.  He  elaborately  prepared  all  ids  sermons,  at  first  writing 
them  out  in  full,  but,  desiring  to  acquire  more  freedom,  in  his  later  and  more 
effective  discourses,  he  used  only  a  full  anal3sis.  Jlis  voice  was  pleasant, 
and  the  emphatic  earnestness  of  his  delivery  was  sure  to  impress  his  hearers 
favourably.  In  social  life,  he  would  probably  appear  reserved  to  strangers, 
but  let  any  topic  of  interest  be  introduced  to  call  forth  his  powers,  and  his 
fine  features  lighted  up  with  a  genial  glow,  which  was  apt  to  diifuse  itself, 
and  was  sure  to  leave  an  impression  of  his  sui)erior  worth.  Few  at  his  early 
age  have  made  such  extensive  biblical  acquisitions,  and  he  was  learning  to  use 
them  to  the  best  purpose.  As  a  son  and  brother,  but  more  especially  as  a 
husband  and  father,  ho  seemed  a  faultless  model. 

May  your  memorial  of  him  help  to  multiply  similar  examples. 

Yours  truly, 

RUFUS  BABCOCK. 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN * 

1824—1831. 

George  Dana  BoARP^rAN,  the  tliird  son  of  the  Rev.  Sylvanus  Board- 
man, t  and  Phoebe  (Dana)  his  wife,  was  born  in  Livermore,  Me.,  February 
8,  1801.  His  father  was,  at  that  time,  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
that  place.  In  his  childhood  and  early  youth  he  evinced  an  ardent  thirst 
for  knowledge,  which  his  parents  indulged  by  every  means  in  their  power. 
When  he  was  in  liis  tliirteontli  year,  lie  was  sent  to  the  Academy  at  North 
Yarmouth,  where  he  made  very  rapid  improvement,  and  showed  a  power  of 
memory  that  seemed  well-nigh  incredible.  In  181G,  hi.s  parents  having 
removed  to  New  Sharon,  he  was  placed  for  a  season  at  the  Academy  in 
Farmington,  Me.,  where  also  he  was  greatly  distinguished  for  his  profi- 
ciency. He  was  subsequently  removed  to  Bloomfield  Academy,  and  placed 
under  the  tuition  of  a  Mr.  Hall,  who  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  him  as  a 
youth  of  extraordinary  promise.  At  the  early  age  of  sixteen,  he  engaged 
ill    the    business    of    teaching;     and,    by    his    excellent    judgment,    great 

•  Memoir  by  Rev.  A.  King. 

fSvLVAXCs  BoAKDMAN  W!xs  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Roardman,  (wbo  was  bnrn  at  Cara- 
l»ridgc;  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1737;  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Congregational 
("hureh  at  Chilmark,  Martini's  \'incyard,  in  1746;  and  died  November  11,  1777,  aged  (ifty- 
si.\,)  and  was  born  at  Cliiliiiark  on  the  15th  of  .September,  1757.  He  was  fitted  fur  Harvard 
I'ollcge,  but  was  prevented  from  entering  it  bj-  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
Ho  ."itiidied  .Medicine,  and  was  for  ten  years  engaged  in  teaehing  a  school;  but,  at  the  age  of 
about  thirty,  he  went  to  Livermore,  Jle.,  and  took  up  land  for  a  farm.  In  the  spring  of  i7Hi», 
he  returned  to  his  native  place,  and  united  with  the  Congregational  church  there,  but  while 
hr-  wt\s  yet,  as  he  afterwards  believed,  a  stranger  to  the  power  of  religion.  Not  long  after  tbi?, 
however,  he  was  the  subject  of  what  he  regarded  a  radical  change  of  character,  and,  shortly 
after,  in  attempting  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  Infant  Baptism,  he  was  led  first  to  doubt  con- 
cerning it,  and  then  to  abandon  it  altogether,  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  Baptists.  !^ix  years 
afterwards,  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Kev.  William  .'^tinson.  He  wag 
ordained  I'astor  of  the  Church  in  Livermore,  on  the  2d  of  February,  ISirJ,  and  continued  in 
that  relation  till  1810.  He  then  took  charge  of  the  Church  in  Yarmouth,  .Me.,  where  be 
reuniined  six  years;  and  then  of  the  Church  in  New  Sharon,  in  the  same  .'^tate,  where  he  con- 
tinned  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  lOih  of  March.  is|.'>,  in  the  eighty-ei^'hth  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  greatly  respected  for  his  excellent  qualities  as  a  Man  and  a  Minister,  and 
exerted  an  important  influence  in  the  Baptist  denomination,  especially  in  the  region  in  which 
he  lived. 


734  BAPTIST. 

urbanitj',   and   firmness  of  purpose,   maintained   a   perfect   control  of  his 
pupils,  and  acquitted  himself  every  way  in  a  highly  creditable  manner. 

The  Seminary  at  Waterville,  Me.,  was,  for  several  years,  known  as  a  Lite- 
rary and  Theological  Institution,  but  not  as  a  College.  The  reputation  which 
it  had  acquired  for  literary  advantages,  drew  the  attention  of  young 
Boardman;  and,  as  his  parents  were  desirous  that  he  should  be  placed 
under  a  decidedly  moral  and  religious  influence,  it  was  determined  that  he 
should  pursue  his  studies  there  for  a  season.  Accordingly,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Institution  in  May,  1819.  Until  this  time,  he  had  never 
manifested  more  than  a  respectful  regard  for  religion ;  but,  under  the 
influences  which  were  brought  to  bear  upon  him  here,  he  came  to  contem- 
plate Christianity  as  a  great  practical  and  personal  concern,  and  finally,  as 
he  believed,  to  accept  with  all  his  heart  its  gracious  ofi'ers.  On  the  16th 
of  July,  1820,  he  made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  and  united  with 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Waterville. 

In  the  early  part  of  1820,  the  Waterville  Seminary  received  from  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  a  charter,  giving  to  it  the  title  of  "  Waterville 
College."  Mr.  Boardman,  with  one  of  his  associates  in  study,  composed 
the  first  class  ;  and,  such  had  been  his  proficiency  that,  at  an  examination 
by  the  Faculty,  he  was  found  qualified  to  enter  two  years  in  advance. 

On  Gonipleting  his  collegiate  studies  in  July,  1822,  he  received  the 
appointment  of  Tutor  in  the  College  ;  but  his  mind,  previous  to  this,  had 
been  very  seriously  exercised  on  the  question  whether  it  was  not  his  duty 
to  spend  his  life  as  a  Missionary  among  the  Heathen  ;  and,  on  this  account, 
it  was  with  no  small  reluctance  that  he  accepted  the  appointment.  His 
convictions  of  duty,  however,  in  respect  to  the  future,  quickl}'  became 
matured,  and,  in  April,  1823,  he  made  a  formal  tender  of  his  services  to 
the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  be  employed  among  the  Heathen, 
and  was  promptly  accepted. 

In  June  following,  Mr.  Boardman  left  Waterville,  and  went  to  Andover, 
with  a  view  to  prosecute  his  theological  studies.  Here  he  found  himself 
most  advantageously  situated,  as  well  in  respect  to  his  devout  feelings  and 
his  missionary  aspirations,  as  the  more  intellectual  preparation  for  his 
work.  Several  benevolent  ladies  in  Salem,  to  whom  he  had  become  known, 
had  formed  themselves  into  an  association  for  the  benefit  of  the  coloured 
population  of  that  town;  and  the}'  requested  Mr.  Boartlman  to  spend  liis 
vacation  as  a  sort  of  missionary  in  their  service.  He  accepted  their  invi- 
tation, entered  on  his  labours  on  the  26th  of  April,  1824,  and  continued 
them,  with  little  intermission,  for  nine  weeks. 

In  January,  1825,  IMr.  Boardman  visited  his  native  State,  and,  by 
request  of  the  IMissionary  Board,  spent  several  weeks  in  travelling  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  to  awaken  a  more  general  interest  in  the  subject  of  For- 
eign j\Iissions.  On  the  16th  lof  February  following,  he  was  ordained  at 
North  Yarmouth, — the  Sermon  on  the  occasion  being  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Chaplin,  President  of  Waterville  College. 

Early  in  the  spring,  Mr.  Boardman  received  an  appointment  to  travel 
West  and  South  for  a  few  weeks,  with  a  view  to  diff'use  missionary  informa- 
tion, and  awaken  missionary  zeal.  He  fulfilled  this  appointment,  travelling 
as  far  West  as  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  anl   as  far  South  as  Washington  City. 


Gi:!):inr  dana  hoauoman.  735 

Soon  :ift>M-  Ills  return,  lie  was  niarrieil  to  .Sarali  B.,  daughter  of  Ralph  and 
Abiali  Hall,  i.f  Salem,  Mass., — a  young  lady  in  every  respect  fitted  for 
the  arduous  field  to  which  her  marriage  was  destined  to  introduce  her. 

Having  taken  leave  of  their  friends  in  New  England,  they  proceeded  to 
IMiiladelpliia,  and,  on  the  IGth  of  July,  took  passage  in  the  ship  Asia  for 
Calcutta,  where  they  arrived  on  the  2d  of  December  following. 

On  their  arrival  at  Calcutta,  they  were  received  by  the  English  Bap- 
tist missionaries  with  great  cordiality  and  Christian  affection,  and  provided 
v?ith  every  thing  necessary  to  their  comfort  during  their  stay.  As  war 
was  then  raging  in  liurmah, — their  destined  field,  in  consequence  of  which 
all  missionary  operations  in  that  Empire  were  suspended,  it  was  thought 
best  that  they  should  remain  in  Calcutta  till  the  return  of  Peace.  Owing 
to  peculiar  circumstances,  they  remained  some  time  longer  than  that,  and 
did  not  leave  till  the  20th  of  March,  1827.  On  account  of  the  detention 
of  the  ship  in  the  river,  for  two  or  three  weeks,  they  did  not  reach  Amherst 
till  the  17th  of  April. 

It  was  a  severe  trial  to  Mr.  Boardman  to  be  detained  so  long  in  Cal- 
cutta, and  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  means  of  qualifying  him, 
in  various  ways,  for  a  more  effective  discharge  of  the  arduous  duties  to 
which  he  was  to  be  called.  It  was  agreed  between  Mr.  Judson,  Mr.  Wade, 
and  himself,  that  there  should  be  two  missionary  stations  in  that  region, — 
one  at  Amherst,  and  one  at  Maulmein,  and  that  Mr.  Boardman  should 
occupy  the  latter.  lie  reached  his  destination  on  the  28th  of  May,  thank- 
ful that,  after  nearly  two  years  of  wandering,  without  any  certain  dwell- 
ing place,  he  had  at  last  entered  a  house  which  he  could  call  his  earthly 
home. 

Mr.  Board  man's  labours  at  Maulmein  were,  almost  from  the  beginning, 
attended  with  the  most  encouraging  success,  while  the  prospects  for  suc- 
cessful operations  at  Amherst  were  constantly  growing  darker  ;  and  it  was 
thought  best,  on  the  whole,  that  the  station  at  Amherst  should  be  given 
up,  and  that  Messrs.  Judson  and  Wade  should  join  Mr.  Boardman  in  the 
occupancy  of  the  more  inviting  field  of  labour  at  Maulmein.  This  arrange- 
ment, accordingly,  took  effect ;  and  Maulmein  now  became  the  seat  of  the 
Mission  in  the  Burman  Empire. 

After  these  brethren  had  laboured  for  some  months  together,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  much  Christian  and  domestic  comfort,  it  seemed  expedient, 
both  to  them  and  to  the  Board  in  America,  to  widen  the  field  of  their  ope- 
rations. It  was,  accordingly,  determined  to  establish  a  new  station  at 
Tavoy,  a  Province  which  had  been  ceded  by  the  Burman  monarch  to  the 
English,  in  the  late  Treaty  of  Peace  ;  and  Mr.  Boardman  was  the  person 
selected  to  commence  the  establishment.  Accordingly,  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1828,  he  and  his  little  family  set  out  to  find  their  future  residence. 
They  reached  Tavoy  on  the  9th  of  April,  and  within  ten  days  had  become 
quietly  settled,  and  commenced  public  worship  in  the  Burman  language. 
He  had  made  the  change  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  in  obedience  to  the 
strongest  convictions  of  duty  ;  and  he  soon  found  that,  amidst  many  dis- 
couraging circumstances  in  his  new  field,  there  were  some  evident  tokens  of 
the  Master's  presence  and  blessing. 


736 


BAPTIST. 


Mr,  Courdnian's  labours  were  here  divided  between  the  Karens  and 
the  people  of  Tavoy ;  and  a  spirit  of  inquiry  was  soon  awakened  among 
them  that  seemed  auspicious  of  much  good,  though  he  was  afterwards 
severely  tried  by  the  apostacy  of  some  whom  he  had  reckoned  as  among 
the  first  fruits  of  his  labours.  Impressed  with  the  belief  that  a  knowledge 
of  the  useful  sciences  was  an  important  auxiliary  to  the  influence  of  th© 
Grospel,  in  elevating  the  intellectual  character  of  the  Heathen,  he  was 
particularly  desirous  of  establishing  native  schools,  which  should  be  under 
his  immediate  direction.  As  his  own  pecuniary  resources  did  not  allow 
him  to  attempt  much  in  this  way,  it  was  gratifying  to  him  to  meet  with  a 
gentleman, — the  Civil  Commissioner  for  those  Provinces, — who  generously 
proffered  the  requisite  means  for  establishing  a  boys*  school,  for  the  English 
and  Burman  languages,  and  the  more  familiar  and  useful  sciences.  Such 
a  school  was  accordingly  opened  in  September,  and  the  advantages  that 
were  anticipated  from  it  were  fully  realized. 

In  February,  1829,  Mr.  Boardman  made  a  missionary  excursion  into  the 
Karen  jungle,  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  visited  several  of  their 
settlements,  where  he  was  received  with  great  kindness,  and  listened  to 
with  deep  attention.  Numbers  of  these  had  heard  the  Gospel  before, 
and  some  of  them  had  felt  its  influence,  and  were  desirous  not  only  of 
receiving  further  instruction,  but  of  being  baptized.  He  was  absent  on 
this  tour  about  ten  days,  and  witnessed  much,  during  the  time,  that  served 
to  encourage  and  strengthen  him. 

In  May  following,  Mrs.  Boardman's  health  having  become  somewhat 
impaired,  it  was  thought  that  she  might  be  benefitted  by  a  change  of  air 
and  scenery,  and  he,  accordingly,  resolved  on  a  visit  to  Mergui,  which  lay 
in  a  Southerly  direction  from  Tavoy,  distant  about  two  days'  sail.  On 
arriving  there,  they  were  hospitably  entertained  b}'  the  civil  magistrate  of 
the  place  ;  and,  after  a  visit  of  a  few  days,  returned  to  their  home  at 
Tavoy,  happy  in  the  opportunity  to  resume  their  accustomed  labours. 
But  scarcely  had  they  reached  home  before  they  were  overtaken  with 
affliction  in  another  form — their  eldest  child, — a  promising  little  girl,  two 
years  and  a  lialf  old,  was  seized  with  violent  illness,  and,  after  two  or  three 
weeks,  they  laid  her  sorrowfnlly  in  the  grave. 

In  August,  the  Province  of  Tavoy  M'as  engaged  in  an  open  revolt  against 
the  Britisli  Government.  This  placed  Mr.  Boardman  and  his  family  in 
the  most  imminent  peril,  and  their  escape  from  death  seemed  little  less 
than  miraculous.  He  succeeded  in  sending  his  family  for  safety  to  Maul- 
mein,  and,  after  a  scries  of  appalling  adventures,  was  finally  permitted 
to  join  tliem.  Having  remained  at  this  scene  of  his  former  labours  but  a 
single  week,  he  returned  to  Tavoy,  leaving  his  family  behind,  and,  on  the 
1st  of  October,  went  back  to  Maulmein,  when  his  family  returned  with 
him. 

Mr.  Boardman  now  commonced  a  course  of  itinerary  preaching,  usually 
visiting  from  three  to  four  villages  a  week,  and  endeavouring,  by  the 
most  familiar  instruction,  to  bring  the  Gospel  in  contact  with  the  minds 
of  the  people.  These  tours  gave  him  a  better  opportunity  to  study  the 
character  of  the  Burmans  than  he  had  yet  enjoyed,  as  he  here  fell  in  with 
them  under  every  variety  of  circumstances. 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN.  737 

By  an  earnest  rocjuost  from  tlic  Ijretlircu  at  Maulincin,  Mr.  Boarilmau 
consented  to  return  thitlier,  and  perform  the  duties  of  that  station. 
Accordingly,  he  left  Tavoy  on  the  27th  of  April,  and  reached  Maulmein 
on  the  8d  of  May.  During  a  residence  in  Tavoy  of  two  years,  he  had 
collected  a  native  church  of  twenty  persons,  fifteen  of  whom  were  Karens. 
After  the  residence  of  a  few  months  at  Maulmein,  circumstances  deter- 
mined him  to  resume  his  place  at  Tavoy. 

About  the  close  of  summer,  Mr.  and  !Mrs.  Boardman  were  again 
afflicted  hy  the  death  of  another  child, — an  infant  son,  at  the  age  of  eight 
months. 

In  December,  1828,  Mr.  Boardman  had  an  attack  of  bleeding  at  the 
lungs,  from  which,  however,  he  so  far  recovered,  after  a  few  days,  as  to 
return  to  his  accustomed  labours.  From  the  exposure  to  which  he  was 
subjected  at  the  revolt  in  August,  1829,  he  contracted  a  severe  cough, 
from  which  he  never  recovered.  lie,  however,  continued  liis  labours  until 
August,  1830,  when  his  disease  suddenly  assumed  a  more  aggravated  form, 
and,  for  a  few  days,  he  was  in  expectation  of  immediate  death.  But  his 
health  was  soon  so  much  improved  that  he  performed  considerable  service 
in  the  mission,  though  he  was  no  longer  able  to  speak  in  public.  In 
November,  he  was  joined  by  Mr.  Mason,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Boston, 
to  bear  a  part  with  him  in  the  missionary  work ;  but  it  turned  out  that 
Mr.  M.  had  come  only  to  accompany  him  in  his  last  tour  among  the  Karens, 
and  to  witness  his  triumphant  death. 

When  Mr.  Boardman  left  Tavoy  in  April,  he  promised  the  Karens  that, 
if  possible,  he  would  come  back  and  pay  them  another  visit  at  their  villages. 
Soon  after  his  return  to  Tavo)',  in  December,  many  of  these  people  visited 
him,  some  of  whom  had  been  baptized,  and  others  desired  to  be  ;  and  they 
unitedly  urged  him  to  make  his  promised  visit.  As  he  was  himself  very 
desirous  of  going,  and  his  physician  rather  encouraged  the  journey,  it  was 
arranged  that  he  should  set  out  on  the  last  day  of  January,  1831.  He, 
accordingh',  did  set  out,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Boardman  and  Mr.  ^lason, 
and  several  of  the  Karens  who  had  come  in  to  see  him  a  few  days  before. 
He  was  carried  on  a  cot-bed  nearly  the  whole  distance,  and  reached  the 
end  of  his  journey  on  the  third  day,  without  any  particular  exhaustion. 
It  was  manifest  that  he  was  now  rapidly  sinking ;  but  he  would  not  consent 
10  return  until  the  candidates  for  Baptism  had  been  examined,  and  the 
ordiMaiu-e  administered.  He  was  carried  in  his  bed  to  the  water,  while 
Mr.  3Iason  baptized,  in  his  presence,  thirty-four  individuals.  He  now  felt 
that  his  work  was  done  ;  and,  on  the  next  morning,  they  set  out  to  return 
to  Tavoy.  On  the  morning  succeeding,  it  was  evident  that  a  great  change 
had  taken  place,  and  it  was  thought  best  to  take  him  in  a  boat  down  a 
>trcam  that  was  near,  and  which  ]»asses  within  three  or  four  miles  of  Tavoy. 
He  was  carried  from  the  house  by  the  Karens,  who  put  him  on  board  the 
boat,  and  Mrs.  Boardman  and  Mr.  Mason  followed.  But,  on  turning  to 
see  if  he  wanted  any  thing,  they  found  his  countenance  fixed  in  death.  He 
died  on  the  11th  of  February,  1831.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Tavoy 
for  burial,  and  the  Funeral  was  attended  with  many  demonstrations  of 
unaffected  grief. 

Vol..  vr.  93 


738  BAPTIST. 

FROM  THE  REV.  RUFUS  BABCOCK,  D.  D. 

PouGHKEEPsiE,  January  1,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  just  missed  of  the  privilege  of  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  the  dear  young  man  concerning  whom  you  inquire. 
I  went  as  Pastor  to  Salem,  Mass.,  ten  months  after  he  left  the  place.  It  was 
there  that  he  found  his  wife;  and  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Bolles,  then  Secretary 
of  the  Baptist  Mission,  as  well  as  at  Andover,  he  spent  considerable  time, 
between  leaving  his  Tutorship  in  Waterville  College,  and  his  Ordination  and 
sailing  as  a  Missionary. 

When,  some  years  later,  I  went  to  Waterville,  and  became  President  of 
that  College,  he  had  finished  his  brief  but  successful  career.  But  I  found, 
both  in  Salem  and  in  Maine,  many  fresh  traces  of  him,  and  set  mj'self,  with 
hearty  good-will,  to  prosecute  thoroughly  the  inquiries  adapted  to  make  me 
intimately  acquainted  with  every  thing  having  a  bearing  upon  his  life  and 
character.  The  family  of  his  wife's  parents  were  my  parishioners  in  Salem, 
and  with  them  I  used  to  talk  of  him  by  the  hour.  Moreover,  I  took  into  my 
family,  on  first  going  to  Salem,  the  most  intimate  female  friend  of  his  wife, 
who  has  been  with  us  ever  since.  Her  opportunities  of  knowing  Mr.  Board- 
man,  by  an  almost  daily  intercourse,  were  unusual;  and  I  have  not  failed  to 
profit  hy  them  abundantly. 

On  going  to  Waterville,  I  sought  out  the  College  room  he  occupied,  as 
student  and  Tutor; — where  he  was  converted;  where  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  Mission;  and  where,  subsequently,  the  pious  students  met  for  prayer. 
There,  too,  after  his  death,  the  "  Boardman  Mission  Society  of  Inquiry  "  was 
formed,  which  still  continues  in  vigour.  I  found,  too,  his  most  intimate 
friends  and  associates,  among  the  members  of  the  Church  in  Waterville,  who 
never  tired  of  talking  about  that  godly  young  man.  And  to  render  my 
knowledge  of  him  as  complete  as  possible,  I  visited  his  then  venerable  (now 
deceased)  parents  at  their  home;  and  heard  from  them  their  oft  repeated 
remembrances  of  one  whose  sainted  character  and  surpassing  worth  formed 
.so  large  a  part  of  their  existence.  I  may  fairly  presume,  therefore,  that  no 
one  who  had  not  seen  him  has  probably  a  more  intimate  and  thorough  know- 
ledge of  him  than  myself. 

Let  me  tell  you,  in  a  few  words,  the  substance  of  all  that  I  have  gathered 
concerning  him.  As  respects  his  person — he  was  unusually  tall,  spare,  and 
even  thin,  in  form  and  visage;  of  light  complexion,  and  light  blue  eyes.  In 
his  social  intercourse,  he  was  neither  very  taciturn,  nor  very  communicative, 
but  inclining  to  the  former  more  than  the  latter.  His  father  Avas  almost 
hyper-Calvinistic  in  doctrine;  and  the  son  also  had  a  leaning  in  that  direction, 
without,  however,  discovering  the  least  tendency  to  Pharisaism.  Though  a 
fair  representative  of  both  his  parents,  he  had  more  of  the  type  of  tlie  motJier 
than  the  father — her  sweet  placidity  of  temper  predominating  over  the  more 
commanding,  dignified  and  somewhat  stern  bearing  of  the  father.  His  piety 
was  calm,  built  on  clear,  intelligent  convictions;  not  particularl}'  delicient  in 
warmth,  and  certainl)^  not  distinguished  ])y  it.  Those  who  knew  him  most 
thoroughly  wovdd  never  have  thought  of  carrying  his  convictions  by  impulse. 
You  must  first  convince  him  t)tat  the  course  proposed  was  in  itself  morally 
right,  and  then  he  would  consider  whether  it  were  wise  and  practicable;  and, 
having  thus  reached  a  settled  conclusion,  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to 
move  him  from  it.  In  fine,  he  was  the  very  man  to  found  a  Mission;  to  lay 
deep  and  solid  the  basis  on  which  future  labourers  and  succeeding  generations 
might  successfully  build. 

He  must  have  been  one  of  the  best  of  husbands — he  so  impressed  on  the 
mind  and  heart  of  that  gentle,  loving,  susceptible  being  with  whom  he  became 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN.  739 

identified,  his  own  high  moral  purpose,  that  she  inscnsihlj-  imhihed  and 
retained  it  all.  AVhen,  after  his  death,  she  was  left  alone  with  her  fatherless 
little  boy,  in  the  jungles  of  the  Karens,  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Salcni,  of 
which  she  had  been  a  beloved  member,  instructed  me,  as  their  Pastor,  to 
write  to  her,  inviting  her  to  return  to  their  bosom,  and  receive  from  them  a 
support  for  herself  and  her  fotherless  son.  After  weeping  over  this  invitation 
tears  of  gratitude,  and  of  an  ingenuous  yearning  for  the  delights  of  home  in 
her  native  land,  she  replied,  with  inimitable  beauty  and  pathos,  that  she  had 
given  herself  to  the  Lord,  fur  the  Mission,  and  that,  as  long  as  she  had  strength 
to  be  useful  in  it,  nothing  must  be  allowed  to  divide  her  heart  or  unsettle  her 
purpose.  Well  had  she  learned  of  Boardman  what  she  lived  to  exemplify 
more  cunspicuousl}'  with  Dr.  Judson — she  was  the  fit  companion  and  efficient 
auxiliary  of  both. 

]\egretting  sincerely  my  inability  to  complj-  with  the  letter  of  your  request, 
by  giving  you  strictly  personal  recollections  of  this  honoured  and  useful 
servant  of  Christ, 

I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  fraternally, 

RUFUS  BABGOCK. 

FROM  THE  REV.  F.  MASON,  D.  D. 

Newton  Centre,  Mass.,  February  28,  1855. 
My  dear  Brother:  A  few  months  ago,  after  I  had  retired  to  rest  one  evening, 
in  Toungoo,  I  heard  the  native  assistants,  who  slept  in  the  next  room,  discuss- 
ing the  acquirements  of  different  missionaries  in  the  matter  of  speaking  the 
Burmese  language.  AThen  several  had  spoken,  the  Karen  preacher,  Quala, 
remarked, — "I  have  heard  all  the  missionaries  speak  Burman, — Teacher 
Judson,  Teacher  Wade,  and  every  one  who  has  come  after  them;  but  none 
spoke  Burman  so  well  as  Teacher  Boardman.  Wade  speaks  it  well,  but  not 
equal  to  Boardman.  AVhcn  I  have  heard  Teacher  Boardman  talking,  and  did 
not  see  him,  I  have  tliought  a  Burman  was  speaking;  but  I  never  was  so 
deceived  bj'  any  other  missionary.  I  could  always  tell  they  were  foreigners 
by  their  pronunciatitm.  //■  talked  just  like  a  native.  Xo  other  missionary 
ever  spoke  Burmese  so  well  as  he  did." 

This  illustrates  the  character  of  the  man.  Whatever  he  did,  he  did  well. 
He  was  a  man  of  very  clear  ideas;  and  was  very  fond  of  Mathematics,  in 
which  he  distinguished  himself  while  in  College.  He  could  have  had  a  Pro- 
fessor.ship,  but  he  preferred  to  be  a  missionary.  Not  because  he  loved  science 
less,  but  because  he  loved  the  souls  of  the  Heathen  more.  <<  I  have  nailed 
them  to  the  cross,"  he  observed  to  me,  when  conversing  with  him  on  this 
subject. 

While  detained  in  Calcutta,  he  preached  for  an  English  Church  there  some 
six  months,  where  several  persons  were  converted,  and  the  church  was  very 
anxious  to  have  him  settle  with  them  They  would  have  given  him,  to  begin 
with,  twice  the  salary  he  had  as  a  mis.-,.' mary,  and,  in  addition  to  this,  he 
would  have  had  refined  society,  and  opportunities  for  usefulness  among  the 
natives  in  Calcutta.  Every  man  would  not  have  resisted  the  temptation;  but 
his  reply  was, — <<  I  must  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  regions  beyond." 

The  same  strength  of  mind  and  purpose  with  which  he  grappled  with  classic 
studies  he  brought  into  the  mission  work.  When  the  missionaries  were  all 
congregated  at  Amherst,  he  was  first  to  propose  a  new  mission  station  at 
Maulmein;  and  first  to  occupy  it.  No  sooner  had  the  other  missionaries  fol- 
lowed him  there,  than  he  was  first  to  suggest  a  new  mission  to  the  unknown 
regions  in  the  South;  and  followed  up  the  suggestion  as  soon  as  the  approba- 


740  BAPTIST. 

tion  of' the  Board  in  Boston  was  olitained,  b}'  removing  to  Tavoy.  When  he 
heard  the  faint  cries  of  the  Karens,  who  had  just  discerned  the  first  dawn  of 
light,  he  consulted  not  "  with  flesh  and  blood,"  but,  putting  a  little  Bible  in 
his  pocket,  with  the  ejaculation — '<  Let  thy  presence  go  Avith  me,"  he  plunged 
into  the  wilderness,  over  mountain  and  vale,  where  the  foot  of  the  white  man 
had  never  trod, — the  first  missionary  that  had  ever  left  the  great  rivers,  and 
entered  the  interior  of  tlie  country.  lie  left  a  track  of  light  behind  him, 
which  is  still  growing  brighter.  Wherever  he  rested  on  that  journey  among 
the  inhabitants,  there  have  1  seen  Christian  villages  spring  up.  IIow  often, 
when  treading  witli  weary  step  the  same  path,  '<  over  naked  rocks  and  moun- 
tains," have  I  thought  of  him,  who  first  trod  it,  when  one  of  his  company 
"threw  himself  on  the  ground  as  if  to  die;"  and  how  often  have  I  been 
encouraged  to  endure  hardness,  on  resting,  to  find  the  same  congregation 
around  me  that  he  had,  but  "  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus." 

His  monument  is  not  the  marble  slab  under  the  fragrant  flowered  Camadeva 
trees  of  Tavoy,  but  every  Karen  village  that  he  visited,  transformed  from 
Heathenism  to  Christianity.  lie  lived  to  see  the  Karens  fly  to  him,  "  as  a  cloud, 
and  as  doves  to  their  windows."  The  tide  of  life  was  gradually  ebbing,  as  he 
lay  on  his  couch,  beneath  the  shadows  of  the  thick  forest,  listening  two  weeks 
to  the  recitals  of  Christian  experience,  from  day  to  day,  of  the  candidates  for 
Church  fellowship.  It  was  with  difficulty  we  persuaded  him  to  return,  when 
only  some  half  of  the  candidates  had  been  examined.  "  To  die  in  the  pulpit," 
he  said,  «« is  nothing  like  djnng  here."  He  did  not  die  there,  but  when  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  converts,  "  he  was  not,  because  God  took  him."  Mr.  Board- 
man  was  eminent  for  his  scholarship,  eminent  for  his  clear,  vigorous  mind, 
eminent  for  his  eff'orts  to  save  men's  souls,  and  altogether  worthy  of  being, 
what  he  truly  was,  the  founder  of  the  Karen  Mission. 

Yours  affectionately, 

F.  MASON. 


BILLINGTON  McCARTER  SANDERS.=* 

1824—1854. 

BiLLiNGTON  McCarter  Sanders  was  the  eldest  child  of  Ephraim 
and  Nancy  Sanders,  who  were  natives  of  Virginia,  but  settled  in  Columbia 
County,  Ga.,  shortly  after  their  marriage.  Here  this  son  was  born  on  the 
2d  of  December,  1789.  At  the  age  of  seven,  he  lost  his  father,  and  at  the 
age  of  nine,  his  mother ;  but  he  was  provided  with  an  excellent  home  in 
the  family  of  a  Mr.  Ambrose  Jones.  In  1802,  he  was  a  pupil  in  the 
Kiokee  Seminary,  sometimes  known  as  McNeil's  Seminary,  then  under  the 
care  of  a  Mr.  Bush.  One  of  his  companions  and  classmates  at  this  school, 
since  a  distinguished  citizen  of  Virginia,  furnishes  the  following  reminis- 
cence of  him  at  that  period: — "As  a  school-boy,  Sanders  was  apt  to  learn, 
high  tempered,  a  little  proud,  and  quite  spirited  ;  but  always  truthful, 
kind-hearted  and  generous,  with  strong  development  of  reverence.  I 
never  loved  a  classmate  better  ;  though,  being  a  stouter  boy,  I  sometimes 
fretted  him  for  my  own  idle  amusement,  and,  besides  the  laugh,  which   I 

*  Dr.  Mallary's  Commem.  Duo- 


BILLINGTON  McCARTER  SANDERS.  |41 

probably  enjoyed,  receiveJ  from  liim  many  of  bis  severest  blows,  wbicli  I 
made  it  ii  point  never  to  return,  baving,  in  every  case,  been  myself  the 
aggressor." 

Having  completed  bis  preparatory  course  of  study,  be  entered  Franklin 
College,  Athens,  Ga.,  probably  in  1800,  where  he  remained,  it  is  supposed, 
about  two  years :  he  then  took  his  dismission,  and,  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1808,  entered  the  South  Carolina  College,  in  Columbia,  at  which  Institu- 
tion be  graduated  on  the  4th  of  December,  1809,  with  the  reputation  of 
having  been  a  diligent  and  successful  student. 

After  leaving  College,  Mr.  Sanders  returned  to  his  native  county,  and 
there  continued  till  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1832.  In  January,  1810, 
he  was  baptized  by  Abraham  Marshall,  and  admitted  as  a  member  of  the 
Kiokee  Church.  He  was  two  years  Rector  of  the  Columbia  County 
Academy,  probably  the  years  1811  and  1812.  On  the  17th  of  March, 
1812,  he  was  married  to  Martha  Lamar,  of  Applington,  by  whom  he  had 
nine  children,  all  of  whom,  except  two,  died  in  infancy  and  childhood.  His 
first  wife  having  been  removed  by  death  in  1822,  he  was  married  to  Cyn- 
thia Ilolliday,  of  Lincoln  County,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1824.  By 
this  marriage  be  had  thirteen  children;  eight  of  whom,  with  their  mother, 
together  with  a  daughter  b}'  the  first  marriage,  survived  him. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  his  labours  as  a  teacher  at  Applington, 
he  settled  upon  a  plantation  in  his  native  county,  and  prosecuted  his  agri- 
cultural labours  with  much  diligence  and  success,  and  withal  with  much 
advantage  to  bis  health.  During  his  early  manhood,  he  represented  the 
county  in  which  he  lived  one  year  in  the  State  Legislature,  but,  though  he 
was  greatly  respected  in  that  Body  for  both  talents  and  integrity,  he  could 
not  be  induced  to  become  a  candidate  for  a  second  election.  He  was,  how- 
ever, subsequently,  for  several  years,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Superior 
Court  ;  in  which  capacity  he  acquitted  himself  with  high  honour. 

In  1823,  or  perhaps  early  in  1824,  the  Pastor  of  the  Union  Church, 
Warren  County,  of  which  Mr.  Sanders  was  then  a  member,  begged  permis- 
sion, at  one  of  the  regular  conferences,  to  submit  to  the  brethren  a  resolu- 
tion which  he  had  drawn  up.  Mr.  Sanders  was  acting  Clerk;  and  he,  with 
others,  though  entirely  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  the  resolution,  encouraged 
the  Pastor  to  read  it.  It  turned  out  to  be  a  resolution  urging  Mr.  Sanders 
forward  to  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  and,  as  it  was  read  and  passed,  Mr. 
S.  dropped  his  head  and  burst  into  tears.  He  immediately  recognised  it 
as  the  voice  of  Providence,  and,  shortly  after,  commenced  his  career  as  a 
Minister  of  the  Gospel.  At  the  special  request  of  the  Williams  Creek 
Church,  he  was  ordained  at  the  Union  Church,  on  the  5th  of  January, 
1825. 

From  the  time  of  his  ordination,  until  his  settlement  in  Greene  County, 
at  the  place  now  known  as  Penfield,  he  preached  regularly  at  Williams 
Creek,  and  most  of  the  time  at  Pine  Grove  ;  from  the  beginning  of  1826 
till  bis  removal,  he  was  Pastor  of  the  Union  Church,  to  which  he  belonged, 
and,  during  most  of  the  same  period,  preached  also  at  Powelton.  His 
labours  in  this  field  were  highly  appreciated,  and  were  more  than  ordina- 
rily successful.  Having  provided  for  himself  a  new  and  comfortable  house, 
he  fitted  up  one  room  in  it  as  a  place  of  worship,  f^r  the  accommodation 


742  BAPTIST. 

of    his    family,    including    his    servants,    and    for    meetings    occasionallj 
appointed  for  his  neighbours. 

In  1831,  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention  determined,  at  their  annual 
meeting,  to  establish  a  Classical  and  Theological  Seminary ;  and  Mr.  San- 
ders was  called  upon  to  take  charge  of  the  enterprise.  Though  it  involved 
great  self-denial  and  required  vast  effort,  yet  the  object  which  it  contem- 
plated lay  so  near  his  heart  that  he  was  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice  for 
its  accomplishment  ;  and,  accordingly,  in  December,  1832,  he  commenced 
laying  the  foundations  of  the  Mercer  Institute,  destined  to  be  known  in  a 
few  years  as  the  Mercer  University.  The  following  extract  from  his  Vale- 
dictory Address  contains  an  incidental  allusion  to  the  difficulties  with 
which  he  had  to  struggle,  during  the  first  year  of  his  connection  with  the 
enterprise  : — 

"  I  shall  ever  remember,  with  lively  emotions  of  pleasure,  the  patience  and  cheer- 
fulness with  which  the  students  of  this  year  sustained  the  privations  and  trials  to 
which  they  were  suhjected  hy  their  cramped  circumstances.  Tliey  may  be  tiuly  said 
to  have  borne  hardness  liivo  good  soldiers.  Wiiilst  living,  as  in  a  camp,  in  their  midst, 
and  burdened  with  the  charge  and  the  responsibility  of  the  literary,  tlieological  labour- 
ing and  boarding  departments,  I  found  no  little  support  in  all  my  cares  and  labours 
from  witnessing  that,  whilst  they  lived  upon  the  clieai)est  fare,  had  no  place  for  study 
but  the  common  school-room,  no  ])lnci'  to  retire  to  for  rest  but  a  garret  without  fire,  in 
the  coldest  weather,  and  laboured  diligently  three  hours  every  day,  no  complaint  was 
heard,  but  that  the  most  entire  cheerfulness  ran  through  all  their  words  and  actions." 

At  the  expiration  of  his  first  year's  service  at  Penfield,  notwithstanding 
the  privations  he  had  already  experienced,  and  the  prospect  of  others  in 
connection  with  his  continued  labours,  he  resolved  to  go  forward  with  the 
work  which  he  had  commenced.  He  was  not  merely  General  Superintend- 
ant  of  the  Seminary,  but  entered  into  all  the  various  details  of  the  differ- 
ent departments,  and  performed  an  aggregate  of  labour  which  seems  almost 
incredible.  The  blessing  of  God  evidently  crowned  his  self-denying  efforts  ; 
the  Seminary  gained  in  public  favour  ;  the  number  of  students  increased  ; 
liberal  pecuniary  aid  was  afforded;  and  almost  every  successive  year  wit- 
nessed to  a  revival  of  religion. 

It  was  at  length  determined  to  raise  the  institution  to  the  rank  of  a 
College  ;  and  Mr.  Sanders  was  appointed  its  first  President.  He  accepted 
the  appointment, — not,  however,  without  great  reluctance,  from  a  distrust 
of  his  own  ability  ;  nor  would  he  accept  it  at  all  but  on  two  conditions — 
one  was  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  employ  a  Professor  and  pay  him  out 
of  his  own  salary,  and  the  other,  that  tliey  should  use  their  best  efforts  to 
secure  a  successor  as  early  as  possible.  This  latter  object  liaving  been 
gained,  he  resigned  his  charge  at  the  close  of  1839,  after  having  conducted 
the  Institution  successfully  through  the  six  years  of  its  Academic  minority, 
and  the  first  year  of  its  Collegiate  career.  On  giving  up  his  cliarge,  he 
delivered  a  very  interesting  Yaledictory  Address  before  the  Trustees, 
Faculty,  Students,  and  Friend.?  of  the  Institution,  which  was  afterwards 
published. 

Mr.  Sanders'  deep  interest  in  the  College  survived  his  connection  with 
it  as  President,  and  he  continued  to  serve  it  in  various  other  relations. 
He  was,  for  about  five  years,  its  Treasurer,  occasionally  its  Travelling 
Agent  for  the  collection  of  funds  ;  a  member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees 
until  his  death  ;  and  for  several  years  Secretary  of  the  Board.     He  may 


BILLINGTON  McCARTEU  SANDERS.  743 

justly  l)C  regarded,  not  ouly  as  a  permanent  benefactor,  but  more  than  any 
other  individual,  as  the  founder  of  IMereer  University. 

During  his  residence  at  Penfiold,  he  never  intermitted  his  laltours  in  the 
ministry.  Ho  was  four  years  Pastor  of  the  Shiloh  Church ;  lal)Ourcd  ten 
years  witli  the  Cliureh  at  Greensborough ;  and  was  Pastor  of  the  Church 
at  Penfield  from  October,  184'2,  till  November,  1849.  He  also  laboured 
statedly  for  some  time  with  the  Antioch  and  Sugar  Creek  Churches ;  and 
cue  year  supplied  the  Church  at  Griffin  two  Sabbaths  in  each  month,  dis- 
tant by  railroad, — the  route  he  always  took, — about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles.  In  these  several  churches,  his  labours  were  very  acceptable 
and  useful. 

Mr.  Sanders  sustained  a  highly  important  relation  to  the  large  Advisory 
Councils  of  his  brethren.  For  several  years  he  was  Clerk  of  the  Georgia 
Association,  and  at  nine  of  its  annual  sessions  presided  as  its  Moderator. 
For  six  years  he  was  President  of  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention,  and 
for  a  much  longer  period  was  a  member  of  its  Executive  Board.  For  one 
year  he  edited  the  Christian  Index.  He  was  often  a  Delegate  to  the 
General  Triennial  Convention,  before  the  separation  of  the  Northern  and 
Southern  Baptists  ;  and  was,  subsequently,  at  different  times,  a  Delegate 
to  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  an  organization  in  which  lie  took 
much  interest.  He  was  also  an  earnest  friend  of  the  cause  of  Temperance, 
of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missions,  Sabbath  Schools,  Bible  and  Tract  Dis- 
tribution, and  all  kindred  forms  of  Christian  beneficence.  By  his  last 
will  and  testament,  he  directed  that  one  tenth  of  the  income  on  the  pro- 
perty left  to  his  minor  children  should  be  given  to  benevolent  objects,  to 
be  selected  by  themselves,  in  consultation  with  their  mother. 

Mr.  Sanders'  physical  constitution,  notwithstanding  the  great  amount 
of  labour  he  performed,  had  never  been  very  vigorous,  or  altogether  free 
from  tendencies  to  consumption.  He  had  been  more  than  commonly  feeble 
for  some  time  previous  to  the  attack  which  put  an  end  to  his  labours.  On 
the  19th  of  June,  1851,  he  was  seized  with  vertigo,  which  was  followed 
by  a  general  prostration  of  his  system.  lie  was  able,  however,  occasion- 
ally, to  ride  out  until  June,  1853  ;  but  from  that  time  he  was  confined  to 
his  house,  and  mostly  to  his  room.  During  the  last  four  months  of  his 
life,  he  was  confined  to  his  bed  ;  for  several  weeks  was  unable  to  turn  him- 
self in  his  bed  ;  and  for  several  days  was  unable  to  move  any  part  of  his 
body,  except  his  hands  and  arms.  Meanwhile,  he  was  reduced  almost  to 
a  skeleton,  and  it  was  difficult  to  move  him  without  causing  pain.  But, 
during  all  his  sufferings,  he  was  a  model  of  Christian  resignation,  and 
every  thing  that  he  said  indicated  the  most  mature  preparation  for  Heaven. 
He  died  on  the  12th  of  March,  1854,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 
Two  days  after,  his  Funeral  was  attended  in  the  College  Chapel,  and  an 
appropriate  Discourse  delivered  by  Professor  Hillyer,  from   Rev.  xiv.  13. 

FROM  THE  REV.  CHARLES  D.  MALLARY,  D.  D. 

Alrany,  Ga.,  January  27,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Sanders,  for  more 
than  twenty  years.      I  spent  much  time  with  him,  in  private  and  social  inter- 
course, at  his  own  house  and  other  places,  and  heard   him   preach,  and  was 


744  BAPTIST. 

frequently  witli  him  at  religious  meetings,  and  the  business  meetings  of  our 
Associations  and  Conventions.  During  the  years  1838  and  1839,  whilst  pro- 
secuting an  Agency  for  the  Mercer  University,  his  house  was  my  principal 
home.  Hence  my  opportunities  were  considerable  for  studying  his  life  and 
character. 

In  his  person,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  native  elements  of  character,  Mr. 
Sanders  was  somewhat  of  the  General  Jackson  mould.  He  was  above  the 
medium  height,  and  of  rather  a  slender  frame,  though  capable,  in  ordinary 
health,  of  performing  a  vast  amount  of  active  service.  He  had  a  high  fore- 
head, grey  hair,  full  grey  eyes,  a  fair  and  fresh  complexion;  and,  though  his 
visage  was  rather  longer  than  is  usual,  his  features  were  well  formed,  and 
clothed  Mith  an  agreeable  and  somewhat  striking  expression,  that  readily 
adapted  itself  to  the  various  workings  of  his  mind.  His  manners  were  plain, 
yet  pleasant  and  gentlemanly:  in  his  social  intercourse  he  was  kind,  frank, 
hearty  and  communicative.  His  general  movement  bespoke  the  man  of  energy., 
occupation,  and  despatch.  In  his  walk,  he  measured  off  space  more  rapidly 
than  most  other  men,  his  body  somewhat  inclining  forward,  as  though  he  was 
leaning  towards  his  work, — eager  and  fully  prepared  to  grapple  with  it. 

Mr.  Sanders  possessed  an  intellect  of  excellent  structure, — clear,  discrimi- 
nating and  active;  capable,  when  duly  tasked,  of  meeting  almost  any  exi- 
gency that  M'ould  be  likely  to  occur.  His  very  busy  life  did  not,  however, 
afford  an  opportunity  for  that  full  development,  either  in  matters  of  literature 
or  theological  research,  of  which  it  was  evidently  susceptible;  and  it  must  be 
admitted,  after  all,  that,  though  he  was  capable  of  successful  and  extensive 
research,  his  mental  as  well  as  his  physical  constitution  was  better  adapted 
to  the  field  of  action,  than  to  the  severe  and  retired  labours  of  the  study. 
Still  his  general  attainments  were  highly  respectable;  and,  as  to  that  know- 
ledge of  men  and  things  in  the  practical  relations  of  life,  which  is  the  result 
of  observation  and  experience,  he  was  quite  in  advance  of  the  great  majority 
of  men. 

He  had  a  large  share  of  common  sense — his  judgment  was  uncommonly 
good  in  regard  to  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  His  well  considered  opinions 
had  much  weight  with  his  brethren  and  with  most  other  persons  who  had  a 
proper  knowledge  of  the  man.  The  venerable  Mercer  jjlaced  a  very  high  esti- 
mate upon  his  judgment;  and  this  was  no  small  praise,  for  he  knew  him  well, 
and  was  himself  a  wise  and  discriminating  judge  of  character. 

His  capacity  for  business  was,  indeed,  remarkable;  for  business,  whether 
considered  in  respect  to  variety,  general  arrangement,  or  minute  detail; 
whether  pertaining  to  affairs  purely  private  and  secular,  or  to  public  enter- 
prises, and  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  In  this  respect  he  may 
have  had  his  equals,  possibly  his  superiors;  but  1  think  those  who  had  the 
best  opportunity  of  knowing  the  range  of  his  business  capacity,  and  were  the 
most  capable  of  judging,  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  thej^  had  rarely  come  in 
contact  with  such  a  man.  It  was,  indeed,  admirable  to  Avitness  with  what 
apparent  ease,  with  what  exactness  and  success,  he  could  attend  to  the  wants 
of  a  numerous  family,  superintend  his  domestic  improvements,  direct  the 
details  of  a  somewhat  extensive  agricultural  interest,  in  connection  with  other 
private  affairs,  whilst  he  was  overwhelmed  with  public  labours  which,  by 
themselves,  no  ordinary  man  could  long  have  sustained.  This  talent  for  busi- 
ness was  a  rare  gift  of  (iod,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  was  used  for  the  good 
of  the  Church,  and  the  general  hap])iness  of  his  fellow-creatures,  was  one  of 
the  brightest  feature."?  in  the  life  of  this  excellent  brother. 

He  was  distinguished  for  punctuality  in  all  his  private  and  public  duties. 
Herein  we  find  one  peculiar  secret  of  his  success  in  his  various  undertakings. 
Billiugton  Sanders  was  not  one  of  your  uncertain,  dragging  mortals.     What- 


DILLINUTON  McCAKTEU  SANDERS.  745 

ever  was  the  work  in  hand,  he  was  uniformly  at  the  i)roi)er  place,  and  in 
proper  time,  llis  pecuniary  engagements,  the  family  altar,  tlie  prayer-meet- 
ing, the  Associational  and  Conventional  Anniversaries,  all  bore  testimony  to 
his  habiiual  punrtuality.  It  was  no  doubt  constitutionally  easier  for  him 
than  for  most  men  to  bo  prompt  and  regular;  but  it  was  conscience,  it  was 
Christian  j)rinriple  mainly,  which  wrougiit  this  into  a  stern  law  of  his  life. 
From  the  time  he  first  appeared  in  the  ficorgia  Baptist  Convention  till  dis- 
abled by  disease,  he  missed  but  two  of  its  annual  meetings,  and  that  from 
unavoidable  circumstances.  In  his  business  affairs,  it  was  his  unii'orm  rule  to 
finish  completely  the  appropriate  work  of  each  day  before  he  retired  to  rest. 

He  was  a  man  of  great  decision  and  of  indomitable  energy.  If  in  any  thing 
he  was  particularly  great,  it  was  perhaps  in  this — he  always  seemed  to  have 
something  to  do, — much  to  do;  and  "  whatever  his  hand  found  to  do,  he  did  it 
with  all  llis  might."  lie  moved  on  through  his  round  of  various  duties  with 
a  directness,  a  fixedness  of  heart  and  mind,  a  measure  of  executive  momen- 
tum, which  won  the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  him.  It  was  well  said  of 
him  by  I'rcsident  Manly,  of  the  Alabama  University,  that  he  was  "  the  wheel 
horse  of  the  Baptists  of  Georgia." 

He  was  distinguished  also  for  great  moral  courage.  Decided  in  his  opinions, 
he  was  not  afraid  to  vindicate  them  in  the  face  of  all  opposition.  He  was  not 
often  found  wanting  in  respect  for  the  judgment  of  his  brethren,  and  he  could 
.listen  patiently  to  their  arguments;  but  if  compelled  conscientiously  to  dissent 
even  from  his  most  revered  fathers  in  Christ,  he  was  not  to  be  deterred  from 
defining  and  defending  his  positions  through  fear  of  giving  offence,  or  by  the 
authority  of  great  names.  One  particular  phase  of  his  moral  courage  cannot 
be  too  much  commended.  Beyond  most  men  he  dared  to  do  right,  and,  as  a 
consetiuence,  beyond  most  men  he  dared  to  confess  when  he  found  himself  to 
be  wrong.  There  are  man)-,  I  doubt  not,  who  can  call  to  remembrance  some 
occasion,  when  he  manifested  as  much  moral  courage  in  acknowledging  his 
faults,  as  he  ever  did  in  the  vindication  of  his  conscientious  opinions. 

He  was  a  man  of  pure  and  lofty  aims.  He  had  no  selfish  and  sinister  pur- 
poses to  hide  beneath  the  cloak  of  fair  pretensions.  Uprightness  and  integrity 
walked  with  him  arm  in  arm.  He  was  emphatically  an  honest  man, — honest 
in  his  dealings,  honest  in  his  opinions,  honest  in  his  rebukes  and  commenda- 
tions. True  he  had  his  faults — the  faultless  live  in  Heaven.  But  his  were  not 
the  faults  of  a  sordid,  grovelling  nature.  They  were  such  as  we  often  see 
connected  with  ardent  feelings,  with  great  energy  and  decision  of  character, 
and  are  by  no  means  inconsistent  with  the  highest  purity  of  aim.  Like  other 
men,  he  sometimes  erred  in  judgment.  He  was  sometimes  irritable  and  impa- 
tient; he  sometimes  used  expressions  of  needless  severity;  and  sometimes  he 
urged  his  opinions  with  a  zeal  bordering  on  pertinacity:  but  you  could  not  find 
the  man  who  would  impeach  his  integrity.  Persons  might  dis.sent  from  his 
opinions,  and  even  indulge  in  the  language  of  complaint  concerning  him;  but 
still  they  would  be  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  he  was  a  good  and  upright 
man. 

He  was  a  man  of  a  remarkably  disinterested,  self-sacrificing  spirit,  of  warm- 
hearted, universal  benevolence.  He  seemed  habitually  to  realize  that  he  was 
not  his  own.  He  courted  not  his  ease,  he  recoiled  from  no  sacrifice  or  toil 
which  sacred  duty  imposed.  With  a  remarkable  self-forgetfulness,  he  knew 
how,  for  the  honour  of  Christ,  to  take  up  burdens,  and  how  to  lay  them 
down.  He  had  a  high  sense  of  character:  he  greatly  valued  the  confidence 
and  good  opinion  of  his  brethren;  yet  he  never  went  about,  hunting  up  com- 
pliments or  preferments;  but  when  honourable  preferments  were  tendered  and 
urged,  he  dared  not  to  decline,  if,  by  accepting,  he  could  do  good;  and  yet, 
when  he  might  turn  his  honours  over  to  other  hands,  he  did  it  with  an  araia 

Vol.  VI.  94 


746  BAPTIST. 

bio  graco  and  a  cheerful  spirit.  Any  service  was  to  him  honourable,  however 
humble,  that  was  useful.  Every  truly  benevolent  enterprise  was  sure  to  call 
into  action  the  warm  emotions  of  his  heart,  and  to  gain  from  him  a  ready  and 
energetic  support. 

As  a  citizen,  Mr.  Sanders  displayed  a  broad  public  spirit,  truly  worthy  of 
all  praise.  lie  was  ever  the  friend  of  law  and  order,  and  felt  a  deep  interest 
in  all  useful  public  improvements.  He  was  jealous  of  the  reputation  of  his 
native  State,  and  desired  the  happiness  and  honour  of  his  whole  country. 

In  Ills  domestic  relations,  his  walk  was  marked  with  great  fidclit}-,  with  a 
kind  and  watchful  devotion  to  the  interests  of  those  committed  to  his  charge. 
Though  a  thorough  and  sj'stematic  economy  pervaded  all  his  domestic  arrange- 
ments, yet  he  was  most  generous  and  prompt  in  providing  for  the  needful 
wants  of  all.  lie  was  the  advocate  of  a  sound  family  discipline,  having  more 
confidence  in  the  inspired  maxims  of  Solomon,  even  when  applied  with  some 
measure  of  sternness,  than  in  that  blind  mistaken  tenderness,  which  gives  all 
domestic  government  to  the  winds.  God  was  honoured  in  his  habitation.  His 
concern  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  family  was  habitual,  sometimes  intense 
and  absorbing.  He  was  punctual  in  his  family  devotions :  on  these  occasions, 
children,  servants,  and  visiters  were  expected  to  attend.  If,  at  any  time, 
there  was  an  evening  party  of  youth  at  his  house,  the  interview  was  generally 
closed  by  family  worship  in  the  parlour.  His  house  was  the  abode  of  gene- 
rous, warm-hearted  hospitality.  On  public  occasions,  he  was  careful  to  see 
that  it  was  well  thronged  with  friends  and  strangers;  and  it  was  pleasing  to 
witness  with  what  ease,  kindness,  and  particularity,  he  ministered  to  the 
comfort  of  all  his  guests. 

As  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  he  occupied  a  highly  respectable  position. 
Had  his  cares  been  less  diversified  and  onerous,  allowing  him  to  concentrate 
all  his  energies  upon  his  ministerial  work,  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  to  what 
eminence,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  he  might  have  attained,  in  point  of  useful- 
ness and  efficiency.  As  it  was,  he  will  be  remembered  as  having  stood  in  the 
front  ranks  of  Georgia's  pious,  devoted  and  useful  ministers.  He  was  not 
habitually  a  preacher  of  Avhat  might  be  called  great  sermons — he  indulged  but 
sparingly  in  niceties  of  theological  discussion;  yet  he  attained  to  definite, 
strong  and  comprehensive  views  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  and  was 
competent  to  unfold  them  in  a  clear  and  impressive  manner.  Some  of  his  dis- 
courses were  truly  able,  and  all  of  them  exhibited  a  vein  of  sound  and  whole- 
some instruction.  Christ  and  his  Cross  was  his  great  theme.  Grace, — rich, 
free,  ."sovereign  grace,  Avas  duly  exalted  in  his  doctrine;  human  nature  was 
unfolded  in  its  true  helplessness  and  dependance,  at  the  same  time  that  human 
accountableness  was  urged  in  the  stern,  uncompromising  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 
His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  plain  and  unaffected;  he  never  aimed  at  display, 
never  fished  for  the  golden  opinions,  but  always  for  the  souls,  of  men.  His 
practical  appeals  to  saints  and  sinners  were  tender  and  earnest;  sometimes 
they  were  clothed  with  remarkable  pathos  and  power. 

Considering  his  many  engagements,  he  devoted  much  time  to  pastoral 
labours  among  the  families  connected  with  his  different  congregations.  The 
humblest  member  of  his  charge  was  not  overlooked,  whilst  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  afiliction  particularly  shared  in  his  affectionate  ministrations. 
Whilst  I'astor  of  the  Church  at  Penfield,  he  was  especially  attentive  to  the 
young  men  connected  with  the  University,  seeking  frequent  opportunities  to 
converse  Avith  them  personally  on  the  interests  of  the  soul.  In  his  pastoral 
visits,  he  was  free,  instructive,  social  and  faithful:  in  directing  inquiring  souls- 
he  was  affectionate  and  skilful.  lie  uniformly  urged  sound  discipline  in  the 
churches,  and  took  no  small  pains  to  infuse  into  the  hearts  of  his  brethren 
that  spirit  of  Christian  benevolence  which  dwelt  in  his  own  bosom.     He  was 


BILLINGTON  McCARTER  SANDERS.  747 

a  consistent  and  tliorough  Baptist;  yet,  in  his  Christian  and  niiiiisterial  inter- 
course with  other  denominations,  he  was  considerate,  respectful  and  courteous, 
manifesting;  a  cordial  affection  for  all  whom  he  regarded  as  the  sincere  lovers 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Such  are  my  impressions  of  the  man  whose  character  you  have  asked  me  to 
delineate — 1  need  hardly  say  that  I  consider  him  as  well  entitled  to  a  place 
among  the  worthies  of  the  American  Pulpit. 

I  am  very  sincerely  yours, 

C.  D.  MALL  ART. 


ALONZO  KING. 

1825—1835. 

FROM  THE  REV.  BARON  STOW,  D.  D. 

Boston,  June  25,  1858. 

My  clear  Sir:  It  gives  nie  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request  for  some 
account  of  my  lamented  friend,  the  Rev.  Alonzo  King. 

Aloxzo  King  was  born  in  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  April  1,  179G,  and  was 
the  son  of  Luther  and  Abigail  A.  King.  In  1800,  his  parents  removed  to 
Newport,  N.  H.,  where  they  resided  till  called  home  to  the  better  land,  for 
which  they  were,  by  the  grace  of  God,  eminently  prepared.  Alonzo  passed 
his  minority  with  his  father,  labouring,  partly  as  an  agriculturist,  and 
partly  as  a  mechanic  in  the  manufacture  of  a  valuable  implement  of  hus- 
bandry,— winnowing-raills.  During  this  whole  period,  he  was  distinguished 
for  shrinking  modesty,  sobriet}'  of  deportment,  and  unblemished  morals. 
He  was  fond  of  books,  and  thirsted  for  a  lietter  education  than  his  parents 
could  give  him;  but  he  availed  himself  of  all  the  facilities  within  his 
reach  for  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  and  consequently  stood,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  far  in  advance  of  many  whose  advantages  had  been  supe- 
rior. From  his  early  childhood  he  was  known  within  his  circle  as  "  reli- 
giously inclined,"  and  as  maintaining  devotional  habits. 

In  the  year  1818,  he  went  to  reside  and  prosecute  studies  in  the  family 
of  the  Rev.  Leland  Howard,  then  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Wind- 
sor, Vt.  There  his  religious  tendencies  received  the  care  and  direction 
which  were  needed,  and  he  soon  determined  openly  to  consecrate  himself  to 
Christ.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  Mr.  Howard  accompanied  him  to 
Newport,  and  baptized  him  among  the  people  who  knew  him,  and  had  long 
regarded  him  as  a  true  Christian. 

His  purpose  was  deliberately  formed  to  devote  himself  to  the  work  of 
the  Christian  Ministry,  and  he  commenced  at  once  his  preparatory  studies. 
Occasionally  he  preached,  and  so  acceptable  were  his  services  that  they 
were  in  demand  far  beyond  his  ability  to  render  them,  without  interfering 
with  his  regular  course  of  study. 

He  entered  Waterville  College  in  Maine,  and  graduated  with  credit  in 
August,  1825.  Being  then  twenty-nine,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  forego 
the  benefit  of  a  longer  period  of  preparatory  training,   and  accepted   the 


748  BAPTIST. 

Pastoiatc  of  the  Baptist  Cburch  in  North  Yarmouth,  Me.,  where  he  was 
ordained  January  4,  1826.  The  following  year,  he  was  married  to  Try- 
phena,  fourth  daughter  of  William  Cheney,  Esq.,  of  Newport,  N.  H., — a 
youug  lady  of  great  excellence,  and  of  rare  qualifications  for  the  position 
of  Pastor's  wife. 

Subsequently,  Mr.  King  was  Pastor  for  a  time  of  a  small  Cliurch  in 
Northborough,  Mass.  He  was  invited,  in  several  instances,  to  the  charge 
of  churches  in  cities  and  large  towns  ;  but  he  had  a  very  low  estimate  of 
himself,  and  shrinking,  never  from  labour,  but  ever  from  notoriety,  he  pre- 
ferred smaller  and  more  retired  places.  His  third  and  last  settlement  was 
in  Westborough,  Mass.,  where,  after  a  brief  period  of  labour,  he  died,  in 
December,  1835. 

Mr.  King  never  sought  fame  as  an  author,  but  many  productions  of  his 
pen  were  sought  for  the  press,  and  he  yielded  them  simply  on  the  ground 
that  they  might  be  useful.  He  had  a  talent  for  lyric  poetry,  and  many  of 
his  fugitive  pieces  are  abroad,  without  his  name,  and,  especially  by  persons 
of  his  own  temperament,  they  have  been  much  admired. 

Mr.  King  was  selected  as  the  compiler  of  the  Memoir  of  the  distinguished 
missionary.  Rev.  George  D.  Boardman,  and  the  choice  was  well  made. 
He  was  intimately  acquainted  with  his  subject,  and  was  fully  in  sympathy 
with  the  spirit,  aims,  and  labours  of  the  man  whom  he  has  so  truthfully 
portrayed. 

Much  regret  has  been  expressed  that  no  one  should  have  done  for  Mr. 
King  what  he  did  so  well  for  Mr.  Boardman.  But  his  friends  were  inhibi- 
ted such  a  service.  Those  nearest  him  in  his  final  illness  were  made  to 
promise  him  that  as  little  as  possible  should  be  said  of  him  and  his  servi- 
ces, and  that  his  writings  should  be  kept  from  the  public  eye.  "I  am  a 
poor  sinner,"  he  said,  "and  what  arc  the  best  of  my  services  ?  How 
unholy  !   How  unprofitable  I  " 

I  can  remember  Mr.  King  as  far  back  as  1810.  I  was  then  but  a  child  ; 
he  was  a  few  years  my  senior.  The  residences  of  our  parents  wore  five 
miles  apart,  but  we  often  met,  and  especially  on  the  Sabbath,  as  we 
attended  the  same  place  of  worship  and  sat  near  each  other,  he  in  "  the 
singing  seats,"  I  in  a  gallery  square  pew.  I  used  to  see  him  also  on  train- 
ing days,  as  he  was  the  drummer  to  a  militia  company.  Occasionally  we 
met  at  spelling-schools,  town-meetings,  and  funerals.  I  remember  him  as 
a  sober  youth,  retiring,  modest,  and  disinclined  to  the  amusements  common 
to  the  young.  In  person  he  was  slender,  with  light  complexion,  a  downcast 
look,  and  head  a  little  inclined  toward  the  right  shoulder.  His  face  was 
always  rather  thin,  his  gait  was  moderate,  and  he  had  the  appearance  of 
one  who  might  be  very  amiable,  but  lacking  energy.  He  was  shy,  not 
from  suspicion  or  timidity,  but  from  a  low  opinion  of  himself.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  he  filled  a  s>nall  niche  in  society,  and  was  content  with 
its  sraallness.  His  habits  were  good,  he  was  industrious ;  he  was  ilutiful 
as  a  son  ;  he  was  seriously  disposed.  All  spoke  of  him  as  "  a  steady  young 
man,"  and  many  were  the  parents  who  referred  their  sons  to  Alonzo  King 
as  a  model  of  filial  propriety  and  general  moral  purity.  Had  he  been 
suitably  directed  and  encouraged,  he  would  probably  have  entered  the 
Church  long  before  he  did. 


ALONZO  KING.  749 

In  the  autumn  of  1818,  I  was  one  of  a  solemn  group  that  witnessed  hi.s 
Baptism,  administered  by  his  teacher,  Rev.  Lcland  Howard,  then  of  Wind- 
sor, Vt.  It  had  been  for  years  a  time  of  groat  spiritual  coldness  in  New- 
port, and  a  Baptism  was  to  many  a  novel  event.  Mr.  King  went  alone  in 
that  ordinance.  The  impression  upon  the  spectators  was  of  the  best  kind. 
A  revival  of  great  power  followed,  which  put  a  new  face  upon  the  religious 
character  of  the  town. 

Mr.  King  and  myself  commenced  fitting  for  College  nearly  at  the  same 
time,  and  for  about  one  year  we  were  together  in  the  Newport  Academy. 
He  was  fond  of  study,  and  made  good  proficiency  ;  but,  owing  to  his  appa- 
rent lack  of  enterprise  and  liis  extreme  diflidence,  no  very  high  hopes  were 
cherished  of  his  success.  He  was  deeply  pious,  but  did  not  indicate  the 
talent  which  subsequently  became  manifest.  Others,  more  pert  and  for- 
ward, outshone  him  ;  he  retired  into  the  shade  and  seemed  willing  to  be 
unrecognisod.  "As  humble  as  brother  King  "  was  the  standard  measure 
of  extreme  Christian  lowliness.  I  have  always  regarded  his  humility  as 
real,  for  I  never  perceived  that  he  was  jealous  of  others  who  might  be  more 
noticed,  or  that  he  wished  to  stand  higher  in  any  man's  estimation.  In 
all  this  there  was  a  tinge  of  melancholy,  occasioned,  not  by  any  impression 
that  his  worthiness  was  overlooked,  but  by  a  depressing  sense  of  his  own 
ntiworthiness.  In  the  whole  range  of  my  acquaintance,  I  cannot  recall  a 
more  genuine  specimen  of  evangelical  humility.  This  quality  added  to 
unusual  purity  of  mind,  and  great  prudence  in  speech  and  deportment,  and 
habitual  prayerfulness,  rendered  him  eminently  a  model  Christian.  In  all 
the  years  that  I  knew  him,  I  cannot  remember  the  word  or  the  act  that 
could  weaken  any  one's  confidence  in  him  as  a  man  of  God. 

His  style  as  a  writer  was  pure,  with  a  decided  cast  of  the  imaginative  or 
poetic.  He  did  not  aim  at  rhetorical  beauties;  but  they  were  in  his  mind; 
and  they  are  apparent,  as  natural  ornaments,  in  his  sermons,  and  his  printed 
productions. 

His  preaching  betrayed  no  ambition  to  be  thought  great,  but  breathed 
an  affectionate  desire  to  do  good.  It  was  never  bold  or  startling,  but 
always  quiet,  tender,  persuasive,  with  an  uncommon  measure  of  the 
pathetic.  I  never  heard  the  preacher  who  could  excel  him  in  word-pictures 
of  the  scenes  of  Calvary. 

One  who  knew  him  well  has  said.  "  His  leading  traits  were  exotics  from 
heavenly  soil: — humility,  abandonment  of  self,  consecration,  all  nourished 
by  fasting  and  prayer.  The  Cross  of  Christ  was  his  favourite  theme  ;  he 
lived  in  sight  of  the  Cross,  prayed  beside  it,  preached  behind  it."  These 
statements  accord  with  my  own  recollections  of  him.  In  my  own  memory, 
and  in  that  of  every  one  who  knew  him,  his  name  is  fragrant. 

Very  truly  yours, 

BAKON  STOW. 


750  BAPTIST. 


WILLARD  JUDD  * 

1826—1840. 

WiLLARD  JuDD  was  born  in  Soutliington,  Conn.,  February  23,  1804. 
His  parents  were  worthy,  respectable  people,  in  the  middle  walks  of  life. 
Possessing  naturally  a  feeble  constitution,  and  withal  a  very  quiet  spirit, 
he  manifested  little  interest  in  the  ordinary  amusements  of  childhood  and 
youth,  and  very  early  found  no  small  degree  of  his  pleasure  as  well  as  his 
employment  in  reading.  During  the  first  years  of  his  pupilage,  while  he 
was  yet  in  the  primary  school,  his  intellectual  development  was  such  as  to 
attract  the  special  notice  of  his  teacher,  and  to  awaken  the  expectation 
that,  if  his  life  was  spared,  he  would  become  a  much  more  than  ordinary 
man.  Though  he  had  evinced,  from  his  earliest  childhood,  an  uncommonly 
amiable  disposition,  and  great  propriety  of  conduct, — when  he  was  less 
than  twelve  years  old,  he  became  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his 
sinfulness,  and,  as  he  believed,  embraced  the  Savior  as  his  only  hope.  The 
record  of  his  experience,  at  this  period,  as  left  by  himself,  is  touching  alike 
for  its  beautiful  simplicity,  and  the  tone  of  deep  evangelical  feeling 
which  it  breathes.  Shortly  after  his  hopeful  conversion,  he  was  baptized 
by  the  Rev.  David  Wright,  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Southington. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  entered  the  Academy  in  his  native  place,  where 
he  remained  about  one  year,  studying  as  much  as  the  state  of  his  health 
would  permit.  During  this  time,  his  attention  was  devoted  to  the  higher 
branches  of  Mathematics  and  the  English  language,  together  with  the 
elements  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.  On  leaving  the  Academy,  he 
engaged  in  the  business  of  teaching,  which  he  continued  until  he  entered 
the  mini.stry.  He  was  a  student  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  a  teacher  ; 
and,  though  he  prosecuted  his  studies  under  manifold  disadvantages,  his 
stores  of  useful  knowledge  were  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing.  In  a 
letter  of  advice  to  a  young  friend,  which  he  subsequently  wrote,  he  says, — 
"  If  your  application  be  too  constant,  enervation  of  mind  and  debility  of 
body  will  be  the  consequence.  I  find  it  difficult,  when  engaged  with  a 
subject  that  interests  me,  to  relax  my  mind  at  all  ;  but  it  always  preys  on 
my  health." 

The  religious  experience  of  Mr,  Judd,  for  some  time  after  his  Baptism, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from  the  record  of  his  private 
exercises: — "For  a  time  after  my  connection  with  the  Church,  I  enjoyed 
such  peace  of  mind  that  I  almost  forgot  that  there  was  a  warfare  to  be 
endured.  But  I  was  soon  apprized  of  the  fact  that  my  foes  Avere  not  all 
subdued.  When  I  would  do  good,  evil  was  present  with  me.  I  found  a 
law  in  my  members  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me 
into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin.  Although  I  never  relinquished  my  hope, 
yet  I  experienced  many  hours  of  darkness.  To  be  filled  with  a  sense  of 
my  sinfulness,  and  almost  to  despair  of  the  Divine  favour,  was  a  sore  trial. 
But  for  God,  in   the  darkness  of  such   an  hour,  to  reveal   Himself  as  my 

•Memoir  and  writings  of  Mr.  Judd. — MS.  from  Rev.  Dr.  Maclay. 


WILLARD  JUDD  751 

Father,  gave  me  stronger  confidence  in  his  mercy,  made  communion  with 
Him  infinitely  sweeter,  and  the  name  of  my  lledeemer  a  hundred  fold  more 
precious." 

In  tlie  fall  of  18lJ3,  Mr.  Judd  left  his  native  State,  and  settled  in  Canaan, 
N.  Y.,  whither  his  parents  had  previously  removed.  He  still  continued 
the  business  of  teaching;  but  about  this  time  began  to  think  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Though  he  had  a  deep  sense  of  his  own 
insuffitioncy  for  the  office,  yet  the  wants  of  the  Church  and  the  world 
pressed  so  heavily  upon  his  spirit,  that  he  could  not  doubt,  after  mature 
reflection,  that  the  Providence  of  God  pointed  him  in  that  direction. 
Accordingly,  the  Baptist  Church  in  Canaan,  having  become  acquainted 
with  him,  and  being  satisfied  of  his  qualifications,  gave  him  a  license  to 
preach  in  the  spring  of  182G.  He  soon  after  removed  to  Herkimer 
County,  where  he  commenced  preaching  alternately  in  Salisbury  and 
Oppcnheim.  Here  he  continued  his  labours  for  several  years,  with  many 
tokens  of  the  Divine  favour.  In  Oppcnheim  he  enjoyed  the  fullest  con- 
fidence of  the  people,  and  the  church  increased  rapidly  in  both  numerical 
and  spiritual  strength.  In  Salisbury,  the  church,  owing  to  various  causes, 
had  become  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and  efficiency,  and  had  been  for 
some  time  without  a  Pastor  ;  but,  under  his  faithful  labours,  the  interest 
was  soon  revived,  and  a  better  state  of  things  induced.  He  united  with 
the  Church  in  Salisbury  on  the  23d  of  August,  1828. 

As  early  as  1825,  Mr.  Judd  began  to  exhibit  decisive  symptoms  of  an 
aflfection  of  the  lungs  ;  and  from  that  period  he  prosecuted  his  labours 
under  the  full  impression  that  the  time  of  his  departure  could  not  be  very 
distant.  The  Church  in  Salisbury  he  was  permitted  to  see  gradually  rising 
under  his  ministrations,  and,  in  1832,  it  received  a  large  accession  to  its 
strength,  as  the  fruit  of  an  interesting  revival  of  religion.  He  continued 
his  labours  here  until  the  spring  of  1835,  when  his  health  had  become  so 
much  reduced  as  to  oblige  him  to  retire  from  the  field.  He  was  never 
able  subsequently  to  resume  his  labours  as  a  Pastor. 

After  leaving  Salisbury,  Mr.  Judd  went  to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose 
of  availing  himself  of  the  public  libraries  in  that  city  ;  and,  after  remaining 
there  a  short  time,  came  to  New  York,  where  he  spent  the  following  winter. 
Here  he  published  a  Review  of  Professor  Stuart's  work  on  Baptism,  which 
was  received  with  great  favour  by  his  denomination,  and  noticed  in  a  tone 
of  high  approbation  by  the  Baptist  periodical  press. 

In  the  summer  of  1836,  he  left  New  York,  and,  after  visiting  his  friends 
in  Salisbury  and  some  other  parts  of  the  State,  commenced  preaching  in 
Parma,  ^lonroe  County.  But  his  labours  here  were  soon  interrupted  by 
an  attack  of  the  ague  and  chronic  sore  throat,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
never  entirely  recovered.  He  lingered  for  nearly  two  years  in  almost  con- 
stant confinement:  though,  whenever  his  health  would  permit,  he  employed 
himself  in  reading  and  writing. 

Besides  the  composition  of  several  miscellaneous  papers,  some  of  which 
were  subsequently  collected  and  published  in  connection  with  a  ])ricf 
Memoir  of  his  life,  he  revised  his  work  on  Baptism,  considerably  enlarging 
and  improving  it.  During  his  protracted  illness,  he  resided  in  the  family 
of  a   Mr.   Palen,  in   the  neighbourhood  of  Rochester,  whose  acquaintance 


752  BAPTIST. 

he  had  made  at  Oppcnheira,  and  whose  uniform  kindness  made  his  condi- 
tion as  comfortable  as  if  he  had  been  surrounded  by  his  own  kindred. 

Mr.  J  add  had  all  along  cherished  the  expectation  that  he  should  be  able 
to  resume  his  labours  in  the  ministry;  but,  when  he  became  satisfied  that 
this  was  hopeless,  he  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  the  allotment  of  Providence, 
and  entered  another  sphere  of  usefulness.  In  the  autumn  of  1839,  he 
accepted  an  appointment  as  Classical  Teacher,  in  Middlebury  Academy,  at 
Wyoming.  He  coiunicnced  his  labours  here  about  the  1st  of  September, 
and  was  employed,  with  little  intermission,  and  with  great  success,  until 
within  a  short  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  February  following. 
His  last  illness,  which  was  very  brief,  though  painful,  was  marked  by  a 
strong  confidence  in  the  lledeeiuer,  and,  during  the  last  day  of  his  life,  he 
often  prayed  that  the  Lord  Jesus  would  come  quickly  and  take  him  to  his 
rest.  Many  affectionate  pupils  and  endeared  friends  followed  him  to  his 
grave  ;  and  wherever  he  was  known  his  death  occasioned  deep  lamentation. 

For  the  substance  of  the  following  estimate  of  Mr.  Judd's  character  T 
am  indebted  to  the  llev.  Dr.  Maclay : — 

With  a  most  gentle  and  amiable  temper,  Mr.  Judd  combined  an  inquisi- 
tive, well-balanced  and  highly  cultivated  mind.  His  scholarship,  though, 
to  a  great  extent,  the  result  of  his  own  unassisted  efforts,  would  have  done 
honour  to  a  graduate  of  any  of  our  Colleges.  He  was  fond  of  the 
Natural  Sciences,  and  of  Learning  in  general ;  but  Language  was  his 
favourite  study.  His  knowledge  of  the  Ancient  and  Modern  Greek,  of  the 
Latin  and  French,  Avas  thorough  and  critical.  He  had  also  made  consider- 
able proficiency  in  the  Hebrew,  the  Chaldee,  and  the  Syriae.  His  style 
of  writing  is  perspicuous,  chaste  and  vigorous,  with  a  due  degree  of 
embellishment. 

Mr.  Judd  had  a  peculiar  aptness  for  teaching.  His  intercourse  with  his 
pupils  was  always  bland  and  familiar,  and  eminently  fitted  to  secure  their 
confidence.  In  his  efforts  to  develope  their  faculties  he  constantly  appealed 
to  the  best  principles  of  their  nature. 

As  a  Preacher,  Mr.  Judd  was  highly  acceptable  and  useful.  Though 
his  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  somewhat  constrained,  his  discourses  were  so 
rich  in  Divine  truth,  luminously  and  forcibly  presented,  that  no  intelligent 
hearer  could  fail  to  be  interested  in  them.  He  generally  made  mature 
preparation  for  the  pulpit ;  but  his  sermons  were  rarely  committed  to 
paper.  He  was  eminently  a  practical  preacher,  aiming,  through  the  under- 
standing, to  reach  the  conscience,  the  heart,  and  the  life. 

As  a  Pastor,  he  was  universally  beloved.  In  all  his  intercourse  with 
his  people,  his  controlling  desire  evidently  was  to  promote  their  highest 
interests.  His  attention  to  the  poor  and  the  sick,  the  young  and  the  aged, 
was  most  exemplary.  He  wa<s  eminently  a  peace-maker, — not  only  guard- 
ing carefully  against  all  occasions  of  discord,  and  checking  difficulties  aiul 
contentions  in  embryo,  but,  by  his  remarkable  Christian  prudence  and 
delicacy,  restoring  peace,  even  after  a  protracted  interruption  of  it.  He 
associated  freely  with  Christians  of  other  communions  than  his  own,  and 
was  ready  to  co-operate  with  them  in  the  advancement  of  the  Ptedecmer's 
cause.  He  enjoyed  in  an  unusual  degree  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
community  at  large. 


JOHN  ARMSTRONG.  753 


JOHN  ARMSTRONG. 

1826—1844. 

FROM  THE  KEY.  WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 

Skmple  Broaddus  Collkge,  Centre  Hill,    > 
Do  Soto  County,  iMiss.,  Jiuiuaiy  18,  1859.  ) 

My  dear  Sir:  The  Rev.  John  Armstrong  ami  myself  graduated  from 
the  same  College,  although  at  periods  quite  distant  from  each  other.  I 
was  his  immediate  successor  in  the  Pastorate  of  the  Columbus  Baptist 
Church.  He  was  an  intimate  of  my  father's  family  ;  and,  while  in  Europe, 
conducted  his  business  and  his  correspondence  through  my  father's  house. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  we  lived  within  fourteen  miles  of  each  other. 
After  that,  his  widow  removed  to  Columbus,  attached  herself  to  the  church 
under  my  charge,  and  placed  all  his  manuscripts  at  my  command,  from  which 
to  write  any  memoir,  long  or  short,  which  I  might  think  expedient.  If  his 
European  correspondence  had  all  been  preserved,  and  if  there  had  not  been 
lost  from  his  manuscript  diary  considerable  passages  which  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  have  supplied,  there  would  have  been  published,  long  ere  this,  a  vol- 
ume edited  by  the  lamented  Thomas  Meredith,  of  North  Carolina,  and 
myself.  The  following  sketch,  if  I  mistake  not,  embraces,  in  a  condensed 
form,  all  the  material  facts  of  his  history. 

Joiix  Armstrong,  the  son  of  Kobcrt  and  Mar}'  Armstrong,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia  on  the  27th  of  November,  1798.  Of  his  earlier  years, 
there  remain  but  slight  materials  to  weave  into  a  connected  history.  His 
later  years  manifested  the  simplicity  of  his  youthful  days.  His  parents 
instilled  into  his  mind  those  principles  of  strict  propriety  of  thought  and 
deed,  which  the  religion  of  Christ  was  subsequently  the  means  of  develop- 
ing and  maturing.  Of  the  exact  period  of  his  conversion  no  record  is 
found  among  his  memoranda.  From  a  notice  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Rev. 
William  Staughton,  D.  D.,  under  date  of  January  26,  1835,  I  infer  that 
it  must  have  been  before  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  Speaking  of  Dr. 
Staughton,  he  remarks, — "  He  was  the  first  person  to  whom  I  unfolded  my 
anxieties  in  relation  to  the  ministry,  and  the  interest  which  he  took  in  mj' 
behalf  embalmed  his  name  in  my  memory.  I  was  then  about  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  from  that  time  until  I  finished  my  collegiate  course,  he 
directed  my  studies.  I  uniformly  found  in  him  a  father  and  a  friend. 
During  my  perusal  of  these  Memoirs,  a  thousand  recollections  have  been 
revived.  His  labours  in  the  Institution  at  Philadelphia,  his  Lectures  on 
Divinity,  and  his  six  o'clock  Lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy,  in  Peale's 
Museum ;  his  solicitude  for  the  comfort  and  literary  and  theological 
improvement  of  the  students  ;  his  fatherly  advice  and  untiring  labours,  are 
all  fresh  in  my  memory.  His  zeal,  his  energy,  his  perseverance  and  suc- 
cess, as  President  of  the  Columbian  College, — his  afflictions,  his  disap- 
pointments, all  stand  out  in  bold  relief  before  me.  But  he  has  gone  ;  the 
grave  has  closed  over  him ;  he  has  left  the  scene  of  his  toils  and  his  sor- 
rows,   and   ho   is   happy,   beyond   the   reach   of  the   wretchedness   of  this 

Vol.  VI.  05 


754  BAPTIST. 

world — '  Quiescat  pace  /'  "  This  brief  extract  informs  us  of  the  time  when 
he  firt^t  contemplated  the  sacred  ministry,  who  directed  his  studies,  and  how 
well  he  loved  and  revered  that  distinguished  man,  who  was  his  spiritual 
guide  and  teacher.  When  the  Columbian  College  went  into  full  operation  in 
Washington,  Mr.  Armstrong  became  a  student  in  one  of  the  regular  col- 
lege classes.  There  he  was  distinguished  for  a  habit  of  close  study,  and 
maintained  a  high  standing  for  scholarship  among  such  distinguished  men 
as  James  D.  Knowles,  Robert  Vi.  Cushman,  Baron  Stow,  and  Robert 
Ryland.  In  1825,  he  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  very 
shortly  afterwards  determined  upon  settling  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  I  first  saw  him,  in  Richmond,  Va.  I  well 
recollect  how  much  I  felt  gratified  in  accompanying  him,  a  young  minister, 
to  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and  thence  to  a  Baptism.  At  that  early 
period,  he  had  gained  a  strong  hold  on  the  affections  and  good-will  of  all 
who  knew  him. 

The  State  of  North  Carolina  presented  an  inviting  field  of  labour.  It 
had  suffered,  and  was  still  suffering,  much  from  the  spirit  of  Antinomian- 
ism.  The  devoted  Wait  and  the  acute  and  able  Meredith  had  hardly 
gained  a  foothold.  With  the  latter,  indeed,  he  had  not  yet  formed  that 
strong  friendship,  which  bound  them  to  each  other  for  fifteen  years  by  ties 
which  death  only  could  sever. 

For  nearly  five  years,  he  was  the  beloved  and  successful  Pastor  of  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Newbern.  Here  he  was  not  without  his  trials  ;  yet  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  abated  anght  of  zeal  or  energy  in  clearly  unfolding 
Grospel  truth,  or  enforcing  Christian  duty. 

In  May,  1835,  Mr.  Armstrong  was  appointed  Professor  of  Ancient  Lan- 
guages in  Wake  Forest  Institute  (now  College.)  For  a  short  time  after 
receiving  this  appointment,  he  travelled  through  North  Carolina,  in  the 
capacity  of  an  Agent,  and  was  greatlj^  successful  in  obtaining  funds,  and 
in  awakening  attention  to  the  importance  of  a  well  educated  ministry. 

While  engaged  as  an  instructer  in  this  Institution,  he  was  remarkably 
diligent  in  his  attention  upon  the  classes  under  his  charge,  and  zealously 
strove  to  perfect  the  course  of  study,  as  well  as  to  carry  out  the  IManual 
Labour  System.  He  laboured  with  the  students,  giving  them  a  practical 
example  of  his  belief  in  the  benefits  of  the  scheme.  Whether  his  devotion 
to  this  plan  was  judicious  or  not,  I  shall  not  undertake  to  decide  ;  but  the 
consistency  and  energy  he  displayed  were  certainly  worthy  of  all  praise. 

The  practical  character  of  his  mind  is  very  clearly  exhibited  in  his 
remarks  upon  passing  objects,  when  he  travelled.  Under  date  of  July  15, 
1835,  he  says, — "  I  saw  a  man  to-day  robed  in  a  dress,  which  looked  as  if 
the  winds  had  blown  it  together — his  head  without  a  hat,  and  his  feet  with- 
out shoes.  On  my  right  wa§  a  hut,  on  my  left  was  a  corn  field,  upon 
which  was  stamped  the  appearance  of  the  man.  As  I  passed,  about  ten 
dogs  staggered  out  and  barked  at  me.  The  whole  presented  to  my  view 
just  such  a  place  as  suits  the  dwelling  of  squalid  ignorance  and  sordid  pov- 
erty. As  I  passed  along  the  road,  this  man  was  the  subject  of  my  medi- 
tations. I  tliought  it  was  utterly'  impossible  he  could  be  a  Christian,  for 
every  thing  around  him  exhibited  broad  and  prominent  signs  of  a  most 
shameful  neglect This  man  could  not  be  religious,  for 


JOHN  AKMSTUONG.  755 

iuppiration  hath  said  that  such  mcu  have  denied  the  faith  and  are  worse 
than  infidels." 

In  Ids  utter  dislike  for  every  species  of  meanness,  he  sometimes  expressed 
himself  with  great  force,  and  apparently  with  severity.  Still  it  was  the 
result  of  strong,  holy  sentiment,  and  ardent  attachment  to  the  strict 
standards  of  Christian  duty.  The  Benevolent  Institutions  of  the  day  engaged 
muoli  of  his  attention,  and,  with  a  view  to  advance  their  interests,  he 
became  a  zealous  supporter  of  the  State  Convention  of  North  Carolina. 
lie  was  present  at  its  formation,  and,  so  long  as  he  remained  in  the  Slate, 
was  its  Corresponding  Secretary.  The  editor  of  the  Biblical  Recorder 
observes  that  "  he  was  the  first  General  Agent  of  the  "Wake  Forest  Insti- 
tution, and  did  mure  probably  than  any  other  individual  in  the  establish- 
ment of  that  Seminary.  In  all  our  benevolent  enterprises,  and  in  all  our 
efforts  to  elevate  and  improve  the  condition  of  our  churches  in  North 
Carolina,  Brother  Armstrong  stood  in  the  first  rank,  and  probably  was 
inferior  to  none  in  zeal,  in  talent,  and  in  self-devotion.  Accordingly,  in 
all  the  more  important  historical  documents  of  the  denomination  of  this 
State,  for  the  time  referred  to,  the  name  of  Johi  Annslrong  will  be  found 
occupying  an  elevated  and  distinguished  position." 

Anxious  to  render  himself  more  useful  to  the  literary  interests  of  the 
denomination  in  North  Carolina,  and  especially  called  to  serve  the  College, 
Mr.  Armstrong  embarked,  July  17,  1837,  from  New  York  city  for  Havre. 
On  board  the  same  ship  was  Professor  E.  llobinson,  D.  D.,  the  distin- 
guished Oriental  scholar,  and  J.  J.Audubon,  the  celebrated  Ornithologist. 
The  sea  voyage  appears  to  have  furnished  him  with  much  matter  for  epis- 
tolary communications  to  his  friends.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Havre, 
he  proceeded  to  Paris.  Here  he  commenced  a  course  of  reading,  observa- 
tion, and  study.  For  nearly  two  years  he  remained  in  France  and  Italy, 
during  which  time  he  made  copious  notes  upon  whatever  came  under  his 
eye,  and  prepared  some  critical  papers  upon  the  classic  character  of  some 
of  the  places  which  he  visited.  The  antiquities  of  Italy  especially  attracted 
his  attention,  and  developed  his  strong  relish  for  the  pure  streams  of 
classical  learning.  He  prepared  in  manuscript  a  narrative  journal  of 
his  tour,  but,  for  various  reasons,  and  chiefly  because  so  many  books  of 
travel  have  recently  appeared,  he  never  published  it.  He  wrote  a  series 
of  Letters  to  his  numerous  friends  in  the  United  States,  which  were  pub- 
lished in  the  columns  of  the  Biblical  Recorder.  These  Letters  are  emi- 
nently creditable  to  his  head  and  heart. 

On  his  return  to  North  Carolina,  during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1830, 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Wake  Forest  College  did  not  longer 
need  his  services,  and  that  he  could  more  efficiently  promote  the  Jledeemer's 
cause  in  some  other  sphere  of  usefulness.  The  Church  in  Columbus, 
Miss.,  was  then  destitute  of  a  Pastor.  A  unanimous  invitation  was  tendered 
to  him  to  assume  the  pastoral  relation  with  that  people.  After  mature 
reflection,  he  determined  to  accept  the  call,  and  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  in  the  spring  of  1840.  He  found  the  church  much  embar- 
rassed by  debt,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  a  Deacon  of  the  church,  well 
known  for  his  benefactions,  with  the  general  efforts  of  others,  he  was  mainly 
instrumental  in  providing  the  means  to  reduce  the  debt  to  a  comparatively 


756  BAPTIST. 

small  sum.  During  the  winter  of  1840-41,  aided  by  the  Rev.  John  Peck, 
Agent  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  a  meeting  of 
considerable  interest  was  held  in  the  place,  and  more  than  thirty  persons 
were  admitted  to  the  church  by  J3aptism.  During  the  whole  period  of  his 
l^astorate,  he  was  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  and,  with  great 
sincerity  and  zeal,  pressed  the  claims  of  the  Bible  upon  saint  and  sinner. 
His  congregations  included  a  large  number  of  persons  distinguished  for 
intelligence,  who  highly  appreciated  his  intellectual  efforts. 

In  June,  1842,  Mr.  Armstrong  was  married  to  Mrs.  Pamela  Pouncey, 
a  member  of  the  church  under  his  care.  By  this  change  in  his  worldly 
circumstances,  a  considerable  additional  burden  of  care  was  devolved  upon 
him.  He  visited  the  North,  with  his  lady,  during  the  summer  of  this 
year,  and  returned  to  his  charge  at  Columbus,  to  continue  with  them,  how- 
ever, but  a  short  time. 

In  the  spring  of  1843,  he  resigned  his  pastoral  care  of  the  church,  and 
removed  to  his  plantation  in  Noxubee  County.  The  people  of  Columbus 
were  unwilling  to  give  him  up  ;  but  he  conceived  that  it  was  no  longer  his 
duty  to  remain.  From  this  period  until  his  decease,  he  preached  in  the 
churches  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  instructed  a  number  of  scholars  in  the 
classics,  In  the  winter  of  1843-44,  he  visited  Texas  on  business.  While 
he  remained  in  Columbus,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Mississippi  Bap- 
tist Convention,  and  attended  several  of  its  meetings.  He  was  Moderator 
of  the  Columbus  Association,  at  its  annual  session  in  September,  1843  ; 
and,  at  the  following  session,  at  the  very  time  that  he  was  on  his  death- 
bed, he  was  appointed  to  preach  the  Missionary  Sermon  at  the  session  for 
1845. 

I  come  now  to  detail  the  last  scenes  of  his  life  ;  and  you  will  pardon  me 
for  quoting  my  own  language  in  a  notice  published  in  September,  1844  : — 
"  It  has  seldom  fallen  to  our  lot  to  announce  an  event,  which  has  produced 
such  deep  emotions  of  regret,  and  such  painful  recollections  in  view  of  our 
great  loss,  as  we  are  compelled  to  publish  at  this  time.  The  Rev.  John 
Armstrovg  is  no  more.  About  a  fortnight  ago,  we  called  on  him  at  his 
residence  in  Noxubee  County,  Miss.,  between  twelve  and  fifteen  miles  from 
Columbus,  and  found  him  with  the  first  symptoms  of  bilious  fever,  but,  on 
our  return  from  the  Columbus  Association,  we  learned  that  he  had  grown 
worse,  and  was  in  imminent  danger.  Special  prayer  was  offered  by  the 
Association,  and  the  Columbus  Church,  in  his  behalf.  But  the  appointed 
hour  for  his  departure  was  rapidly  approaching.  His  disease  took  the  form 
of  congestive  fever,  and  terminated  his  useful  life  on  Sunday,  September 
15th,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  His  closing  hours  were  marked  by 
calm  and  sublime  dignity,  and  perfect  resignation  to  the  Divine  will.  A 
chapter  in  the  Scriptures  was-jcad  to  him  during  the  evening  of  the  Sab- 
bath on  which  he  died,  and  he  commented  upon  it  with  evident  pleasure, 
and  to  the  edification  of  his  friends.  He  expressed  unbounded  confidence 
in  the  Saviour,  and  remarked  that  he  was  leaving  this  world,  '  a  sinner 
saved  by  grace.'  His  bereaved  widow,  a  lone  pilgrim  in  this  world  of 
sorrow,  is  the  only  near  relative  in  this  region  of  country,  who  lives  to 
lament  her  sad  deprivation  of  her  earthly  comforter."  His  Funeral  ser- 
vices were   attended    on    the   Sabbath    succeeding   his   death,  by  an  over- 


JOHN   AKMSTUONG.  757 

whelming  congregation,  in  ColuniLus,  on  which  occasion  it  devolved  on  rae 
to  proacli  the  sermon.  It  is  rare  that  such  depth  of  grief  appears  as  was 
manifi'sled  on  this  occasion. 

In  closing  this  imperfect  sketch,  allow  me  to  add  the  testimony  of  one 
who  knew  him  better  than  I  did,  to  his  intellectual  and  moral  worth : — 
"As  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  Brother  Armstrong  stood  deservedly  high. 
As  a  scholar  and  a  friend  of  literature,  he  was  excelled  by  none  of  his 
brethren  in  this  State,  (North  Carolina}.  As  a  gentleman,  and  a  pleasant 
and  amiable  family  companion,  he  had  few  superiors.  As  a  pious  man,  a 
sincere  and  devoted  Christian,  a  man  of  exemplary  moral  character  and 
of  pure  and  spotless  life,  he  was  far  above  reproach  or  suspicion.  Like 
all  other  men,  he  had  his  faults ;  but  they  were  probably  fewer  in  number, 
and  less  aggravated  in  their  character,  than  those  of  almost  any  other 
person  possessing  the  same  amount  of  moral  excellence.  In  short,  his 
career  has  been  honourable,  useful,  and  full  of  promise.  Probably  not 
exceeding  the  age  of  forty-five,  he  has  been  taken  away  in  the  midst  of 
life,  in  the  midst  of  usefulness,  and  without  a  cloud  to  overshadow  his 
closing  scene,  or  to  obscure  the  splendour  of  his  previous  life." 

Hoping  that  the  above  sketch  of  a  highly  gifted  and  excellent  man  may 
answer  your  purpose, 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 


JOSEPH  SAMUEL  CHRISTIAN  FREDERICK  FREY  * 

1827—1850. 

Joseph  Samuel  Christian  Frederick  Fret,  was  born  of  Jewish 
parents,  in  a  place  called  Maynstockhcim,  near  Kilzingen,  in  Franconia. 
His  father,  Samuel  Levi,  was,  for  nineteen  years,  a  private  tutor  in  a  Jew- 
ish family  ;  and,  after  his  marriage,  he  still  devoted  himself,  with  great 
zeal,  as  he  had  done  before,  to  the  study  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  and  tra- 
ditions, while  his  wife  (the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch)  supported 
the  family  by  carrying  on  a  trade.  According  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews, 
he  was  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day  after  his  birth,  and  received  the  name 
Joseph  Samuel;  his  other  names  having  been  given  him  when  he  received 
Christian  Baptism.  He  was  early  placed  under  the  care  of  a  private  tutor, 
who  instructed  him  daily  according  to  the  Law  and  the  Talmud,  and  left 
no  opportunity  unimproved  for  endeavouring  to  inspire  him  with  hatred  of 
Christianity.  So  rapid  was  the  progress  of  the  young  pupil  that,  at  the 
age  of  six  years,  he  was  able  to  read  any  part  of  the  Five  Books  of  !Moses, 
in  the  original,  though  he  understood  little  of  their  meaning.  About  that 
time,  he  suffered  severely  from  the  small-pox,  in  consequence  of  which  his 
life,  for  a  year  and  a  half,  was  supposed  to  be  in  danger  ;  and  he  not  only 
forgot  what  he   had    formerly  learned,  but  lost  temporarily  the    power  of 

•Narrative  of  the  Author's  Life,  by  himself.— MSS.  from  Rev.  Doctors  Maclay,  McClel- 
land, Murray,  and  Krebs,  and  the  lion.  W.  B.  Maclay. — Minutes  of  the  N.  Y.  Presbytery. 


758  BAPTIST. 

speech,  and  partly  the  sight  of  his  left  eye.  On  his  recovery,  he  was  again 
instructed  out  of  the  Law,  and  the  knowledge  which  had  faded  from  his 
mind  gradually  came  back  to  him  ;  but  when  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
nine,  the  Scriptures  were  laid  aside,  and  he  was  put  to  the  study  of  the 
Mishna  and  Gemarah, — certain  celebrated  collections  or  digests  of  Jewish 
traditions.  When  he  was  eighteen,  he  went,  by  consent  of  his  parents,  to 
Hesse,  where  he  was  engaged  in  instructing  six  children,  partly  in  Hebrew, 
and  partly  in  (he  elementary  branches  of  writing  and  arithmetic.  At 
twenty-one  he  was  duly  appointed  a  leader  of  the  Synagogue,  whose  office 
it  is  to  read  the  public  prayers  and  the  Law  of  Moses  ;  and  about  this 
time  he  spent  a  whole  year  in  learning  the  Jewish  method  of  preparing  the 
knife  for  killing  fowls  or  beasts,  and  in  endeavouring  to  compass  the  mys- 
teries of  the  lungs. 

His  mother,  having  undertaken  to  furnish  a  large  quantity  of  corn  to 
the  Prussian  army,  then  at  Frankfort,  on  the  Maine,  greatly  needed  his 
assistance  ;  and  he,  accordingly,  returned  home  to  render  it.  But,  as  he 
found  that  it  was  a  business  for  which  he  had  neither  taste  nor  adapted- 
ness,  he  quickly  abandoned  it,  and  returned  to  Hesse.  As  he  was  leaving 
home,  his  father  accompanied  him  a  little  way  out  of  the  town,  and  gave 
him  what  proved  to  be  his  last  blessing,  in  the  words, — "  The  Angel  of 
the  Covenant  be  with  thee." 

Having  laid  by  something  from  the  earnings  of  the  preceding  year,  he 
resolved  now  to  travel,  and,  accordingly,  made  a  tour  through  Westplialia 
to  the  borders  of  Holland,  and  then  back  iigain  to  Gottingen,  Hanover, 
and  Hamburg,  and  in  the  last  mentioned  place,  or  rather  at  Altona,  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood,  he  remained  some  two  months. 

On  his  way  from  Hamburg  to  Schworin,  where  he  had  heard  that  he 
could  be  employed  as  a  teacher,  he  fell  in  with  a  Christian,  who  manifested 
towards  him  a  very  kindly  interest,  and  made  some  remarks  touching  the 
Messiah,  which  suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  young  Jew  a  train  of  thought 
that  was  at  least  new  to  him.  Not  finding  the  expected  situation  at  Schwe- 
rin,  he  proceeded  to  Gistraw,  and  on  his  way  again  met  this  same  Chris- 
tian friend,  who  endeavoured  to  encourage  and  comfort  him  under  his 
disappointment.  While  at  Gistraw, — finding  himself  ill  at  ease,  he  wrote 
a  note  to  his  Christian  friend,  on  Saturday,  (the  Jewish  Sabbath,)  propo- 
sing to  travel  with  him  to  Berlin,  with  a  view  to  investigate  the  claims  of 
Christianity  ;  and,  having  sealed  the  note,  he  left  it  at  the  inn,  and  went 
into  the  synagogue,  without  oven  thinking  of  the  great  sin  he  had  commit- 
ted (according  to  the  Jewish  traditions)  in  thus  writing  and  sealing  a  letter 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  On  his  return  from  the  synagogue,  he  found  that  his 
Christian  friend  had  left  the  place,  and  he  never  saw  him  afterwards  ;  but 
his  conscience  now  terribly  reproached  him  with  the  sin  of  breaking  the 
Sabbath  ;  and,  while  writhing  under  this  conviction,  he  took  his  departure, 
by  the  stage-coach,  for  Ptoslock,  in  the  hope  of  somewhere  mceling  the 
friend,  by  whose  casual  suggestions  he  had  already  been  so  much  impressed. 
But  in  this  he  was  disappointed. 

After  stopping  for  a  short  time  at  Rostock,  where  he  met  with  little 
that  was  encouraging,  he  went  to  Wismar,  where  he  was  bound  as  an 
apprentice  to  a  shoemaker  for  three  years.      Hci-e  he  diligently  improved 


JOSEPH  SAMUEL  CHRISTIAN   FREDERICK  FREY.  759 

his  leisure  in  reading  the  New  Testament  in  connection  witli  the  Hebrew 
Bible  ;  and,  as  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  he  soon  reached  tlie  conviction 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  IMe.ssiah.  He  reniaiiiod  here  a  year  and  a 
half,  and  then,  in  consequence  of  his  master's  being  obliged  to  give  up 
business,  went  to  New  Brandenburg,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  the 
Lutheran  minister,  and  again  became  bound  to  a  shoemaker  for  the  same 
period  that  he  had  already  served.  Here,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1798,  he 
was  baptized,  and  received  as  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Clnirch. 

In  Doceuiber  following,  his  apprenticcsliip  having  now  exidred,  he 
removed  to  the  next  town,  which  was  Prentzlow,  in  Prussia,  where  he  com- 
menced work  as  a  journeyman,  in  the  best  situation  which  the  town 
afforded  ;  but  the  embarrassment  and  opposition  which  he  experienced  from 
his  countrymen,  on  account  of  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  led  him  soon 
to  exchange  liis  situation  for  another  less  lucrative,  but  more  free  from 
annoyance.  Here  he  came  under  the  influence  of  a  Mr.  Thorman,  an 
eminently  devout  and  godly  man,  who  interested  himself  greatly  for  his 
spiritual  benefit ;  and  here,  in  consequence  of  listening  to  the  instruction 
given  to  a  number  of  children,  in  connection  with  the  rite  of  Confirma- 
tion, his  mind  took  a  more  decidedly  spiritual  turn, — if  indeed  this  was 
not  the  commencement  of  his  truly  Christian  life.  Rest  now  came  to  his 
wearied  and  agitated  spirit,  and  he  resolved  that  his  whole  future  life 
should  be  given  to  the  service  of  his  Divine  Master. 

As  Mr.  Frey's  spirituality  of  life  proved  offensive  to  the  person  by  whom 
he  was  employed,  he  was  soon  dismissed  from  his  service,  and  shortly  after 
went  to  Berlin,  carrying  with  him  a  letter  from  his  friend,  Mr.  Thorman, 
designed  to  procure  for  him  an  opportunity  to  work  at  his  trade.  On  his 
arrival  at  Berlin,  (June,  1799,)  he  succeeded  almost  immediately  in  finding 
employment,  and,  through  the  kindness  of  a  friend  to  whom  he  was  intro- 
duced, was  taken  to  a  Moravian  Chapel,  where  he  was  greatly  pleased  with 
the  simplicity,  fervour,  and  order  of  the  exercises.  Indeed,  he  was  on  the 
point  of  connecting  himself  with  the  United  Brethren,  and  would  doubt- 
less have  done  so,  had  it  not  been  for  an  event  that  occurred  about  this 
time,  marking  an  important  epoch  of  his  life. 

His  health  having  now  become  so  much  impaired  as  to  render  it  difficult 
and  even  dangerous  for  him  to  work  at  his  trade,  the  person  by  whom  he 
was  employed  very  kindly  suggested  the  idea  of  procuring  for  him  admis- 
sion into  a  free  school,  with  a  view  to  qualify  himself  to  become  a  teacher. 
He  at  first  eagerly  and  gratefully  assented  to  the  proposal,  but,  upon 
reflection, — knowing  as  he  did  that  there  was  little  or  no  religious  influence 
in  the  school, — he  concluded  that  he  had  better  continue  in  his  employ- 
ment than  encounter  the  untoward  influences  to  which  his  connection  with 
the  school  would  expose  him. 

As  he  was  returning  from  the  Moravian  church,  one  Sabbath  towards 
the  close  of  the  year  1799,  one  of  his  friends  met  him  and  asked  him  how 
he  should  like  to  become  a  missionary  ;  and,  on  expressing  himself  favoura- 
bly to  the  suggestion,  another  friend  who  was  present  advised  him  to  call 
upon  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jaenicke,  the  minister  of  the  Bohemian  congregation, 
and  offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  missionary  work.  A  Seminary, 
designed  to  prepare  young  men  to  become   missionaries   to  the  heathen, 


760  BAPTIST. 

having  been  cstaLlislied  in  Saxony,  at  the  expense  of  Baron  Van  Shieru- 
Jing,  Mr.  Frey  went  thither,  at  its  opening,  in  Februar}',  1800,  with  six 
other  young  men,  and  entered  as  a  student.  Here  he  continued  his  studies 
till  June  of  the  next  year,  when  information  was  received  from  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Jaenicke  that  the  London  Missionary  Society  had  made  application  for 
three  missionaries  to  become  assistants  to  Dr.  Vander  Kemp,  in  Africa ; 
and  Mr.  Frey  was  one  of  the  three  who  were  designated  to  this  Mission. 

On  the  11th  of  July,  1801,  he  left  Berlin  for  London,  in  company  with  the 
two  young  men  who  were  to  be  associated  with  him,  in  the  expectation 
of  almost  immediately  going  forward  to  his  missionary  field.  He  stopped 
for  two  months  at  Hatzhausen  in  Friesland,  to  learn  the  Dutch  language ; 
and,  during  this  time,  had  the  privilege  of  preaching  in  the  neighbouring 
villages.     He  did  not  reach  England  till  about  the  middle  of  September. 

Mr.  Frey  was  kindly  received  by  some  excellent  people  in  London,  to 
whom  he  was  introduced,  and  he  was  waiting  only  for  an  opportunity  to 
pass  on  to  the  field  which  he  supposed  he  was  destined  to  occupy  in  Africa. 
But,  as  there  was  no  ship  to  sail  immediately,  he  set  himself  to  learu 
English,  and,  at  the  same  time,  visited  his  Jewish  brethren  in  their  syna- 
gogues and  elsewhere,  as  he  had  opportunity,  to  endeavour  to  enlighten 
them  in  regard  to  the  claims  and  evidences  of  Christianity.  At  length  he 
began  to  feel  a  strong  desire  to  devote  himself  permanently  to  the  work 
of  a  Jewish  Missionary  in  England  ;  and,  on  making  known  his  wishes  to 
the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  they  resolved  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  remain  in  England,  and  labour  among  his  brethren 
at  least  one  year.  In  order,  however,  to  facilitate  and  give  success  to  his 
labours,  they  determined  to  send  him,  for  a  while,  to  their  Missionary 
Seminary  at  Gosport,  then  under  the  care  of  the  llev.  Dr.  Bogue. 
Accordingly,  he  resorted  thither  in  February,  1802  ;  and,  while  engaged  in 
the  study  of  the  English,  Latin,  and  Greek  languages,  he  gave  instruction 
to  the  students  in  Hebrew  ;  and  about  this  time  he  composed  a  Hebrew 
Grammar,  which  he  subsequently  revised,  enlarged,  and  publislied. 

As  Mr.  Frcy's  knowledge  of  the  English  language  increased,  he  began 
to  use  it  in  preaching,  and  for  some  time  preached  regularly  to  the  tenants 
of  the  prison  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Portsea.  In  May,  1803,  he 
went  again  to  London,  and  on  the  succeeding  Sabbath  preached  his  first 
sermon  to  the  Jews  at  Zion's  Chapel.  On  his  return  to  Gosport,  he 
received  a  letter  from  his  father,  who  had  not  even  then  been  apprized  of 
his  conversion  to  Christianity.  In  answering  the  letter,  he  stated  to  him 
the  fact  of  his  conversion,  and  endeavoured  to  justify  it  by  argument ; 
but  he  never  heard  from  him  in  reply,  and  the  first  intelligence  he  received 
was  in  1814,  by  a  letter  from  his  brother,  stating  that  his  father,  on  receiv- 
ing the  tidings  of  his  having  abjured  his  religion,  performed  (agreeably  to 
the  Jewish  traditions)  all  the  ceremonies  he  would  have  performed,  if  he 
had  heard  of  his  death.  He  remained  at  Gosport  until  May,  1805,  when, 
by  the  request  of  the  Missionary  Society,  he  went  to  London  to  commence 
his  regular  labours  among  his  brethren  and  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh. 

In  180G,  Mr.  Frey  was  married  to  Hannah  Cohen,  a  converted  Jewess, 
who  was  baptized  in  September  of  that  year  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Simpson, 
at  Hoxton  Academy  Chapel. 


JOSEPH  SAMUEL  CllUISTIAN   FUEUEUICIC  FUEY.  "JQl 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  Mr.  Froy  iu  the  details  of  his  liistory, 
during  the  remaining  year?  of  his  sojourn  in  England.  After  luhouring 
about  seven  years  in  eonnootion  with  tiio  London  ^Missionary  Society,  his 
relations  to  tliat  Society,  owing  to  various  circumstances,  seem  to  have 
hccome  somewhat  embarrassed,  and,  about  that  time,  a  new  Society  was 
formed,  known  as  the  London  Society  for  promoting  Christianity  among 
the  Jews,  umler  whose  auspices  he  continued  to  prosecute  his  work  until 
the  year  1815.  Difliculties  now  arose  in  this  Society,  growing  chiefly  out 
of  the  want  of  harmony  between  the  Dissenters  and  the  nic^mhers  of  the 
Established  Church  who  composed  it ;  and,  iu  consequence  of  a  change  in 
its  constitution,  his  connection  with  the  Society  occasioned  him  much  dis- 
quietude, and  in  May,  181G,  it  was  dissolved.  Mr.  Frcy  seems,  under 
each  Society,  to  have  laboured  for  the  salvation  of  his  brethren  v.'ith  great 
zeal  and  self-denial ;  and  yet  he  seems  almost  always  to  have  been  con- 
tending with  difficulties,  and  his  success,  if  measured  by  the  number  of 
conversions  to  Christianity  effected  under  his  ministry,  was  not  very  great. 
The  estimate  which  was  actually  placed  upon  his  labours  by  those  who  had 
the  best  opportunity  to  judge  of  them,  is  indicated  by  the  following  Reso- 
lution which  was  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Dissenting  portion  of  the 
London  Society  for  promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews,  held  at  the 
New  London  Tavern,  Cheapside,  February  14,  1815: 

•'  Resolved,  Tliat  this  meeting  feels  itself  called  upon  to  express  the  higli  sense  they 
criUMtain  of  tlie  faithful  and  zealous  exertions  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Frey  during  tlic  con- 
liiuiauce  of  this  Society,  not  only  in  publisliing  to  his  brethren  of  tlie  House  uf  Israel 
iho  truth  as  it  is  in  .lesus,  but  also  for  his  unwearied  labours  in  travelling  througli  all 
parts  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Hx'land,  to  make  known  to  Christians  in  general  the 
design  and  objects  of  the  Society,  whereby  those  funds  have  been  procured  which 
were  constantly  found  to  be  so  necessary  to  its  existence." 

After  jMr.  Frey's  connection  with  the  London  Society  ceased,  several 
plans  of  usefulness  suggested  themselves  to  him ;  but  that  which  seemed 
on  the  whole  the  most  promising,  was  to  cross  the  ocean,  and  pass  the  rest 
of  his  days  in  the  United  States.  Accordingly,  on  the  23il  of  July,  1816. 
he  left  London,  with  his  family,  and  embarked  for  New  York,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  loth  of  September  following.  He  was  cordially  welcomed 
by  ministers  and  others,  to  whom  he  brought  letters  of  introduction,  from 
various  distinguished  clergymen,  and  the  next  Sunday  evening  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  America  to  a  large  and  deeply  interested  audience,  in 
the  Cedar  Street  Church,  (Dr.  Romeyn's,)  on  the  text, — "For  I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  &c. 

For  some  time  after  his  arrival.  Dr.  Mason  being  absent  on  a  tour  in 
Europe,  Mr.  Frey  was  engaged  as  a  supply  for  his  pulpit;  and  subse- 
quently— in  June,  1817 — he  undertook,  in  co-operation  with  several  gen- 
tlemen, the  eatabli.shment  of  a  Congregational  church.  They  began  their 
enterprise  in  a  school-house  in  Mulberry  Street ;  but,  as  that  soon  proved 
too  small,  they  purchased  a  place  of  worship  which  had  been  occupied  by 
the  Univcrsalists,  in  Pearl  Street  ;  and  when  a  still  further  enlargement 
was  demanded,  they  erected  a  new  building  for  their  accommodation  in 
Vanderwater  Street.  A  church  was  formed  shortly  after  he  began  to  preach 
in  the  school-house;  but,  owing  to  certain  circumstances,  he  was  not 
ordained  as  its  Pastor  until  April  15,  1818;  and  then  by  the  West  Chester 

Vol..  VI.  9G 


762  BAPTIST. 

and  Morris  County  Presbytery.     In  October,  1821,  botli  himself  and  his 
congregation  transferred  their  relation  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Frey,  in  coming  to  this  country,  seems  to  have  been  iufluenceJ,  in 
no  small  degree,  by  the  hope  of  gaining  access  to  his  Jewish  brethren, 
and  becoming  an  auxiliary  to  the  conversion  of  many  of  them  to  Christi- 
anity. Accordingly,  as  early  as  1819,  he  succeeded  in  combining  the 
influence  of  many  of  our  most  prominent  clergymen  and  laymen  in  the 
formation  of  the  American  Society  for  Meliorating  the  Condition  of  the 
Jews  ;  and  in  April,  1820,  this  Society,  through  his  immediate  personal 
influence,  was  incorporated  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  New  York. 
The  great  object  of  this  Association  was  to  form  what  he  called  a  Christian- 
Jewish  settlement ;  or  to  establish  a  Colony  which  should  be  open  as  an 
asylum  to  Jews  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  were  disposed  to  come 
under  the  influence  of  Christianity.  Mr.  Frey  gave  to  this  enterprise,  for 
several  years,  the  whole  vigour  of  his  mind  and  heart;  but  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  its  contemplated  end  was  never  accomplished,  and 
that  its  history  is  to  a  great  extent  the  record  of  operations  embarrassed 
and  hopes  not  fulfilled. 

In  182.5,  Mr.  Frey  began  to  have  doubts  in  respect  to  the  Mode  and 
Subjects  of  Baptism  ;  and,  after  about  two  years,  those  doubts  gave  place 
to  a  full  conviction  that  infants  are  not  legitimate  subjects  for  the  ordi- 
nance, and  that  immersion  is  the  only  scriptural  mode  of  administering  it. 
Accordingly,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1827,  he  was  immersed  l)y  the  Rev. 
Dr.  ]Maclay,  of  New  York  ;  and  henceforth  had  his  ecclesiastical  connection 
with  the  Baptist  denomination. 

In  January,  1828,  he  took  charge  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Newark,  N. 
J.,  and  remained  there  until  April,  1830,  when  he  accepted  a  call  from 
the  Church  at  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  Here  he  continued  about  two  years  ;  and 
the  succeeding  three  years  he  spent  chiefly  in  missionary  labour,  ranging 
from  New  England  to  Louisiana  and  Alabama.  In  December,  1835,  he 
commenced  preaching  near  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  in  a  school-house,  to  a  people 
scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast ;  and  the  next  spring  he  constituted  a 
small  church  there,  of  which  he  continued  to  hold  the  pastoral  charge 
until  January,  1837,  when  he  resigned  it  with  a  view  to  go  to  Europe  as 
Agent  for  the  American  Society  for  Meliorating  the  Condition  of  the  Jews. 
The  particular  object  of  his  Agency  was  "  to  solicit  funds  to  aid  him  in 
the  gratuitous  circulation  among  the  Jews  of  a  work,  entitled  '  Joseph 
and  Benjamin  ;  or  a  Series  of  Letters  on  the  Controversy  between  Jews 
and  Christians,  comprising  the  most  important  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
Religion.'" 

Mr.  Frey  reached  London  on  the  8th  of  February,  and  was  cordially 
met  by  many  of  his  old  friends.  He  remained  in  Great  Britain  and  on 
the  Continent  for  nearly  three  years ;  but  his  mission  seems  to  have  been 
attended  by  many  embarrassments,  and  to  have  resulted  less  favourably 
than  he  had  been  led  to  expect. 

On  his  return  to  this  country  in  the  latter  part  of  1839,  he  commenced 
a  weekly  Sa])bath  evening  lecture,  in  the  South  Baptist  Church  in  Nassau 
Street,  New  York,  designed  especially  for  his  Jewish  brethren.  Shortly 
after  this,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church  at  Williams- 


JOSEPH  SAMUEL  CHRISTIAN  FHEDEUICK  FUEY.  7(J3 

burg,  L.  I.,  at  a  salary  of  four  dollars  por  week;  but  this  connection  con- 
tinued for  only  a  year  or  two.  In  1843  and  1844,  ho  made  an  extended 
tour  through  the  South  and  Southwestern  States,  East  of  the  Mis.-i^sippi, 
and  liiially  settled  down  at  Pontiac,  in  the  State  of  iMichigaii.  Here  it 
was  part  of  his  employment  to  teach  Hebrew  in  the  University  of  iMichi- 
gan,  and  there  arc  many  persons  still  living  in  that  and  the  neighbouring 
States,  who  had  the  benefit  of  his  instructions.  He  died  at  Pontiac  on  the 
5th  of  June,  1850,  aged  seventy-eight  years. 

3Ir.  Frc}'  had  four  children,  born  i)revious  to  his  coming  to  this  country, 
and  live  afterwards.  Six  of  his  children  ^three  sons  and  three  daughters) 
are  still  (1859)  living. 

During  the  last  forty-three  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Frey  travelled  annually 
from  four  to  six  months,  and  preached  each  year  three  hundred  times.  13ut 
in  the  midst  of  these  engagements,  he  was  almost  always  preparing  some 
work  for  the  press,  or  superintending  its  publication.  From  1809  he  pub- 
lished the  following  works  : — Judah  and  Israel,  together  with  a  Narrative 
of  the  Author's  Life.  This  was  republished  in  this  country  shortly  after 
his  arrival  here,  and  has  passed  through  seventeen  editions.  Hebrew 
Grammar,  Ten  editions.  Hebrew  Lexicon,  Two  editions.  Joseph  and 
Benjamin,  Ten  editions.  Vander  Hooght's  Hebrew  Bible.  Essays  on 
the  Passover.  Scripture  Types,  Three  editions.  Essays  on  Baptism, 
Four  editions.  Lectures  on  the  Messiah,  Two  editions.  Hebrew  Student's 
Pocket  Companion,  Two  editions.  Narrative  of  Converted  Jews,  and  a 
Report  of  his  Agency  to  Europe.  One  volume  of  the  Jewish  Intelligencer. 
Two  volumes  of  the  Hebrew  Messenger.  Lectures  of  the  llev.  David 
Bogue,  D.  D. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  Mr.  Frey's  labours,  so  far  as  respects  his 
own  people,  never  seemed  to  mature  into  very  much  of  abiding  fruit ;  though 
it  mu.-^t  not  be  forgotten  that  he  occupied  a  field  more  difficult  to  cultivate 
than  almost  any  other.  Nor  is  it  a  fact  to  be  dissembled  that  his  good 
name  was  often  under  a  cloud,  and  that  charges  seriously  afi'ecting  his 
moral  character  were  repeatedly  made  and  widely  circulated.  All  this  is 
abundantly  manifest  from  his  own  statements ;  while  yet,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  voice  of  reproach  was  the  loudest,  he  was  receiving  the  highest 
testimonials  to  his  integrity  and  fidelity  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  la 
1816,  Dr.  Bogue,  who  was  one  of  the  most  discerning  of  men,  and  who  had 
every  opportunity  to  observe  his  movements  and  judge  of  his  character 
while  he  lived  in  England,  certified  that  he  "believed  him  to  be  a  true 
disciple  of  Christ ;"  and  "  cordially  recommended  him  to  the  kindness  and 
patronage  of  the  friends  of  religion  in  America."  In  183G,  when  he  was 
about  to  embark  for  Europe  on  his  Agency,  nearly  thirty  of  our  most  dis- 
tinguished ministers  of  different  denominations,  commencing  with  Dr. 
Milnor,  and  doubtless  with  full  knowledge  of  the  allegations  that  had  been 
made  against  him,  declared,  in  a  formal  testimonial,  that  they  "  felt  great 
pleasure  in  expressing  their  entire  confidence  in  the  Christian  character 
and  standing  of  Brother  Frey,  as  a  devoted  and  useful  minister  of  Christ." 
I  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Frey,  commencing  in  1821,  when 
he  visited  my  congregation  at  West  Springfield,  as  an  Agent,  if  I  remem- 
ber right,  of  the  then  newly  formed  Jews'  Society.     He  preached  in  ray 


764  BAPTIST. 

pulpit,  on  a  week  day  afternoon,  from  Isaiah  xl.  11 — "  lie  shall  feed  his 
flock  like  a  .shepherd,"  &c.  ;  and  a  more  toueliing,  original  and  impressive 
exposition  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  Scripture,  I  thought  I 
had  rarely  listened  to.  His  manner,  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit,  wan 
characterized  by  great  unction  and  simplicity,  while  the  story  of  his  event- 
ful life  enchained  all  and  melted  many.  I  never  heard  him  preach  after- 
wards, though  I  met  him  occasionally,  and  sometimes  exchanged  letters 
with  him.  My  personal  recollections  of  him,  though  not  very  extensive, 
are  all  agreeable.  In  person  he  was  rather  short  and  thick  set,  and  his 
manners  were  frank,  cordial  and  winning. 

FROM  THE  REV.  ARCHIBALD  MACLAT,  D.  D. 

New  York,  June  28,  1859. 

Dear  Sir:  I  take  pleasure  in  furnishing  j'ou,  agreeably  to  3^our  request,  with 
my  recollections  of  the  late  Mr.  Frey,  and  my  estimate  of  his  character  both 
as  a  Man  and  a  Minister. 

Having  been  a  constant  reader  of  the  London  Evangelical  Magazine  from  its 
commencement,  and  being  personally  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bogue,  of 
Gosport,  with  whom  Mr.  Frey  was  for  several  years  a  student,  I  learned  with 
much  interest  that  he  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  ardentlj^  desired  to 
carry  the  knowledge  of  salvation  through  a  crucitied  Saviour  to  his  Jewish 
brethren.  For  some  time,  I  marked  with  attention  his  consistent  and  perse- 
vering labours  in  carrying  out  this  desire.  I  did  not,  however,  become  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  him  until  1816,  on  his  arrival  in  this  country  the  tirst 
time,  when  he  submitted  to  me  various  letters  and  satisfactory  credentials 
from  gentlemen  of  the  highest  character  in  England,  lie  often,  at  my  request, 
occupied  my  pulpit,  much  to  my  own  gratitication  as  well  as  that  of  my 
congregation.  He  was  heard  also,  at  this  period,  with  deep  interest,  by 
Christians  of  all  denominations.  In  consequence  of  a  change  of  his  views  on 
the  subject  of  Baptism,  ho  applied  to  the  Baptist  church  in  Mulberry  Street, 
then  under  nij^  pastoral  care,  to  have  the  ordinance  administered  to  him. 
Two  of  the  Deacons  were  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  of  one  of  the 
members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  concerning  Mr.  Frey's  standing  in 
that  Body,  and,  the  result  being  satisfactorj^,  I  complied  with  his  request. 
From  that  time  until  his  death,  I  was  intimately  acquainted  Avith  him;  and  I 
can  truly  say  that,  as  my  knowledge  of  him  increased,  mj^  appreciation  of 
him  as  a  Christian  man  and  a  Minister  was  proportionally  lieiglitened. 

Mr.  Frey's  Jewish  brethren,  whom  ho  earnestly  entreated,  both  from  the 
pulpit  and  through  the  press,  to  embrace  that  precious  faith  with  which  all 
his  own  hopes  were  identified,  often  questioned  the  jjurity  of  his  motives;  and 
there  were  many  cruel  assaults  made  u[)on  his  reputation  from  other  (quarters; 
but  whoever  will  read  the  defence  which  he  has  made  of  himself  in  liis  narra- 
tive entitled  "  Judah  and  Israel,"  will  need  no  additional  evidence  to  satisfy'- 
him  that  he  was  a  conscientious  and  upright  man.  His  heart  was  set  upon 
doing  good;  and  wherever  he  w^as,  or  in  whatever  circumstances  placed,  he 
must  always  be  engaged  in  soniething  that  would  tell  favourably  upon  his 
Master's  cause.  While  he  aimed  to  be  faithful  in  his  duties  as  a  Pastor,  it 
may  perhaps  reasonably  be  doubted  ■whether  his  extensive  journeyings  for 
so  many  years,  both  in  the  Old  World  and  in  the  New,  had  not  unhtted  him  in 
some  degree  for  the  routine  of  an  ordinary  pastoral  charge,  and  whether  it 
would  not  have  rendered  any  very  .settled  condition  irksome  to  a  man  who 
would  (if  he  liad  been  able)  have  embraced  the  whole  world  in  the  sphere  of 
his  Christian  activities. 


JOSEPH  SAMUEL  CHRISTIAN  FREDERICK  FREY.  7Q5 

As  it  had  fiillon  to  my  lot  to  see  and  know  much  of  this  venerable  man  in 
the  proiircss  of  his  career,  after  he  came  to  this  country,  so  it  was  my  melan- 
choly privilege  to  visit  him  when  he  was  on  his  death-bed.  He  had  been 
afflicted  with  hernia  througii  the  long  period  of  forty-six  years;  and,  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  to  Pontiac, — the  place  to  which  he  linally  removed,  he  was 
sutferiiig-  great  bodily  distress.  His  mind,  however,  was  in  a  tranquil  and 
comfortable  state,  and  he  was  evidently  resting  with  an  un.shaken  conlidence 
on  the  atonement  of  Christ.  He  expressed  to  me  his  confident  conviction  that 
his  suHerings  would  soon  end  in  death.  1  sjicnt  some  time  in  conversing  with 
him,  and  it  afforded  me  great  consolation  tlicn  to  perceive,  as  it  does  now  to 
remember,  that  my  friend  could,  in  that  trying  hour,  stay  himself  upon  a 
covenant  God.  He  was  unable  to  sit  or  to  stand,  and  it  was  only  in  a 
recumbent  position  that  he  could  lind  even  a  monientar}'  relief  from  intense 
pain.  When  we  parted,  we  both  felt  that  it  was  for  the  last  time  in  this 
world.  13y  a  great  effort  he  rose  and  stood  upon  his  feet,  clasped  me  in  his 
arms,  pressed  me  silently  to  his  breast,  and  kis.sed  me  on  both  sides  of  the 
face,  while  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  He  died,  sustained  by  precious 
immortal  hopes,  a  few  weeks  afterwards.  A  little  before  his  departure,  he 
remarked, — <«  My  Jewish  brethren  have  often  .said  that  I  should  never  die  a 
Christian;  but  I  wish  them  to  know  that  they  were  mistaken."  Being  asked 
if  the  skies  still  appeared  bright  before  hun,  he  replied, — <«  Oh  yes.  I  have 
not  a  doubt."  Some  hours  after,  when  inquired  of  whether  his  mind 
remained  perfectly  tranquil  in  the  prospect  of  death,  he  made  a  sign  of  assent, 
and  then  said,  as  well  as  he  was  able,    "  Unshaken." 

Mr.  Frey's  ardent  desire  for  the  conversion  of  his  brethren  according  to  the 
ticsh  was  one  of  his  distinguishing  characteristics.  This  was  the  theme  of  many 
of  his  writings,  all  of  wliich  are  valuable;  but  his  work  entitled  "  Joseph  and 
Benjamin  "  is  an  especially  attractive  production,  and  is  adapted  to  be  useful  to 
Christians  as  well  as  Jews.  As  a  Preacher,  Cowper's  description — "  Simple, 
grave,  sincere,  &c.,"  would  give  you  as  correct  an  idea  of  him  as  I  am  able  to 
convey.  Compelled  by  the  circumstances  of  his  birth  and  conversion  to  be 
always  ready  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him,  he  had  studied 
the  Old  and  New  Testament  with  unusual  diligence,  and  the  truths  which  he 
perceived  clearly,  he  could  express  fluently.  Under  the  vicissitudes  and  trials 
of  life,  he  was  uniformly  resigned,  and  even  cheerful.  His  face  was  a  mirror 
in  wliich  you  .saw  reflected  the  gentle  and  admirable  qualities  of  his  heart; 
and  so  free  was  he  from  even  the  semblance  of  a  vindictive  spirit,  that  it 
might  be  said  of  him,  as  has  been  happily  said  of  another, — "  He  Jiad  no 
sense  of  injurj-,  except  as  something  to  be  forgiven."  Either  he  was  so 
happily  constituted  by  nature,  or  so  entirely  transformed  by  religion,  that 
the  pursuit  of  the  good  of  others  was  at  once  his  constant  occupation  and  his 
highest  delight.  The  ordinary  objects  of  men's  ambition,  as  wealth  or  repu- 
tation, seemed  alien  to  his  spirit.  He  recalled  to  your  mind  the  character 
quaintly  described  by  an  old  English  poet : 

"  Who  God  did  late  and  early  pray 
"  More  of  his  grace  than  goods  to  lend, 
"  And  walked  with  men  frum  day  to  day, 
"  More  as  a  brother  than  a  friend." 

Allow  me  to  conclude  this  brief  tribute  to  the  memory  of  my  friend  with 
the  following  touching  anecdote,  of  the  authenticity  of  which  I  have  no  doubt. 
The  Rev.  John  Campbell,  who,  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Vandcr  Kemp,  was  sent 
out  by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  to  take  charge  of  their  African  Missions, 
visited  London  about  the  time  of  Mr.  Frey's  first  arrival  in  that  city.  Mr. 
Oanipbcll,  during  the  visit  referred  to,  attended  public  wor.ship  in  Surrey 
Chapel,  when  the  celebrated  Rowland  Hill  led  up  a  young  man  to  the  pulpit 


766  BAPTIST. 

and  said:  <<  This  is  a  son  of  Abraham,  from  Prussia,  whoso  heart  the  Lord 
has  opened.  He  comes  well  recommended  from  Prussia  and  Holland.  He  is 
accepted  as  a  Missionary,  and  will  now  pray  with  us.  His  name  is  Mr.  Frcj*. 
He  is  not  very  familiar  with  our  language,  and,  on  this  account,  I  hope  you 
will  make  all  due  allowance  for  him."  He  did  pray,  and,  as  he  interceded  for 
his  Jewish  brethren,  almost  the  whole  congregation  were  dissolved  in  tears. 

I  am  very  truly  yours, 

ARCHIBALD  MACLAY. 


JOHN  SHARP  =*  MAGINNIS,  D.  D. 

1827—1852. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  R.  WILLIAMS,  D.  D. 

New  York,  July  19.  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  regret  exceedingly  that  your  request  for  some  account 
of  my  friend,  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Maginnis,  has  found  me  in  such  health  and 
spirits  as  to  render  me  quite  incapable  of  paying  such  a  tribute  to  his 
memory,  as  my  cherished  remembrances  of  him  and  my  high  appreciation 
of  his  merits  would  dictate.  I  will,  however,  do  the  best  that  I  can,  and 
you  will  accept  the  effort  as  at  least  a  testimony  of  my  willingness  to  serve 
you. 

John  Sharp  Maginnis,  a  son  of  John  and  Jane  Maginnis,  was  born 
in  Butler  County,  Pa.,  on  the  13th  of  June,  1805.  His  parents  were  from 
the  North  of  Ireland.  It  is  known  that  the  Protestants  of  what  has 
sometimes  been  called  the  Black  North  were  of  Scottish  origin,  tracing 
back  their  descent  to  emigrants  who  left  the  shores  of  Scotland  in  the 
earlier  days  of  Presbyterianism,  to  escape  the  hand  of  persecution  ;  or 
were  in  later  days  transplanted  by  Cromwell  to  supply  the  depletions  made 
by  his  successful  war  against  Romanism  in  the  Emerald  Isle.  In  their 
Irish  seats,  and  in  their  various  settlements  on  our  own  shores,  tliis  special 
race,  called  commonly  Scotch  Irish,  have  continued  to  display  some  of  the 
best  traits  of  the  land  of  their  first  origin,  and  of  that  of  their  second  settle- 
ment. Warm-hearted  and  ready  as  tlie  Irish  of  purer  stock,  they  blend 
with  these  traits  a  tenacity,  intelligence,  system,  perseverance,  and  thrift, 
which  seem  more  naturally  traceable  to  a  Scotch  ancestry.  Their  zealous 
and  even  resentful  attachment  to  the  Reformation,  and  their  skill  and 
pertinacity  in  its  controversial  defence,  have  made  their  name  of  the  Black 
North  a  word  of  terror  and  dislike  with  the  bigoted  and  nltra-montane 
Romanists  of  the  South  of  Ireland.  And  among  their  Pastors  and 
religious  writers  the  spirit  of  "men  like  Usher,  Magee,  and  Carson,  seems 
maintained  through  long  tracts  of  time,  and  over  wide  spaces  of  territory. 

Of  such  Scotch  Irish  parentage  was  John  S.  Maginnis.  His  family 
were  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  he  was  himself  strongly 
attached    to   that   denomination.      His  younger   brother,  yet   living,  is,  or 

•  In  conscqiipncc  of  finding  one  or  more  persons  of  the  name  of  John  Mnginnis,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  assumed  the  middle  name.  Sharp,  for  which  he  procured  the  sanction  of  the 
Legislature  of  Maine  in  1S33. 


JOHN  SHARP  MAGINNIS.  7(57 

recently  was,  a  rresbyterian  Pastor  in  tlic  State  of  Ohio.  The  father, 
though  not  till  late  in  life  hopefully  converted,  yet,  during  the  childhood 
of  this  Sun,  was  strict  in  enforcing  the  observance  of  the  Sahliatii,  and  in 
inculcating  on  his  children  reverence  for  the  Scriptures  and  (lie  .Sanctuary. 

When  John  was  only  three  years  old,  his  father  removed  his  family  to 
Vernon,  Trumbull  County,  0.  ;  and,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  partly  on 
account  of  the  feebleness  of  his  childhood,  and  partly  with  a  view  to  his 
learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  he  was  sent  to  live  with  an  elder  brother 
in  Zanesville,  in  the  same  State.  He  was  there  brought  under  the 
religious  influence  of  the  Rev.  George  C.  Sedgwick,  one  of  the  early 
Baptist  preachers  in  Ohio;  and,  having  become  hopefully  converted  to  God, 
he  united  himself  to  the  church  under  the  charge  of  thi.<j  Western  pioneer 
minister.  His  first  employment  was  that  of  an  instructer  ;  and  in  1827 
he  was  associated  at  Pittsburg,  in  his  novitiate,  with  the  Rev.  Joshua 
Bradley,  one  of  the  most  versatile  and  indefatigable  of  our  labourers  in 
that  generation.  Here  young  Maginnis  felt  his  own  education  incomplete, 
and,  with  a  view  to  prepare  himself  for  his  future  vocation,  he  resolved  to 
direct  his  course  to  New  P^ngland.  Previous  to  his  departure,  however, 
he  received  a  license  to  preach  from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Pitts-* 
burg,  to  which  he  had  some  time  before  transferred  his  membership. 
The  certificate  of  his  license  bears  date  May  25,  1827. 

He  proceeded  first  to  Waterville  College,  in  Maine,  and,  after  remaining 
there  a  while,  went  to  Brown  University,  where  he  completed  the  Sopho- 
more year;  but  he  was  now  interrupted  in  his  studies  by  tlie  failure  of  his 
healtli ;  and,  without  having  graduated,  he  afterwards  repaired  to  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  Newton,  Mass.,  where  he  finished  his  course  of 
preparatory  studies,  with  credit  and  the  promise  of  high  usefulness.  He 
received  the  regular  testimonial  from  the  Professors  of  the  Seminary,  on 
the  13ih  of  September,  1832. 

In  January  previous  to  his  leaving  the  Seminary,  he  received  a  call 
from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Portland  to  become  their  Pastor — he 
accepted  the  call,  and  was  ordained  in  October  following, — the  Rev.  Dr. 
Wayland  preaching  the  Ordination  Sermon.  That  city  had  been  blessed 
by  the  labours  of  Payson,  whose  example  and  influence  continued  a  provo- 
cation to  good  works  through  all  the  evangelical  churches  of  that  region. 
In  his  own  church  no  preceding  or  subsequent  Pastor  is  said  to  have  left  a 
deeper  mark.  The  church  grew  rapidly  ;  and,  under  his  guidance, 
expanded  its  influence,  harmoniously  and  fraternally,  by  the  formation  of 
a  flourishing  second  church.  The  earnestness  with  which  he  threw  him- 
self into  these  ministerial  duties,  involved  a  failure  of  h<'altli  which 
required  his  removal.  He  sought  a  milder  climate,  and,  in  the  winter  of 
1837-38.  became  Pastor  of  the  Pine  Street  Church  in  Providence ;  but 
he  soon  became  satisfied  that  the  air  of  Providence  suited  him  no  better 
than  tlxat  of  Portland  had  done,  and  he  felt  constrained  again  to  resign  his 
pastoral  charge.  About  this  time,  he  received  a  call  to  the  Pastorship  of 
a  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  and  another  to  that  of  a  Church  in 
Cincinnati,  0.  ;  but  he  declined  them  both.  His  ardent  piety  and  the 
clearness  of  his  intellect  commended  him  to  his  brethren  as  one  likely  to 
prove  still  efficient  and  useful  as  a   Theological   Instructer,  if  his  sinking 


Y(38  BAPTIST. 

liealtli  forbade  a  continuance  in  a  regular  Pastorate.  He  was  invited  to  a 
Professorship  in  the  Furnian  Theological  Institution,  at  Monticello,  S.  C, 
which,  however,  he  ultimately  declined,  though  he  visited  the  place,  and 
actually  taught  there  for  several  mouths.  As  he  was  on  the  eve  of 
returning  to  the  North,  he  received  notice  of  his  appointment  as  Professor 
of  Biblical  Theology  in  the  Literary  and  Theological  Institution  at 
Hamilton,  now  Madison  University, — which  he  accepted.  After  several 
years'  continuance  in  this  relation,  a  portion  of  the  friends  of  that  Institu- 
tion desired  its  transfer  to  Rochester  ;  and  he  was  among  those  on  whom 
the  labour  and  responsibility  of  the  removal  very  largely  rested.  In 
October,  1850,  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Biblical  and  Pastoral 
Theology  in  the  new  Theological  School  connected  with  the  llochester 
University ;  and,  besides  fulfilling  the  duties  of  that  Professorship,  he  also 
held  the  Chair  of  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University. 
During  his  residence  at  Hamilton,  it  was  understood  that  he  was  formally 
invited,  or  overtures  were  made  to  him,  to  accept  cither  of  the  Presidency 
or  of  important  Professorships  in  several  Colleges  and  Theological  Semi- 
naries ;  but  he  was  not  disposed  to  listen  to  any  of  them. 

It  was  in  connection  with  the  Institution  at  Eochcstcr  that  he  was  found 
labouring,  when  called  away  by  the  summons  of  death.  When  assured, 
by  the  request  of  his  medical  advisers,  a  few  weeks  before  his  departure, 
that  there  was  no  hope  of  his  recovery  from  the  complicated  illness  that 
was  upon  him,  he  seemed  startled  but  not  distressed,  and  in  simple  earnest 
tones  expressed  his  desire  to  be  found  glorifying  God,  in  tlie  faithful  dis- 
charge of  his  duties,  to  the  very  last.  His  labours  in  the  University  were 
the  first  to  be  given  up,  as  his  mortal  weakness  grew  upon  him.  But  those 
in  the  Theological  School  were  continued,  when,  because  of  his  weakness, 
his  classes  were  obliged  to  meet  him  at  his  own  house :  and  he  delivered  to 
them  his  last  lecture  only  three  days  before  his  death.  On  that  day,  how- 
ever, (October  12,  18.52,)  an  unfavourable  change  took  place,  which  ren- 
dered him  incapable  of  any  further  effort,  though  there  was  still  nothing  to 
indicate  the  probability  of  immediate  dissolution.  On  the  Friday  follow- 
ing, while  sitting  in  his  study,  and  having  just  been  engaged  in  conversa- 
tion with  a  friend,  he  expired  so  suddenly  and  so  peacefully  that  those  who 
were  with  him  could  scarcely  believe  that  the  vital  principle  had  fled. 
During  several  of  his  last  years,  he  had  suffered  from  a  severe  bronchial 
affection,  but  his  death  was  finally  occasioned  by  a  disease  of  the  heart. 

He  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Waterville  College,  while 
he  was  at  Hamilton,  and,  subsequently,  in  1844,  was  honoured  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Brown  University. 

He  was  married  in  Newton,  Mass.,  on  the  17th  of  September,  1833,  to 
Elizabeth  Allen,  daughter  of  David  and  Abigail  Lamb.  He  left  tliree 
children, — a  son  and  two  daugnters. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  mind  of  Dr.  Maginnis  were,  I  think,  remarka- 
ble clearness  in  his  own  views,  and  in  the  statements  which  he  made  of 
them  to  others  ;  great  original  vigour,  patient  and  searching  scrutiny  into 
the  relations  and  results  of  every  principle ;  facility  in  detecting  the  vul- 
nerable points  of  an  adverse  or  erroneous  opinion  ;  a  dignified  tenacity  in 
the  maintenance  of  his  own  convictions;    a  strong  relish  for  metaphysical 


JOHN  SUA  HI*  MAGINNIS.  7g9 

speculation  ;  a  conservative  regard  fur  the  best  ineniorics  and  judgments 
of  the  past ;  a  sense  withal  of  tlie  right  and  duty  of  personal  independence, 
united  with  the  prufounde^t  reverence  for  the  authority  of  Scripture  :  and 
all  the:?e  harnionized  and  fii>C(l  into  unity  and  syninietry,  by  devout  study 
and  constant  waiting  upon  God.  His  literary  remains  were  not  numerous. 
Anxious  not  so  much  for  tlie  (juantify  as  the  quality  of  his  labours,  he 
worked,  not  lavislily,  but  thoroughly.  Ho  had  great  power  as  an  Instruc- 
ter.  Many  a  youth  who  sat  in  his  classes,  will  remember  long  the  calm, 
patient  dicnity  with  which  his  teacher  listened  to  some  confident  and  plau- 
sible objection  ;  and  then,  with  all  promptitude  and  directness,  and  with  his 
quiet  smile,  seemed  to  lay  his  broad  hand  on  the  very  throat  of  the  darling 
error,  and  there  the  bantling  lay,  lifeless  and  sepulchred,  as  in  a  moment. 
He  had  indeed  a  love  for  truth  and  justice  so  strong  that  it  might  easily 
have  rendered  him  divisive  and  antagonistic  in  his  influence,  had  it  not 
been  counterpoised  by  the  refined  sensitiveness  of  his  temperament,  and 
the  tenderness  with  which  his  great  piety  suflfused  his  entire  character. 

An  article  on  the  Philosophy  of  Cousin,  which  he  furnished  to  the  Chris- 
tian Review,  attracted  much  attention;  and  a  writer  in  the  contemporary 
at  Princeton, — the  Biblical  llepertory,  alluded  to  the  essay  as  showing  an 
acquaintance  with  the  intricacies  and  perils  of  German  error,  such  as  could 
only  have  been  attained  by  a  student  on  German  soil.  But,  in  fact,  Dr. 
3Iaginnis  had  never  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  a  visit  to  Europe. 

His  Theological  views  were  Calviuistic ;  and  influences  of  childhood 
and  youth  had  made  him,  when  yet  a  student  in  Theology,  to  lean  towards 
hyper-Calvinism.  But  further  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  practical 
character  of  his  own  mind,  with  his  labours  for  the  souls  of  others,  soon 
corrected  this  divergent  tendency.  The  type  of  his  maturer  views,  during 
his  Pastorate,  and  his  subsequent  career  as  a  Professor,  may  be  described 
as,  in  most  respects,  that  of  Turretin  and  Pictet.  For  the  Theology  of 
the  Churches  of  Holland  and  of  Scotland,  in  their  best  days,  he  cherished 
a  high  regard.  Among  the  Theological  Schools  of  this  country,  he  coin- 
cided, perhaps,  more  nearl}'  with  the  views  taught  at  Princeton ;  but  with 
great  independence.  For  the  writings  of  the  great  mediaeval  Theologian, 
Anselm,  he  had  a  marked  fondness.  Yet  he  was  not  careless  of  the  spec- 
ulations and  scriptural  criticisms  of  modern  times.  And  a  book  to  which 
he  often  turned  was  the  Hutterus  lledlvivus  of  Hase,  which  presents  a 
compend  of  the  Theology  of  the  old  orthodox  Lutheranism,  fringed  with  a 
broad  margin  of  extracts  from  the  moderns — sometimes  startling,  some- 
times amusing,  and  occasionally  repulsive  even,  in  their  divergency  not 
only  from  the  Fathers,  but  also  from  all  just  regard  for  the  God  and  Bible 
of  those  Fathers.  His  main  resort  was,  however,  to  the  Scriptures,  in 
whose  plenary  inspiration  and  supreme  authority  he  had  the  most  implicit, 
habitual  and  childlike  confidence. 

The  denomination  to  which  he  was  attached  have  been  sometimes  charged 
with  overlooking  the  just  relations  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  New. 
The  impeachment  does  not  in  equity  lie  against  the  great  mass  of  our 
churches  and  their  teachers.  As  to  Maginnis,  it  could  not  at  all  apply. 
He  received  most  fully  a  sentiment  of  St.  Augustine, — tliat  the  New  Tes- 
tament lies  folded  up  in  the  Old,  as  a  volume  shut ;  and  that  the  Old 

Vol..  Vr.  97 


770  BAPTIST. 

Testament  lies  wide  open,  as  a  book  unclosed,  in  the  New.  Novum  latet 
in  Vet  ere  :    Veins  patet  in  Novo. 

Many  of  his  intellectual  habits,  had  he  been  less  devout  and  less  busy, 
might  have  easily  sublimated  his  charactei*  into  that  of  a  mere  man  of 
abstractions.  But  his  familiarity  with  actual  life,  combined  with  a  strong 
sense  of  duty,  guarded  him  from  this,  and  rendered  him  a  man  eminently 
practical.  This  feature  of  his  character  may  be  illustrated  by  a  conversa- 
tion which  he  held  with  a  skeptic,  whom  he  met  in  a  steamboat.  The  man, 
possessed  of  some  acuteness,  was  parrotting  with  much  boldness  some  of 
the  cant  objections  against  Scripture.  Tall,  dignified,  and  grave,  but 
withal  quite  courteous  and  accessible,  Maginnis  slides  easily  into  the  dis- 
cussion, and  indulges  himself  with  a  few  questions  in  that  Socratic  mode 
of  which  he  was  so  thoroughly  a  master.  Insensibly  drawn  out  b}'  these, 
the  caviller  was  startled  and  astounded  at  discovering  in  a  little  time  how 
shallow  had  been  his  thinking,  and  how  little  in  reality  he  knew  upon  the 
subjects  with  regard  to  which  he  was  so  confident,  flippant  and  scornful. 

The  same  practicalness  was  shown  in  his  mode  of  meeting,  in  a  theologi- 
cal class  which  he  once  instructed,  the  gi'owth  of  some  erroneous  views 
with  regard  to  Christian  Perfection,  as  manifested  in  the  present  life.  The 
argument  from  Scripture,  though  overwhelming  to  his  own  mind,  had 
seemed  to  fail  in  shaking  the  confidence  of  the  young  men  in  the  state- 
ments to  which  they  had  committed  themselves.  Leaving,  for  the  time, 
this  ground,  he  proposed  that  they  should  look  upon  the  question  practi- 
cally, and  prepared  a  lecture  upon  the  actual  results  of  such  theories,  as 
shown  in  Ecclesiastical  History.  He  inquired,  by  these  lights,  whether  it 
had  not  been  the  almost  uniform  issue  of  such  speculations,  that,  instead 
of  bringing  Christians  into  more  perfect  conformity  to  the  Divine  law. 
they  had  brought  the  Divine  law  into  conformity  with  the  imperfections  of 
Christians;  and  thus,  instead  of  permanently  elevating  the  character  of  the 
churches,  had  lowered  the  Divine  standard  of  holiness,  and  dishonoured 
the  immutable  requirements  of  God,  as  proclaimed  on  Sinai,  and  expounded 
on  Calvary.  The  effect  was  that  the  whole  class  were  brought  at  once  to 
abandon  the  views  which  they  had  temporarily  accepted. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  we  have  not  the  large  and  mature  products 
which  such  a  mind  as  that  of  Dr.  Maginnis,  in  the  course  of  his  yearly 
lecturing,  would  probably  have  elaborated.  It  is  one  of  the  advantages  of 
a  Professor, — subjecting  his  own  conclusions  to  repeated  revisions,  as  new 
classes  gather  around  him,  that,  in  this  way,  the  truth,  filtered  through 
successive  classes  of  students,  comes  forth  to  his  own  mind  and  to  theirs, 
purer,  fresher,  and  more  transparent.  It  is  like  water  passing  through  the 
interstices  of  rocks  and  various  strata  of  the  hillside,  till  it  reaches  at  last, 
sparkling  and  healthful,  its  quiet  home  in  the  fountain  at  the  foot  of  the 
slope.  The  Lectures  of  President  Dwight  owe  much  of  their  interest  to 
the  circumstance  to  which  I  now  refer.  Some  of  the  posthumous  works 
of  the  late  brilliant  and  profound  Vinet,  though  appearing  at  a  disadvan- 
tage, from  their  having  lacked  his  own  careful  revision  for  the  press,  yet 
have  traces  of  similar  benefit,  which  the  Lectures  of  even  such  a  thinker 
derived  from  their  having  been  submitted  to  and  ventilated  before,  (so  to 
speak.)  several  generations  of  his   pupils.     An   infinitely  wise  Providence 


JOHN  SHARP  MAGINNIS. 


771 


Jeiiiod  to  the  preparations  of  Professor  Muginnis  tlie  long  continuance  of 
such  yearly  revisions.  And  the  imperfect  and  fragmentary  state  of  his 
nianuscripts  has  prevented,  as  yet,  the  appearance  of  a  syllalnis,  which  it 
was  once  proposed  to  publish,  of  liis  Theological  Lectures. 

In  his  personal  and  domestic  character,  he  was  a  man  of  simplicity, 
earnestness,  and  tenderness,  with  a  strong  sense  of  fitness  and  dignity, 
sheathing,  however,  a  keen  wit,  which  would  sometimes  reveal  unexpect- 
edly the  fineness  of  its  edge.  Kind  and  hospitalde  to  the  stranger  ;  fra- 
ternal in  his  intercourse  with  young  men  ;  a  successful  Pastor,  converted 
by  sickness  into  an  efficient  Professor  ;  profound  and  yet  practical  ;  devout 
and  yet  not  austere;  having  accomplished  mucli,  but  having  it  in  his  heart 
to  attempt  far  more  ;  his  removal  from  his  family,  his  friends  and  his  post, 
involved  the  defeat  of  many  plans,  and  the  disappointment  of  many  hopes. 
But  he  neither  murmured  nor  wavered.  Broken  health,  though  it  inter- 
fered with  his  early  preparations,  drove  him  from  successive  Pastorates, 
and  issued  in  his  dying  in  what  men  deem  middle  life,  yet  did  not  prevent 
him  from  accomplishing  much  for  the  cause  and  honour  of  his  Master.  It 
was  indeed  touching  to  see  him,  with  such  meek  resolution,  spending  in 
Christ's  service  his  last  remains  of  ph3'sical  strength,  clasping  the  harness 
manfully  to  the  wounded  shoulder,  and  gathering  himself  up  in  efforts  for 
persistent  usefulness,  until  at  last  "  the  weary  wheels  of  life  stood  still." 
I  remain  very  respectfully  yours, 

WILLIAM  R.  WILLIAMS. 

FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

A^EWTON  Corners,  December  4,  1855. 

My  dear  Sir:  'My  relations  to  the  Madison  University  first  brought  me 
acquainted  with  Professor  Maginnis  about  the  year  183G,  and  from  that  time 
till  his  death  I  reckoned  him  among  ni)-  intimate  friends.  He  often  visited  in 
my  famil}-,  and  preached  in  my  pulpit;  and  I  felt  that  I  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  interior  of  his  character.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  bear  testimony  to 
his  numerous  excellences. 

In  his  personal  appearance,  Professor  ^Maginnis  was  somewhat  prepo.sessing. 
He  was  rather  above  the  medium  height,  was  of  a  graceful  form,  and  in  man- 
ner uncommonly  bland  and  gentlemanl3^  Though  the  expression  of  his  coun- 
tenance was  not  otherwise  than  agreeable,  I  cannot  say  that  it  was  very  highly 
intellectual;  and,  in  this  respect,  it  was  far  from  doing  full  justice  to  his  char- 
acter. But  his  appearance,  on  the  w^hole,  would  have  prcposcssed  you  much 
in  his  Hivour — you  would  have  said  at  once  that  he  was  the  full  pattern  of  a 
man,  an<l  would  have  been  induced,  by  his  general  aspect  and  bearing,  to  wish 
to  know  more  of  him. 

Professor  Maginnis,  in  his  original  constitution,  united  two  qualities  that 
are  not  always  found  associated  in  the  same  person — namely,  great  amiable- 
ness  with  great  excitability.  Few  men  whom  I  have  known,  have  pos.sesscd 
a  more  genial  and  gentle  spirit  than  he,  while  yet  he  was  keenly  sensitive  to 
injury,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  make  it  manifest  by  appropriate  demonstra- 
tions. But  it  was  usually  little  more  than  a  flash  of  feeling:  and  when  it  was 
over,  the  kindly  spirit  at  once  resumed  its  accustomed  control.  If  he  had 
received  an  injury,  he  would  quickly  forgive  it;  if  he  had  even  unintentionally 
inflicted  one,  he  would  as  quickly  repair  it.  He  had  a  pre-eminently  generous 
nature;  and  I  think  none  knew  him  well  but  to  love  him. 


772  BAPTIST. 

His  intellect  was  decidedly  of  a  liigh  order.  His  mind  was  sound  and  logi- 
cal, rather  than  imaginative  and  poetic.  He  had  a  great  thirst  for  know- 
ledge, aod  was  not  onlj^  vcrj-  thorough  in  his  own  immediate  department,  but 
was  an  excellent  general  scholar.  As  a  Professor,  he  was  greatly  in  favour 
with  both  his  pupils  and  his  fellow  Professors.  The  former  were  delighted 
by  his  admirable  facility  at  imparting  knowledge:  the  latter  recognised  in  him 
at  once  an  agreeable  companion  and  an  cflBcient  auxiliary. 

As  a  Preacher,  1  can  truly  say  that  1  considered  him  as  one  of  the  most 
interesting  to  whom  I  had  the  opportunity  of  listening.  His  discourses  were 
logically  constructed,  and  were  uniformly  rich  in  well  matured,  evangelical 
thought.  Ilis  style  was  clear,  correct  and  forcible.  His  attitudes  were 
highly  dignified;  his  gestures,  though  not  very  abundant,  were  alwaj-s  appro- 
priate; liis  voice  full,  sonorous  and  agreeable,  and  his  manner  altogether 
characterized  by  remarkable  solemnity.  His  preaching  alwaj-s  commanded 
attention;  but  I  think  he  was  most  impressive  in  the  pathetic.  He  had  great 
power  over  the  sensibilities  of  his  audience,  and  would  often  bring  out  that 
spontaneous  gush  of  feeling  that  is  one  of  the  best  tests  of  true  eloquence.  He 
was  accustomed  to  write  his  sermons  when  he  wished  to  make  a  special  effort, 
but  he  was  an  easy  and  fluent  extemporaneous  speaker,  and  I  think  his  most 
effective  discourses,  if  not  unpremeditated,  were  at  least  not  written. 

I  ought  to  say  that  the  crowning  excellence  of  his  character  was  his  devoted 
piety.  He  lived  in  the  fear  of  God  all  the  day  long.  No  one  could  know  him 
intimately,  as  I  did,  without  feeling  the  fullest  conviction  that  a  deep  sense  of 
the  Divine  presence  gave  complexion  to  the  whole  conduct  of  his  life. 

Yours  truly, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


JOHN  TAYLOR  JONES,  D.  D.* 

1829—1851. 

John  Taylor  Jones,  a  son  of  Elisha  and  Persia  (Taylor)  Jones,  was 
born  at  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1802.  His  paternal 
ancestor  emigrated  from  Wales  to  this  country  about  (he  year  1700. 
Wbilc  he  was  yet  a  youth,  his  father  removed  to  Ashby,  Mass.,  where  the 
son  spent  several  of  his  early  years.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  became 
hopefully  pious,  and  joined  the  Congregational  church  in  his  native  town. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  abandoned  the  business  to  which  he  had  been  devoted, 
and  commenced  a  course  of  study  preparatory  to  tlic  ministry.  In  due 
time,  he  entered  Amherst  College,  and  graduated  there  with  honour  in 
1825.  He  afterwards  studied  Theology  for  a  while  at  Andover,  but  com- 
pleted his  course  at  the  Newton  Seminary.  During  his  residence  at 
Andover,  he  became  dissatisfieil  with  the  views  of  Baptism  which  he  had 
previously  entertained,  and  connected  himself  with  the  Baptist  Churcli. 
He  was  baptized  by  immersion  in  Boston,  in  the  year  1S28,  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Maloom,  then  Pastor  of  the  Federal  Street  Church.  In  1829,  he  was 
appointed  a  Missionary  to  Burmah.  On  the  14th  of  July,  1830,  he  was 
married  to  Eliza,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Grew,  for  many  years  Pastor 

•Am.  Bapt.  Miss.  Mag.,  1853.— MS.  from  Rev.  Henry  Grew. 


JOHN  TAYLOR  JONES.  773 

of  tho  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford,  Conn.  Tn  February',  IS"!,  lie  roaclied 
Maulinciii,  his  destined  place  of  hil>our,  liaviiig  been  occupied  with  his 
studies  during  the  voyage,  almost  as  diligently  and  successfully  as  if  he 
had  been  in  his  own  quiet  study  at  home. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  his  arrival  at  Maulmein,  he  secured  a  compe- 
tent teacher,  and  commenced  the  study  of  the  Barman  language.  lie 
began  also,  almost  immediately,  a  series' of  expository  lectures  on  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  for  the  benefit  of  the  British  soldiers  who  were  stationed 
there. 

Mr.  Jones  soon  found  himself  embarrassed  by  the  peculiar  circumstance* 
of  the  Mission.  In  entering  on  the  missionary  work,  he  had  no  othei 
intention  than  to  labour  among  the  Burmans  ;  and,  with  this  view,  all  his 
plans  and  studies  were  directed.  But,  before  he  had  been  long  in  Burmah, 
his  sympathy  began  to  be  awakened  by  the  reports  which  reached  him 
concerning  the  condition  of  the  Talings.  The  brethren  of  the  Mission,  in 
their  journeys,  often  met  with  villages  in  which  no  other  language  than  the 
Taling  was  understood;  and  one  of  them  expressed  the  opinion  that  "  half 
Burmah  was  probably  not  one  half  the  extent  to  which  the  language  was 
spoken."  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  arranged  that  Mr.  Jones 
should  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  this  new  dialect ;  and  his  progress 
was  rendered  the  more  easy  and  rapid  from  the  knowledge  he  had  already 
acquired  of  the  Burman.  There  was  no  Grammar  or  Dictionary  of  the 
Taling  language — as  far  as  he  knew — in  existence ;  the  attainments  of  the 
missionaries  who  had  given  attention  to  it  had  not  been  recorded  ;  and  he 
was  obliged  to  acquire  it  altogether  through  the  medium  of  the  Burman. 
Thus  he  actually  prosecuted  the  study  of  the  two  languages  at  the  same  time. 
He  made  rapid  progress  in  the  Taling,  and  preached  in  liurman  on  the 
29th  of  January,  1832, — less  than  a  year  after  his  arrival  in  the  coun- 
try. 

The  attention  of  the  missionaries  had  often  been  drawn  by  the  Board  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Siam  ;  and,  as  it  was  ascertained  that  great  numbers  in 
that  Kingdom  were  accessible  through  the  Taling  language,  they  could  not 
resist  the  conviction  that  the  finger  of  Providence  pointed  in  that  direc- 
tion. And  they  were  agreed  in  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Jones  was  the  most 
suitable  person  to  take  the  lead  in  the  enterprise ;  and  they  expressed  tbia 
opinion  to  him  strongly  in  writing.  On  mature  deliberation,  he  consented 
to  their  proposal,  and  forthwith  procured  a  Siamese  teacher,  and  made  his 
arrangements  for  an  early  removal  to  Bangkok. 

Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  passage  directly  to  Siam,  Mr. 
Jones  was  obliged  to  go  first  to  Singapore,  where  he  spent  his  time  in 
studying  the  Siamese,  and  preaching  in  English,  and  reached  Bangkok  in 
April,  18.33.  Several  missionaries  had  previously  been  here,  but,  from 
ill  health  or  some  other  cause,  they  had  all  loft,  and  the  field  was  now 
quite  unoccupied. 

Shortly  after  his  removal  to  Siam,  he  was  afflicted  by  the  death  of  a 
child,  which  was  evidently  the  means  of  increasing  his  spirituality,  and 
quickening  him  in  the  great  work  to  which  his  life  was  devoted. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1833,  he  administered  Baptism  to  three 
Chinese  ;  and,  on  the  Sabbath  preceding,  he  and  his  wife  sat  down  to  the 


774  BAPTIST. 

Sacramental  Supper.  The  Siamese  had  then  just  planned  an  attack  on 
Cochin  China,  and  the  war-boats  were  assembling  from  every  quarter ; 
but,  amidst  all  surrounding  disturbances,  these  excellent  persons  engaged 
in  the  devout  commemoration  of  their  Redeemer's  death. 

In  May,  1834,  Mr.  Jones  had  made  such  progress  in  the  Siamese 
language  that  he  ventured  to  issue  from  the  press  a  tract  written  in  it ; 
and,  by  the  close  of  the  year,  he  had  completed  two  more  tracts,  besides 
a  tran^^lation  of  the  Gospel  by  Matthew.  Thus  was  commenced  that  great 
work  of  his  life, — tlie  giving  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  Siamese  in  their 
own  tongue, — which  he  completed  in  October,  1843.  He  was  eminently 
qualified  for  this  work  by  his  early  studies,  his  intellectual  tastes,  and  his 
enthusiasm  for  biblical  learning  ;  and  the  result  of  these  protracted  labours 
is  an  enduring  monument  to  his  honour. 

Mr.  Jones,  tliough  greatly  oppressed  by  his  labours  in  Bangkok,  sug- 
gested to  the  Board  the  occupancy  of  other  important  fields  in  Siam,  in 
Assam,  Laos,  Thibet,  and  Chittagong.  He  did  this  in  the  exercise  of  a 
spirit  of  the  largest  Christian  benevolence,  and  not  from  a  conviction  that 
help  could  be  spared  from  any  of  the  then  existing  stations. 

In  1834,  he  was  afflicted  by  the  death  of  another  child  ;  and  on  the  28th 
of  March,  1838,  he  suffered  a  yet  greater  affliction  in  the  death  of  his  wife. 
But,  though  sorrow-stricken,  he  still  continued  his  labours  ;  and  nothing 
was  suffered  to  divert  him  from  the  all-engrossing  object  of  his  life.  In 
February,  1839,  a  few  months  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  he  made  his  first 
tour  into  the  interior  of  Siam  ;  but  this  was  not  the  work  best  adapted 
either  to  his  taste  or  his  talent.  Though  he  might  have  prosecuted  it  suc- 
cessfully, it  was  in  the  study  that  ho  was  more  especially  fitted  to  be  useful. 
Soon  after  his  return  from  tliis  n)issionary  excursion,  he  found  it  necessary 
that  some  arrangement  should  speedily  be  made  in  respect  to  his  children  ; 
and  he  therefore  left  Siam  for  Singapore  in  the  earliest  vessel,  and  from 
Singapore  came  on  a  vi.sit  to  the  United  States. 

In  November,  1840,  during  his  brief  sojourn  in  this  country,  he  was 
married  to  Judith  Leavitt,  of  Mere  :ith  Village,  N.  H.  This  connection 
continued  about  six  years,  in  great  mutual  endearment  and  happiness. 
The  health  of  Mrs.  Jones  sunk  under  the  influence  of  tlie  climate  and  the 
amount  of  labour  incident  to  her  station.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1846,  her  husband,  by  medical  advice,  embarked  with  her  for  this  country, 
as  the  most  probable  means  of  prolonging  her  life.  She  died  on  the  pas- 
sage, and  it  devolved  on  her  stricken  companion  to  commit  her  body  to 
an  ocean  grave. 

lirought  thus  unexpectedly  to  this  country,  Mr.  Jones  spent  not  far 
from  a  year  with  his  friends  here,  and  was  engaged,  during  nearly  the 
whole  time,  in  endeavouring  to  arouse  the  churches  to  greater  zeal  and 
activity  in  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  immortal  interests  of  the 
poor  heathen  among  whom  he  had  so  long  made  his  home,  weighed  upon 
his  mind  as  a  heavy  burden  ;  but  his  appeals  to  the  churches  and  the  young 
men  met  with  but  a  feeble  response.  His  own  health  was  at  this  time 
much  impaired,  from  having  lived  so  long  in  a  sickly  climate  ;  but  his 
friends  still  hoped  that  many  years  of  missionary  usefulness  were  yet  in 
store  for  him. 


JOHN  TAYLOR  JONES.  775 

In  August,  1S47,  he  was  married  to  Sarah  Sleeper,  tlien  the  afconijilished 
preceptress  of  the  New  llainplon  Institution.  She  survived  him,  and  has 
since  Iieoome  the  wife  of  the  llev.  Mr.  Smith,  a  Baptist  Missiunuiy  at 
Bangkok. 

In  tlie  autumn  succeeding  his  marriage,  he  returned  to  liis  pdst,  and 
entered  upon  his  duties  with  new  zeal  and  vigour.  Every  thing  now  pro- 
mised success  to  his  efforts.  lie  was  known  and  greatly  respected  through- 
out the  city  of  Bangkok.  The  magistrates,  and  even  the  King,  did  not 
hesitate  to  consult  him  iu  cases  of  diflSculty.  The  object  of  his  residence 
there  was  perfectly  understood  by  the  authorities  of  the  city,  but  no  obsta- 
cle was  placed  in  his  way.  He  had  completed  the  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  prepared  many  useful  books  ;  and  all  seemed  to  accord  to 
him  the  character  of  a  sage.  But  the  time  was  now  approaching  when 
this  bright  prospect  was  to  be  overcast,  and  his  earthly  labours  were  to 
come  to  a  close. 

The  unfavourable  tidings  in  respect  to  his  health,  that,  from  time  to  time, 
came  to  this  country,  left  his  friends  with  little  doubt  that  the  time  of 
his  departure  was  at  hand.  Near  the  close  of  August,  1851,  he  was 
greatly  prostrated  by  an  attack  of  dysentery.  For  several  days,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Mission  were  alternating  between  hope  and  fear  in  respect  to 
the  issue  of  his  illness  ;  but,  on  the  12th  of  September,  they  were  compelled 
to  regard  his  case  as  quite  hopeless.  For  some  days,  his  mind  had  been 
wandering, — the  effect  partly  of  the  disease,  and  partly  of  the  opiates 
which  had  been  administered  to  him.  To  some  who  were  standing  by 
his  bedside,  he  said, — "Assure  my  friends  of  my  unfailing  attachment  to 
them.  Tell  them  my  hopes,  though  sometimes  ascending,  sometimes 
declining,  nve/ixed  upon  Him  who  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting."  At 
another  time  he  said  to  Mrs.  Jones, — "  It  will  soon  end  with  us."  Three 
of  Mrs.  Jones'  pupils  were  brought  to  him,  to  whom  he  said  in  Siamese, — 
"  You  have  often  heard  me  tell  you  that  the  affairs  of  this  world  are  of 
short  duration."  Being  asked  if  he  had  any  message  to  send  to  his  little 
daughter,  he  said, — "  If  God  gives  me  strength  to  think  and  speak,  I  hope 
to."  Two  friends  calling  on  him,  in  the  morning  of  September  l'2th,  he 
reached  out  his  hand  and  said, — "  We  must  all  go  to  another  world."  The 
night  following,  which  was  his  last,  was  a  night  of  extreme  bodily  suffering. 
At  one  time  he  said, — "Lord  of  mercy,  be  the  end  and  portion  of  thy 
servant."  And  again,  when  his  agony  was  most  intense,  he  said, — "  My 
friends,  is  there  any  relief?  If  so,  tell  me  how?"  In  the  morning  of 
September  13th,  about  half  past  six,  the  weary,  suffering  believer  entered 
into  his  rest.  The  same  afternoon.  Funeral  services  were  performed  at  his 
residence,  both  in  English  and  Siamese.  Many  came  to  testify  their 
respect  for  his  character  and  services,  and  the  King  sent  a  present  with  a 
request  that  it  might  be  deposited  in  the  coffin. 

The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him  a  few  years 
before  his  death,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  distasteful  to  him.  In  writing 
to  the  Missionary  Ilooms,  he  thus  alludes  to  it  ;— "  Omit  this  title  in  address- 
ing me.  Say  nothing  to  recall  it  to  mind,  and  it  will  then  least  attract 
notice." 


776  BAPTIST. 

Dr.  Jones  was  the  father  of  five  children, — two  sous  and  two  daughters 
by  the  first  marriage,  and  one  daughter  by  the  second.  One  son  and  one 
daughter  by  the  first  marriage,  and  the  daughter  by  the  second,  survived 
him.  The  son  is  now  (1858)  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  in  Schoolcraft, 
Mich. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  DEAN,  D.  D. 

Wyoming,  N.  Y.,  March  4th,  1857. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  to  include  the  name  of  the 
late  Dr.  Jones  in  your  work  commemorative  of  the  prominent  deceased  cler- 
gymen of  this  country.  My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  at 
Singapore  in  1835.  There  I  encountered  with  him  an  attack  from  the  Malayan 
pirates,  by  whom  he  was  thrown  into  the  sea,  and  while  there,  the  mark  of 
the  deadly  piratical  spears,  and  in  the  last  stage  of  exhaustion,  with  my  own 
body  stuck  with  spears,  I  succeeded  in  drawing  him  into  our  boat,  and  by 
means  little  less  than  miraculous  we  were  delivered  from  the  murderous  attack. 
After  recovering  from  these  wounds,  1  made  the  voyage  with  him  in  an  Arab 
ship  from  Singapore  to  Bangkok,  and  there,  for  five  years,  1  was  associated  with 
him  in  missionary  work,  and,  for  much  of  the  time,  was  a  member  of  his 
famil}''.  Though  our  labours  were  somewhat  distinct,  his  time  being  given  to 
the  Siamese  and  mine  to  the  Chinese,  between  which  the  population  of  that 
city  was, nearly  equally  divided,  still  we  had  much  in  common  as  agents  of  the 
same  Society,  and  engaged  in  common  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen.  Our 
table  talk  was  much  given  to  principles  of  Biblical  translation  and  modes  of 
missionary  labour,  and  whenever  questions  arose  with  either  in  relation  to  the 
meaning  or  the  translation  of  a  passage  of  Scripture,  or  with  reference  to  mea- 
sures for  bringing  the  heathen  to  Church,  they  were  made  the  subject  of 
mutual  conversation,  and  1  ever  found  him  eminently  communicative,  confiding 
and  companionable.  He  was  in  person  of  medium  stature,  with  slender  form, 
a  little  bent  from  habits  of  long  continued  study  and  toil;  light  hair,  and  the 
head  a  little  inclined  to  baldness;  blue  eyes,  deep  set  beneath  an  overhanging 
arch:  a  large  nose;  an  oval  face  marked  with  small-pox  after  lie  went  to  Siam, 
but  the  face  so  uniformly  lighted  up  with  good-nature  and  kind  feeling,  that 
it  ever  apj)earcd  attractive.  The  only  deformity  1  ever  saw  about  his  face  was 
a  cigar  in  bis  mouth. 

His  mental  endowments  were  considerablj'  above  the  common  lot  of  men, 
and  these  had  been  rendered  practically  available  by  habits  of  close  and  pro- 
tracted study.  Thorough  was  his  motto — and  this  word  found  an  exemplifi.- 
cation  in  all  he  did.  His  mind,  more  than  that  of  any  man  1  ever  knew,  was 
accurate.  In  common  conversation,  whether  in  the  English  or  Asiatic  lan- 
guages, his  ear  caught  the  slightest  mistake  in  accent,  tone,  or  idiom.  So  criti- 
cal were  his  modes  of  thought  and  forms  of  expression,  that  his  presence  might 
have  cast  a  restraint  upon  his  associates  of  less  accurate  thought  and  careful 
use  of  language,  had  it  not  been  for  the  freedom  and  familiarity  with  which 
he  entered  into  the  relaxation  of  social  enjoyment.  His  ready  command  of 
the  idioms  of  our  language,  with  4;hc  peculiar  forms  of  expression  which  pre- 
vail in  dilferent  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  various  provinces  of  England, 
under  the  promptings  of  his  unwasting  fund  of  humour,  rendered  his  conver- 
sation entertaining;  while  his  familiarity  with  the  ancient  classics,  and  the 
tenacity  with  which  his  memory  held  on  to  historic  events,  rendered  his 
most  common  talk  instructive.  His  public  addresses  in  the  English  language 
were  interesting,  but  wanted  the  vivacity  of  his  social  conversation;  but  his 
public  preaching  in  the  Siamese  language  was  animated  and  eloquent.  In  the 
intonation  of  an  Asiatic  language,  in  which  most  Western  students  are  defec- 


JOHN  TAYLOR  JONES. 


777 


tive,  he  reached  a  high  staiuhinl  of  accuracy,  ami  Iiis  knowledge  of  the  forma- 
tion and  principles  of  the  Siamese  language  was  more  extended  and  accurate 
than  that  of  most  of  the  native  scholars.  His  power  to  persevere  in  .search 
of  truth,  his  knowledge  of  tlie  original  languages  of  the  IJiblc,  ami  his  sound 
))rincipKs  of  interpretation,  together  with  his  wide  range  of  general  informa- 
tion and  iiis  familiarity  with  the  common  language  and  .sacred  literature  of  the 
•Siamese,  eminently  littcd  him  for  translating  the  Scriptures  for  that  people. 
He  lived  to  complete  the  New  Testament  in  the  Siamese  language,  which  1 
think  compares  favourahly  with  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  made 
in  any  of  the  Asiatic  languages  ;  including  the  life  work  of  such  men  as 
Carey,  ^larshman,  Judson,  and  Morrison,  and  their  worthy  successors. 

With  his  rare  endowments  and  varied  acquirements,  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  modesty,  and  ever  maintained,  with  his  associates  abroad  and  the  exe- 
cutive oflicers  of  the  Missionary  Society  at  home,  the  most  friendly  and 
fraternal  relations.  He  was  as  read}'  to  assign  to  himself  the  lowest 
place  as  his  colleagues  were  to  give  him  the  liighest  among  them.  He  was 
cheerful,  diligent  and  devout.  AYith  no  parade  of  piety  or  professions  of 
extraordinary  devotedness  to  religion,  he  gave  practical  proof  of  strong  faith 
in  God,  and  a  large  heart  full  of  love  to  the  race.  I  have  met  men  on  the 
missionary  field  who  discovered  some  stronger  points  of  character,  and  in 
some  particular  qualifications  a  greater  fitness  for  missionary  usefulness,  but, 
take  him  all  together,  I  have  never  seen  his  equal,  and  among  more  than  a 
hundred  men  I  have  met  among  the  heathen,  I  Avould  select  Dr.  Jones  as  the 
Model  Missionary. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Wn.LIAM  DEAN. 

FROM  THE  REV.  S.  F.  SMITH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Centre,  July  18,  1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  knew  Dr.  John  Taylor  Jones,  concerning  whom  you  inquire, 
when  we  were  students  together  at  the  Andover  Seminary;  and  my  relations 
to  him,  not  only  then  but  subsequently,  were  such  as  to  give  me  a  good  oppor- 
tunitj'  of  forming  a  correct  estimate  of  his  character.  I  am  glad  to  do  any 
thing  1  can  to  perpetuate  his  deservedly  honoured  name. 

In  the  character  and  career  of  this  distinguished  man  a  few  things  are 
specially  prominent.  He  had  great  decision  and  per.severance.  AVhen  a 
right  action  was  to  be  done,  he  did  it  without  regard  to  consequences.  When 
a  course  of  conduct  seemed  of  a  nature  pleasing  to  God,  he  pursued  it  through 
darkness  and  di.scouragement,  keeping  his  end  in  view  and  steadily  jiressing 
towards  it  through  years  of  disheartening  gloom.  "With  him  religion  was  not 
so  much  a  feeling  as  a  principle;  not  so  much  an  occasional  impulse  as  an 
ever  acting  and  equably  acting  force.  He  rejoiced  in  the  sunshine  of  pros- 
perity; but  he  toiled  on  with  steady  zeal  under  the  deepest  shade.  Almost 
every  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  Board  of  Missions,  for  several  years, 
implored  aid  for  his  Mission.  I  have  found  it  deeply  thrilling  and  afTecting  to 
read  his  unsuccessful  appeals.  Yet  he  pioush'  j-ieldcd  to  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence and  the  decisions  of  his  brethren,  and  submitted  to  the  necessity  of  his 
condition.  He  had  given  himself  to  the  work,  and  there  was  no  going  back. 
He  felt  that  he  was  a  consecrated  man.  He  was  pledged  to  the  cause  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  engaged  in  his  work  as  a  man  who  could  cared  for  no  other.  It 
was  his  life,  his  joy.  lie  had  an  extraordinary  tact  for  the  attainment  of 
languages.  He  learned  them  early  and  accurately.  If  the  members  of  the 
Mission  at  any  time  desired  the  exact  shade  or  meaning  of  a  word,  vernacular 
or  foreign,   he  was  always  ready  to  give   it.     If  the  precise  rendering  of  a 

Vol.  VI.  98 


778  BAPTIST. 

Siamese  ■word  into  English,  or  an  English  word  into  Siamese,  was  required,  he 
•was  never  at  a  loss.  He  was  much  more  eloquent  in  Siamese  than  in  English; 
often,  to  the  astonishment  of  his  friends,  who  had  heard  him  preach  in  both. 
He  was  called  upon  to  translate  numerous  public  documents  for  the  King. 
His  service  was  of  great  importance  both  to  the  English  and  American 
ambassadors,  as  an  interpreter  between  them  and  the  King  of  Siam.  His 
translations  were  always  relied  upon  as  immaculate,  and  complimented  by 
the  King  as  showing  more  knowledge  of  the  minute  forms  of  the  language 
than  even  educated  natives  ordinarily  possessed. 

He  M'as  known  throughout  Bangkok  as  a  man  of  integrity.  What  he  said 
could  be  depended  on.  Hence  his  word  was  final.  What  he  said  was  never 
to  be  doubted.  He  was  also  a  man  of  great  prudence.  No  unkind  word 
escaped  his  lips.  No  vituperative  remark  was  ever  made  by  him  concerning 
his  brethren.  He  yielded  every  thing  but  principle  for  the  sake  of  peace. 
But  principle  w<>s  not  to  be  yielded  for  any  consideration. 

He  was  a  peacemaker  among  the  natives.  Often  they  brought  to  him 
domestic  and  other  difficulties,  and  he  knew  how  to  pour  oil  on  the  troubled 
waters.  He  never  created  trouble.  He  had  the  wisdom  to  soothe  and  miti- 
gate it. 

Though  his  chief  place  was  the  study,  he  did  not  shrink  from  contact  with 
the  living  world.  He  stood  before  Kings  erect  in  Christian  dignity  and  self- 
possession.  He  dispensed  medicine,  and  imparted  religious  teaching  and  ad- 
vice, to  the  poor  and  the  ignorant.  He  spoke  freely  on  Divine  things  to  all  who 
came  within  his  reach, — not  only  to  the  common  people  but  often  Avhen  he 
was  called  to  the  palace, — entering  into  the  closest  argument  concerning  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  with  the  chief  men  of  the  Court. 

He  was  distinguished  for  Christian  charity.  He  lived  in  habits  of  the  most 
friendly  intercourse  with  persons  of  a  different  religious  faith  from  his  own. 
His  gracious  spirit  shed  its  fragrance  over  the  city,  where,  I  doubt  not,  it 
still  lingers.  The  influence  of  his  catholic  heart  will  remain,  a  monument  to 
his  piety  and  love,  and  an  example  to  future  missionaries. 

In  his  home  in  Siam  he  seemed  to  be  in  his  proper  element.  A  perfect 
impression  of  his  character  could  not  be  obtained  from  his  letters,  or  from 
his  ai)pearance  in  the  United  States.  He  must  also  be  seen  at  Bangkok,  in 
the  midst  of  his  work.  Here  there  was  a  spring  to  his  thought  and  manner, 
a  cheerful  manifestation  of  joy,  a  breaking  forth  of  a  heart  livcl}'  and  peace- 
ful, a  delight  in  work  and  in  the  Word  of  God,  though  under  discouragement, 
which  presented  him  in  an  altitude  unseen  while  he  was  in  America.  His 
death  was  an  affliction  to  the  Mission,  to  his  denomination,  to  the  Church  at 
large.     May  his  spirit  be  reproduced  in  many  of  his  successors. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.F.SMITH. 

FROM  THE  REV.  J.  DOWLING,  D.  D. 

New  Tork,  July  14,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  per.sonal\acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Taylor 
Jones  commenced  in  1840,  at  my  then  residence  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  where  I 
had  the  occasional  pleasure  of  receiving  him  as  a  guest  on  his  visit  to  America, 
a  year  or  two  after  the  death  of  his  first  Avife. 

My  first  impression  of  Brother  Jones,  with  whose  reputation  as  a  linguist 
and  successful  missionary  I  had  long  ])oen  familiar,  was  one  of  slight  disap- 
pointment. He  seemed  to  me  a  somewhat  bashful,  and  quite  an  ordinary, 
man.  My  second  impression,  after  an  acquaintance  of  a  day  or  two,  was  that 
he  was  a  very  holy  and  a  very  humble   man.     But  it  took   several  days  to 


JOHN  TAYLOR  JONES.  'J'JC 

convince  me  that,  beneath  the  phiin  exterior,  the  rough  coating  of  the  diamond, 
there  "was  greatness  as  well  as  goodness,  a  brilliancy  of  accjuired  as  well  as 
natural  endowments,  placing  him  in  the  very  lirst  rank  of  the  godd  and  the 
great  men  who  have  given  their  talents  and  their  lives  to  the  work  of  the 
world's  evangelization.  During  that  visit,  I  enjoyed  repeated  opportunities 
of  delightful  Christian  intercour.se  with  him,  both  in  pul)Iic  and  in  private; 
and  also  during  his  next  visit  to  his  native  land  in  1S47,  till  I  bade  him  fare- 
well, and  grasped  his  hand  for  the  last  time  on  the  loth  of  Septcml^er  of  that 
year,  on  the  deck  of  the  vessel  at  Sandy  Hook,  which  was  to  carry  him,  in  com- 
pany with  a  dear  friend  of  my  own,  his  now  surviving  widow,  to  his  Eastern 
home  and  grave;  and  I  can  truly  say  that  he  grew  in  my  estimation  with 
each  succeeding  interview,  and  I  have  ever  since  regarded  him,  with  perhaps 
a  single  exception, — the  venerated  Judson, — as  the  most  learned  and  eminent 
of  all  (he  noble  band  of  missionaries  who  have  gone  home  to  their  reward  in 
Heaven  from  the  service  of  the  American  Baptist  Mission. 

During  my  first  interview  with  Mr.  Jones  in  1840,  his  heart  was  very  ten- 
derly alfected  with  his  then  recent  bereavement;  and  I  remember  well  one 
remark  he  made  in  conver.sation,  which  since  that  time  I  have  frequently 
thought  of,  and  more  than  once  alluded  to  in  public.  "  There  is  one  thing. 
Brother  Dowling,"  said  he,  "  which  distinguishes  Christianity  from  every 
false  religion.  It  is  th^  only  religion  that  can  take  away  the  fear  of  death. 
I  never  knew,"  said  he,  <' a  dying  heathen  in  Siam,  or  anywhere  else,  that 
was  not  afraid,  terribly  afraid,  of  death.  And  there  was  nothing,"  he  added, 
"  that  struck  the  Siamese  people  with  greater  astonishment,  than  a  remark 
that  mj'  dear  departed  wife  made,  in  Siamese,  to  her  native  nurse,  shortly 
before  her  death, — 'lam  not  afraid  to  die!'  For  weeks  after  her  death," 
said  he,  "  the  Siamese  people  would  come  to  me,  as  though  incredulous  that 
such  a  thing  could  be,  and  ask, — '  Teacher,  is  it  really  true  that  a  person  has 
died,  and  was  ?iof  afraid  to  die  1  Can  it  be  possible.^'  And  Avheu  assured 
that  it  was  even  so,  they  would  say,  <  "Wonderful,  wonderful,  that  a  person 
should  die  and  not  be  afraid.'  " 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Brother  Jones,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  me  by  a 
surviving  relative,  it  is  said — "  The  amount  of  labour  that  Mr.  Jones  accom- 
plished is  almost  incredible.  The  translation  of  the  .Scriptures  was  only  an 
item  in  his  labours.  lie  was  the  only  person  in  Siam,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
language  enabled  him  to  act  as  interpreter  for  the  King  during  the  negotiations 
with  the  British  government.  He  was  obliged  to  act  as  King's  Secretary;  and 
much  of  his  time  was  spent  in  translating  diplomatic  documents.  During  the 
last  year  of  his  life,  he  was  responsible  for  what  might  have  fully  occupied 
six  energetic  men.  In  addition  to  the  care  of  the  Siamese  Church,  preaching, 
&c.,  the  care  of  the  Chinese  Church  devolved  upon  him  during  the  last  three 
years  of  his  life.  He  selected  and  watched  over  the  Chinese  assistants,  and 
their  several  fields  of  labour.  He  was  Treasurer  of  the  Mission,  and  attended 
to  all  the  business  of  that  department,  and  there  was  rarely  a  day  that  there 
was  not  some  building  or  repairing  to  claim  his  attention." 

In  regard  to  Mr.  Jones'  character,  a  friend  who  knew  him  intimately,  on 
referring  to  their  tirst  acquaintance,  remarked, — "  He  seemed  a  very  pleasant, 
kind-hearted  man,  but  of  his  mind,  and  the  rank  due  to  him  as  a  man  and  a 
scholar,  I  was  little  aware.  He  is  so  very  quiet,  and  demands  so  little  for 
himself,  that  few  but  intimate  friends  know  him." 

Yours  truly, 

J.  DOWLING. 


780  BAPTIST. 


MORGAN  JOHN  RHEES,  D.  D.^ 

1829—1853. 

Morgan  John  Rhees  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  Rev.  Morgan  John 
and  Anne  iLoxlc}')  Ilhees,  and  was  born  at  Somerset,  Somerset  County, 
Pa.,  on  the  2.5th  of  October,  1802.  When  he  was  two  years  oM,  his 
■father  died,  and  he  was  left  in  the  care  of  his  mother.  She  removed  to 
Philadelphia  in  the  spring  of  1805,  where  the  family  had  their  residence 
for  many  years.  He  commenced  attending  school  at  an  early  age,  and 
continued,  with  occasional  interruptions,  till  the  autumn  of  1S17  ;  being 
the  latter  part  of  the  time  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  James  Ross,  author 
of  the  well  known  Latin  Grammar.  At  the  age  of  about  fifteen,  he  became 
a  clerk  in  a  wholesale  store  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  till  the 
close  of  1825. 

On  attaining  to  the  age  of  twenty-one,  the  mercantile  business  not  suit- 
ing his  taste,  he  resolved  to  study  Law ;  but,  not  having  the  means  to 
devote  all  his  time  to  it,  he  made  an  arrangement  with  John  Keating,  Jr., 
and,  after  his  death,  with  David  Paul  Brown,  to  pursue  his  studies  under 
his  direction,  and  yet  retain  his  situation  in  the  mercantile  establishment, 
which  was  necessary  for  his  support,  devoting,  as  he  could,  from  five  to 
eight  hours  of  the  night  to  study.  In  this  way  he  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  the  Law,  and  at  the  same  time  formed  those  business  habits,  which 
afterwards  made  him  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  efficient  members  of 
his  denomination. 

Having  taken  leave  of  mercantile  life  in  December,  1825,  he  formally 
entered  the  office  of  David  Paul  Brown,  who  had  previously  given  direc- 
tion to  his  studies,  and  remained  with  him  until  May,  1826,  when  he  was 
admitted  to  practice,  as  a  lawyer.  He  soon  opened  an  office  and  set  out 
in  life  without  a  dollar.  But,  with  his  courteous  manners  and  industrious 
habits,  it  was  not  long  before  he  attained  a  respectable  position  at  the  Bar, 
and  gave  promise  of  becoming  eminent  ;  and  before  he  left  the  profession 
this  promise  began  to  be  fulfilled. 

In  the  spring  of  1827,  his  mind  became  deeply  impressed  witli  the  sub- 
ject of  religion,  and,  after  a  short  period,  he  writes  concerning  liiiiiself — 
"  The  spirit  directed  me  to  Him  who  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost.'' 
In  June  following,  he  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brantly,  and  received 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Philadelphia. 

He  now  became  an  active  and  faithful  teacher  in  the  Sunday  Stdiool ; 
and  no  less  than  five  who  were  meml)ers  of  his  class,  subsequently  became 
ministers  of  tlie  Gospel.  He  >vas  also  in  the  habit  of  exercising  his  gifts 
in  the  prayer  and  conference  meetings  ;  and  in  the  summer  of  1828  was 
solicited  by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  Christian  Ministry.  Regarding  it  purely  as  a  question  of  duty,  he 
determined,  tliough  not  without  a  severe  struggle,  to  abandon  the  profes- 
sion in  which  his  prospects  had  already  become  so  promising,  and  devote 
the  rest  of  his  life  to  preaching  tlic  Gospel. 

•  MS.  from  Mrs.  Rhoes. 


MORGAN   JOHN  lillEES.  781 

As  It  rocjuirod  some  time  to  close  up  his  legal  business,  lie  rcuiaineJ  in 
Lis  oflico  aud  professiou  uuiil  February,  ISli'J.  In  the  mean  time,  having 
become  interested  in  the  cause  uf  Tempcrauoe,  he  accepted  an  Agency  iu 
its  behalf  lor  three  months,  in  I'ennsylvauia.  In  the  pro.secution  of  this 
Agency,  he  visited  uo  less  than  seventeen  counties  in  diflferent  parts  of  the 
State,  ill  most  of  which  he  organized  the  first  Temperance  Society  of  which 
they  had  any  knowledge.  Ilis  interest  in  this  cause  did  not  cea.se  with  his 
Agency,  but  grew  with  his  years.  In  the  various  fields  of  labour  which 
he  successively  occupied,  he  recognised  intemperance  as  a  furmidable 
barrier  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel;  and  in  the  pulpit,  ou  the  platform, 
aud  iu  the  legislative  hall,  as  well  as  with  his  pen,  he  was  untiring  in  his 
efforts  for  its  suppression. 

Ou  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  he  entered  upon  his  theological  studies 
under  the  direction  of  his  Pastor,  Dr.  Brantly.  He  was  ordained  on  the 
9th  of  September,  18:29.  Duiiug  the  summer  and  autumn  of  that  year, 
he  supplied  the  Church  at  Bordeutowu.  The  following  winter  he  received 
an  iuvitatiou  from  the  churches  of  Bordeutown  and  Trentou  to  preach  for 
them  statedly.  He  accepted  their  invitation,  and  entered  ou  his  duties  on 
the  1st  of  April,  1830. 

Ou  the  10th  of  August  following,  he  was  married,  in  Philadelphia,  to 
(irace  Wallace,  daughter  of  John  Evans,  late  of  Wilkesbarre,  Pa. 

While  he  resided  iu  Trenton,  he  did  not  confine  himself  in  his  labours 
to  his  own  church,  but  was  busy  in  endeavouring  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  all  within  his  reach.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New 
Jersey  State  Convention  for  missionary  purposes  iu  18'29,  and  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  Society  from  its  organization  until  he  left  the  State.  He  was 
also  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Temperance 
Society,  and  for  some  time  edited  the  Temperance  Reporter,  which  was 
their  organ.  In  1837,  in  view  of  the  increase  of  crime  caused  by 
intemperance,  and  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  Board,  he  consented  to 
procure  a  supply  for  his  pulpit,  aud  travel  for  a  short  time  as  their  Agent, 
collecting  statistics,  and  calling  the  public  attention  to  the  importance  of 
legislative  action  upon  the  subject. 

He  resigned  the  charge  of  the  Church  at  Bordentowu  in  1833. 

The  winter  of  183G  was  a  season  of  affliction  to  Mr.  llhocs'  family. 
He  had  himself  a  severe  attack  of  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  and  for  six 
weeks  his  case  was  regarded  as  nearly  hopeless.  His  wife  was,  at  the  same 
time,  lying  dangerously  ill  in  an  adjoining  chamber  ;  and  his  little  son 
also  was  seriously  sick.  During  this  dark  period,  he  evinced  the  most 
calm  and  cheerful  trust  in  Divine  Providence,  and  sometimes  wrote  to  his 
wife,  whom  he  was  unable  to  see,  the  most  touching  notes,  exhorting  her 
to  keep  up  her  courage,  and  look  for  a  gracious  issue  from  all  her  afflic- 
tions. This  scene  of  adversity  seems  to  have  marked  an  epoch  in  hi.> 
spiritual  life.  From  this  period,  it  was  manifest  that  his  affections  were 
more  firmly  fixed  upon  Heaven,  and  he  kept  his  secular  affairs  so  arranged 
that,  if  he  should  be  called  away  suddenly,  he  would  have  nothing  to  do 
but  to  die. 

Mr.  Fthees,  during  his  residence  at  Trenton,  had  several  invitations  to 
settle  over  other  churches,   but  he   declined  them   from   a   conviction  that 


782  BAPTIST. 

frequent  changes  of  this  kind  arc  unfavourable  to  the  best  influence  of  the 
Ministry.  His  own  health,  however,  and  that  of  his  faniil}^  had  suflFered 
so  much  that  his  physician  at  length  advised  his  removal  to  some  other 
locality  ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  it  was  several  years  before  lie  could 
decide  that  it  was  his  duty  to  leave  this  field  of  labour.  In  1840,  he  was 
invited  by  the  Board  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society  to 
become  their  Corresponding  Secretary.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and 
in  November  of  that  year  resigned  his  charge  at  Trenton,  removed  to 
Philadelphia,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  new  field. 

His  connection  with  the  Publication  Society  was  highly  advantageous  to 
the  institution,  but  such  was  his  desire  to  preach  the  Gospel  statedly  that 
lie  was  not  willing  long  to  forego  that  privilege  ;  and  Providence  very  soon 
opened  a  way  for  his  return  to  his  most  cherished  employment.  Various 
churches  now  sought  to  secure  his  services,  and  among  tliem  some  of  the 
most  respectable  and  influential  of  the  denomination  ;  but  his  selection 
seems  to  have  been  made  without  respect  to  any  considerations  of  worldly 
advantage.  In  February,  1843,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Church  of  Wilmington,  De., — a  little  band  who  had  never  been 
able  to  sustain  a  Pastor  without  aid  from  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mis- 
sion Society.  From  the  time  of  his  settlement,  the  church  rapidly  increased 
in  numbers  and  efficiency;  and,  during  the  seven  years  of  his  Pastorship 
among  them,  he  baptized  nearly  three  hundred  persons.  The  years  that 
he  passed  here  he  reckoned  among  the  pleasantest  of  his  whole  ministry. 

In  July,  1850,  he  resigned  his  charge,  and  removed  to  Williamsburg, 
on  Long  Island,  having  accepted  a  call  from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
that  place.  Here  he  entered  upon  his  duties  with  great  zeal,  and  his 
labours  were  attended  with  a  manifest  blessing.  The  church  and  congre- 
gation greatly  increased  under  his  ministrations,  and  the  utmost  kindness 
and  harmony  prevailed.  His  services  as  Recording  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  the  Missionary  Union,  and  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  were  earnest  and  untiring  till  the  close  of  life. 

In  the  summer  of  1852,  his  health,  which  had  never  been  strong,  began 
to  fail,  and  in  October  he  was  troubled  with  occasional  paroxysms  of  pain 
in  the  chest,  but  did  not  apprehend  any  serious  difficulty,  as  he  was  able  to 
attend  upon  his  accustomed  duties.  In  a  few  weeks,  however,  his  com- 
plaint developed  itself  as  angina  pectoris.  The  paroxysms  increased  in 
frequency  and  violence,  until  he  was  confined  to  his  room  ;  but  so  great 
was  his  desire  to  present  the  scheme  of  salvation  to  his  congregation,  in  a 
series  of  sermons  that  he  had  prepared  with  unusual  care,  that,  whenever 
he  felt  able  to  leave  his  room,  he  occupied  his  pulpit.  The  last  time 
he  preached  was  on  Sunday  morning,  December  19,  1852.  After  this,  his 
disease  speedily  prostrated  him,  so  that  he  was  confined  to  his  lied,  and 
suffered  much  of  the  time  the  most  intense  agony.  He  lived  full  of  peace 
and  hope,  willing  to  remain  and  ready  to  depart,  until  the  15th  of  January, 
1853,  when  he  went  triumphantly  to  mingle  in  invisible  scenes.  He  died 
in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age.  An  Address  was  delivered  at  his  Funeral 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Magoon  of  New  York  ;  and  a  Commemorative  Discourse 
was  pronounced  on  the  following  Sabbath,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Welch,  of  Brook- 
lyn, from  Psalm  cii.  24. 


MOKGAN  JOllX   UHEES.  783 

He  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  from  (he  College  of  New 
Jersey,  in  October,  1837,  and  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  from  the 
University  of  Rochester,  in  July,  185l2. 

Dr.  Ivhces  had  five  children, — two  sons  and  throe  daughters  ;  all  of 
whom,  except  one  daughter  who  died  in  infancy,  survived  him.  His 
eldest  son,  Benjamin  Rush,  was  a  remarkably  gifted  and  accomplished 
young  man,  entered  the  profession  of  Law,  with  the  most  flattering  pros- 
pects, and.  after  a  year  of  patient  suffering,  passed  serenely  away  from 
earth  on  the  20th  of  December,  1854.  3Irs.  llhees  was  married  on  the 
15th  of  May,  1855,  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Walker,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  of 
Marcus  Hook,  Pa.,  and  has  since  deceased. 

FROM  THE  \IT.Y.  M.  B.  ANDERSON,  D.  D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ROCnESTER. 

Rochester,  February  28,  1857. 

Reverend  and  dear  Sir :  For  the  three  j'cars  immediately  preceding  the  death 
of  Dr.  Rhees,  I  was  a  member  of  his  church,  and  a  listener  to  his  pulpit 
instructions.  I  gladly  comply  with  your  request  to  give  you  a  few  of  my 
personal  recollections  of  the  man  as  I  knew  him.  He  was  a  little  below  the 
medium  height,  of  a  spare  habit,  slightly  built,  yet  compact  and  muscular. 
His  carriage  was  erect,  his  step  rapid  and  elastic.  His  hair  was  then  gray; 
his  eyes  were  blue,  but  quick  and  penetrating,  and,  when  excited  in  argument 
or  appeal,  seemed  to  grow  dark  in  colour,  and  intense  in  expression,  till  they 
fairly  glowed  in  tlieir  sockets.  His  voice  was  light  in  qualit}',  but  clear  and 
ringing.  His  articulation  was  fine,  and  his  utterance  firm  and  decided,  giving 
evidence  that  it  bore  the  thoughts  of  a  man  Avhose  energ}'  of  will  was  equal  to 
the  execution  of  an}'  plan  which  his  mind  could  conceive  or  advocate.  No  man 
who  listened  to  him  on  the  platform  or  in  conversation,  would  ever  form  the 
idea  that  he  could  be  tritled  with.  In  society  he  was  the  model  of  a  cultivated 
gentleman.  Observant  of  all  the  conventional  proprieties  of  life  himself,  he 
was  yet  utterly  free  from  the  trammels  of  mere  form.  Though  he  could  put 
an  inferior  immediately  at  ea.se,  there  was  something  in  his  bearing  which 
repressed  undue  familiarity,  and  rebuked  assumption.  It  was  difficult  for  any 
one  to  associate  with  him  without  feeling  the  elevating  and  refining  influence 
of  the  unconscious  dignity  and  repose  of  his  manner. 

His  preparation  for  the  pulpit  was  systematic  and  careful,  j^cnerally  by 
means  of  a  brief  which  was  laid  on  the  Bible  before  him.  His  prayers  were 
simple,  direct  and  fervent.  In  preaching  he  always  retained  the  tone  and 
manner  of  the  Bar,  to  which  he  had  been  bred.  In  defending  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  against  what  he  deemed  to  be  error,  he  appeared  ever  to  think 
and  speak  as  one  who  had  a  learned  and  wary  antagonist,  or  a  dijrnitied  and 
unprejudiced  Court,  ready  to  detect  any  looseness  of  definition,  unfairness  of 
statement,  or  fallacy  in  logic.  His  mind  was  especially  forensic  and  analyti- 
cal, and  he  wouM  undoubtedly  have  won  much  higher  distinction  relativclv  in 
the  Forum,  or  at  the  Bar,  than  in  the  Pulpit.  A  close  argument  always 
brought  out  the  best  powers  of  his  mind;  and  never  was  he  more  eloquent 
than  when  he  had  reached  a  conclusion  by  a  logical  process,  and  sought  to 
bring  its  practical  lessons  to  bear  on  the  con.science  and  will  of  liis  hearers. 
On  such  occasions  he  would  appear  to  lose  all  consciousness  of  the  action  of 
his  own  mind,  and  become  absorbed  in  the  suV)ject,  until  he  seemed  a  mere 
organ  through  which  some  inspiring  power  was  uttering  thouglits  wliieli  had 
caught  their  glow  in  the  light  of  a  spiritual  existence.  Yet,  with  all  tliis,  his 
hearers  seldom  thought  of  his  being  eloquent.     The}'  thought  of  his  clearness, 


784  BAPTIST. 

i)f  the  honest}'  and  intcnsencss  of  his  convictions,  jvnd  the  surpassing  impor- 
tance of  the  subject  upon  which  the  preacher  liad  discoursed.  He  had  little 
imagination  or  fancy,  seldom  indulged  in  figures  of  speech  or  illustration,  and 
depended  for  producing  effects  on  direct  statements,  sound  reasoning,  and  pun- 
gent appeal  to  the  conscience. 

It  was  on  the  platform,  and  in  the  discussions  of  public  religious  and  benevo- 
lent bodies,  that  his  powers  had  their  fullest  play,  and  appeared  to  the  best 
advantage.  Ilis  acquaintance  with  parliamentary  law,  and  the  general  forms 
of  business,  gave  him  the  place  of  a  leader  in  every  public  body.  He  was  so 
free  from  personal  ambition  that  he  never  excited  envj',  and  all  were  anxious 
to  avail  themselves  of  his  ready  pen  and  legal  mind  for  the  despatch  of  busi- 
ness. In  a  purely  business  discussion  he  was  equal  to  any  man  I  ever  saw. 
As  a  Secrctar}',  his  mind  gave  order  and  clearness  to  business.  As  a  Presi- 
ding Officer,  he  was  alwaj's  master  of  his  position.  In  the  deliberations  of 
Committees  and  Boards,  his  opinions  were  universally  respected.  Combining, 
as  he  did,  in  his  own  person,  the  culture  of  two  professions,  he  Avas  often 
able  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  views  of  men  of  thought  and  men  of  action, 
while  he  commanded  the  respect  and  sympathies  of  both. 

Ilis  native  endowments  and  peculiar  discipline  were  made  available  and 
eflfcctive  by  the  proportion  and  excellence  of  his  moral  qualities.  lie  was  a 
thoroughly  honest  man.  For  all  cant,  hypocrisy,  and  indirection,  he  had  an 
utter  abhorrence.  Whoever  proposed  to  resort  to  these  means  for  carrying  a 
point,  was  abashed  in  his  presence,  and  quailed  under  his  rebuke.  His  rever- 
ence for  religion,  his  allegiance  to  moral  law,  and  the  native  clearness  of  his 
mind,  contributed  to  make  him  an  intensel)''  real  man;  the  hater  of  all  shams 
in  finance,  character,  or  religion. 

lie  was  an  eminently  courageous  man.  Whatever  he  believed  ought  to  be 
done  or  said,  he  was  ready  to  do  or  say,  in  the  face  of  any  danger,  moral  or 
physical.  This  courage  was  an  element  in  his  usefulness  and  power,  which 
the  superficial  observer  failed  to  see.  He  never  blustered  or  boasted,  but  was 
rontent  with  being  simply  equal  to  the  demand  made  upon  him  when  the  time 
of  action  or  endurance  came.  Then,  whoever  else  quailed,  it  was  certain  not 
to  be  Morgan  J.  Rhees.  He  would  have  incurred  misrepresentation  or  borne 
disgrace,  gone  to  the  stake  or  stormed  a  battery  of  cannon,  with  equal  cheer- 
fulness, when  simply  convinced  that  either  lay  in  the  line  of  his  duty. 

I  am  perhaps  going  beyond  what  you  wished  of  me,  in  dwelling  on  the 
points  of  his  character  instead  of  giving  you  personal  recollections.  But  his 
rharacter  and  faculties  were  so  admirably  adjusted  to  each  other;  he  was  in 
.•ill  respects  so  complete  that  he  furnished  no  eccentricities  for  his  friends  to 
regret  or  record.  Had  his  life  been  less  beautiful  and  useful,  it  would  have 
lioen  a  richer  theme  for  the  sketcher,  but  far  less  emphatic  and  Avorthy  as  an 
example.  The  impression  of  his  excellence  which  rests  on  the  minds  of  those 
who  knew  him  best,  is  greater,  perhaps,  than  can  be  justified  by  any  record 
save  that  which  "  is  on  high." 

Yours  very  truly, 

M.   B.  ANDERSOX. 

FROM  THE  REV.  B.  T.  WELCH,  D.  D. 

Newton  Corners,  June  20,  1855. 
Dear  Sir:  Though  my  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Rhees  was  confined  to  a  kw  of 
the  last  years  of  his  life,  it  had  grown,  before  his  death,  into  an  intimate  and 
endearing  friendship.  I  had  not  indeed  the  opportunit}'  of  seeing  him  in  a 
great  variety  of  situations;  but  I  saw  him  in  circumstances  well  fitted  to  test 
both  his  powers  and  his  principles — especially  I  had  the  opportunity  of  wit- 


MORGAN   JOHN    liUKES.  735 

iicssing  the  developments  of  his  Christian  character, — his  strong  faitli,  his 
joyful  hope,  his  serene  suhinission,  through  a  protracte<l  scene  of  sulfering, 
which  terminated  liis  life.  My  acfjuaintance  with  liim  commenced  at  tlie  time 
he  was  elected  Recording  Secretary  of  the  American  and  Foreign  IJible 
Society.  As  1  resided  at  Brooklyn,  and  he  at  Williamshurg,  less  tlian  two 
miles  distant  from  each  other,  our  opportunities  for  intercourse  were  frecjuent; 
and  when  his  last  illness  took  on  an  alarming  form,  my  attachment  to  him 
took  me  to  his  chamber,  and  my  visits  were  continued  two  or  three  times  u 
week,  until  he  was  called  to  his  linal  rest.  I'lV  his  own  re(juest,  1  preached 
his  Funeral  Sermon. 

Dr.  Rhecs  was  small  in  stature,  but  everj'  wa}'  well  proportioned.  He  had 
a  remarkably  line,  intellectual  face,  and  a  bright  eye,  which  easily  kindled, 
especially  when  speaking,  and  gave  to  him  a  commanding  expression.  His 
manners  were  those  of  an  accomplished  gentleman.  1  think  he  did  not  unbend 
with  great  freedom  in  the  pre.sence  of  strangers,  and  perhaps  might  have  been 
regarded,  on  the  first  introduction,  as  somewhat  distant;  but,  as  he  became 
acquainted,  his  reserve  all  disappeared,  and  you  found  him  a  most  agreeable 
companion,  with  not  only  a  highl}'  cultivated  mind,  but  warm  and  genial  sen- 
sibilities. He  was  well  acquainted,  from  the  circumstances  of  his  education, 
with  the  various  forms  of  society,  and  he  knew  how  to  accommodate  himself 
with  graceful  ease  to  an)'  situation  in  which  he  was  placed. 

If  there  Avas  much  of  the  poetical  or  imaginative  in  the  character  of  Dr. 
Rhees'  mind,  I  never  happened  to  witness  it.  From  all  that  I  ever  saw  or 
heard  of  him,  my  impression  is  that  his  predominant  intellectual  characteris- 
tics were  uncommon  quickness  and  clearness  of  perception,  soundness  of 
judgment,  and  the  ability  to  reason  witli  great  logical  correctness.  He  never 
thought,  nor  talked,  nor  preached,  nor  did  any  thing,  at  random.  He  always 
had  a  well  defined  object  before  him,  and  you  could  see  that  every  step  that 
he  took  was  a  step  in  advance  towards  it.  He  was  above  every  thing  like 
sophistry — he  reasoned  fairly  as  well  as  forcibly  and  perspicuously,  and  always 
kept  you  impressed  with  his  own  unwavering  belief  of  the  point  he  was 
endeavouring  to  establish.  I  have  known  minds  that  moved  {perhaps  with 
more  rapidity,  and  with  more  imposing  effect,  but  I  have  rarely,  if  ever,  known 
one  that  moved  in  a  more  lucid  track,  or  reached  its  conclusions  in  a  more 
satisfactory  manner. 

What  I  have  said  of  the  general  character  of  Dr.  llliees'  mind  will  give  you 
some  clue  to  the  character  of  his  preaching.  His  themes  were  generally  deci- 
dedly evangelical,  and  his  grand  aim  evidently  was  to  bring  the  truth  in 
saving  contact  with  the  minds  of  those  whom  he  addressed.  He  preached 
ilirectly  to  the  understanding  of  his  hearers,  and  always  brought  reason,  or 
Scripture,  or  both,  to  prove  every  proposition  he  advanced.  There  have  been 
jnany  preachers  who  had  more  power  to  sway  and  melt  the  feelings  of  an 
auilience  than  he;  but  for  manliness  and  force  of  argument  in  the  pulpit,  for 
propriety  of  diction,  for  familiarity  with  the  Christian  system  in  its  various 
parts,  and  the  power  to  render  every  thing  clear  and  tangible  to  the  common 
mind,  I  should  unhesitatingly  place  Dr.  Rhees  in  the  first  class  of  preachers 
whom  I  have  known.  His  manner  was  distinguished  rather  for  calm  dignity 
than  for  extraordinary  emotion, — much  less  for  violent  gesture,  his  utterance 
was  at  once  free  an<l  deliberate,  his  voice  agreeable  and  penetrating,  without 
being  very  loud,  and  his  attitudes  and  movements  in  the  pulpit  appropriate 
and  graceful.  There  was,  in  respect  to  his  preaching,  as  indeed  in  regard  to 
his  whole  character,  a  remarkable  symmetry.  I  believe  he  sometimes  wrote 
his  sermons;  but  he  more  commonly  spoke  from  a  well  digested  outline.  1 
ought  to  say  that  I  have  not  often  heard  him  preach;  thongli  i  think  I  cannot 
mistake  in  regard  to  the  general  character  of  his  pulpit  services. 

Vol..  Vr.  99 


786  BAPTIST. 

Dr.  Rhecs  had  great  executive  powers.  His  training  as  a  Lawyer  had 
doubtless  given  him  an  advantage  in  this  respect  above  most  of  his  brethren. 
He  was  eminently  wise  in  counsel,  and  was  quick  to  discern  dangers  and  dif- 
ficulties, and  to  suggest  the  appropriate  means  of  relief.  He  was  a  read}' 
extemporaneous  speaker,  and  Avas  always  listened  to  in  public  bodies  with 
profound  attention.  His  ruling  passion  was  evidently  for  doing  good;  and 
whether  in  carrying  forward  the  great  objects  of  Christian  benevolence;  in 
pleading  the  cause  of  the  Bible,  or  of  Temperance,  or  any  other  charity;  or 
in  Avatching  most  carefully  the  interests  of  his  flock;  or  in  visiting,  as  an 
angel  of  mercy,  the  dwellings  of  the  poor;  it  Avas  manifest  to  all  Avho  took 
note  of  his  career,  that  he  was  walking  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  Him  who 
went  about  doing  good.  Yours  truly, 

B.  T.  WELCH. 


LEVI  TUCKER,  D.  D.* 

1829—1853. 

Levi  Tucker,  the  second  son  of  Elder  Charles  Tucker,  Avas  born  in 
the  town  of  Broome,  Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1804. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  Lrought  to  serious  consideration,  and 
indulged  a  hope  that  God's  forgiving  mercy  was  extended  to  him.  He 
connected  himself  with  the  church  under  the  care  of  his  brother,  the  Rev. 
Elisha  Tucker,  and  went  to  live  in  his  family,  to  commence  his  studies 
with  a  view  to  the  Ministry  ;  and  about  the  same  time  was  licensed  to 
preach.  In  due  time,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Hamilton  Literary  and 
Theological  Institution,  where  he  took  the  regular  four  years'  course;  and, 
by  extraordinary  diligence  in  study,  made  up,  in  good  measure,  for  the 
want  of  better  early  opportunities.  He  was  graduated  on  the  3d  of  June, 
1829,  and,  on  the  10th  of  the  same  month,  was  ordained  as  Pastor  of  the 
Church  at  Deposit,  N.  Y. 

He  remained  with  this  his  first  charge  about  two  years  ;  and,  during  this 
period,  his  labours  Avere  signally  blessed,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
four  were  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  church  by  liaptism.  In  the 
summer  of  1831,  he  accepted  a  call  to  settle  in  Blockley,  (now  West  Phil- 
adelphia,) Pa.  Here  he  laboured  with  acceptance  and  success  five  3'ears, 
and  admitted  to  the  church  by  Baptism  seventy-four,  among  Avhom  Avcre 
two  of  his  own  brothers.  He  was  also,  for  a  Avhile,  Agent  of  the  Baptist 
Educational  Society  of  the  State. 

From  West  Philadelphia  he  removed,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  to  Cleve- 
land, 0.  Here  he  entered  upon  his  pa.^toral  charge  in  the  n)idst  of  a 
revival  of  religion,  which  proA^fed  the  harbinger  of  an  uncommonly  succes- 
ful  ministry  among  them.  During  the  seven  years  in  which  he  remained 
here,  the  number  added  to  the  church,  by  Baptism,  was  two  hundred  and 
twenty-nine,  and,  by  letter,  two  hundred  and  four. 

His  next  field  of  labour  Avas  the  Washington  Street  Baptist  Church  in 
Bufi'alo, — then  the  only  Baptist  Church  in  the  city.     Here,  as  in  his  pre- 

*  Amer.  Bapt.  Mem. — MS.  from  hia  family. 


LEVI    TUCKER.  787 

vious  charges,  his  hibours  were  greatly  smiled  upon.  During  his  six 
years'  Pastorate,  a  Imiulred  and  sixty-three  were  added  by  Baptism,  and 
two  hiindrod  and  thirty-ciglit  by  letter. 

On  tlie  '20lh  of  Dceonibcr,  1848,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Bowdoin 
Place  Church,  Boston,  as  successor  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stow.  During  the 
lirst  year  of  his  connection  with  this  congregation,  an  interesting  revival 
took  place,  which  brought  into  the  church  fifty  new  members.  But  his 
labours  here  overtasked  both  his  physical  and  mental  energies,  and,  after 
the  lapse  of  two  years,  he  was  obliged  to  desist  from  labour  altogether. 
At  first,  he  journeyed  to  the  South,  in  the  hope  that  teinporary  relaxation 
would  avail  to  his  recovery ;  but  every  attempt  to  resume  his  labours  was 
followed  by  great  prostration.  About  this  time,  (October,  1851,)  he  expe- 
rienced a  most  crushing  affliction  in  the  death  of  his  wife.  But,  while  he 
was  yet  smarting  under  the  rod,  his  congregation  was  visited  by  another 
interesting  revival,  which  seemed  to  give  a  fresh  impulse  to  his  physical 
energies  as  well  as  to  renew  his  spiritual  strength.  At  length,  he  became  so 
enfeebled  as  to  feel  himself  quite  inadequate  to  any  further  labour,  and, 
accordingly,  early  in  September,  1852  he  resigned  his  pastoral  charge. 
In  about  a  month  from  that  lime  he  sailed  for  Liverpool.  Having  spent 
a  little  time  in  England,  he  passed  over  to  the  Continent,  visited  France 
and  Italy,  and  then  proceeded  to  Egypt,  where  he  enjoyed  greatly  a 
sight  of  those  wonderful  objects,  which,  through  the  medium  of  books, 
had  been  familiar  to  him  from  his  childhood.  He  returned  to  Boston  in 
the  early  part  of  August,  1853,  and,  after  remaining  tliere  a  few  days. 
passed  on  to  Cortland  County,  N.  Y.,  and  stopped  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  W.  G.  Lee,  in  the  town  of  Cincinnatus.  He  consented  to  preach, 
the  Sabbath  after  his  arrival  there  ;  but  the  effort  proved  too  much  for 
him.  On  the  Wednesday  f(dlowing,  his  disease  assumed  a  more  immedi- 
ately alarming  aspect,  and  on  Saturday  morning,  (August  20th,)  his  spirit 
took  its  upward  flight.  His  remains  were  conveyed  to  Boston,  and  his 
Funeral  was  attended,  on  the  23d,  in  the  church  in  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  preacli,  and  an  appropriate  discourse  delivered  by  the  llev. 
Dr.  Stow. 

During  his  whole  ministry,  Mr.  Tucker  administered  the  ordinance  of 
Baptism  to  seven  hundred  and  eighty-four  persons,  and  admitted  to  church 
fellowship,  by  letter  and  otherwise,  five  hundred  and  two. 

Mr.  Tucker  was  married  on  the  10th  of  June,  1828,  to  Jennette, 
daughter  of  Jason  Lee,  of  Butternuts,  Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y.  He  left  five 
children, — four  sons  and  one  daughter. 

FROM  THE  REV.  E.  L.  MAGOON,  D.  D. 

Albant,  July  6,  1859. 
My  dear  Sir:  In  undertaking  to  comply  with  your  request  for  my  recollec- 
tions illustrative  of  the  character  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Levi  Tucker,  I  feci  bound 
to  say  that  my  relations  with  him  were  never  very  intimate,  and  that  for 
what  I  shall  state,  I  shall  draw  as  much  upon  the  testimony  of  his  friends, 
and  what  I  know  was  the  general  estimate  of  him  in  the  community,  as  upon 
my  own  personal  knowledge.  I,  however,  met  him  frequently,  and  saw  him 
under  various  circumstances,  so  that  I  am  able  to  form,  as  the  result  of  my 
own  observation,  quite  a  definite  view  of  his  general  bearing  and  character. 


788  BAPTIST. 

Dr.  Tucker's  personal  appearance  was  decidedly  in  his  favour.  He  was  a 
tall  man,  of  symmetrical  and  graceful  proportions,  and  had  a  face  marked  by 
a  good  degree  of  intelligence,  and  radiant  with  kindly  and  generous  feeling. 
His  manners  were  easy  and  graceful,  but  you  saw  at  once  that  it  was  nature 
rather  than  culture  that  had  made  them  so — there  was  nothing  of  artilicial 
polish,  and  yet  there  was  much  of  that  attractive  and  genial  simplicitj'  that 
never  fails  to  open  a  way  to  the  heart.  And  the  expression  of  his  countenance 
and  the  tone  of  his  manners  strikingly  shadowed  forth  his  character.  I 
should  not  attribute  to  him  any  extraordinary  intellectual  power,  but  he  had 
a  certain  facility  and  aptness  of  mind  which  enabled  him  readilj'  and  success- 
fully to  meet  the  demands  of  any  occasion  upon  which  he  was  called  to  speak. 
His  perceptions  were  quick,  and  his  imagination  somewhat  vivid;  and  his  mind 
was  easily  brought  to  concentrate  its  force  upon  an}^  subject  presented  to  its 
consideration.  He  wrote  in  a  graceful  and  flowing  style,  and  spoke  with  cor- 
responding ease  and  freedom. 

But  while  the  tj^pe  of  his  intellect  was  every  way  respectable,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  in  his  fine  moral  and  Christian  qualities  lay  the  secret  of  his 
highest  power — it  was  a  spirit  of  the  very  finest  mould,  acting  upon  an  intel- 
lect of  more  then  ordinary  endowments,  that  made  him  what  he  was.  On 
hearing  him  in  the  pulpit,  you  felt  that  you  were  in  communion  with  a  noble 
and  generous  as  well  as  sanctified  spirit;  and  your  mind  and  heart  would 
instinctively  fly  open  to  welcome  the  deliverances  of  one  whose  verj^  presence 
had  secu,red  your  confidence  and  good-will.  And  in  all  the  relations  of  life 
he  was  one  of  the  most  gentle  and  genial  of  men.  On  all  public  exciting  occa- 
sions, his  voice  was  always  for  peace,  unless  indeed  the  alternative  was  the 
sacrifice  of  purity.  He  moved  about  among  his  people  with  the  most  conside- 
rate and  affectionate  regard  to  their  varied  circumstances,  and  they  seemed 
to  view  him  almost  in  the  light  of  a  brother  or  a  son.  With  his  brethren  in 
the  ministry,  of  whatever  grade,  he  was  decidedly  a  favourite — while  those 
who  were  most  distinguished  for  intelligence  and  occupied  the  highest 
places,  were  always  happy  in  his  society,  he  so  entirely  forgot  all  distinctions 
of  place  in  his  treatment  of  his  humbler  brethren, — not  only  welcoming  them 
to  the  hospitalities  of  his  house,  but  often  putting  in  requisition  their  services 
in  his  pulpit,  that  so  far  from  awakening  their  envy,  he  drew  to  himself  their 
warmest  regards.  Indeed,  I  may  say  with  great  confidence  that  he  never 
lived  in  any  community  in  which  he  was  not  at  once  greatly  respected  and 
beloved. 

Dr.  Tucker's  crowning  excellence  was  his  close  imitation  of  his  Master,  and 
intense  devotion  to  his  cause.  His  desire  to  be  always  about  his  Father's 
business  no  doubt  .sometimes  made  him  too  prodigal  of  the  small  amount  of 
physical  strength  which  he  was  permitted  to  enjoj^;  but  the  weakness  of  his 
constitution  and  the  early  indications  of  insidious  disease  probably  made  him 
the  more  active,  by  admonishing  him  that  his  period  of  labour  would  be  short 
He  was  cast  into  more  than  one  furnace  of  affliction,  but  the  melting  down  of 
his  spirit  was  only  the  harbinger  of  a  richer  triumph.  He  passed  througli 
life,  not  as  a  meteor,  but  as  a  lovely  and  beautiful  star,  which,  though  it 
faded  too  quickly  into  the  darkness  of  death,  is  still  as  bright  as  ever  in  the 
fond  remembrances  of  many  a  grUteful  heart. 

Yours  verj''  truly, 

E.  L.  MAGOON. 


JACOB  II.  SCIIUOEBEL.  789 

JACOB  H.  SCHROEBEL.* 

1830—1843. 

Jacob  H.  Schroebkl  was  born  of  German  parents  in  Charleston,  S. 
C,  on  the  17th  of  Mareh,  1800.  His  father  was  a  respectable  preacher 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  his  mother  a  worthy  member  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  His  predilection,  as  he  grew  up,  was  for  the  Church  to  which  hia 
mother  belonged,  and  when  he  had  reached  a  suitable  age,  the  rite  of  Con- 
firmation was  administered  to  him  in  that  connection. 

When  he  was  quite  young,  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  business  of  a 
tanner  and  currier ;  for,  though  he  evinced  fine  intellectual  qualities,  the 
circumstances  of  his  family  were  not  such  as  to  favour  the  idea  of  his 
receiving  a  liberal  education.  In  July,  1823,  he  was  married  to  Louisa 
Colzy,  of  an  ancient  and  respectable  French  family,  who  survived  him, — 
the  mother  of  seven  children.  Early  in  1825,  he  removed  from  Charleston 
to  Clairborne,  Ala.,  where  he  lived  about  sixteen  years. 

Though  Mr.  Schroebel's  moral  conduct  had  always  been  unexceptionable, 
it  is  not  known  that  he  ever  gave  any  special  attention  to  the  subject  of 
religion,  as  a  personal  concern,  until  early  in  the  year  1828.  At  that  time, 
his  mind  was  directed  to  the  subject  with  great  earnestness,  and,  after  a 
season  of  deep  remorse  and  anxiety,  he  was  enabled  to  find  rest  and  peace 
by  a  cordial  acceptance  of  the  offers  of  the  Gospel.  On  the  18th  of  May, 
1828,  both  he  and  his  wife,  who  was  already  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  were  baptized  by  immersion,  and  became  members  of  the  Clair- 
borne IJaptist  Church. 

From  the  time  of  his  conversion,  he  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  be 
useful,  and  especially  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  salvation  of  sinners. 
He  began  first  to  pray  and  exhort  in  public,  and,  as  he  evinced  much  more 
than  ordinary  talents,  as  well  as  zeal,  the  idea  of  his  becoming  a  preacher 
of  the  Goppel  was  quickly  suggested.  Being  himself  impressed  with  the 
conviction  that  it  was  his  duty  to  engage  in  this  work,  he  received  license 
to  preach  from  the  church  with  which  he  was  connected,  on  the  18th  of 
September,  1830.  He  addressed  himself  to  the  duties  of  his  new  voca- 
tion with  such  energy  and  success  that,  in  December  following,  he  was,  by 
request  of  the  church,  solemnly  ordained  to  the  office  of  a  Minister  of  the 
Gospel.  Immediately  after  this,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Travis,  under  whose 
ministry  he  was  awakened,  and  by  whom  he  was  immersed,  resigned  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  church,  and  Mr.  Schroebel  was  unanimously  elected 
his  successor. 

A  wide  field  of  labour  now  opened  before  him.  He  preached  not  only 
in  the  neighbouring  churches,  but  in  the  more  remote  destitute  settlements, 
and  his  labours  were  attended  with  great  success.  Besides  the  Clairborne 
Church,  he  served  the  Mount  Gilead  Church,  and  the  Churches  of  Lime- 
stone and  Flat  Creek  ;  to  all  of  which  he  greatly  endeared  himself  by  his 
faithful  and  earnest  preaching,  and  devoted  pastoral  attentions.  In  the 
autumn  of  1840,  he  organized  a  church  at  Montgomery  Hill,  after  preach- 

•  Bapt.  Mem.,  1845. 


790  BAPTIST. 

ii)g  tlicre  for  sometime;  ami,  tliougli  it  liad  a  very  small  beginning,  it 
gradually  rose  into  a  strong  and  influential  church.  During  all  this  period, 
he  was  obliged  to  continue,  in  a  greater  or  loss  degree,  his  secular  engage- 
ments for  the  support  of  his  family. 

In  March,  1841,  he  was  unanimously  called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
St.  Anthony  Street  Church  in  Mobile.  This  invitation  both  himself  and  his 
friends  thought  it  his  duty  to  accept;  and,  accordingly,  having  dissolved 
his  connection  with  the  four  churches  of  which  he  had  previously  had  the 
charge,  he  removed  to  Mobile,  and  entered  upon  his  new  field  of  labour. 

The  church  of  which  he  now  became  the  Pastor  was  very  feeble  and 
rent  by  dissensions  that  threatened  its  very  existence.  But  his  course  was 
at  once  so  discreet,  and  conciliatory,  and  energetic,  that  he  quickly  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  harmony  among  the  members,  as  well  as  in  securing  for 
himself  their  confidence  and  aifection.  Here  he  laboured  with  untiring 
zeal,  and  with  manifold  tokens  of  the  Divine  blessing.  During  the  brief 
period  of  his  ministry  here,  he  baptized  nearly  three  hundred  persons,  and 
was  instrumental  in  raising  the  church  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity. 

During  the  last  six  or  eight  months  of  his  life,  his  labours  were  greatly 
increased.  Besides  preaching  to  his  own  church  two  or  three  times  every 
Lord's  Day,  and  once  or  more  during  the  week,  he  preached  much  in  the 
adjacent  neighbourhoods,  and  in  Baldwin  County,  and  attended  the  Church 
at  IMontgomery  Hill,  two  days  in  each  month.  He  was  also  always  on  the 
alert  to  meet  every  demand  of  sickness  and  sorrow,  in  whatever  form;  and, 
by  his  extraordinary  labours  in  this  way,  his  physical  system  became  ener- 
vated and  predisposed  to  disease.  He  was,  accordingly,  smitten  down  by 
the  Yellow  Fever,  on  Friday  morning,  the  15th  of  September,  1843,  and 
died  on  the  Thursday  following,  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his  age.  From 
the  commencement  of  his  illness,  he  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  it  would  have  a  fatal  issue  ;  but  his  faith  was  so  firm  as  to  cast  out 
all  fear  in  respect  to  the  future,  and  he  had  the  fullest  confidence  that 
death  was  to  open  for  him  the  gate  of  Heaven.  His  triumphant  departure 
was  worthy  to  crown  his  eminently  devoted  life. 

Mr.  Schroebel  had  but  very  limited  opportunities  for  intellectual 
improvement  in  early  life,  but  he  had  a  passion  for  acquiring  knowledge, 
wliich,  to  a  great  extent,  overcame  the  disadvantages  of  his  situation,  and 
rendered  him  a  well-informed  man,  and  in  some  departments  a  highly 
respectable  scholar.  "  His  sermons  were  remarkable  for  clearness  of  per- 
ception, distinctness  and  accuracy  of  arrangement,  power  and  compass  of 
thought,  expressed  in  rich  and  strong  language,  and  were  delivered  in  a 
graceful,  artless,  and  energetic  manner  :  but  the  points  of  chief  excel- 
lence in  them  were  seen  and  felt  in  his  extensive  and  critical  know- 
ledge of  the  Scriptures,  the  iiiimbor  and  aptness  of  his  quotations  and 
illustrations."  "In  him  were  happily  Mended,  in  a  high  degree,  the 
amiable  ((ualilies  of  the  gentleman  and  the  Christian  :  it  seldom  occurs 
that  one  is  so  universally  esteemed  an<l  so  dearly  loved  ;  and  it  maybe 
said  with  equal  truth  that  it  is  rare  to  meet  with  one,  in  whom,  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  there  is  so  much  to  command  respect."  His  character  left 
a  strong  impress  on  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  many  who  were 
not  of  his  immediate  flock  were  aftiictcd  by  the  tidings  of  his  sudden  death. 


JACOB  II.  SCllUUEBKL.  79]^ 

Tlic    Hon.  Judge   Porter,  of  Tuscaloosa,  the   intimate   actjuaintancc  of 

Mr.  Sfhrocbel,  writes  thus  concerning  him  : — 

"  He  possessed  an  intelli.'ct  exceedingly  vigorous  and  clear.  He  was  one  of  those 
bold,  firm,  ardent  men  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  virtue,  wliom  to  see  and  know  iiLspires 
one  with  the  iiighest  oi)inion  of  the  dignity  and  nobleness  of  human  nature.  He  was 
of  German  descent,  and  the  writer  never  saw  him  or  heard  him  i)reacli,  without  being 
reminded  of  the  tine  traits  and  the  unshaken  independence  of  Martin  Luther." 


JOSIAH  SPRY  LAW. 

1830—1853. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  H.  McINTOSH. 

Marion,  Ala.,  April  29,  1868. 

My  dear  Sir :  My  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  Rev.  Josiah  S.  Law 
is  such  that  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  his  claim  to  a  place  in  the  "Annals  of 
the  American  Pulpit ;"  and  my  relations  with  him  and  knowledge  of  him 
were  such  that  I  have  no  difficulty  in  furnishing  you  the  information  con- 
cerning him  that  you  desire. 

JosiAii  Spry  Law,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Spry  Law*  and  Rebecca 
G.  (Hughes),  his  wife,  was  born  in  Sunbury,  Ga.,  on  the  5th  of  February, 
1808,  and  there  received  a  good  clas.sical  education,  principally  under  the  in- 
struction of  the  Rev.  James  Shannon.  In  1827,  that  gentleman,  having 
removed  to  Augusta,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  city, 
and  desiring  an  assistant  in  his  school,  offered  the  place  to  Mr.  Law,  who 
accepted  it,  and  at  the  same  time  prosecuted  his  own  studies.  Here, 
during  a  revival  of  religion,  he  was  converted,  and  united  himself  with  the 
Baptist  church.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  designed  entering  the  profession 
of  the  Law,  to  which  his  mind  was  peculiarly  adapted,  and  in  which  he 
would  no  doubt  have  been  distinguished.  But  God  had  other  purposes  for 
him.  and  his  grace  touched  a  chord  in  the  bosom  of  his  young  servant  that 
had  never  vibrated  before.  It  was  not  long  that  he  hesitated  in  regard  to 
his  duty.     Surrendering  all    liis   previous   am})itions   aims,  he  resolved  to 

•  Samuel  Spry  Law,  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Law,  wiis  born  in  Liberty  County,  Ga., 
in  the  year  177i.  Until  he  reached  the  age  of  forty,  he  was  a  mere  man  of  the  world, — proud, 
gay,  generous,  and  hospitable  almost  to  a  fault.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  was  married  to 
Mary  Anderson,  of  Liberty  County,  who  died  within  less  than  a  year  after  her  marriage,  leav- 
ing one  son.  In  1802,  be  "was  married  to  Hebccca  G.  Hughes,  of  Charleston,  by  whom  ho  had 
ten  children.  Soon  after  his  second  marriage,  he  made  Sunbury  his  summer  residence,  where 
he  and  bis  family  attended  the  Congregational  Church.  His  wife,  sunie  time  after,  became 
hopefully  pious,  and  joined  the  Baptist  Church.  In  181.^,  after  a  season  of  deep  anxiety,  he 
found  peace  in  believing,  and  also  became  a  communicant  in  the  Laptist  Church.  Having  lost 
his  second  wife,  he  was  married  to  Temperance  Wood,  in  1818,  by  whom  he  had  three  children. 
In  .May,  lSl!t,  he  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  Deacon.  In  November,  1825,  he  was  preaching 
iis  a  licentiate,  and  in  December,  1827,  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist  in  the  Sunbury  Baptist 
Church.  He  took  charge  of  the  Sunbury  Church  in  May,  1829,  and,  in  connection  with 
it,  he  also  oerved  'the  North  Newport  Baptist  Church,  in  Liberty  County.  In  IS.Tl,  having 
given  up  the  charge  of  the  Sunbury  Church,  he  accepted  a  call  to  become  I'astor  of  the  North 
Newport  Church,  and  continued  in  this  latter  connection  until  three  or  four  years  before  his 
death,  from  which  time  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  preaching  to  the  poor  congregations  in 
Liberty  County,  and  some  of  the  adjoining  counties,  and  to  the  coloured  people.  In  his  last 
illness,  he  was,  part  of  the  time,  in  a  state  of  ab.solute  despair  in  respect  to  his  spiritual  condi- 
tion; but  he  emerged  from  it,  and  died  with  full  confidence  in  his  Redeemer's  meritt.  Hia 
death  took  place  on  the  4th  of  February,  1837. 


792  BAPTIST. 

give  himself,  without  reserve,  to  whatever  work  the  Master  had  called  him 
to.  That  work,  he  was  persuaded,  was  the  Gospel  Miuistry.  Accordingly, 
with  a  view  to  prepare  himself  for  it,  he  soon  after  entered  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Newton,  Mass.,  where  he  took  the  usual  course  of  three 
years,  and  graduated  with  credit.  On  his  return  home,  he  was  called 
to  the  care  of  the  Sunbury  Church,  and  was  ordained  in  December,  1830. 

In  January,  1831,  he  entered  upon  his  ministerial  duties,  which  were 
discharged  with  so  much  zeal  and  ability  that  he  at  once  won  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  his  brethren.  In  October,  1832,  he  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  take  charge  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Macon  ;  but,  after  remaining 
there  a  few  months,  he  returned,  in  the  spring  of  1833,  and  resumed  his 
connection  with  the  Sunbury  Church.  In  1835,  he  was  called  to  the  Pas- 
torate of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Savannah  ;  and,  after  spending  a  year  with 
them,  was  again  called  back  to  his  first  charge,  the  Sunbury  Church  ;  and, 
in  consequence  of  the  declining  health  of  his  father,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to 
return.  In  1840,  he  became  the  Pastor  of  the  North  Newport  Church,  in 
Liberty  County.  He  was  also,  for  several  years,  Pastor  of  the  South  New- 
port Church,  in  Mcintosh  County. 

The  Baptists  in  Liberty  County  have,  at  no  time,  been  very  numerous, 
except  with  the  coloured  population,  among  whom  they  are  the  prevailing 
denomination.  Of  late  years,  the  number  of  white  communicants  has  been 
greatly  diminished,  by  removal  and  death.  Sunbury,  where  their  chief 
strength  lay,  has  been  almost  entirely  forsaken.  The  dead  who  sleep  in  its 
quiet  grave-yard,  and  whose  faces  are  not  forgotten  by  the  present  genera- 
tion, outnumber  far  its  living  inhabitants.  The  old  church  is  still  there, 
like  a  lonely  sentinel,  amidst  surrounding  desolation.  Faithful  to  its  office, 
its  bell  yet  breaks  the  silence  of  the  Sabbath  morning,  to  herald  the 
coming  of  the  missionary  to  the  negroes,  who,  for  convenience,  meet  there 
from  different  points  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  for  whose  sake  a  church 
organization  is  still  preserved.  North  Newport  has  also  suffered  severely, 
but  not  to  the  same  extent,  from  the  same  causes.  Winn,*  and  Screven, 
and  Dunham,!  and  the  elder  Law,  whose  names  are  fragrant  in  the  memory 
of  Baptists,  have  years  ago  entered  upon  their  rest.  Those  who  succeeded 
them  in  the  ministry  have  been  called  to  other  fields  of  labour,  in  our 
own  and  in  heathen  lands.  The  excellent  brother  whose  career  I  have 
undertaken  to  trace,  remained,  and  toiled  through  all  discouragements,  in 
a  position  that  promised  but  little  reward  beyond  the  consciousness  of  a 
faithful  discharge  of  duty. 

•  Thomas  Siimnkr  Winn  was  born  in  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  on  the  IGth  of  July,  1792.  His 
parents  liail  been  members  of  the  Presl)yterian  Cluircli  in  Midway,  but,  having  become  con- 
vinced tliat  tliere  was  no  warrant  in  Scri|iturc  for  baptizing  infants,  tliey  became  liaptists. 
Thomas  was  usher  to  Dr.  McWhir  in  Sunbury  Academy,  when  ho  was  in  his  seventeenth  year. 
In  1813,  lie  entered  Hampden  Sydney  CoR^ege,  in  Virginia,  but  continued  his  connection  with 
it  for  only  a  shcat  time.  While  attending  an  Aeailiniy  in  U'arren  County,  X.  C,  lie  was  bap- 
tized, and  soon  after  returned  home,  and  was  ordained  I'astor  of  North  Newport  Church,  Lib- 
erty County,  and  preached  with  great  acceptance  throughout  all  the  low  country.  Ho  died  on 
tliG  27th  iif  .January,  IHIi),  aged  about  twenty-seven  years.  He  was  a  young  man  of  uncom- 
mon zeal  and  energy,  and  of  great  promise. 

f.jACoH  H.  l^uNHANf,  a  son  of  John  Dunham,  was  born  in  Mcintosh  County,  Ga.,  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1774.  Having  settled  in  Liberty  County,  he  made  a  profession  of  religion 
in  September,  1800;  ami  two  years  afterwards,  entered  on  the  work  of  the  ministry,  in  which 
he  continued  till  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  2jth  of  September,  1832.  He  was  an  emi- 
nently devoted,  self-sacrificing  and  useful  minister. 


JOSIAn  SPRY  LAW.  793 

Deeply  concerned  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  negroes,  from  the 
coiumcnconjont  of  his  luiuislry,  lie  had  been  aecustonicd  to  devote  part  of 
hi3  time  to  their  special  benefit,  and,  for  several  years  previous  to  his 
death,  the  largest  part  uf  his  services  was  given  to  them.  lie  was  suc- 
cessful in  his  labours  among  them, — an  evidence  of  which  is  found  in  the 
fact  that,  a  short  time  previous  to  his  fatal  sickness,  he  baptized  thirty-six, 
and  had,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  about  sixty  candidates  for  liaptisni. 
This  was  no  unusual  occurrence.  Nor  was  it  the  result  of  excitement. 
They  wore  well  instructed  and  intelligent  converts.  It  was  his  custom 
(as  it  is  that  of  the  Presbyterian  brethren  engaged  in  the  same  work  in 
Liberty  County)  not  only  to  preach  to  them,  but  also  to  teach  them 
orally,  old  and  young,  upon  every  occasion,  either  before  or  after  the 
sermon.  He  felt  that  the  soul  of  a  black  man  was  as  precious  to  the 
Saviour  as  that  of  his  master;  and  every  heart  that  loves  Christ  and  the 
souls  of  men  can  appreciate  the  interest  whicli  he  felt  for  this  class,  and 
sympathize  in  the  reluctance  with  which  he  would  contemplate  a  removal 
from  his  charge,  that  would  perhaps  leave  them  without  a  shepherd  and  a 
guide.  His  ambition  was  not  for  worldly  distinction,  but  to  do  his  Mas- 
ter's will,  and  to  do  it  well.  Had  ho  sought  distinction,  it  would  not 
have  been  in  vain.  The  positions  he  could  have  commanded,  would  have 
opened  to  him  a  field  in  which  he  could  have  gratified  such  a  desire,  had 
he  cherislied  it.  A  few  years  before  his  deatii,  he  was  elected  Professor 
in  the  Theological  department  of  Mercer  University,  which  he  declined, 
preferring  the  more  immediate  duties  of  the  ministry. 

He  continued  in  the  field  of  his  early  labours  until  attacked  by  a 
malignant  disease,  to  which  he  was  much  exposed  in  attendance  upon  sick 
and  dying  friends,  and  which  terminated  his  life,  while  he  was  yet  in  the 
vigour  of  manhood,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1853.  From  the  commence- 
ment of  his  illness,  his  sufferings  were  great, — so  great  that  he  was  unable 
to  converse;  but  he  was  calm,  patient  and  resigned;  and,  althougli  some- 
times bewildered,  he  was  frequently  heard  to  say, — "Thy  will,  0  Lord, 
not  mine,  be  done,"  and  to  repeat  some  passage  of  Scripture  suited  to 
himself  and  his  sorrowing  family.  His  last  words  were  two  verses  of  that 
beautiful  hymn  commencing — 

"There  is  a  laud  of  pure  delight." 

It  is  no  unmerited  eulogy  to  say  that  the  subject  of  this  notice,  in  intel- 
lectual endowments,  in  devotion  to  his  high  calling,  in  earnest  eloquence,  and 
in  fidelity  to  his  office,  occupied  a  very  high  rank  in  his  profession.  Endowed 
with  talents  that  might  have  qualified  him  for  any  station,  he  knew  no 
ambition  but  to  serve  God  acceptably ;  he  coveted  no  honour  but  that  of 
being  "  found  in  Christ."  The  buoyancy  of  his  spirit  and  the  warmth  of 
his  heart,  his  frankness  and  the  high  tone  of  feeling  which  gave  a  beautiful 
finish  to  his  character,  rendered  him  a  fascinating  companion  and  a  valued 
friend ;  while  his  integrity  and  manly  independence  secured  the  respect  of 
all.  His  wit  and  genial  humour  in  social  intercourse  made  him  highly 
attractive  to  all  classes,  and  especially  to  the  young,  over  whom  his 
influence  was  happily  exerted.  Social  in  his  feelings,  he  did  not  seclude 
himself  in  a  cold  isolation  from  the  world  around  him  ;  but,  having  a  heart 
that  could  participate  in  the  happiness,  and  sympathize  in  the  sorrows,  of 

Vol.  VI.  100 


794  BAPTIST. 

others,  he  gave  freedom  to  the  noblest  emotions  of  the  soul,  and  endeared 
himself  to  his  friends  by  identifying  himself  with  them  in  every  scene  jf 
life.  His  attachments  were  strong,  and  he  made  no  professions  of  regard 
but  such  as  were  the  spontaneous  breathings  of  a  warm  and  generous  heart. 
No  man  had  warmer  friends,  and  no  one  was  worthier  of  them. 

As  a  Preacher,  he  was  nice  in  his  discrimination,  unfolding  the  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  with  clearness,  and  applying  them  with  great  power  to  the 
practical  duties  of  life.  Independent  in  thought,  and  bold  in  declaring 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  his  sermons  were  rich  in  matter,  logical, 
and  habitually  instructive.  His  preparations  for  the  pulpit  were  thorough  ; 
and  when  he  entered  the  sanctuary,  it  was  with  beaten  oil.  Ardent  in 
feeling,  his  eloquence  was  often  highly  impassioned  ;  and  his  whole  manner 
was  well  fitted  to  give  effect  to  his  discourses.  His  last  sermon,  which 
was  preached  the  day  on  which  he  was  attacked  by  the  malady  that 
terminated  his  life,  is  said  to  have  been  characterized  by  remarkable  unction 
and  impressiveness.  "Christ  crucified "  was  always  the  burden  of  his 
preaching,  as  it  was  the  ground  of  his  hope. 

Mr.  Law  was  rather  below  the  medium  height,  well  formed,  and  of 
agreeable  personal  appearance.  A  free,  open  countenance,  sparkling  brown 
eyes,  and  a  head  of  large  intellectual  development,  were  expressive  of 
frankness,  vivacity,  and  intelligence.  His  physical,  intellectual  and  moral 
man  were  in  admirable  harmony. 

.Mr.  Law  was  married  on  the  13th  of  January,  1831,  to  Ellen  S.  Bar- 
ratt,  of  Augusta,  Ga.  This  estimable  lady,  with  ten  children, — nine  sons 
and  a  daughter,  survives  him.  His  eldest  son  had  just  entered  the 
profession  of  Medicine,  and  the  next  that  of  Law,  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  He  was  very  happy  in  his  domestic  relations,  and  proved  to  the 
wife  of  his  youth  a  devoted  husband.  Practically  a  stranger  to  austerity, 
his  children  were  encouraged  to  be  open  and  frank  in  his  presence.  At 
the  same  time,  he  held  them  under  all  needful  restraint,  thus  blending  in 
his  intercourse  with  them  the  freedom  of  companionship  with  the  authority 
of  "  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house." 

His  servants  w.ere  brought  under  the  same  rule  of  mingled  kindness  and 
decision  by  which  he  controlled  his  children.  His  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  this  class  of  our  Southern  population  I  have  already  referred  to  ;  but 
it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  remark  that  in  return  he  was  greatly 
loved  by  them  ;  and  little  is  hazarded  in  saying  that,  in  all  our  broad 
domain,  the  memory  of  no  servant  of  Jesus  is  more  sacredly  enshrined  in 
the  hearts  of  his  people,  than  is  his  by  the  grateful  children  of  Africa, 
who  received  the  Gospel  from  his  lips,  and  to  whose  spiritual  good  his  life 
was  consecrated. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  H.  McINTOSH. 


JAMES  IIAUVEY  LINSLEY.  795 

JAMES  HARVEY  LINSLEY.=»«= 

1831—1843. 

Jaaiks  IIauvky  Linsley,  a  son  of  Jumcs  and  Sarah  (Maltliy)  Lin.slcy, 
was  born  in  North  Branford,  (Northford  parish,)  Conn. ,  on  the  5tli  of  May, 
1787, — the  eldest  of  ten  children.  His  parents  were  members  of  the 
Congregational  Church  for  several  years,  but  afterwards  joined  the  Baptist 
Church  in  North  Haven.  In  his  childhood  and  early  youth  he  evinced 
great  energy  and  perseverance,  which  made  him  at  once  an  eflicient  helper 
of  his  father  on  the  farm,  and  the  best  scholar  in  the  village  school.  He 
was  also  remarkable  for  filial  obedience  and  reverence,  insomuch  that,  after 
bo  had  become  the  head  of  a  family,  his  father,  on  paying  him  a  visit, 
remarked  to  him  that  he  did  not  remember  that  he  had  ever  spoken  to  him 
a  single  disrespectful  or  undutiful  word. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  a  strong  religious  impression  was  made  upon  his 
mind  in  consequence  of  his  dreaming  that  the  day  of  judgment  had  come, 
and  he  was  arraigned  for  his  final  trial — this  impression  continued  for 
several  months,  but  finally  passed  off,  leaving  him  as  indifferent  to  religion 
as  he  had  been  before.  He  remained  at  home,  assisting  his  father,  or  else 
teaching  a  school  in  some  neighbouring  town,  until  after  he  had  reached 
his  majority.  In  October,  1809,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
he  accompanied  an  uncle  of  his  to  the  South  on  business,  and,  though  he 
had  previously  indulged  somewhat  in  profane  language,  yet,  in  the  course 
of  the  ensuing  winter,  he  became  much  more  profane,  though  by  a  strange 
inconsistency,  he  always  felt  himself  bound  to  defend  the  leading  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  whenever  they  were  assailed. 

In  February,  1810,  while  at  Charlestown,  Ya.,  he  was  attacked  by  a 
violent  illness,  (pleurisy,)  which  was  rendered  instrumental  of  bringing 
him  to  a  sense  of  his  guilt  and  danger.  So  intense  was  his  mental  agony  as 
to  keep  him  constantly  in  a  profuse  perspiration  ;  and  this  operated  in  some 
degree  to  his  bodily  relief.  He,  however,  gradually  made  his  way  home- 
ward amidst  visions  of  horror,  not  unlike  those  of  which  Spira  and  Newport 
are  said  to  have  been  the  subjects  ;  and,  for  eleven  months  after  he  reached 
home,  he  endured  an  uninterrupted  and  well-nigh  intolerable  agony. 
During  this  whole  time,  he  prayed  in  secret  from  once  or  twice  to  ten  or 
twelve  times  a  day  ;  though  he  was  often  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
his  prayers  were  blasphemy,  and  sometimes  that  he  was  praying  to  the 
grand  adversary. 

But,  at  length,  in  December,  1810,  he  obtained  a  merciful  deliverance. 
As  he  was  meditating  upon  that  passage, — "  Believest  thou  that  I  am  able 
to  do  this  ?" — he  cried,  "  Lord,  I  do  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief ;" 
and  instantly  a  flood  of  light  broke  in  upon  his  mind,  and  love  to  Christ 
seemed  to  him  to  become  the  ruling  passion  of  his  heart.  The  intensity 
of  his  joy  was  in  proportion  to  the  previous  depth  of  his  anguish  ;  and  he 
was  ready  to  call  upon  all  around  him  to  join  in  thanksgiving  to  God  for 
his  redeeming  grace. 

•  Memoir  of  bis  Life. — MS.  from  bis  family. 


796  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Lin.^ley  was  now  teaching  a  school  in  the  village  of  Cheshire,  and 
was  boarding  in  the  family  of  the  Congregational  clergyman  of  the  place. 
He  soon  after  joined  with  a  few  others  in  establishing  a  weekly  meeting 
for  prayer  and  religious  conference,  the  attendance  upon  which  soon 
increased  to  several  hundreds,  and  some  who  attended  became  the  subjects 
of  a  hopeful  conversion. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1811,  Mr.  Linsley  was  baptized  in  North  Haven, 
after  making  a  public  relation  of  his  experience,  together  with  eight  other 
persons,  who  had  been  examined  at  a  previous  church  meeting.  He  began 
now  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  and,  with  a  view  to  this,  determined  to  discontinue  his 
school  in  Cheshire,  and  commence  a  course  of  preparatory  study.  Accord- 
ingly, within  a  week  or  two  after  his  Baptism,  he  became  a  student  at  the 
Wallingford  Academy.  But,  besidec"  devoting  from  eight  to  twelve  hours 
a  day  to  study,  he  spent  six  hours  daily  in  instructing  a  school  of  ninety 
pupils.  But  these  combined  labours  overtasked  his  constitution  ;  and  in 
about  eight  or  nine  months  a  violent  hemorrhage  from  the  lungs  ensued, 
which  brought  him  near  to  the  gates  of  death.  Under  medical  advice,  he 
took  a  voyage  to  Maine,  which  was  the  means  of  so  far  restoring  his  health 
that,  in  August  following,  he  was  able  to  resume  his  studies.  He  availed 
himself  now  of  the  instruction  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Button,  of  Guilford,  and 
at  the  same  time  taught  the  Academy  in  that  place. 

He  entered  Yale  College  in  September,  1813,  but  continued  teaching  in 
Guilford  during  the  next  winter,  and  returned  to  College  in  April.  Three 
fourths  of  his  Junior  year  he  passed  as  Preceptor  of  an  Academy  in  Bed- 
ford, N.  Y.;  and,  during  the  greater  part  of  his  Senior  year,  he  taught  the 
New  Township  Academy  in  New  Haven.  But,  notwithstanding  these  pro- 
tracted absences  from  College,  and  the  necessary  interruption  of  his  studies 
incident  to  teaching  a  school  in  New  Haven,  he  maintained  an  excellent 
standing  in  his  class,  and  graduated  with  honour  at  tlie  Commeneoment  in 
1817. 

Mr.  Linsley,  after  he  was  graduated,  continued  teaching  in  the  Academy 
at  New  Haven  with  which  he  had  previously  been  connected, — at  the  same 
time  reading  works  on  Tlicology,  and  studying  the  French  language, — 
until  the  next  spring. 

On  the  1st  of  February,  1818,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Sophia  B., 
daughter  of  Colonel  William  Lyon.  In  March  following,  he  suffered 
another  attack  of  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  greatly  reduced  his 
strength,  and  seemed  for  the  time  to  render  it  quite  certain  that  he  would 
never  be  able  to  engage  in  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry.  Even  after 
he  began  to  recover,  his  physicians  did  not  allow  him  to  hope  that  his 
favourite  purpose  of  preaching  4;he  Gospel  could  ever  be  accomplished.  So 
great  had  been  his  popularity  as  a  teacher  at  New  Haven,  that  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Academy,  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  resume  his  labours,  made 
every  effort  to  detain  him  there  ;  but  he  had  already  come  under  an 
engagement  to  take  charge  of  the  Academy  at  New  Canaan  for  a  period 
of  three  years.     Thither  he  removed  the  ensuing  May. 

During  his  three  years'  residence  in  New  Canaan,  he  had  several  returns 
of  his  former  alarming  complaint;  but,  through  the  elasticity  of  his  spirits, 


JAMKS  HARVEY  LINSLEY.  797 

and  the  recuperative  power  of  his  system,  he  was  enabled,  in  each  case, 
after  a  short  period,  to  resume  his  hibours.  In  April,  1S21,  having  com- 
pleted his  engagement  at  New  Canaan,  he  removed  to  Stratford,  where  he 
establi^lled  a  select  boarding  school,  witli  a  view  to  prepare  young  men  for 
College.     Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Sometime  after  his  removal  to  Stratford,  his  religious  affections  seem  to 
have  become  greatly  deadened,  and  his  hopes  and  comforts  proportionally 
abated,  through  the  influence  of  the  world.  IJut  in  November,  1S20,  he 
became  painfully  sensible  of  his  wanderings,  and,  after  a  season  of  intense 
mental  agony,  not  unlike  that  which  he  had  experienced  before  he  waa 
brought  to  an  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  offer,  he  felt  that  the  joys  of  sal- 
vation were  restored  to  him,  and  his  feet  were  again  planted  upon  a  rock. 
He  immediately  opened  his  house  for  religious  meetings,  which  were  largely 
attended  by  members  of  the  Congregational  Society.  At  the  same  time, 
he  commenced  visiting  in  many  of  their  families  with  a  special  view  to 
arouse  Christians  from  the  lethargy  into  which  they  had  fallen.  These 
efforts  were  attended  b}'  a  manifest  blessing,  and  a  revival  of  very  con- 
siderable power  ensued. 

In  the  year  1828,  Mr.  Linsley  became  deeply  interested  in  the  religious 
meetings  which  were  held  under  the  name  of  "  Conference  of  the  churches." 
These  meetings  often  marked  the  commencement  of  revivals  in  the  towns 
in  which  they  were  held.  He  was  repeatedly  sent  as  a  delegate  from  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Stratford  ;  and  on  one  occasion  in  which  twenty- 
eight  churches  were  represented,  he  was  unanimously  appointed  Chairman, 
although  he  was  the  only  Baptist  present.  So  fully  convinced  was  he  of 
the  beneficial  effects  of  these  meetings,  that  he  procured  their  introduction 
among  the  Baptist  churches,  and  was  Chairman  of  their  first  two  Confer- 
ences. 

The  first  time  that  he  attempted  to  preach  was  on  the  6th  of  July,  1828, 
at  New  Haven,  in  consequence  of  the  illness  of  the  Pastor  of  the  Church. 
The  Congregational  Church  at  Stratford  having,  about  this  time,  parted 
with  their  Pastor,  Mr.  Linsley — Baptist  though  he  was — was  appointed  by 
the  church  one  of  their  committee  to  call  a  clergyman  to  supply  the  vacant 
pulpit.  He  was  in  the  habit,  at  this  time,  of  conducting  all  their  meet- 
ings, though,  on  the  Sabbath,  instead  of  preaching, — not  being  yet  regu- 
larly licensed, — he  was  accustomed  to  read  a  printed  sermon:  subsequently, 
however,  he  preached  in  the  evening  a  sermon  of  his  own.  His  labours, 
both  on  the  Sabbath  and  during  the  week,  were  received  by  the  peojdc 
with  great  favour,  and  his  prayers,  sermons,  and  exhortations  were  all 
listened  to  with  profound  attention. 

In  April,  1830,  he  had  another  season  of  awful  spiritual  desertion  ;  but 
it  was  not  of  long  continuance,  and  when  it  passed  off,  it  left  bin),  as  in 
the  other  case,  in  the  full  assurance  of  hope,  and  enraptured  with  a  scuso 
of  the  Divine  love. 

Though  Mr.  Linsley  had  preached  occasionally  in  different  places,  as 
opportunity  offered,  he  was  more  deeply  impressed  with  his  obligation  to 
engage  in  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry,  after  his  recovery  from  an 
attack  of  hemorrhage  in  the  autumn  of  1830.  He  then  hired  a  store  in 
Stratford,  at  the  lower  wharf,  fitted  it  up  at   his  own  expense,  and,  on  the 


798  BAPTIST. 

8th  of  January,  1831,  conimencetl  preaching  in  it  regularly  every  Sabbath. 
About  this  time  the  Church  in  New  Haven,  of  vphich  he  was  a  member, 
sent  him  a  regular  license  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

After  labouring  with  great  diligence  and  zeal  for  a  few  months  at  the 
wharf,  he  determined,  by  the  advice  of  some  of  his  brethren  in  the  min- 
istry, to  relinquish  his  enterprise  there,  and  open  a  meeting  in  the  neigh- 
bouring village  of  Milford,  where  there  were  a  few  Baptists,  who  were 
desirous  of  securing  his  services.  Shortly  after  this, — on  the  9th  of 
June,  1831, — at  an  Anniversary  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  held  in 
Meriden,  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  an  Evangelist.  His  school, 
which  he  had  continued  till  this  time  with  great  popularity  and  success, 
he  now  relinquished,  that  he  might  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  He  commenced  his  labours  at  Milford,  on  the  27th  of 
July,  in  the  town-house,  which  was  obtained  for  the  purpose,  and  which, 
for  months,  was  crowded  to  overflowing.  About  the  close  of  October,  an 
arrangement  was  made  by  which  he  divided  his  Sabbaths  equally  between 
Milford  and  Stratfield.  The  Milford  town-house  having  been  purchased 
and  fitted  up  as  a  place  of  worship  in  February,  1832,  a  church  was  con- 
stituted there  in  June  following,  with  nineteen  members,  which  subse- 
quently increased,  under  his  care,  to  thirty-three.  Before  the  close  of  this 
year,  h.e  had  baptized  thirteen  persons  in  Stratfield,  and  eleven  in  Milford. 

Mr.  Linsley  soon  became  dissatisfied  with  thus  dividing  his  labours 
between  the  two  churches,  and  as  the  Church  at  Milford  was  unable 
to  support  a  Pastor,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  remain  with  them,  and, 
accordingly,  resigned  his  charge  at  Stratfield  about  the  close  of  the  year. 

During  the  year  1833,  he  ministered  to  the  church  he  had  been  instru- 
mental of  establishing  at  Milford,  and  a  blessing  manifestly  attended  his 
labours.  But,  in  the  mean  while,  the  Stratfield  Church  had  found  it 
impossible  to  agree  upon  any  one  as  his  successor,  and  they  finally  united 
in  a  request  that  he  would  return  to  them,  giving  them  two  thirds  of  his 
time,  and  the  Milford  Cluirch  one  third.  To  this  proposal  he  acceded  ; 
though,  after  three  months,  he  became  convinced  that  more  good  would  be 
accomplished  by  his  confining  his  labours  to  the  Stratfield  Church,  and  he 
resigned  his  charge  at  Milford,  not,  however,  without  contributing  from 
his  own  funds  to  liquidate  a  debt  which  remained  on  their  house  of 
worship. 

In  the  year  1834,  he  received  calls  from  five  or  six  churches,  most  of 
them  among  the  most  respectable  and  influential  Baptist  churches  in  the 
State  ;  but  he  felt  constrained  to  decline  them  all.  In  the  spring  of  1825 
he  went  as  a  delegate  to  the  Triennial  Convention  at  Richmond,  Va.,  at 
which  he  seems  to  have  experienced  the  highest  social  and  Christian  enjoy- 
ment. In  the  course  of  this  year,  he  started  the  enterprise  of  establishing 
a  Baptist  Church  at  Bridgeport,  and  in  aid  of  it  obtained,  by  personal 
solicitation,  about  twenty-eight  hundred  dollars,  having  headed  the  list 
with  a  liberal  subscription  of  his  own. 

On  the  first  Sabbath  of  183G,  he  preached  his  Farewell  Discourse  at 
Stratfield,  with  the  intention  of  visiting  the  destitute  churches  in  the 
State,  and  of  commencing  his  labours  at  Bridgeport  in  the  succeeding 
autumn.     But  God,  in  his  mysterious  providence,  was  pleased  to  disappoint 


JAMES  IIARVKY  LINSLEY.  799 

his  chorisliocl  hopes,  and  frustrate  liis  scheines  of  usefulness.  Within  a 
month  from  the  time  he  preaelied  his  Farewell  Sermon,  he  .sufl'ered  a  severe 
attaek  of  hronehitis,  whieh  took  on  so  threatening  an  aspeet  that  it  was 
deeided  hy  a  council  of  physicians  that  the  only  hope  of  his  recovery  pro- 
baldy  depended  on  the  excision  of  the  palate.  When  the  operation  was 
performed,  he  was  in  Hartford,  assisting  his  friend,  Dr.  Davis,  in  compi- 
ling the  Conference  Hymn  IJook,  since  in  use  among  the  ]3aptists,  entitled 
"The  Baptist  Select  Hymns."  During  this  visit,  he  preached  fur  the  last 
time.  His  health  continuing  to  decline,  his  physicians  were  deeided  in  the 
opinion  that  he  must  desist  altogether  from  public  speaking.  He  felt  this 
to  be  a  severe  affliction,  though  he  bowed  submissively  to  what  he  saw  was 
God's  holy  will. 

Altout  the  close  of  June,  he  sailed  from  Bridgeport  to  Maine,  in  the 
hope  that  the  same  beneficial  effects  which  had  resulted  from  a  similar  voy- 
age in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  might  be  experienced  now.  In  this,  how- 
ever, he  was  disappointed.  He  returned  without  having  received  any 
benefit  from  his  tour ;  and,  on  the  approach  of  cold  weather,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  he  should  pass  the  winter  in  a  Southern  climate.  Accordingly, 
about  the  close  of  December,  he  sailed  from  New  York  to  Savannah,  Ga., 
and,  after  remaining  there  a  few  days,  repaired  to  St.  Mary's,  where  he 
spent  nearly  the  whole  of  the  next  three  months.  His  disease,  during  this 
period,  in  consequence  of  a  cold,  took  on  the  form  of  asthma,  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  his  physicians,  prolonged  his  life.  He  reached  home  on 
the  23d  of  3Iay,  1837,  full  of  gratitude  for  God's  preserving  care  and 
goodness. 

On  the  od  of  September  following,  he  administered  the  Lord's  Supper, 
by  request,  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Milford,  and  three  days  after  attended 
a  meeting  at  Bridgeport  with  a  view  to  make  arrangements  for  the  consti- 
tution of  a  Baptist  church  there.  But,  though  he  had  long  indulged  the 
hope  of  becoming  the  Pastor  of  this  church,  he  felt  himself  obliged  now 
to  abandon  it,  and  he  requested  the  Society  by  all  means  to  secure  the 
services  of  another  individual. 

Mr.  Linsley,  being  now  cut  off  from  the  hope  of  ever  resuming  his 
ministerial  duties,  began  to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  Natural  His- 
tory, to  which  his  taste  strongly  inclined  him.  He  had  given  considerable 
attention  to  Botany  during  his  residence  at  New  Canaan,  and  he  now 
resumed  this,  and  devoted  hin)self  also  to  other  branches  of  Natural  Sci- 
ence, particularly  Ornithology,  Conchology,  and  Zoology,  with  character- 
istic ardour  and  enthusiasm.  In  May,  1837,  shortly  after  his  return  from 
the  South,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Yale  Natural  History  Society  ; 
and,  some  time  after,  successively  of  the  Connecticut  xVcademy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  of  the  Hartford  Natural  History  Society,  and  of  the  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History. 

From  the  time  of  his  return  from  the  South,  Mr.  Linsley  was  subject  to 
the  most  distressing  attacks  of  asthma,  which  usually  terminated  in  fever, 
producing  great  prostration  of  strength,  and  .'<o  passing  off.  But  his 
recovery,  owing  to  his  great  elasticity  of  constitution,  was  surprisingly 
rapid,  and  a  few  days  only  would  intervene  between  his  being  apparently 
Dear   the   close  of  life,  and  his  restoration   to  comfortable  health.     For  a 


8Q0  BAPTIST. 

year  or  more  previous  to  his  last  illness,  however,  his  health  appeared  radi- 
cally improved  ;  and  his  friends  had  begun  to  hope  that  the  malady  which 
had  so  long  afflicted  him  might  be  entirely  removed.  About  the  beginning 
of  December,  1843,  he  Buffered  from  one  of  his  old  attacks,  but  still  con- 
tinued his  studies,  and  neither  he  nor  his  friends  apprehended  any  serious 
issue.  But,  after  two  or  three  weeks,  his  case  assumed  a  more  alarming 
aspect,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  his  disease  had  seated  itself  in  the  brain. 
He  was  not,  however,  entirel}'^  bereft  of  his  reason  ;  but,  owing,  no  doubt, 
to  the  great  weakness  of  his  mind  and  body,  he  was  subjected  for  a  time 
to  extreme  spiritual  depression.  But  the  cloud  pdssed  off,  his  reason  was 
jierfectly  restored,  and,  while  making  his  passage  through  the  dark  valley, 
he  was  enabled  to  utter  the  language  of  joyful  triumph.  He  died  on  the 
'29th  of  December,  1843,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  His 
remains  were  conveyed  to  New  Haven,  where,  after  a  Funeral  Discourse 
by  the  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  they  were  followed  to  the 
grave  by  a  large  number  of  relatives,  and  Christian  and  Scientific  friends. 

Mr.  Linsley  had  two  children, — both  daughters,  one  of  Avhom  is  married 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Phelps,  of  New  Haven.  The  daughters  and  their  mother 
all  survive  (1859.) 

Mr.  Linsley  was  a  ready  writer,  and  a  large  contributor  to  several  of 
the  periodicals  of  his  day.  His  articles  took  a  wide  range,  including 
Religion,  Polities,  questions  of  Moral  Reform,  Philanthropic  enterprises, 
Literature,  and  especially  Natural  Science.  He  prepared  for  the  Yale 
Natural  History  Society  a  series  of  papers  on  the  Zoology  of  Connecticut, 
which  were  subsequently  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science 
and  Arts,  under  the  following  title: — A  Catalogue  of  the  Mammalia  of 
Connecticut,  arranged  according  to  their  natural  families.  Then  followed 
successively  Catalogues  of  the  Birds,  the  Reptiles,  the  Fishes,  and  the 
Shells  of  Connecticut.  These  papers  were  published  in  Silliman's  Journal 
during  the  years  1842,  '43,  '44,  '45, — some  of  them  not  till  after  the 
death  of  their  author  ;  and  the  last,  left  unarranged,  was  prepared  for  pub- 
lication by  one  of  his  daughters.  The  Notes  accompanying  these  Cata- 
logues are  full,  learned  and  entertaining.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Phelps  writes 
thus  concerning  him  : — "  His  cabinet  of  specimens,  mostly  collected,  pre- 
pared and  arranged  by  himself,  is  still  preserved,  and  is  of  rich  beauty 
and  rare  interest.  He  ascertained  more  species  of  birds  in  Connecticut 
than  Wilson  found  in  the  United  States  ;  more  of  Mammalia  than  had  been 
found  elsewhere  in  New  England  ;  and  of  Shells  more  than  double  the 
number  supposed  to  be  resident  there." 


FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  May  7,  1858. 
My  dear  Sir:  Thougli  my  senior,  I  liad  tlie  pleasure  of  a  somewhat  intimate 
acquaintance,  for  a  few  years,  with  the  kite  Rev.  James  IL  Linslc}',  of  whom 
you  desire  me  to  give  you  some  general  estimate.  I  shall  be  obliged  to  be  very 
brief,  and,  I  fear,  unsatisfactory'^;  for  these  general  estimates  of  eminent  men 
are  often  too  vague  to  be  of  much  account.  I  can  say,  however,  that  Mr. 
Linsley  was  a  most  interesting,  attractive  man,  of  great  mental  vivacity  and 
nobleness  of  disposition,  and  deserves  a  more  minute  and  faithful  description 


JAMES  HARVEY  LIN  SLET.  80| 

than  I  caji  give  of  him.  His  leaniiiig  was  quite  considerablo,  and  his  piety  at 
once  profound  and  practical.  He  lived  upon  the  '<  sunny  side  "  of  tiie  world, 
and  took  bright  and  genial  views  of  ineji  and  things.  He  was  about  the  ordi- 
nary height,  compactly  built,  erect,  of  open  countenance,  and  light  blue  eyes, 
with  remarkable  case  and  grace  of  manners.  Prompt  in  action,  and  emi- 
nently practical,  he  took  an  active  part  in  all  religious,  benevolent,  and  scien- 
tific movements.  He  was  intensely  fond  of  nature,  and  successfully  cultivated 
several  branches  of  Natural  Science. 

Above  all,  Mr.  Linsley  was  a  man  of  God,  of  eminent  faith  and  devotion  to 
his  Master's  work.  As  a  Preacher,  he  Avas  clear,  sober,  instructive,  generally 
brief  and  pointed,  and  aiming  at  a  direct  practical  result.  His  manner  was 
dignified  and  affectionate,  as  becomes  an  ambassador  of  Christ,  and  yet  easy, 
vivacious,  and  even  cheerful.  His  hopeful  disposition  and  sunny  temper  helped 
to  lend  a  charm  to  his  preaching.  Warmly  attached  to  his  own  denomi- 
nation, he  was  c-atholic  in  his  views  and  feelings,  and  generous  in  his  estimate 
of  those  who  dillered  from  him. 

Mr.  Linslc}^  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar,  and  greatly  given  to  apt 
quotations  from  his  fiivourite  Latin  and  Greek  authors.  This,  however, 
occurred  chiefly  in  his  conversation  with  his  intimate  friends.  He  paid  con- 
siderable attention  to  general  literature,  and  was  well  read  in  the  best  Eng- 
lish authors.  Of  speculative  philosophy  he  knew  little,  and  had  great  contempt 
for  the  obscure  profundities  of  the  higher  metaphysics.  In  fact,  this  was  a 
region  into  which  he  had  never  ventured,  and  which  might,  on  that  very 
account,  appear  to  him  the  more  perplexed  and  appalling.  But  he  loved  all 
genial,  pleasant  things,  all  graceful  and  practical  books.  He  was  at  home 
among  trees,  and  flowers,  and  shells;  and  in  all  found  God,  and,  as  Fenelon 
expresses  it,  <«  God's  peace."  He  lived  for  one  great  end,  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  salvation  of  men.  He  was  a  man  of  prayer,  and  daily  walked  with 
God.  Amid  his  multifarious  engagements,  he  was  ever  aiming  to  do  good. 
Simple-hearted  as  a  child,  hopeful  and  peaceful,  he  trusted  in  God,  and  spent 
his  busy  life  usefully  and  happily.  "When  he  died,  all  who  knew  him  felt  that 
they  had  loet  a  friend,  and  the  Church  of  God  a  true  and  faithful  minister. 
With  great  consideration, 

1  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  truly, 

ROBERT  TURNBULL. 

FROM  THE  REV.  DAVID  L.  OGDEN. 

Mew  Haven,  October  11, 1858. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  impressions  of  the  Rev.  James  Harvey  Linsley  are  all 
agreeable.  I  remember  him  as  a  kind-hearted  man,  an  exemplary  Christian, 
and  a  zealous  Baptist.  He  preached  to  the  acceptance  of  the  people  till  he 
was  disabled  by  pulmonary  complaints.  lie  then  purchased  a  house  in  Strat- 
ford, where  he  resided  till  hi.s  death.  During  the  early  part  of  his  residence 
there,  he  was  occupied  in  teaching  at  his  own  house;  but  he  was  still  active 
in  building  up  churches  as  he  had  opportunity.  He  organized  several  in  the 
neighbouring  towns,  and  preached  to  them  occasionally  as  his  strength  per- 
mitted. While  he  zealously  promoted  the  interests  of  his  own  denomination, 
he  was  never,  to  my  knowledge,  chargeable  with  any  thing  like  bigotry.  He 
had  a  large  Christian  heart, — large  enough  to  embrace  all  who  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

I  remember  Mr.  Linsley  also  as  a  lover  of  Natural  Science,  particularly  of 
Mineralogy,  Conchology,  and  Ornithology.  He  delighted  to  exhibit  his  speci- 
mens to  his  friends,  and  to  call  their  attention  to  what  he  regarded  as  most 
curious  and  interesting. 

Vor..  VT.  101 


gQ2  BAPTIST. 

Mr.  Linsley  possessed  a  decidedly  thoughtful  and  inquiring  mind.  He 
formed  his  conclusions  deliberately  and  carefully;  but  when  he  had  once 
reached  them,  his  confidence  in  them  was  not  easily  impaired.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  sincerity  and  integrity.  If  he  professed  to  be  your  friend,  you  felt 
the  fullest  assurance  that  he  was  really  so;  and  you  would  not  hesitate  to 
confide  in  him  under  any  circumstances.  lie  was  always  true  to  his  own  con- 
victions of  duty — neither  frowns  nor  flatteries  could  induce  him  to  turn  aside 
from  anj'^  path  which  he  believed  Providence  had  marked  out  for  him. 

His  talents  as  a  Preacher  were  considered  highly  respectable,  though  he 
doubtless  would  have  attained  to  greater  eminence  in  this  profession,  if 
he  had  given  himself  exclusively  to  it.  His  discourses,  as  I  have  always 
understood,  were  well  considered,  practical,  earnest  exhibitions  of  Divine 
truth;  and  his  preaching  was  attended  with  manifest  tokens  of  the  Divine 
favour. 

I  have  never  doubted  that  Mr.  Linsley  was  honestly  and  earnestly  devoted 
to  his  Master's  cause;  and  that  he  laboured  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his 
ability  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was  greatly  and 
deservedly  esteemed  in  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  and  his  memory  is 
still  gratefully  cherished.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  he  made  hi.s  mark  in  the 
sphere  in  which  he  moved. 

Yours  truly, 

DAVID  I..  OGDEN. 


RALPH  MINER  PRENTICE. 

1832—1840. 
FROM  THE  REY.  WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 

Semple  Broaddus  College,  .Tune  10,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  I  take  pleasure  in  oifering  the  following  slight  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  my  lamented  friend,  the  Rev.  Ralph  M.  Prentice,  wliosc 
exalted  character,  and  brief  but  eminently  useful  career,  are  well 
worthy  of  being  commemorated  in  your  work.  I  knew  him  well,  having 
been  associated  with  him  as  student  in  the  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theo- 
logical Institution,  in  your  State  ;  and  his  noble  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  are  still  fresh  in  my  remembrance.  For  the  facts  embraced  in  the 
history  of  his  life.  I  am  indebted  chiefly  to  his  brother,  Thomas  H.  Pren- 
tice, of  Norwich,  N.  Y. 

IIalpii  Miner  Prentice  was  born  in  Norwich,  Chenango  County, 
N.  Y.,  on  the  4th  of  May,  1813.  His  parents,  Thomas  and  Sally  Pren- 
tice, had  removed  from  Connebticut  to  Norwich,  in  1811.  His  father  had 
joined  a  Baptist  Church  in  Stonington,  Conn.,  in  early  life  ;  and  in  August, 
1814,  was  one  of  fourteen  persons  who  were  constituted  into  a  Baptist 
Church  in  Norwich, — of  which  his  wife,  in  1817,  also  became  a  member. 
The  son  spent  his  early  years  in  labouring  on  his  father's  farm  in  summer, 
and  attending  a  district  school  in  winter.  He  made  a  public  profession 
of  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  was  baptized,  by  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Swan,  into  the 


RALl'lI  MINER  rUKNTICE.  8()3 

fellowship  of  the  IJaptist  Church  in  his  native  i>lace,  on  the  1-th  of  June, 
1831.  He  was  licensed  by  the  same  church  to  preach  the  Gospel,  on  the 
Gth  of  February,  1832.  Shortly  after,  he  entered  as  a  student  in  the 
Hamilton  Literary  ■  and  Theological  Institution,  where  he  distinguished 
himself  in  a  class  that  produced  an  unusually  large  num1)or  of  eiiiiiienK 
men.  Having  graduated  from  the  College  in  18oG,  he  remained  at  Hamil- 
ton for  two  years,  engaged  in  the  study  of  Theology.  In  December,  1838, 
he  went  to  Andover,  Mass.,  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  for  study 
and  improvement  which  were  there  afforded.  Having  remained  at  that 
Seminary  during  the  winter, — preaching  also  to  a  small  church  in  the 
neighbourhood,  he  returned  and  spent  the  next  summer,  preaching  and 
studying,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hamilton.  He  was  ordained  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry  by  a  Council  convened  fur  the  purpose,  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1839, — Professor  A.  C.  Kendrick  preaching  the  Ordination  Ser- 
mon. Shortly  after  this,  he  went  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  thence  to 
Vicksburg,  Miss,  In  January,  1840,  he  took  charge  of  the  Churches  of 
Vicksburg  and  Antioch.  Here  his  prospects  of  usefulness  were  most 
promising,  and  he  entered  upon  his  labours  with  every  thing  to  indicate 
that  he  was  sowing  for  a  plentiful  harvest.  In  the  course  of  the  few  months, 
during  which  he  sustained  the  pastoral  relation  to  these  churches,  he  bap- 
tized thirty-five  persons. 

But  scarcely  had  he  entered  his  field  of  labour  before  his  Master  called 
him  to  "  go  up  higher."  It  was  his  first  sumnier  in  a  Southern  climate. 
He  had  taken  a  long  journey  on  horseback  to  attend  the  Baptist  Conven- 
tion of  this  State,  during  a  hot,  dry  season,  and  had  had  devolved  upon  him 
the  duties  of  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Body;  and,  on  his  return,  it 
was  manifest  that  he  had  suffered  great  bodily  exhaustion.  He,  however, 
still  persevered  in  his  labours,  preaching  three  times  on  Lord's  Day,  and 
at  other  times  twice  and  administering  the  ordinance  of  Baptism.  This 
excessive  amount  of  exertion,  together  with  exposure  to  the  intense  heat 
of  the  climate,  brought  on  a  fever  that,  after  a  course  of  ten  days,  termi- 
nated in  death.  He  died  at  the  residence  of  J.  B.  Stevens,  in  Antioch,  on 
the  28th  of  August,  1840.  His  last  illness  was  a  scene  of  unwonted 
triumph,  and,  in  the  prospect  of  its  immediate  termination,  he  expressed 
the  fullest  confidence  that  he  was  going  to  his  home  in  Heaven.  After 
engaging  in  prayer,  he  bade  the  weeping  family  farewell,  and  then  broke 
out  in  feeble  but  sweet  tones,  and  sung  : — 

"  Jesus,  my  all,  to  Heaven  is  gone, 
He  whom  I  fixed  my  hopes  upon;" 

and  shortly  after  expired.  The  Funeral  service  was  performed  by  the  Rev. 
C.  K.  Marshall,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  who  also  delivered  an 
appropriate  address  at  his  grave. 

Mr.  Prentice  possessed  high  qualifications  for  usefulness  in  the  profession 
to  which  he  had  devoted  himself.  The  natural  kindliness  of  his  spirit  and 
the  urbanity  of  his  manners  prepossessed  all  in  his  favour,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  a  cordial  welcome  to  his  ministrations.  His  intellectual  powers 
were  of  a  high  order,  and  they  had  been  subjected  to  careful  discipline  and 
culture.  As  a  Preacher,  he  was  at  once  simple,  instructive,  impressive, 
and  sometimes  highly  eloquent.     But  his  crowning  qualification  as  a  Min- 


804  BAPTIST. 

later  was  his  earnest  and  uncompromising  devotion  to  his  work — you  could 
not  resist  the  impression  that  he  was  indeed  a  man  of  God,  and  that  all 
his  faculties  and  affections  were  going  forth  in  an  unceasing  effort  to  save 
the  souls  of  his  fellow-men.  Had  he  lived,  it  is  not  easy  to  fix  a  limit  to 
the  influence  which  he  would  in  all  probability  have  exerted  in  building  up 
Christian  institutions,  and  advancing  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness 
in  the  recion  in  which  Providence  had  cast  his  lot.      His  successor  in   the 

o 
ministry  says  of  him, — "  I  have  stood  by   his  grave,    among    the    walnut 

hills  of  Mississippi,  and  have  heard  white  and  black  Christians  discourse 

of  the  good  young  -preacher,  who  was  so  faithful   to  them,  and   whom   God 

so  early  took  to  Himself." 

Mr.  Prentice  had  a  fine  open  face,  that  easily  relaxed  into  a  smile.  His 
iiair  was  light,  inclining  to  re  1.  His  stature  was  about  five  feet  and  nine 
inches.      His  appearance,  on  the  whole,  was  unusually  attractive. 

He  lived  in  a  city  which  then  rejoiced  in  possessing  the  most  brilliant 
orator  of  the  Southwest,  Sergeant  P.  Prentiss  ;  and  he  was  the  compeer 
of  a  minister  in  Mississippi,  than  whom  no  other  was  more  sincerely  loved 
or  more  deeply  and  universally  lamented — I  refer  to  Samuel  S.  Lattimore.* 

Yours  truly, 

WILLIAM  CAREY  CRANE. 


ISAAC  TAYLOR  HINTON.f 

1832—1847. 

Isaac  Taylor  Hinton  was  born  in  Oxford,  England,  July  4,  1799. 
His  mother  was  sister  to  the  Rev.  Isaac  Taylor,  senior,  father  of  Isaac 
and  Jane  Taylor,  whose  works  have  been  so  widely  circulated  in  this 
country  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain.  His  father  was  Pastor  of  an  Open 
Communion  Baptist  Church,  in  Oxford,  for  thirty-six  years.  In  addition 
to  this  charge,  he  conducted  a  boys'  school  of  considerable  note:  it  was 
under  the  paternal  roof,  therefore,  that  young  Hinton  received  his  educa- 
tion, deriving  at  the  same  time  additional  advantage   from    living  in  the 

•  Samuel  S.  Lattimore  whs  born  in  Rutherford  County,  N.  C,  Jlarch  9, 1811 .  While  he  was 
yet  a  child,  his  father  removed,  and  settled  in  Jennings  County,  Ind.  At  the  age  of  about 
t'ourteen,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Literary  Institution  at8outh  ]Iano\'er,  where  he  reiiKvined, 
siippurting  himself  by  his  own  exertions,  for  about  nine  3'ears,  until  he  completed  his  course  in 
.I'lily,  lS;iy.  Some  time  during  this  period,  ho  became  a  member  of  the  rn'.-byterian  Clinreh. 
and  he  remained  in  this  connection  for  six  or  seven  years.  Soon  after  he  left  College  he  went 
to  live  at  Vicksburg,  Miss. ;  but  he  soon  after  went  to  Clinton,  in  the  same  State,  and  engaged 
ia  teaching  a  school  at  Society  Ridge.  In  1834,  he  was  baptized  by  immersion,  and  joined  the 
iJaptist  Church ;  and  the  pame  year  was  married  to  Frances  A.,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Lee 
'"ompere.  In  18.35,  he  was  ordained  ta  the  Gospel  Ministry,  and  became  General  Agent  for  the 
I\iississii)pi  Baptist  St.ate  Convention.  In  December,  18.37,  he  settled  at  Middleton,  Carroll 
(bounty.  Miss.,  where  he  was  engaged  in  prcnching  and  teaching  a  school  until  1811),  when  he 
removed  to  Srimter  County,  Ala.  In  1817.  he  was  called  to  the  P.astorate  of  the  Macon 
Church,  Noxubee  County,  Miss.  After  remaining  there  one  year,  he  accepted  a  very  m-gent 
call  from  the  Aberdeen  Church,  with  an  understanding,  however,  that  he  should  return  to 
Macon  after  the  lapse  of  a  year.  He  did,  accordingly,  return,  and  remained  there  until 
IS.")*?,  when  ho  again  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of  the  Aberdeen  Church.  He  con- 
tinued in  this  relation  till  his  death,  which  occurred  suddenly  on  the  17th  of  October,  1857. 
He  was  a  man  of  marked  abilities  and  warm  and  generous  alTections,  an  eloquent  preacher,  an 
able  controversial  writer,  and  an  eminently  successful  minister  of  the  Gospel. 

t  MSS.  from  .Mrs.  Hinton,  Rev.  J.  Howard  Hinton,  and  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Taylor. 


ISAAC  TAYLOK  IIINTON.  §05 

higlil}'  intelloctual  atmospliero  wliicli  was  created  by  tlie  presence  of  a 
renowiiod  lluivcrsity.  It  was,  however,  under  his  mother's  eye,  and  fre- 
quently on  her  knee,  that  he  acquired  not  only  the  rudiments  of  knowledge, 
but  the  first  ]>rinciples  of  religion,  which,  like  seed  sown  and  for  a  long 
time  buried  in  the  ground,  finally  matured  into  a  harvest.  From  his 
infancy  to  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  his  health  was  very  delicate  ;  yet,  at 
that  time,  he  had  gone  through  the  Latin  Grammar,  and  made  considerable 
progress  in  Geography  and  History.  As  a  boy,  he  took  great  interest  in 
the  War  with  Napoleon,  and  read  the  papers  diligently  in  order  to  trace 
his  movements,  drawing  plans  of  the  principal  engagements, — of  which 
that  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo  is  the  only  one  preserved. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  left  school,  but  not  his  home,  and  was  appren- 
ticed at  the  "Clarendon  Printing  Office,"  which  he  ever  regarded  as 
affording  him  a  fine  opportunit}-  for  carrying  on  an  education  so  well  com- 
menced under  his  parents'  care, — this  being  the  office  at  which  literary  and 
classical  works  were  printed  by  the  University.  During  the  early  part  of 
his  apprenticeship,  he  became  interested  in  the  study  of  Prophecy,  and 
was  much  engaged  in  Saldiath  Schools.  A  Society  was  formed,  consisting 
of  several  young  men  in  his  father's  congregation,  which  was  instrumental 
not  only  in  establishing  schools  in  several  villages  in  the  vicinity,  but  in 
otherwise  extending  and  increasing  the  means  of  religious  improvement. 

In  1820,  Mr.  Hinton  commenced  business  for  himself,  in  Oxford,  a.s 
Printer  and  Publisher.  The  first  work  wliich  he  printed  he  also  edited — 
it  was  a  montldy  publication  entitled,  "  The  Sunday  Scholar's  Magazine." 
In  the  following  year,  (1821,)  he  was  baptized  and  united  with  his  father's 
church.  His  conversion  he  attributed,  under  God,  more  especially  to  his 
mother's  pious  teachings,  and  to  his  eldest  sister's  correspondence,  while 
she  was  in  deep  aflJiction.  He  had  been,  for  some  time  previous  to  his 
Baptism,  addressing  Sunday  Schools,  and  taking  part  in  evening  meetings, 
at  the  village  stations ;  and  from  exhorting  he  proceeded  to  preaching,  and 
at  the  age  of  about  twenty-three  was  regularly  licensed  by  the  church. 

On  (hel5fh  of  IMay,  1822,  he  was  married  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  the 
late  Rev.  William  Mursoll,  of  Lymington,  Hampshire,  and  sister  of  the 
Rev.  J.  P.  Mursell,  of  Leicester.  In  1826,  he  removed  from  Oxford  to 
London,  where  he  preached  less  than  he  had  formerly  done,  though  he  was 
often  called  upon  to  occupy  pulpits  in  both  the  city  and  its  suburbs  ;  and, 
had  he  felt  it  his  duty,  might  have  devoted  himself  wholly  to  the  ministry 
at  that  time. 

In  London  he  carried  on  a  large  business  as  Printer,  Publisher,  and 
Bookseller,  and  in  1830  undertook  to  assist  his  brother,  the  Rev.  John 
Howard  Hinton,  in  editing  a  History  of  the  United  States,  in  two  volumes, 
quarto,  with  one  hundred  engravings.  In  prosecuting  this  work,  hi? 
republican  tendencies,  which  had  before  been  somewhat  marked,  became 
increasingly  strong,  and  so  deep  was  the  interest  which  he  came  to  feel  in 
this  country  that  he  began  at  length  to  meditate  the  purpose  of  migrating 
hither.  On  the  completion  of  the  work,  which  occupied  him  about  a  year 
and  a  half,  he  determined,  after  due  reflection,  to  remove  with  his  family 
to  the  United  States;  and,  accordingly,  they  sailed  from  London  for 
Philadelphia,   on  the   9th  of  April,  1832.     They  reached   their  destined 


806  BAPTIST. 

port  on  the  5tli  of  June  ;  and,  four  days  after  their  arrival,  were  afflicted 
by  the  death  of  their  youngest  eliild.  It  was  the  first  trial  of  the  kind 
they  had  experienced;  but  their  sorrows  were  greatly  alleviated  by  the 
affectionate  sympathy  of  Christian  hearts  around  them. 

Mr.  Hinton  fixed  his  family  residence  on  the  West  side  of  the  Schuylkill, 
and,  by  means  of  numerous  letters  which  he  brought  with  him,  very  soon 
became  introduced  quite  extensively,  especially  into  the  religious  society 
of  the  city.  lie  often,  by  request  of  his  brethren,  occupied  their  pulpits, 
and  was  repeatedly  solicited  to  accept  the  pastoral  office  ;  but  this  he 
declined  until  the  indications  of  Providence  in  favour  of  it  should  become 
more  decisive.  It  had  been  his  intention,  in  coming  to  the  United  States, 
after  remaining  one  year  at  Pliiladelphia,  with  a  view  to  effect  the  sale  of 
the  expensive  work  already  referred  to,  to  proceed  to  some  new  place  in 
the  West  ;  and  Chicago  was  more  particularly  the  point  of  attraction. 

In  May,  1833,  as  he  was  making  preparations  for  a  removal  to  the 
West,  he  happened  to  call  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dagg,  then  one  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  cily,  and  found  him  engaged  in  conversation  with  a  gentleman  who 
had  tlien  jui-t  come  on,  by  request  of  the  First  Church  in  Ptichmond,  Va.,  to 
ask  him  to  recommend  some  suitable  person  to  succeed  to  the  pastoral  care  of 
that  church.  As  Mr.  Hinton  entered  the  room.  Dr.  Dagg  said  instantly, — 
"  Here  is  your  man  ;"  and  tlie  result  was  tliat,  after  some  consultation, 
]Mr.  H.  consented  to  go  to  Richmond,  and  supply  the  vacant  church  three 
Sabbaths.  This  visit  resulted  in  his  being  unanimously  chosen  Pastor,  and 
about  the  middle  of  June  he  removed  his  family,  then  consisting  of  his 
wife,  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  to  this  new  sphere  of  usefulness, 
where  he  was  shortly  after  ordained. 

Here  his  labours  were  arduous  and  complicated,  but  were  evidently  at- 
tended with  a  blessing.  The  discipline  of  the  church  was  greatly  improved 
uniler  his  ministry,  and  not  a  few  excellent  people  were  added  to  its  mera- 
bersliip.  In  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1834,  he  joined  a  few  friends 
in  a  tour  to  the  West,  and  was  absent  from  his  family  about  two  months, — 
the  most  distant  point  of  his  journey  having  been  Chicago.  The  Clmrch 
in  Richmond  contained  a  large  proportion  of  coloured  members,  in  the 
training  of  whom  he  took  a  special  interest.  In  the  carrying  out  of  his 
principles  in  respect  to  this  class,  he  found  himself  somewhat  embarrassed  ; 
and  this,  in  connection  with  the  predilection  he  had  always  had  for  the 
West,  led  him  to  resign  his  charge.  The  church,  however,  at  first,  refused 
to  accept  his  resignation,  and  earnestly  entreated  him  to  remain.  Rut  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  persist  in  his  determination,  and  on  the  very  day  tliat  he 
.>-ignified  this,  a  letter  reached  him  from  Chicago,  inviting  him  to  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  a  church  there,  which  had  then  just  become  vacant.  To 
this  call  he  returned  an  affirmative  answer  ;  while  yet  it  cost  him  a  severe 
sacrifice  to  separate  himself  from  a  congregation  with  M'hich,  in  many 
respects,  he  had  been  so  happily  united. 

In  June,  1835,  he  set  out  with  liis  family  for  the  then  newly  planned 
city  of  Chicago,  and,  after  a  tedious  and  protracted  journey,  they  found 
themselves  safely  landed  at  their  Western  home.  The  church  to  which 
he  had  been  called  was  in  its  infancy,  consisting  of  about  thirty  members. 
It  was  not  long  after,  that  the  Presbyterian  church  became  destitute  of  a 


ISAAC  TAYLOR  IIINTON.  gQT 

Pastor,  and,  their  place  of  worship  being  much  larger  than  that  of  the  IJap- 
tists,  the  two  congregations  united  in  the  Sunday  evening  service,  and  Mr. 
Hinton  delivered  a  course  of  Lectures  on  the  Prophecies,  which  attracted 
large  audiences,  and  awakened  a  deep  interest.  In  tlie  spring  of  1836, 
he  visited  the  East  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  place  of  worship.  A  lot  was  secured,  and,  on  his  return, 
a  commodious  house  was  built,  intended,  however,  soon  to  give  place  to  a 
better  ;  but  this  plan  was  frustrated  by  the  financial  embarrassments  of 
1837,  and  was  not  carried  into  effect  until  after  Mr.  Ilinton's  removal  from 
the  place.  In  the  mean  time,  he  continued  preaching  in  the  frame  ])uild- 
ing  to  large  congregations,  and  was  permitted  to  .see  much  good  fruit  from 
his  labours.  The  people  were  not  able  to  afford  him  the  support  which  his 
large  family  required  ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  teach  a  school  in  order  to 
make  up  the  deficiency  ;  but  such  was  his  attachment  to  them  that  he  pre- 
ferred to  refuse  several  advantageous  calls  rather  than  that  his  relation  to 
them  should  be  dissolved.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry  here,  the 
church  was  a  good  deal  agitated  by  the  question  of  Slavery,  and  a  division 
actually  took  place  soon  after  his  removal. 

In  the  fall  of  1841,  Mr.  Hinton  removed,  with  his  family,  to  St.  Louis. 
Here  he  took  charge  of  a  church  consisting  of  about  seventy  members, 
and  meeting  in  a  commodious  place  of  worship.  The  congregation  at  first 
was  very  small,  but  it  increased  so  rapidly  that  it  became  necessary,  in  a 
short  time,  to  enlarge  the  church  edifice.  On  the  re-opening  of  it,  a  revi- 
val of  religion  commenced,  which  resulted  in  an  addition  of  from  seventy 
to  eighty  to  the  church  ;  and  each  successive  communion  season,  during  his 
connection  with  it,  witnessed  to  the  introduction  of  some  new  members. 

Here  again,  in  the  winter  of  1842,  he  delivered  his  Lectures  on  the 
Prophecies  to  a  very  large  and  deeply  interested  congregation  ;  and,  by 
request  of  some  of  his  people,  they  were  subsequently  published.  His 
pastoral  labours  here  were  very  arduous,  and  were  much  blest  to  the 
awakening  and  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edification  and  comfort  of  the 
church.  He  appointed  prayer  meetings  and  established  Sabbath  Schools  in 
different  parts  of  the  city,  which,  under  his  direction,  were  the  means  of 
accomplishing  a  great  amount  of  good.  He  was  instrumental  in  forming 
churches  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  several  cities  in  which  he  dwelt,  and 
his  services  were  always  at  their  command  when  his  other  duties  would 
permit. 

In  1843,  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  him  by  Union 
College,  Schenectady. 

In  the  spring  of  1844,  he  was  invited  to  visit  New  Orleans,  with  the 
view  of  establishing  the  Baptist  interest  in  that  city.  He,  accordingly, 
spent  a  few  weeks  there,  and,  on  his  return,  was  quickly  followed  by  an 
earnest  request  from  the  few  members  scattered  through  that  large  popula- 
tion, that  he  would  come  back  and  identify  himself  with  their  infant 
enterprise.  As  he  had  not  only  himself  but  a  large  family  to  care  for,  the 
fact  that  the  city  was  so  often  visited  by  that  fearful  scourge, — the  Yellow 
Fever,  led  him  at  first  to  doubt  in  respect  to  the  matter  of  duty  ;  but  he  finally 
became  convinced  that  the  Providence  of  God  directed  him  thither,  and, 
having  reached  this  conclusion,  nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  go.     He, 


gOg  BAPTIST. 

accordingly,  sout  ia  hi.s  resiguatiou  to  the  Second  Church  in  St.  Louis,  and, 
though  they  refused  at  first  to  accept  it,  and  made  the  most  earnest  appeals 
to  him  to  induce  him  to  remain  with  them,  he  felt  constrained,  by  a  high 
sense  of  duty,  to  adhere  to  his  purpose  already  formed.  He  removed  with 
his  family  to  the  "  Crescent  City  "  in  December,  1844,  arriving  there  on 
the  last  day  of  the  year.  For  the  first  six  months,  he  preached  in  a  large 
room  rented  for  the  purpose.  There  had  been  several  previous  attempts 
made  to  establish  a  Baptist  Church  in  New  Orleans,  which  had  proved 
abortive  ;  and  Mr.  Iliuton  soon  found  that  he  had  obstacles  to  encounter 
which  he  had  not  met  with  in  any  former  station.  But  Providence  smiled 
upon  his  labours,  and  the  congregation  gradually  inci'eased,  so  that  it  was 
determined  to  erect  a  church  edifice  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  A 
suitable  lot  having  been  obtained,  he  made  provision  for  his  family  to  stay 
at  St.  Louis  during  the  summer  of  1845,  and  in  July  left  them,  with  a 
view  to  visit  the  principal  cities  at  tlie  North,  to  collect  the  funds  requisite 
for  prosecuting  their  enterprise.  His  applications  proved  successful,  so 
that,  immediately  after  his  return  in  the  autumn,  the  building  was  com- 
menced, and  in  due  time  completed,  and  comfortably  fitted  up.  It  was 
opened  for  public  worship  first  in  February,  184G,  and  was  at  once  well 
filled  by  an  attentive  congregation. 

The  next  summer  Mr.  Hinton  remained  with  his  family  in  the  city,  and 
by  this  means  did  much  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  people.  Many  cases 
of  Yellow  Fever  occurred,  but  it  was  not  considered  epidemic,  and  both 
himself  and  family  passed  through  the  season  in  their  accustomed  health. 
During  the  next  winter,  he  felt  increasingly  encouraged  in  his  work — his 
congregation  was  large,  and  the  church  grew  by  frequent  additions,  and  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  a  larger  edifice  v/as  needed  for  their  accommo- 
dation. Arrangements  were  accordingly  made  to  commence  the  building 
of  it  in  the  fall  of  1847 — but  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year,'  he  visited  Covington,  and  brought  together  a  few 
scattered  Baptist  churcli-members  who  resided  there,  intending  to  return 
in  the  fall  and  constitute  a  church.  Soon  after  his  return  to  the  city,  how- 
ever, the  epidemic  broke  out  with  so  much  violence  that  it  was  tliought 
best  that  he  should  not  extend  his  labours  beyond  its  limits.  His  health 
at  this  time  (July)  was  remarkably  good,  and  his  pulpit  exercises  were 
observed  to  be  unusually  fervent  and  impressive.  His  visits  among  the 
sick,  both  in  and  out  of  his  congregation,  were  unremitted  until  the  19th 
of  August,  when  one  of  his  daughters,  a  young  lady  of  twenty,  who  had 
been  much  exposed  from  her  attendance  upon  a  sick  family  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, was  prostrated  by  the  fever.  He  remained  at  home  with  his 
daughter  several  days,  only  answering  the  calls  which  were  actually  made 
upon  him,  until  the  next  Sabbath,  when,  after  preaching  in  the  morning  a 
glowing  sermon  on  the  Heavenly  state,  (his  daughter  having  now  become 
convalescent,)  lie  went  forth  again  to  speak  words  of  counsel  or  consolation 
to  the  sick  and  dying.  In  performing  these  tender  and  solemn  offices  he 
was  occupied  most  of  the  time  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening;  and,  after 
that,  he  sat  up  an  liour  conversing  with  one  of  his  sons,  and  in  a  manner 
that  indicated  a  strong  appreliension  tliat  he  was  drawing  near  to  the  cud 
of  his   course.     After  retiring  to  rest,  he  sunk  into  a  profound  slumber 


ISAAC  TAYLOR  liJNTON.  g()(J 

from  wliicli  lie  was  aroused  by  a  paroxysm  of  the  fever.  A  pliysician  was 
iraincdiuti'ly  calloil,  and  the  usual  uioaus  resorted  to,  and  the  case  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  of  a  mild  and  hopeful  character.  ]>iit,  on  the  fourth  and 
critical  day,  it  became  apparent  that  an  unfavourable  change  had  taken 
place.  In  the  morning  of  that  day,  he  appeared  much  better,  and  sent 
word  to  his  people  who  were  expected  to  meet  that  evening  to  pray  for 
him,  that  he  hoped  soon  to  be  able  again  to  join  them  in  their  devotions. 
But,  shortly-  after  this,  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  hiccougli,  whicli  is 
usually  regarded  in  this  disease  as  among  the  fatal  symptoms.  Immedi- 
ately there  was  a  consultation  of  ph3^siciaus,  and  prescriptions  weit; 
promptly  made,  but  with  little  hope  that  they  would  prove  availing. 
Having  said  with  the  utmost  calmness, — '«  Now,  Lord,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me  ;  nevertheless,  not  my  will  but  thine  be  done," — 
he  fell  into  a  sort  of  stupor,  from  which,  however,  he  soon  awoke, 
observing  that  he  had  had  a  refreshing  sleep.  After  an  interchange  of 
a  few  affectionate  words  with  his  beloved  wife,  he  relapsed  into  the  same 
lethargic  state,  from  which  he  was  never  aroused.  The  llev.  Dr.  Scott 
and  other  Christian  friends  were  at  his  bedside,  but  no  words  of  comfort 
that  were  spoken  there,  fell  upon  his  ear.  His  spirit  was  gently  released 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  August.     On  the  evening 

o  o  c 

of  the  same  day,  his  remains  were  conveyed  to  the  churcli,  where  he  had 
so  often  stood  as  Christ's  ambassador,  and  were  watched  over  by  faithful 
and  loving  friends,  and  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning  (Sabbath)  tlie 
Funeral  services  were  performed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Scott,  who  preached  an 
appropriate  Sermon  on  the  occasion.  His  body  was  interred  in  the  Pro- 
testant burying-ground  in  New  Orleans,  but  the  next  spring  was  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  and  now  lies  in  the  Bellefontaiue  Cemetery,  about  five  miles 
from  that  city. 

Mr.  Hinton  was  the  father  of  eleven  children,  eight  of  whom  survived 
him. 

Mr.  Hinton,  besides  assisting  in  compiling  "  The  History  and  Topo- 
graphy of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  &c.,"  which  bears  his 
brother's  name,  published  a  History  of  Baptism  both  from  the  inspired 
and  uninspired  writings,  1840  ;  and  the  Prophecies  of  Daniel  and  John 
illustrated  by  the  events  of  History,  1843.  He  also  published  two  or 
three  Discourses — one  on  the  Spirit's  Operations,  preached  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Dover  Association  in  Williamsburg,  Va.,  and  another 
delivered  on  occasion  of  the  Alton  Riots. 

FROM  THE  REV.  JAMES  B.  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 

RicuiioND,  Ya.,  July  12    1858, 

My  dear  Sir:  It  is  only  a  labour  of  love  with  me  to  comply  with  your 
request  for  ray  recollections  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Taylor  Hinton,  as  he  was  for 
several  years  one  of  my  most  endeared  friends;  and  my  estimate  of  his 
character  is  such  as  renders  it  at  once  easy  and  grateful  for  mc  to  speak  of 
him. 

Mr.  Hinton,  after  he  came  to  this  country,  occupied  important  positions  in 
no  less  than  four  of  our  cities;  and  in  each  place  his  name  is  fragrant  in  the 
memories  and  hearts  of  many  excellent  people  to  this  day.  lie  was  eminently 
Gtted  to  act  as  a  pioneer  in  the  cause  of  Christ, — to  meet  the  obstacles  ueces- 

VoL.  VI  102 


glQ  BAPTIST. 

saiy  to  be  encountered  in  bringing  forward  a  new  or  depressed  church  under 
adverse  circumstances ;  and  no  doubt  it  is  to  the  fact  of  his  having  been  aware  of 
this  that  we  are  to  attribute,  partly  at  least,  his  several  removals  during  a 
comparatively  brief  period.  Naturally  daring  and  adventurous,  nothing  could 
lead  liitn  to  halt  or  even  falter  in  what  he  believed  to  be  the  path  of  duty. 
What  he  found  to  do  he  did  with  all  his  might.  He  was  one  of  the  most  dili- 
gent men  I  have  ever  known.  Often  have  1  seen  him,  on  his  little  pony,  with 
rapid  pace,  traversing  the  streets  of  Richmond,  visiting  from  house  to  house 
among  his  members,  and  finding  out  the  poor  and  wretched  that  he  might  dis- 
pense needed  consolation.  AYherever  he  became  known,  he  was  sure  to  be  recog- 
nised as  a  friend.  The  natural  strength  of  his  emotional  nature  sometimes, 
perhaps,  gave  undue  severity  to  his  tone  and  manner,  when  he  felt  himself 
called  upon  to  administer  rebuke,  or  to  express  or  advocate  a  contrary  opin- 
ion. But,  notwithstanding  this,  I  may  safely  say  that  a  -warmer,  more  ingen- 
uous heart  than  his  never  beat  in  a  human  bosom.  He  had  no  tolerance  for 
deception  and  trickery — wherever  he  discovered  these  qualities,  he  loathed 
them.  He  had  a  cordial  regard  for  all  good  men,  and  an  intense  sympathy 
for  the  children  of  sorrow.  He  was  a  most  genial  and  agreeable  companion. 
We  were  together  by  turns  at  each  other's  breakfast  table,  for  many  months, 
and,  in  the  full  exercise  of  mutual  sympathy,  we  were  accustomed  to  bow 
together  at  the  Throne  of  the  Heavenly  Grace.  These  were  seasons  never  to 
be  forgotten. 

As  a  public  speaker,  Mr.  Hinton  always  secured  attention.  Rapid  in  utter- 
ance and  impassioned  in  manner,  it  was  never  doubted  that  he  felt  the  full 
force  of  the  great  truths  which  formed  the  burden  of  his  message  from  the 
pulpit.  Of  the  doctrine  of  God's  Sovereignty  he  held  strong  views,  and  was 
accustomed  to  press  them  with  great  earnestness,  though  not  in  a  manner  to 
interfere  with  the  claims  of  practical  religion.  He  insisted  much  on  the  neces- 
sity of  spiritual  influence,  but  was  perhaps  too  careful  and  anxious  to  recon- 
cile, by  a  process  of  reasoning,  its  entire  consistency  with  human  agenc}'.  He 
was  ahvaj-s  ready  to  defend  M'hat  he  believed  to  be  important  truth,  no  matter 
who  might  be  the  assailants;  but  he  never  suffered  himself  to  indulge  in  low 
personalities,  or  in  an  unlovely,  unchristian  spirit  towards  those  who  differed 
from  him.  An  enlarged  catholicity  of  feeling  marked  his  character,  and  he 
loved  all  Avho  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

You  will  infer  from  what  1  have  written  that  I  regard  Mr.  Hinton  as  having 
been  a  much  more  than  ordinary  man,  and  fully  worthy  of  the  distinction 
you  propose  to  confer  upon  him,  in  giving  him  a  place  among  the  worthies  of 
our  American  Church.  There  are,  I  doubt  not,  many  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean,  who  will  respond  gratefully  to  every  thing  kind  and  approving  that 
may  be  said  concerning  him.  Fraternally  yours, 

JAMES  B.  TAYLOR. 

FROM  THE  REV.  HENRY  M.  FIELD. 

West  Springfield,  Mass.,  October  13,  1851. 

Dear  Sir:  I  went  to  St.  Louis  in  the  summer  of  1842,  and  almost  immedi- 
ately became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hinton.  He  was  then  the  leading  Baptist 
clcrg3^nian  in  the  city.  He  had  prcviouslj-  been  settled  at  Chicago.  Soon 
after  coming  to  St.  Louis,  he  attracted  public  attention  by  a  course  of  Lectures 
addressed  to  young  men,  and  by  a  series  of  Sermons  against  Universalism.  He 
enjoyed  great  popularity  as  a  speaker,  and  on  the  nights  of  his  Lectures  his 
church  was  thronged. 

Mr.  Hinton  was  a  man  of  middle  height,  stout  built,  with  a  round  English 
face,  and  most  genial  and  cordial  manners.     He  seemed  to  me  uncommonly 


ISAAC  TAYLOli  lUNTON.  ^H 

full  of  strong:,  healthy  life.  lie  possessed  delightful  powers  of  convcrsjition. 
He  had  nuicli  humour  and  wit,  and  no  one  could  he  dull  in  his  company.  1 
attended  tlic  weddinjj;  of  his  daughter,  when  he  was  as  gay  as  the  young  hride- 
groom.  It  was  his  delight  to  sit  with  a  party  of  friends  at  the  evening  table, 
and,  draining  cup  after  cup  of  tea,  of  which  lie  liad  almost  the  extravagant 
fondness  of  liol)ert  Hall,  entertain  them  witli  anecdotes  of  the  dislinguislieil 
men  of  (ireat  IJrilain.  His  humour,  like  Rowland  Hill's,  sometimes  slipped  out 
unconsciously  in  his  sermons.  The  ne.\t  moment  he  rose  to  a  high  pitch  of 
solemnity.  He  always  preached  without  notes;  his  voice  was  clear  and 
strong,  and  his  feelings  so  truly  and  earnestly  religious  that  he  often  produced 
a  very  deep  impression. 

Mr.  Hinton  was  remarkable  for  his  historical  knowledge,  liefore  coming  to 
America  he  had  assisted  his  brother,  Rev.  John  Howard  Hinton,  of  London, 
in  writing  a  History  of  the  United  States.  He  took  great  interest  in  the 
Prophecies,  and  while  in  St.  Louis  published  a  book  on  that  subject.  I  recall 
his  animated  explanations  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  and  the  Apocalypse.  He 
interested  mc  much,  and  advised  me  to  read  Keith's  Signs  of  the  Times, 
which  he  thought  far  the  best  book  that  had  been  published  on  the  subject. 
He  did  not  look  for  a  peaceful  advent  of  Chri.';tianity  to  universal  empire. 
He  believed  that  the  powers  hostile  to  Religion,  the  oppressive  monarchies  of 
the  old  world,  were  to  be  destroyed  in  terrible  wars.  He  said, — "They 
would  yet  be  drowned  in  blood." 

Mr.  Hinton  was  a  truly  catholic  Christian.  Though  we  belonged  to  differ- 
ent denominations,  we  often  exchanged  pulpits,  and  no  theological  difference 
ever  impaired  the  warmth  of  our  friend>hip.  He  was  active  in  establishing  a 
weekly  "ministers'  meeting,"  composed  of  the  clergymen  of  different  denomi- 
nations. Our  first  meeting  was  at  his  house.  At  that  time  nearly  half  of  the 
population  of  St.  Louis  belonged  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  he  was  anxious 
to  unite  the  whole  Protestant  strength. 

The  Xew  England  men  of  St.  Louis  had  long  wished  to  revive  the  annual 
festival  of  Thanksgiving.  In  1843,  they  obtained  a  Proclamation  of  the  Gov- 
ernor to  that  effect.  It  was  the  first  Thanksgiving  known  in  the  history  of 
Missouri.  The  Baptist,  Methodist,  and  Presbyterian  Pastors  of  St.  Louis 
united  to  celebrate  the  da}'.  The  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  under  the  care 
of  Dr.  Potts,  was  selected  for  the  service,  as  the  largest  in  the  city.  Mr.  Hin- 
ton was  appointed  to  preach  the  sermon.  The  immen.se  building  was  thronged 
to  excess,  and  Mr.  H.  spoke  with  great  earnestness.  He  entered  fully  into  the 
spirit  of  the  day,  bidding  his  hearers  to  put  away  all  sadness  and  grief,  not 
to  mourn  or  weep,  not  to  think  even  of  their  sins — "  Neither  be  ye  sorry;  for 
the  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength."  It  was  the  last  day  of  autumn.  The 
smiling  Indian  Summer  still  lingered  on  the  prairies;  and  it  seemed  indeed  a 
day  on  which  all  sorrow  was  to  be  forgotten. 

Mr.  Hinton  appeared  to  me  remarkable  for  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
entered  into  a  subject.  His  ardour  of  mind,  perhaps,  led  him,  occasionally, 
into  rash  opinions.  Not  long  before  he  left  St.  Louis,  some  facts  which  fell 
under  his  ob.servation,  led  him  to  examine,  and  finally  to  believe  in,  Animal 
Magnetism,  and  he  delivered  a  series  of  Lectures  on  that  subject  in  one  of  the 
jiublic  halls  of  the  city. 

In  184o,  he  was  invited  to  New  Orleans.  The  leading  Baptist  clergymen  of 
the  South  and  West  wished  to  establish  a  church  of  their  own  communion  in 
that  city,  and  Mr.  Hinton  was  selected  as  the  only  man  who  "  liolh  would  do 
and  could  go."  He  left  St.  Louis  to  the  general  regret  of  all  the  churches. 
The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  in  New  Orleans,  in  March,  1847.  He  walked 
with  me  to  the  new  vestry-room,  which  had  been  erected  by  his  congregation, 
as  a  temporar}'  place  of  worship,  while  the}-  should  build  a  church.     He  was 


g22  BAPTIST. 

full  of  animation  at  his  prospects  of  usefulness  in  the  vast  field  which  he  had 
entered.  I  was  then  on  my  way  to  Europe.  lie  said  with  a  sigh, — "  Every- 
body seems  to  be  going  to  England  but  nie."  Thus  sadly  and  fondly  he  still 
turned  to  his  native  land.  The  next  I  heard  of  him,  while  abroad,  was  that 
he  had  fallen  a  victim  to  the  Yellow  Fever. 

Faithfully  yours, 

HENRY  M.  FIELD. 


WILLIAM  MILTON  TRYON.=* 

1833—1847. 

William  Milton  Trton.  the  eldest  son  of  William  and  Jane 
^Phillips)  Tryon,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  10th  of  March, 
1809.  His  father  died,  when  this  son  was  quite  young,  leaving  three 
children  younger  than  liimself.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  England,  came 
to  this  country  with  her  parents,  when  she  was  seven  years  old,  was  bap- 
tized by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton,  of  Philadelpliia,  and  was  a  lady  of  high 
intelligeiice  and  refinement.  William  M.  remained  with  his  mother  till  he 
had  reached  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve,  and  tlien  went  to  live  with  a  wealthy 
uncle  in  Connecticut,  with  a  view  to  receiving  a  liberal  education.  But, 
in  consequence  of  delicate  health,  he  continued  with  his  uncle  but  a 
short  time,  and  then  returned  to  his  mother  in  New  York,  where  he  learned 
a  trade,  and  remained  till  his  seventeenth  year,  when  he  entered  on  the 
religious  life,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sommers. 

Shortly  after  this,  he  went  to  the  South,  partly  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health,  and  partly  with  a  view  to  engage  in  business,  and  resided  for  a 
while  in  Augusta,  Ga.  He  united  with  the  church  there  on  the  oOth  of 
December,  1832,  upon  a  letter  of  dismission  and  recommendation  from  the 
church  with  which  he  had  been  connected  in  New  York  ;  and,  on  the  same 
day,  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel.  With  a  view  to  supply  the  defects 
of  an  imperfect  education,  he  very  soon  entered  the  Mercer  Institute,  (now 
Mercer  University,)  as  a  beneficiary  upon  the  funds  of  the  Baptist  State 
Convention.  Here  he  remained  not  far  from  three  years,  prosecuting  a 
useful,  though  not  very  extended,  course  of  literary  and  theological  study. 
During  this  period,  he  was  a  most  diligent  student,  exhibited  a  fine  type 
of  Christian  character,  and  greatly  endeared  himself  to  both  his  teachers 
and   fellow-students. 

After  leaving  the  Mercer  University,  he  prosecuted,  for  a  time,  very 
successfully,  an  Agency  for  the  Institution,  and  for  increasing  the  Educa- 
tion fund  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  The  first  field  of  his  ministra- 
tions was  Georgia,  and  he  served,  for  some  time,  the  Churches  at 
Washington,  Lumpkin,  and  Columbus.  In  1837,  he  received  a  call  to 
become  the  Pastor  of  the  highly  respectable  Baptist  Church  in  Irwinton, 
(now    Eufanla,)    Ala.,    which    he   accepted.       Here    a    manifest    blessing 

•MSS.  from  Mrs.  L.  .1.  Lawrence,  (formerly  Mrs.  Tryon),  Rev.  Dr.  C.  D.  Malliiry,  Rev. 
\V.  C.  Crane,  and  Rev.  James  Uukins. 


AYILLIAM  MILTON  TIJYON.  gjg 

nttendcHl  his  labours  ;  liis  iniuistciiul  gifts  expanded  ;  and  lie  soon  took  a 
highly  respectable  rank  amongst  the  useful  and  able  ministers  of  the 
denomination.  At  the  close  of  1839,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Church 
in  Wotumpka,  Ala.,  and  held  this  charge  one  year.  In  1841,  he  migrated 
to  Texas,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Missionary  Society, 
and  settled  in  the  County  of  Washington.  In  1845,  he  made  a  tour  into 
the  Northern  States.  In  1846,  he  removed  to  Houston,  where  he  built  up 
a  large  and  prosperous  church.  For  some  time  previous  to  his  death,  he 
had  a  strong  presentiment  that  he  had  not  much  longer  to  live.  When  the 
Yellow  Fever  appeared  in  Houston,  in  1847,  he  remained  at  his  post, 
administering  comfort  and  counsel  to  the  sick  and  dying,  until  he  was  at 
length  prostrated  by  the  fearful  malady.  After  an  illness  of  ten  days,  he 
died  on  the  IGth  of  November,  in  the  forty-nintli  year  of  his  age.  His 
sufferings  were  intense,  but  thej'  were  endured  with  the  utmost  fortitude, 
and  closed  in  a  triumphant  death. 

Mr.  Tryon  was  married,  in  1840,  to  Louisa  J.,  daughter  of  James  and 
Priscilla  (Wootton)  Reynolds,  who  were  both  natives  of  South  Carolina, 
but  removed  to  Alabama  when  this  daughter  was  quite  young.  They 
(Mr.  T.  and  his  wife)  had  four  children,  one  of  whom  was  born  after  the 
father's  death.  Mrs.  Tryon  has  since  become  a  Mrs.  Lawrence,  and  still 
resides  in  Houston. 

FROM  THE  REV.  AND  HON.  R.  E.  B.  BAYLOR, 

CHIEF    JUSTICE    OF    TEXAS. 

IIolly-Oake,  March  1,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  The  Rev.  William  ^L  Tryon,  concerning;  whom  you  inquire, 
came  to  Texas  a  few  years  after  I  did,  and  we  soon  became  intimate  fiicnds, 
and  fellow-labourers  in  our  Master's  vineyard.  I  had  seen  and  heard  him 
preach,  once  before  that  time,  and  was  greatly  impressed  by  his  discourse,  as 
indicating  a  mind  of  a  very  superior  order.  He  came  among  us  in  the  capacity 
of  a  Missionary,  and  ready  to  endure  all  the  privations  and  sacrifices  inci- 
dent to  missionary  life.  He  came  well  dressed,  and  had  the  bearing  and 
manners  of  a  Christian  gentleman, — presenting,  it  must  be  acknowledged, 
rather  ;  strange  appearance  to  many  who,  at  that  early  da}-,  were  .seeking 
homes  in  our  then  untenanted  solitude  of  nature.  He,  however,  very  soon 
became  a  real  Texian,  and  I  have  often  seen  him  going  to  church,  mounted  on 
an  old  Spanish  horse,  with  his  black  cloak  fluttering  around  him,  and  torn  by 
the  bushes,  so  that  his  person  was  scarcelj'  protected  from  the  winds  and 
storms  he  had  to  encounter.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  here,  he  entered  on 
a  course  of  vigorous  ministerial  labour  which  terminated  only  with  his  life. 
In  organizing  churches,  establishing  pra3er-meetings,  and  givmg  direction  to 
the  religious  state  of  things  where  all  was  new  and  unsettled,  he  exerted 
an  influence  the  importance  of  which  eternity  alone  ran  fully  reveal. 

As  to  his  personal  appearance — he  was  a  little  bclou'  the  medium  height,  and 
ills  figure  was  symmetrical ;  liis  hair  was  dark  fla  xen  or  brown,  hanging  in  prolu- 
sion about  his  face;  his  eyes  were  grey  and  of  a  mild  expression;  and  his  coun- 
tenance, altogether,  intellectual,  sedate,  and  sometimes  tinged  with  .sadness. 
At  the  greetings  of  friondship,  however,  his  face  easily  lighted  up  with  a  pleas- 
ant smile,  which  revealed  to  you  a  fountain  of  generous,  glowing  sensibility.  In 
the  social  circle  he  was  often  extremely  agreeable,  though  never  forgetful  of 
the  dignit)'  that  pertains  to  the  character  of  an  ambassador  of  Christ.  For 
no  moral  quality    perhaps,  was  he  more  distinguished  than  firmness.     Indeed, 


814  BAPTIST. 

he  had  this  virtue  ahnost  to  a  fault;  and,  as  an  illustration  of  it,  I  may  men- 
tion that,  often,  ■when  we  were  in  the  pulpit  together,  the  contest  would  arise 
which  of  us  should  preach,  and  it  would  sometimes  be  continued  so  long  that 
I  knew  it  must  be  observed  by  the  congregation,  and  the  result  generally  was 
that  I  yielded. 

As  a  Preacher,  Mr.  Trj'-on  certainly  had  a  rare  combination  of  excellences. 
While  there  was  nothing  in  his  sermons  to  suggest  the  idea  that  he  Avas 
hunting  after  novelties,  there  was  a  freshness  and  originality  in  his  thoughts 
and  modes  of  expression  that  rarely  failed  to  enlist  and  enchain  the  attention 
of  his  audience.  His  discourses  were  highly  evangelical,  and  whatever  his 
particular  theme  might  be,  he  never  straj^ed  out  of  sight  of  the  Cross.  He 
always  showed  himself  thoroughly  possessed  of  his  subject,  and  what  he 
delivered  was  the  result  of  well  matured  and  well  digested  thought.  He 
reasoned  with  great  power  and  exhorted  with  great  fervour.  In  his  exhorta- 
tions, however,  there  was  nothing  of  rant  or  declamation,  but  the  most  solemn 
and  impressive  appeals,  which,  whether  directed  to  the  sinner  or  the  saint, 
were  well  titted  to  take  effect  upon  the  heart  and  conscience.  lie  had  an 
admirable  faculty  also  of  interweaving  with  his  discourses  incidents  that  had 
occurred  in  his  own  experience,  or  had  been  communicated  to  him  by  others — 
he  would  bring  them  out  not  only  with  graceful  facilit}'",  but  .sometimes  with 
surprising  effect.  But  neither  in  this  nor  in  anything  else  did  he  ever  violate 
the  proprieties  of  the  pulpit.  His  style  was  chaste,  his  gesture  simple  and 
natural,  and  his  manner  generally  composed,  though  I  have  sometimes  seen 
him,  in  his  addresses  to  impenitent  sinners,  affected  to  tears.  I  may  add 
that  his  preaching  was  specially  adapted  to  originate  and  sustain  revivals  of 
religion.  In  these  he  always  appeared  as  the  master  spirit;  and  some  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  success  of  his  labours  from  the  fact  that,  during  his 
first  year's  i-esidence  in  this  region,  he  baptized  nearly  two  hundred  indi 
viduals. 

Mr.  Tryon  was  remarkably  punctual  in  fulfilling  his  engagement.-?.  If  he 
were  not  present  to  preach  at  the  time  appointed,  the  congregation  alway.'' 
knew  that  some  insuperable  obstacle  had  interposed  to  prevent  it.  He  was 
particularly  felicitous  in  administering  the  ordinance  of  Baptism.  "While  he 
often,  on  such  occasions,  explained  the  distinctive  views  of  the  Baptists  with 
great  clearness  and  impressiveness,  he  did  it  in  that  bland  and  conciliatory 
manner  that  rarely  gave  offence  to  Christians  of  other  communions. 

It  is  due  to  Brother  Tryon  to  state  that  with  him  originated  the  project  of 
establishing  a  Baptist  University  in  this  country.  He  first  suggested  tlie  idea 
to  me,  and  I  immediately  fell  in  with  it.  Very  soon  thereafter,  we  .sent  a 
memorial  for  a  charter  to  the  Congress  of  the  Republic.  As  I  was  most 
familiar  with  such  things,  I  dictated  the  memorial,  and  he  wrote  it.  In  it 
will  be  found  the  words, — suggested  by  myself, — <{  We  wi.sh  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood  that  we  ask  no  donations  from  the  Government,  expect  none,  and 
never  Avill  receive  any."  Thank  God,  we  have  gone  on  thus  far,  rel^'ing 
solely  ui)on  his  blessing,  and  the  private  charities  of  generous  friends;  and  I 
may  say  with  truth  that  our  University  ranks  among  the  first  luKtitutions 
of  the  kind  in  the  State. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  my  regard. 

R.  E.  B.  BAYLOR. 


GEORGE  TELIX  HEARD.  8I5 


GEORGE  FELIX  HEARD  * 

1833—1844. 

George  Felix  Heard,  a  son  of  Col.  Abram  and  Nancy  (Ooffc) 
Heard,  was  l»oru  in  Greciisborough,  Ga.,  on  the  27tli  of  February,  1812. 
He  entered  the  preparatory  school  at  Athens,  Ga.,  in  1825,  and  in  due 
time  becaiiio  a  inomber  of  Franklin  College  in  that  place,  and  graduated 
with  honour  iu  1829.  When  he  was  not  more  than  eleven  or  twelve  years 
old,  he  became  deeply  concerned  for  his  immortal  interests :  but,  having 
no  one  to  encourage  his  serious  thoughts  and  feelings,  he  gradually  sunk 
back  to  his  accustomed  habit  of  indifiFerence.  Soon  after  he  entered  Col- 
lege, in  1827,  his  mind  was  again  seriou.sly  directed  to  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion, but  he  again  resolved  to  delay,  fixing,  however,  a  definite  time  when 
he  would  make  it  the  all-cngros^ing  concern.  When  the  time  which  he 
had  fixed,  arrived,  he  made  an  efi"ort  to  carry  his  purpose  into  effect,  but 
found  himself  in  a  state  of  utter  insensibility.  Shortly  after  this,  he  was 
attacked  with  a  severe  illness;  but  even  this,  as  he  thought,  only  contribu- 
ted to  increase  his  obduracy.  By  the  time  that  he  had  recovered,  there 
were  indications  in  College  of  an  approaching  revival  of  religion  ;  and  he 
resolved  to  throw  himself  into  the  current,  and  do  his  utmost  to  obtain  the 
long  wished  for  blessing.  After  a  season  of  distress,  bordering  upon 
despair,  light  gradually  dawned  upon  his  mind,  and  the  peace  that  passeth 
understanding  took  possession  of  his  heart.  From  this  time,  (October, 
1827,)  liis  grand  inquiry  seems  to  have  been,  in  what  way  he  could  most 
effectually  promote  tlie  interests  of  his  Redeemer's  cause.  He  joined  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Athens,  in  November  following,  and  at  an  early 
period  resolved  to  become  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel. 

Shortly  after  his  graduation,  he  joined  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton,  and  remained  there,  at  that  time,  for  about  a  year.  He  then 
went  to  the  Andover  Seminary,  being  attracted  thither  chiefly,  as  it  would 
seem,  by  his  great  admiration  for  Professor  Stuart  as  a  teacher  of  Hebrew. 
Having  studied  here  for  about  a  year,  he  returned  and  resumed  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Princeton  Seminary,  and  continued  it  till  the  beginning  of 
May,  l^^oo.  His  mind  had,  for  a  long  time,  been  unsettled  on  the  subject 
of  Baptism  ;  and,  having  now  become  fully  convinced  that  the  views  of 
the  Baptists  could  be  sustained  by  Scripture,  he  felt  constrained  to  change 
his  ecclesiastical  relations,  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  that  denomination.  On 
leaving  the  Seminary  to  complete  his  studies  under  Dr.  Brantly,  of  Phila- 
delphia, Dr.  ^Miller  introduced  him  to  Dr.  B.,  by  the  following  note: — 

"  Prixckton,  April  30.  1833. 

*'  Rev,  and  dear  Sir  :  Although    I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  a  personal 

acquaintance   with  you,  I  take   the   liberty  of  commending   to  your  notice 

and  Christian  regard  Mr.  George   F.  Heard,  a  young  gentleman  who  has 

been  between  two  and  three  years  a  member  of  the  Theological  Seminary 

♦  MSS.  from  his  brother,— Rev.  J.  T.  Heard,  and  Hon.  Thomas  Stocks. 


816  BAPTIST. 

in  this  place,  and  who   is  now  about  to  withdraw  from  it,  and  to  study  for 
a  few  months  under  your  direction. 

"  Mr.  Heard  has  always  maintained  with  us  an  excellent  standing,  in 
every  respect.  He  has  good  talents,  hopeful  piety,  polished  manners, — 
j)rudent  and  dignified  deportment,  and  is  well  adapted,  in  my  opinion,  to 
be  eminently  useful  in  the  Gospel  ministry.  In  short,  he  is  such  that  we 
should  all  have  been  glad  to  retain  him  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
cannot  but  regret  his  contemplated  departure  from  it.  He  thinks  it  his 
duty,  however,  to  attacli  himself  to  the  Antipedobaptist  denomination,  to 
which  his  only  surviving  parent  belongs,  and  in  which  he  was  educated.  In 
making  this  change  in  his  ecclesiastical  position,  though  I  doubt  not  he  is 
in  error, — yet  I  have  as  little  doubt  he  is  sincere  and  honest;  and  can, 
therefore,  cordially  wish  him  God  speed,  and  affectionately  recommend  him 
to  your  friendly  regard  and  confidence.  May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
go  with  him  and  bless  him  ! 

"  I  am,  Ilev.  and  dear  Sir,  with  great  respect. 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

Samuel  Miller." 

The  present  Rev.  Dr.  Brantly  of  Philadelphia,  whoso  father  was  Pastor 
of  the  Church  with  which  Mr.  Heard  became  connected,  has  communicated 
t.o  me  his  recollections  of  him  at  that  period  in  the  following  paragraph  : — 

"  Though  young  at  the  time,  I  well  remember  the  appearance  of  Mr. 
Heard,  as  he  rose  before  a  large  audience,  to  relate  his  experience  in  the 
investigation  of  the  subject,  in  relation  to  which  his  views  had  undergone 
an  important  change.  He  spoke  with  great  diffidence,  and  with  an  air  of 
sincerity  and  candour,  which  made  a  very  favourable  impression  on  the 
liearers.  In  the  Church  which  he  was  leaving  he  had  many  friends  from 
whom  he  had  experienced  uniform  kindness,  and  had  many  precious  asso- 
ciations which  it  would  always  be  grateful  to  him  to  cherish  ;  but  the  irre- 
sistible promptings  of  duty  had  compelled  him  to  change  his  ecclesiastical 
relations.  Shortly  after  his  Baptism,  I  heard  him  preach  his  first  sermon, 
from  Psalm  ciii.  19.  The  only  thing  I  remember  of  the  discourse  beyond 
the  text,  was  the  earnest  desire  which  he  expressed,  in  the  conclusion,  that 
his  first  sermon  might  be  blessed  to  the  awakening  and  conversion  of  some 
one  soul.     His  desire,  I  believe,  was  gratified." 

Having  thus  transferred  his  relation  to  the  Baptist  Church,  and  studied 
a  few  months  under  Dr.  Brantly,  ho  returned  to  his  father's  in  Georgia. 
[n  February,  1834,  he  received  a  call  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Black 
Swamp,  S.  C,  which  he  accepted  ;  but  the  next  year  he  removed  to  Mobile, 
Ala.,  and  became  the  Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  city.  He 
remained  hero,  labouring  witK  great  zeal  and  fidelity,  about  five  years, 
during  the  hitter  three  of  which  he  edited  a  Baptist  paper  called  "  The 
Monitor."  In  1841,  he  removed  to  Harrison  County,  Texas,  where  his 
course  was  one  of  constantly  increar.ing  brightness  until  it  was  terminated 
by  death.  He  died  of  a  brain  fever,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  in  the  year 
1844. 

In  1839,  Mr.  Heard  was  married  to  Emily  Smith  Traylor,  of  Perry 
County,  Ala.     She  died   in  July,    1840,   leaving  an  infant  son,  who  lived 


GEORGE  FELIX  HEARD.  gJI^ 

only  a  ft-w  years.  In  1842,  Mr.  Hoard  was  married  to  Mary  A.  Webster, 
with  whom  he  had  been  acquainted  in  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  and,  by  this  mar- 
riage, had  one  son,  who  still  survives,  bearing  his  father's  name.  His 
second  wife  deceased,  some  years  after  the  death  of  her  husband. 

FROM  THE  HUN.  THOMAS  STOCKS. 

Oakuill,  (near  Greensboroiigh.  Ga.,)  ) 
June  30,  1859.  J 
My  dear  Sir:  I  have  received  your  letter  asking  for  my  recollections  and 
impressions  of  the  late  Rev.  George  F.  Heard;  but  1  can  reply  to  it  only  in 
the  briefest  manner.  lie  was  born  and  lived  up  to  the  time  of  his  entering 
College,  Avithin  three  miles  of  my  residence,  so  that  T  had  a  good  opportunity 
of  knowing  his  early  developments.  lie  was  a  model  youth,  even  before  he 
embraced  religion, — was  distinguished  for  modesty,  discretion,  and  an  amia- 
ble and  dignified  bearing.  After  he  commenced  his  ministry,  he  remained 
here  nearly  a  year,  and,  during  that  time,  I  had  the  privilege  of  hearing  him 
preach  often,  and  observing  what  seemed  to  me  his  high  qualilications  for  the 
profession  he  had  chosen.  Without  any  ostentation  of  superior  sanctity,  he 
made  it  evident  to  all  that  he  was  an  eminentl}-  devout  man,  and  that  his 
heart  was  fully  in  his  work.  With  a  good  personal  appearance,  he  had  an 
excellent  voice,  and  a  natural,  effective  gesticulation — he  never  attempted  to 
play  the  orator,  but  he  was  really  an  admirable  public  speaker.  The  subjects 
of  his  discourses  were  generally  taken  from  the  very  heart  of  the  Gospel — no 
one  who  heard  him  could  resist  the  conviction  that  he  was  determined,  with 
the  great  Apostle,  to  know  nothing  in  his  public  ministrations,  save  Jesus 
Christ  and  Ilim  crucified.  Ilis  preaching  attracted  great  attention  through- 
out this  region;  and  one  of  our  most  prominent  churches  would  gladly  have 
detained  him  as  its  Pastor,  but  he  believed  that  the  Providence  of  God  pointed 
him  to  another  field,  and  nothing  could  be  allowed  to  stand  between  him  and 
his  convictions  of  duty.  It  was  but  a  few  years,  however,  that  he  was  spared 
to  labour,  before  he  was  called  to  his  reward.  His  course  was  brief,  but  it 
was  briglit,  and  the  memory  of  his  gifts  and  virtues  is  still  among  the  cher- 
ished treasures  of  many  hearts. 

Yours  with  great  respect, 

and  in  Gospel  bonds, 

THOMAS  STOCKS 


FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  CAREY  CRAIv'E. 

Semple  Broaddus  College,   June  30, 1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  first  saw  the  Rev.  George  Feli.x  Heard  in  the  pulpit  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  in  June,  1833.  He  had  then  just  left 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and  was  supplying  the  pulpit  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Brantly.  T  next  saw  him  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  while  I  was  Pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  that  place,  and  he  the  Editor  of  the  Mobile  Monitor. 
I  met  him  often  afterwards.  He  aided  me  in  a  .series  of  meetings,  and  preached, 
in  connection  with  the  Rev.  William  M.  Tryon,  from  day  to  da}',  for  nearly  a 
fortnight.  We  met  and  co-operated  in  the  Alabama  Baptist  Convention,  and 
I  regretted  deeply  his  removal  from  Alabama  to  Texas. 

Mr.  Heard  was  of  middling  stature,  llorid  complexion,  light  hair,  face  well 
formed,  and  expressive  of  great  strength  of  purpose,  and  markeil  b}'  traces 
of  vigorous  and  earnest  thought.  His  habits  were  scholarly.  He  was  rather 
reserved    in  his   intercourse  with  strangers,  and  might  at  first  have  appeared 

Vol.  VT.  103 


818  BAPTIST. 

somewhat  distant;  but  with  those  who  knew  him  well,  he  was  both  familiar 
and  cordial.  His  sermons  were  well  digested;  highly  scriptural  in  their  tone; 
chaste  and  even  classical  in  diction;  and  delivered  with  uncommon  earnest- 
ness and  grace  of  manner.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard  a  clearer 
or  better  reasoned  sermon  on  "Special  Providence,"  than  I  once  heard  him 
deliver.  Had  he  lived  longer,  he  would  have  produced  a  stronger  impression 
of  his  powers  as  a  Theologian,  a  Preacher,  and  a  Scholar;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing his  course  was  so  brief,  more  than  one  generation  must  pass  away  before 
his  fine  talents  and  accomplishments,  and  his  earnest  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
his  Master,  will  be  forgotten. 
I  am,   as  ever, 

Yours  sincerely,  in  Christian  bonds, 

WILLIAM  CARET  CRANE. 


ROCKWOOD   GIDDINGS. 

1835—1839. 

FROM  PROFESSOR  J.  E.  FARNAM. 

Georgetown  College.  Ky.,  April  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  I  had  an  acquaintance  with  the  llev.  Rockwood  Giddings 
of  several  years  standing,  and  sufficiently  intimate  to  justify  me  in  speak- 
ing with  some  confidence  of  his  prominent  characteristics.  I  am  happy  to 
communicate  to  you  my  impressions  concerning  him,  in  connection  with 
a  brief  narrative  embodying  the  leading  facts  and  events  of  his  life. 

Rockwood  Giddings  was  born  in  Plymouth,  N.  H.,  August  8,  1812, 
and  was  consequently  twenty-seven  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
October  29,  1839.  His  father,  William  Giddings,  Esq.,  sent  him,  at  the 
age  of  fifteen,  to  the  New  Hampton  Literary  Institution,  at  that  time 
under  the  direction  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  B.  F.  Farnsworth,  where  he 
remained  two  years,  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  preparatory  to  a  college  course.  Unlike  most  boys  of  his  age. 
he  manifested  no  disposition  to  engage  in  the  ordinary  sports  of  boyhood  : 
and  whilst  others  were  spending  their  Saturdays  in  hunting,  or  fishing,  or 
profitless  lounging,  young  Giddings  might  be  seen  delving  at  his  books,  or, 
solitary  and  alone,  wandering  among  the  granite  hills  that  encircle  the 
Institution.  His  grave,  self-reliant,  yet  unafi'ectedly  modest,  bearing  soon 
acquired  for  hira  the  soubriquet  oi  "the  young  parson;''  while  his  pro- 
-gress  in  learning,  his  graceful  elocution,  and  a  command  of  language 
wonderful  in  a  lad  of  his  age,\secured  for  him  the  respect  of  all  who  knew 
him. 

During  his  residence  at  New  Hampton,  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
subject  of  religion  ;  and,  after  several  weeks  of  prayerful  consideration  of 
the  plan  of  salvation  l)y  faith,  he  was  enabled  to  see  its  adaptation  to 
his  case,  and  to  accept  of  pardon  through  a  crucified  Redeemer.  He 
was  subsequently  baptized,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  at  New 
Hampton. 


ROCK  WOOD  GIDDINGS.  819 

In  1829,  he  entered  Waterville  College,  then  under  tlic  Presidency  of 
the  venerable  Jeremiah  Chaplin,  D.  D.,  where  he  graduated  in  1833. 
Though  he  was  the  youngest  member  of  his  class,  and  not  as  far  advanced 
in  his  preparatory  studies  as  were  most  of  his  classmates,  he  very  soon 
took  honourable  rank,  and  at  the  end  of  four  years,  but  very  few  of  the 
class  were  superior  to  him  in  general  scholarship,  and  not  one  his  equal  in 
the  department  of  Belles  Lettrcs. 

At  one  period  of  his  college  course,  he  was  impressed  with  the  convic- 
tion that  it  was  his  duty  to  devote  his  life  to  the  Christian  Ministry  ;  and 
the  Baptist  Church  in  Waterville,  apprized  of  his  views  in  the  premises, 
toiulerod  him  a  license  to  preach  the  Gospel.  But,  as  he  did  not,  for 
some  years  thereafter,  exercise  the  authority  thus  conferred,  it  is  probable 
that  a  sense  of  his  own  unfitness  for  the  sacred  office  deterred  him  from 
entering  the  pulpit. 

Soon  after  leaving  College,  he  went  to  A'^irginia,  where  he  commenced 
the  study  of  Medicine,  for  which  he  had  a  great  partiality,  having  entered 
upon  his  collegiate  studies  with  the  medical  profession  in  prospect  as  the 
goal  of  his  ambition.  He,  subsequently,  removed  to  Warsaw,  Ky.,  which 
he  made  his  residence  until  he  had  completed  his  medical  studies.  lie 
was  intending  to  locate  himself  in  that  part  of  the  State,  where  he  had 
become  extensively  known,  and  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him. 
But  an  elderly  physician  residing  in  Missouri,  who  desired  to  retire  from 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice,  and  who  had  formed  a  high  opinion  of 
young  Giddings'  qualifications  for  ultimate  success  and  usefulness  in  his 
profession,  offered  him  a  partnership  on  such  terms  as  were  entirely  satis- 
factory ;  and  his  arrangements  were  soon  made  to  enter  upon  the  field  of 
laliour  which  seemed  to  have  been  thus  providentially  opened  before  him. 
But  the  profession  which  Mr.  Giddings  had  chosen,  was  not  the  one  for 
which  the  Master  had  prepared  him.  The  Great  Physician  again  called, — 
and  again  the  love  of  souls  burned  more  brightly  upon  the  altars  of  his 
heart.  He  hesitated,  but  not  long.  His  decision  was  reversed.  "  I  can- 
not," he  wrote,  "  go  to  Missouri,  urdess  I  go  to  preach  the  Gospel." 

He  was  shortly  afterwards  ordained,  and,  by  invitation,  visited  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Shelbyville,  with  a  view  to  a  settlement  with  them. 
The  church  were  delighted  with  his  preaching,  and  gave  him  a  unani- 
mous call  to  become  their  Pastor.  This  was  in  the  winter  of  1835.  That 
church  had,  for  several  years,  been  without  a  regular  Pastor,  and  had 
become,  in  consequence,  feeble  and  inefficient.  But,  under  Mr.  Gid- 
dings' ministrations,  it  was  soon  revived,  its  membership  greatly  increased, 
and  its  inefficiency  was  succeeded  by  an  active  co-operation  in  the 
benevolent  enterprises  of  the  day  for  extending  the  Redeemer's  King- 
dom, at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  one  of  the  very  few  Baptist  churches 
in  Kentucky  that  then  enjoyed  the  entire  services  of  a  regular  Pastor. 

Of  Mr.  Giddings  as  a  Preacher,  a  Pastor  and  a  Christian,  the  late  Dr. 
J.  L.  Waller  thus  speaks,  in  an  obituary  notice  of  him  shortly  aftor  his 
death.  "  The  high  and  commanding  station  which  he  occupied  among  his 
brethren,  the  strong  hold  that  he  held  upon  their  affections,  though  but  a 
youth  and  but  a  few  years  among  them,  and  the  jvork  that  he  has  done, — 
these  are  his  euloiriuni.      His    menmrv  will   be   cherished  bv   all  who  knew 


820  BAPTIST. 

him.  The  writer  of  this  was  intimate  with  him.  Wc  sat  under  his  min- 
istry for  nearly  twelve  months ;  and  never  has  it  fallen  to  our  lot  to  form 
acquaintance  with  a  man  more  devotedly  pious  and  exemplary  in  all  his 
walks  and  conversation.  During  these  twelve  months,  we  were  with  him 
almost  every  day ;  nor  do  we  remember  once  to  have  heard  a  word  escape 
his  lips  that  would  not  bear  the  criticism  of  the  severest  moralist.  Young 
as  he  was,  such  was  the  dignity  of  his  deportment,  so  amiable  and  excellent 
was  he  in  his  manners,  that  he  commanded  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all. 
He  never  acted,  in  any  company,  or  on  any  occasion,  beneath  the  Gospel 
Minister.  His  talents  were  of  the  highest  order;  and,  had  he  lived,  he 
would  have  ranked  witli  the  giant  intellects  of  the  age.  He  never  took  a 
commonplace  view  of  any  subject,  but  was  always  masterly  and  profound 
upon  whatever  he  treated.  His  manner  as  a  preacher  was  always  solemn 
and  impressive.  Nothing  unworthy  the  pulpit  ever  escaped  him.  He 
aimed  at  no  display ;  made  no  studied  eiforts  to  amuse  or  to  amaze  by 
rhetorical  flourishes  or  theatrical  starts.  His  was  the  eloquence  of  thought, 
of  religion;  and  no  man  who  could  think,  or  who  was  pious,  ever  listened 
to  him  without  interest  and  edification.  So  equally  balanced  was  his 
mind,  that  no  one  faculty  seemed  better  developed  than  another.  He 
seemed  to  possess  all  the  discretion  that  age  and  experience  could  give. 
He  indulged  in  no  vain  speculations,  no  impracticable  schemes.  He  wasted 
no  time  in  spinning  gossamer  theories,  or  in  devising  Utopian  plans.  His 
was  a  practical  mind.  He  was  quick  in  decision,  planned  with  discrimi- 
nating clearness,  and  executed  with  promptness  and  energy.  He  filled 
every  station  to  which  he  Was  called  with  an  ability  that  astonished  his 
most  ardent  admirers.  He  was  the  best  model  for  young  preachers  that 
we  ever  knew." 

During  his  Pastorate  at  Shelbyville,  Mr.  Giddings  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Hansborough,  daughter  of  Joel  Hansborough,  Esq.,  of  Shelby 
County, — a  devotedly  pious  and  most  estimable  lady.  But  this  union, 
seemingly  auspicious  of  much  good  to  the  cause  of  religion,  was  of  very 
brief  continuance.  In  less  than  twelve  months,  his  young  wife  was  taken 
from  pain  and  suffering  to  the  mansion  of  rest  prepared  for  her  in  Heaven. 
For  a  time,  this  aflSictive  dispensation  of  Providence  pressed  heavily  upon 
his  spirit;  but  he  repined  not.  A  great  work  was  before  him,  and  to  its 
accomplishment  he  addressed  himself  with  increased  devotion  and  energy. 

In  tlie  fall  of  1838,  Mr.  Giddings  was  appointed  to  the  Presidency  of 
the  Baptist  College  at  Georgetown.  This  Institution,  originally  established 
and  partially  endowed  with  a  view  to  the  education  of  young  men  prepar- 
ing for  the  ministry,  had  passed  through  a  succession  of  reverses,  and  its 
friends  had  almost  abandoned  it  in  despair.  "Without  funds,  witliout  a 
Faculty,  with  a  Board  of  Trustees  composed  of  men  connected  with  three 
different  religious  denominations,  at  that  time  uncompromisingly  hostile  to 
each  other,  with  a  rival  College  springing  up  by  its  side  and  already  over- 
shadowing it,  the  Georgetown  College  stood  the  personification  of  starving 
orphanage,  quietly  awaiting  its  dissolution.  Mr.  Giddings  was  fully 
apprized  of  all  these  facts,  and  he  knew,  too,  that  several  attempts  by 
older  men  than  himself  to  resuscitate  the  Institution  had  failed  ;  but  he 
believed  that  what  ought  to  be  done  could  be  done,  and  that  the  Kentucky 


ROCKWOOD  GIDDINGS.  g21 

Baptist.'?  were  abundantly  able,  and  tliat  they  would  be  willing,  to  endow 
their  College,  if  the  matter  were  properly  placed  before  them,  lie 
accepted  the  appointment  to  its  Presidency,  with  the  understanding  that 
he  should  be  permitted  to  spend  whatever  time  might  be  necessary  in 
securing  an  ample  endowment,  and  with  a  firm  resolution  to  return  to  the 
pulpit  as  soon  as  he  should  have  accomplished   this  object. 

His  church  at  Shelby ville  had  not  been  apprized  of  his  appointment, 
when  one  of  its  members,  meeting  him  on  the  street,  said  to  him, — "  Brother 
Giddings,  I  have  had  laid  aside,  for  some  time,  five  hundred  dollars  for  our 
College  at  Georgetown  ;  but,  as  there  is  no  prospect  of  our  doing  anything 
there  in  the  way  of  educating  our  young  preachers,  I  am  undecided  what 
I  had  better  do  with  it."  Mr.  Giddings  then  informed  him  of  his  appoint- 
ment to.  and  his  acceptance  of,  an  Agency  for  the  College,  and  pro- 
posed to  him  to  head  a  subscription  for  its  endowment  with  the  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  gentleman  cheerfully  gave  the  money,  and  offered  to 
double  the  sum  if  the  College  would  find  some  other  suitable  Agent,  and 
let  him  remain  with  his  church.  A  similar  spirit  animated  the  members 
of  his  church  generally  ;  and,  though  they  felt  that  they  were  sustaining 
a  great  loss  in  giving  up  a  beloved  Pastor,  their  approval  of  his  course 
was  manifested  by  a  subscription  of  several  thousand  dollars  towards  the 
endowment  of  the  College. 

With  this  earnest  of  future  success,  Mr.  Giddings  entered  upon  his 
Agency.  Wherever  he  went,  he  was  received  with  cordiality,  and  his 
very  presence  seemed  to  inspire  confidence  in  his  ability  to  accomplish 
what  he  had  undertaken.  Old  prejudices  against  "  educated  "  ministers 
melted  down  before  the  fervid  eloquence  of  his  pulpit  ministrations,  and 
the  simplicity  of  his  piety,  as  exhibited  in  his  conversation  and  deportment. 
Many,  who  had  never  before  given  a  dollar  for  ministerial  education,  now 
subscribed  their  hundreds,  and  pledged  themselves  to  give  more  if  it 
should  be  found  necessary.  Encouraged  by  his  success,  the  Trustees  of 
the  College  filled  the  vacant  Professorships,  purchased  additional  grounds, 
and  contracted  for  the  erection  of  a  new  college  edifice.  Students  flocked 
to  the  resuscitated  Institution,  and  among  them  several  who  are  now 
among  the  most  efficient  and  useful  ministers  of  the  Baptist  denomination 
in  Kentucky.  The  rival  College  was,  in  a  few  months,  removed  to  a  more 
eligible  locality,  and  Georgetown  College  entered  upon  a  career  of  pros- 
perity highly  encouraging  to  its  friends. 

In  loss  than  eight  months  President  Giddings  had  secured,  in  uncon- 
ditional promissory  notes,  more  than  eighty  thousand  dollars  towards  an 
endowment, — about  one  half  of  the  sum  he  proposed  to  raise,  and  which, 
had  he  l)een  spared,  he  felt  confident  he  could  obtain  in  the  next  twelve 
months.  But  the  self-imposed  labour  of  an  Agency,  performed  on  horse- 
back, in  all  kinds  of  weather,  proved  too  severe  on  a  constitution  naturally 
feeble.  He  could  not  resist  the  temptation,  occasionally  presented,  during 
his  travels  through  the  State,  of  participating  in  protracted  meetings;  and, 
on  two  or  throe  occasion.',  his  labours  in  these  meetings  had  prostrated  his 
physical  powers  and  thrown  him  upon  a  bed  of  sickness.  On  the  last  of 
these,  at  the  Long  Run  Church,  after  preaching  every  day  for  nearly  two 
weeks,  and  baptizing  a  large  number  of  converts,  he  sank  in  the  pulpit  in 


822  BAPTIST. 

the  midst  of  his  sermon.  In  a  few  days,  he  was  carried  to  the  house  of 
his  father-iu-law,  in  Shelby  County,  where,  in  spite  of  the  best  medical 
aid,  he  gradually  declined,  until  it  became  obvious  to  himself  and  others 
that  his  labours  on  earth  had  terminated.  He  calmly  arranged  his  tem- 
poral affairs,  pertaining  chiefly  to  the  details  of  his  Agency  ;  and,  when 
this  was  done,  he  expressed  a  perfect  willingness  to  depart,  if  it  should  be 
the  will  of  God, — ^assured  that,  if  the  endowment  of  the  College  was 
desirable  for  the  good  of  his  cause.  He  would  raise  up  some  one  to  com- 
plete what  he  had  been  enabled  to  commence  and  to  prosecute  with  so 
much  success. 

Much  of  the  time  during  his  last  illness,  his  mind  was  wandering;  but, 
even  wlien  the  paroxysms  of  fever  were  upon  him,  "the  ruling  passion, 
strong  in  death,"  possessed  his  mind.  Sometimes  he  imagined  himself  in 
the  pulpit,  when  he  would  go  through,  in  a  few  moments,  all  the  forms  of  a 
public  service, — prayer,  singing,  the  sermon,  the  benediction, — would 
address  the  impenitent,  the  avvalcened,  the  professors  of  religion,  and  with 
language  that  seemed  almost  inspired.  At  other  times,  he  supposed  him- 
self to  be  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  Agency, — would  solicit  from  his 
visiters  subscriptions  to  the  College  endowment,  setting  forth  the  impor- 
tance of  ministerial  education,  and  commenting  upon  the  liabilities  of  his 
brethren  who  had  already  aided  hini.  But,  during  the  intervals  between 
his  febrile  paroxysms,  his  mind  was  calm,  peaceful,  and  resigned  to  the 
will  of  his  Heavenly  Father  ;  and  his  death  was  such  as  might  have  been 
anticipated  by  all  who  knew  him  well. 

At  tlie  request  of  the  Shelbyville  Church,  his  remains  were  deposited  in 
their  church-yard ;  and  a  beautiful  marble  monument  was  erected  over 
them.  The  Trustees  of  the  College  also  caused  to  be  erected  upon  the 
College  campus  an  obelisk,  of  Kentucky  marble,  commemorative  of  his 
Clirisiian  character,  and  of  their  gratitude  for  his  self-sacrificing  services 
in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Education  and  Religion. 

Mr.  Giddings  was  a  man  of  uncommonly  prepossessing  personal  appear- 
ance. He  was  about  six  feet  in  height,  finely  proportioned,  with  dark  hair 
and  eyes,  a  countenance  beaming  with  benevolence  and  frankness,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  indicative  of  great  firmness  of  purpose.  He  was  beloved 
by  all  who  knew  him.  Such  was  the  maturity  of  his  judgment,  his  prudence, 
his  dignified  yet  affable  bearing,  that,  while  the  younger  members  of  liis 
church  looked  up  to  hiui  as  a  counsellor  and  a  guide,  the  aged  members 
found  in  tlieir  youthful  Pastor  a  "  staff  of  support  "  in  their  Christian 
pilgrimage.  He  was  a  great  favourite  with  his  aged  brethren  in  the  minis- 
try, many  of  whom,  still  living,  cherish  his  memory  with  the  feelings  of  a 
parent  for  a  departed  child. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  truly  yours, 

J.  E.  FARNAM. 


HIRAM  ATWELL  GRAVES.  §23 


HIRAM  ATWELL  GRAVES  * 
1835—1850. 

Hiram  Atwell  Graves,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  M.  and  Susannah 
(Watkins)  Graves,  now  (1858)  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  was  born  in  Wen- 
dell, !Mass.,  April  5,  1813.  In  his  early  childhood  he  evinced  great  pre- 
cocity of  intellect,  as  was  evident  from  the  fact  that,  within  three  months 
from  the  time  that  his  parents  thought  proper  to  allow  him  to  have  a  book, 
he  could  read  the  New  Testament  without  difficulty,  and  when  he  was  four 
years  old,  had  read  it  through.  At  the  age  of  seven,  he  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  a  good  scholar  in  English  Grammar  ;  and  if  he  had  been 
allowed  to  continue  his  studies,  he  would  have  been  fitted  for  College  when 
hs  was  not  much  more  than  twelve.  At  thirteen,  his  mind  was  awakened 
to  the  importance  of  religion,  and  he  became  deeply  anxious  for  the  salva- 
tion of  his  soul  ;  and,  after  continuing  in  this  state  two  months  or  more, 
he  indulged  the  hope  of  a  gracious  acceptance  through  his  Redeemer.  He 
found  great  comfort  now  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  especially  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah.  A  few  weeks  after  this,  he  was  bap- 
tized by  his  father,  at  the  same  time  with  several  other  young  persons  in 
whose  hopeful  conversion  he  had  been  instrumental.  His  whole  subsequent 
life  proved  the  sincerity  of  his  profession,  and  the  reality  of  his  religion. 

Having  fitted  for  College,  chiefly  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Bicknell, 
long  Preceptor  of  the  Academ^^  in  Jericho,  Vt.,  he  entered  at  Middlebury, 
and  graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  in  1834.  As  his  health  had  become 
materially  impaired,  he  was  unable  to  prosecute  a  regular  course  of  theologi- 
cal study ;  and  hence,  after  a  few  months  of  rest,  journeying  and  reading, 
he  consented,  in  compliance  with  the  earnest  wishes  of  many  of  his  friends, 
to  attempt  to  preach.  He  received  license  from  the  Baptist  Church  in  Lud- 
low, Vt.,  in  the  spring  of  1835.  He  became  at  once  deeply  interested  in 
his  work,  and  scarcely  any  thing  could  exceed  the  ardour  of  his  zeal  for 
the  salvation  of  his  fellow-men. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Springfield,  Mass.;  and,  a  few  months  after,  was  married  to 
Mary  Hinman,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  The  church  and  himself  were 
exceedingly  happy  in  each  other,  and  he  was  at  once  earnest  and  successful 
in  his  efforts  to  promote  their  spiritual  growth.  But,  as  his  health  con- 
tinued feeble,  he  was  led  to  think  that  the  sea  air  might  prove  beneficial 
to  him  ;  and,  accordingly,  he  resigned  his  charge  there  in  the  spring  of 
1840,  and  accepted  a  call  from  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Lynn,  Mass. 

The  beneficial  effects  which  he  had  hoped  for  from  this  change  of  resi- 
dence seem  not  to  have  been  fully  realized.  After  labouring  about  two 
years  in  this  field,  he  became  satisfied  that  his  health  was  not  sufficient  to 
justify  his  continuance  in  the  pastoral  work  ;  and  he  again  felt  constrained 
to  resign  his  charge.  Early  in  1842,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  became 
the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Reflector,— a  religious  weekly  newspaper, 
•  MS.  from  his  father,  Rev.  J.  M.  Graves. 


824 


BAPTIST. 


which  had  then  only  a  few  hundred  subscribers.  After  he  had  served  in 
this  capacity  some  three  or  four  years,  the  paper  had  gained  a  widely 
extended  circulation  ;  and,  through  his  instrumentality,  the  "  Christian 
Watchman  "  and  "  Christian  llcflector  "  became  united  in  one  paper,  and 
have  continued  so  ever  since. 

In  1845,  his  health  had  become  so  enfeebled  that  it  was  thought  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  continuance  of  his  life  that  he  should  leave  Boston, 
and  take  up  his  residence  in  some  milder  climate ;  and,  accordingly,  under 
medical  advice,  he  went,  in  December  of  that  year,  to  the  island  of  Cuba, 
and  the  change  seemed,  in  a  considerable  degree,  to  benefit  him.  He 
returned  home  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  following,  and  remained  till 
autumn,  when  the  return  of  his  farmer  complaints  admonished  him  that  it 
would  be  unsafe  for  him  to  attempt  to  encounter  a  New  England  winter. 
Accordingly,  in  November,  184G,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  the  island 
of  Jamaica,  where  he  continued  for  three  years,  with  the  exception  of  two 
brief  visits  paid  to  his  friends  in  this  country  in  the  warm  season.  But  at 
length  it  became  apparent  that  the  mild  climate,  however  it  might  have 
retarded  his  disease,  had  not  eradicated  it,  and  that  it  was  gradually  but 
surely  working  its  way  to  a  fatal  issue.  Preferring  to  die  in  his  own 
country,'  and  among  his  friends  and  kindred,  he  came  home  to  spend  the 
few  remaining  days  that  were  allotted  to  him.  He  went  immediately  to 
the  residence  of  his  father,  which  was  at  that  time  in  Bristol,  11.  I.,  and 
remained  there  till  his  death.  He  lingered  after  his  return  about  eleven 
weeks,  and  died  on  the  3d  of  November,  1850,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven. 
His  last  weeks  and  days  were  full  of  peace  and  triumph.  He  was  fond  of 
repeating  passages  of  Scripture  and  favourite  hymns,  and,  after  he  had  lost 
the  power  of  speech,  he  expressed  great  pleasure  in  hearing  some  lines  of 
a  beautiful  hymn  repeated  to  him. 

Mr.  Graves  was  the  father  of  three  children,  only  one  of  whom  sur- 
vives, (1859,) — the  other  two  having  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Gr.  died  in 
April,  185G,  and  her  remains  occupy  the  same  grave  with  those  of  her 
husband. 

Mr.  Graves  was  the  author  of  two  works, — one  entitled, — "  The  Family 
Circle,"  the  other,  "  The  Attractions  of  Heaven." 

FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  November  6.  1858. 

Rev.  and  dear  Sir:  Few  men  attracted  to  him,  more  poAverfully,  the  respect 
and  affection  of  his  friends,  and  indeed  of  all  who  knew  him,  than  the  late 
Rev.  Iliram  A.  Graves.  Simple  as  a  child,  he  was  an  accomplished  Christian 
scholar,  and  Minister  of  the  Gospel.  His  warmth  of  heart,  and  great  mental 
activity  and  industry  suftered  no  diminution  by  ill  health  and  straitened 
circumstances.  Indeed,  his  friends  used  to  think  that  his  wit  was  never  so 
keen,  and  his  spirit  never  so  genial,  as  when  he  was  suffering  from  severe 
attacks  of  asthma. 

He  was  tall  and  slender,  with  a  sallow  complexion,  black  hair,  and  large 
grey  or  bluish  eyes, — a  combination  of  features  somewhat  unusual,  but  very 
agreeable.  The  predominant  expression  of  his  countenance  Avas  that  of  intel- 
ligence and  refinement.  His  well  formed  mouth  and  ample  forehead  gave  indi- 
cation of  mental  breadth  and  vigour. 


UIUAM  ATWELL  GRAVES.  825 

ProfouniUj'  pious  and  most  exemplary  in  his  deportment  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  he  \\:is  especially  distinguished  by  great  naturalness  and  vivacity  of 
manners.  Ilis  exuberant  spirits  rarely  failed, — a  thing  more  marked  in 
his  case  from  the  fact  that  he  was  more  or  less  an  invalid  during  the  greater 
portion  of  his  life.  His  ready  smile,  hearty  sympathy,  and  genial  converse, 
made  him  a  universal  favourite. 

Mr.  Graves  was  tenderly  conscientious,  but  never  a.scetic  or  censorious. 
With  fixed  opinions  of  his  own  touching  all  spiritual  and  moral  truths,  he 
looked  upon  those  of  others  who  difTered  from  him,  with  candour  and  libe- 
rality, lie  iiad  an  intense  hatred  of  wrong  and  oppression,  but  pitied  the 
oppressors  only  a  little  less  than  their  victims.  A  man  of  faith  and  consecra- 
tion, he  yet  mingled  freely  with  his  fellow  men,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in 
their  affairs.  lie  loved  all  beautiful  things,  and  ever  felt  at  home  in  the  bosom 
of  nature.  His  taste  was  highly  cultivated,  and  few  things  delighted  him 
more  than  the  beautiful  creations  of  poetry  and  art.  But  he  lived  mainly  for 
eternity;  and  now  he  is  <«  made  perfect  "  in  the  Heaven  for  which  he  pined. 

As  a  Preacher,  Mr.  Graves  was  instructive  and  graceful,  with  a  certain 
natural  but  subdued  earnestness.  His  language,  always  accurate  and  ele- 
gant, had  an  easy,  spontaneous  flow,  like  the  gush  of  a  perennial  fountain. 
His  hearers  always  listened  to  him  with  pleasure  and  profit. 

But  it  was  as  an  Editor  that  he  chiefly  excelled.  Indeed,  he  formed  the 
character  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  prosperity  of  the  '<  Watchman  and 
Reflector,"  the  leading  Baptist  journal  in  New  England,  and  one  of  the  best 
papers  in  the  country.  Easy,  versatile  and  graceful,  apt,  also,  in  a  high 
degree,  with  sufficient  spice  of  wit  and  vigour,  always  sensible  and  often  elo- 
quent, his  leaders,  short  or  long,  were  the  flrst  things  caught  by  appreciative 
readers.  In  full  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  and  the  progress  of 
the  age  in  all  benevolent  enterprises,  he  threw  himself  into  the  grand  move- 
ment of  the  Church  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Our  educational,  mis- 
sionary, and  philanthropic  schemes  are  largely  indebted  to  his  judicious, 
earnest  advocacy. 

In  social  life,  and  in  the  domestic  circle,  'Mr.  Graves  was  especially  at  home. 
There  his  gentle,  uniform  piety  shed  a  happj'  glow  over  his  life  and  conversa- 
tion. He  had  some  severe  trials,  which  he  bore  with  a  manly  patience,  aided 
and  cheered  by  the  wife  of  his  youth,  now,  like  himself,  in  the  better  world. 
But  even  in  sickness  and  sorrow  he  trusted  in  God  and  was  not  confounded. 
Ah!  how  his  pleasant  face  and  gentle  ways  recur  to  me  now,  as  I  think  of 
the  past  with  a  sigh!  I  hear  the  echo  of  his  "  winged  words,"  and  the  ring 
of  his  cheerful  laugh.  I  listen  to  his  low,  earnest  tones  in  prayer,  and 
catch  the  warm  expressions  of  his  trust  in  God,  as  even  on  his  death-bed  he 
exclaimed, — 

"  I  hear  at  mom  and  even. 
At  noon  and  midnight  hour, 
The  chloral  harmonies  of  Heaven, 
Seraphic  music  pour! " 

Some  illustrative  anecdotes  of  our  friend  and  brother  might  be  added;  but 
nothing  of  this  kind  will  give  a  better  idea  of  the  man,  in  some  of  his  more 
peculiar  characteristics,  than  an  extract  from  one  of  his  rhyming  letters. 
He  had  great  facility  in  easy  familiar  versiflcation,  and  some  of  his  epistles, 
written  in  this  style,  have  survived  him.  The  Rev.  Dr.Caldicott  and  myself, 
on  one  occasion,  sent  him  a  Christmas  present  of  a  new  stove,  which  we  knew 
was  needed  in  his  household,  on  which  he  sent  us  the  following  responsive 
and  characteristic  rhymes: — 


Vol.  VI.  104 


g2g  BAPTIST. 

"Lynn,  November  8, 1841. 

"  Dear  Brethren: 

"  Duly  we  received 
The  note  3^ou  sent  on  Wednesday  last. 
But  shall  we  say  a  sigh  we  heaved 
As  over  it  our  eyes  we  cast  ? 
For  while  it  touched  our  hearts  afresh, 
And  bade  us  love  the  men  who  sent  it, 
The  consciousness  run  tlirough  our  breasts 
That  they  might,  one  day,  both  lament  it. 
We  knew  that  wo  could  ne'er  return 

Like  tokens  of  paternal  love; 
That  soon,  or  late,  you  both  would  learn 
Your  sole  reward  was  from  above. 
We  recollected,  too.  just  then, 
(What  had  indeed  occurred  before,) 
That  you  were  consecrated  men — 
Of  course  apostle-like  and  poor. 
Then  wonder  not  our  hearts  misgave  us, 
And  we  began  to  ieel  regret, 
That  we  had  not  declined  these  favours 
Before  we  had  incurred  the  debt. 
Howe'er,  we  frankly  will  confess 
We  shed  no  tears  about  the  matter; 
But  readily  our  fears  suppressed. 
And  let  our  rising  scrui)les  scatter. 
Forthwith  equipped  witli  hat  and  cane, 
Urging  his  way  adowu  the  street, 
A  country  curate  might  be  seen, 
Intent  the  parish  clerk  to  meet. 

The  parish  clerk  looked  rather  queer 
And  said, — ■'  A  noble  present  surely; 
To-morrow,  Sir,  it  shall  be  here — 

My  teams  will  bring  it  down  securely.' 
And  so  they  did.     And  what  was  more 

There  was  no  charge  for  transportation. 

Whoei-er  saw  the  like  before  ? 

It  must  astonish  all  the  nation  ! 

A  cooking  stove! — l)ran-ne\v  and  nice! 

And  loaded,  too,  with  furniture, 

Bought  without  money!  without  price!! 

And  e'en  delivered  at  your  door  ! 

Well,  Sirs,  the  cooking-stove  is  up; 

And  nobly  does  it  oj)erate. 

It  gave  us  tea,  last  night,  to  sup, 

And  then,  this  morning,  chocolate. 

It  bakes  us  buscuit,  too,  and  pies; 

Indeed,  the  oven  is  a  charm — 

Hannah  extols  it  to  the  skies, 

And  Mrs.  G.  declares  it  prime. 

The  article  in  all  respects 

Doth  please  us.     Take  our  hearty  thanks, 

With  this  epistle.     Overlook  defects, — 

Our  muse,  you  know,  will  have  her  pranks. 

I  can't  control  her.  if  1  try. 

But  I  can  check  her — hold  her  in; — 

And  that  I'll  do.     Good  bye,  Good  bye, 

Yours,  more  than  ever,  Graves,  of  Lynn." 

I  know  not,  dear  Doctor,  if  this  quotation  will  be  quite  dignified  enough 
for  your  Annals;  but  it  is  in  such  little  things,  so  liable  to  beforgotten  or 
lost,  that  character  is  best  revealed. 

Yours  with  great  respect, 

ROBERT  TURNBULL. 


ROBERT  FULTON  ELLIS.  827 


ROBERT  FULTON  ELLIS. 

1838—1854. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WASHINGTON  LEVERETT. 

Upper  Alton,  111.,  May  26,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir:  My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Robert  F.  Ellis  com- 
meuced  in  the  year  1834,  when  we  became  fellow-students  at  the  Theolo- 
gical Institution  at  Newton,  Mass.  Our  fields  of  labour,  for  a  dozen 
years,  wore  distant  from  each  other,  but,  during  the  last  seven  or  eight 
years  of  his  life,  our  residence  and  labours  were  in  the  same  vicinity. 
Having  obtained  from  his  brother,  Asher  Ellis,  M.  D.,  of  Brunswick,  Me., 
an  account  of  his  parentage,  early  education,  and  occupation  in  youth, — 
having  also  been  favoured  with  a  perusal  of  his  correspondence  with  seve- 
ral of  liis  friends,  and  of  his  private  diary  from  the  date  of  his  public 
profession  of  religion, — I  think  my  sources  of  information  should  furnish 
all  the  material  that  is  necessary  to  such  a  narrative  of  his  life  as  your 
request  contemplates. 

Robert  Fulton  Ellis  was  born  at  Topsham,  Me.,  October  10,  1809. 
Roth  liis  father,  Jonathan  Ellis,  and  his  grandfather,  John  Ellis,  were 
evangelical  ministers  of  the  Congregational  communion.  John  Ellis  was 
a  native  of  Cambridge;  was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1750; 
was  settled  in  the  ministry  successively  at  Norwich,  (Franklin,)  Conn.,  and 
Rehoboth,  Mass.  ;  and  died  in  1805.  Jonathan  Ellis  was  graduated 
at  Yale  College  in  1786,  and  was  settled  over  the  Congregational  Society 
in  Topsham,  Me.,  in  1788,  where  he  laboured  successfully  in  the  ministry 
fourteen  years.  He  subsequently  engaged  in  teaching,  and  had  an  import- 
ant agency  in  the  establishment  of  Bowdoin  College.  Mary  Fulton,  wife 
of  Jonathan  Ellis,  was  of  Scotch  descent,  her  grandparents  having  Ijeen 
driven  by  persecution  from  their  native  country,  and  settled  in  Topsham  in 
1753.  She  is  still  living  at  the  advanced  age  of  about  ninet}'  years.  She 
is  distinguished  for  energy,  industry,  and  active  piety.  It  has  been  her 
custom,  since  she  was  ten  years  old,  to  read  the  Bible  through  in  course 
annually. 

Robert  was  the  youngest  of  ten  children.  Pious  parental  instruction 
and  example  shaped  his  character  in  childhood  and  early  youth.  He  was 
remarkably  conscientious  even  as  a  child  ;  and,  as  he  advanced  in  years,  he 
evinced  a  mind  of  generous  sentiments  and  elevated  aspirations,  and  a 
desire  that  nothing  could  quench  to  obtain  a  liberal  education.  But,  not 
having  the  requisite  pecuniary  means  to  gratify  this  desire,  he  went,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade,  in  Bath,  Mc.  For  five 
years  he  occupied  his  bench,  but  never  felt  satisfied  with  the  business — 
his  mind  was  continually  on  the  stretch  for  a  higher  measure  of  intellectual 
culture.  But,  while  balancing  the  probabilities  of  success  and  of  failure  in 
an  effort  to  acquire  a  collegiate  education,  his  attention  was  earnestly 
directed  to  another  su1>ject,  which  appeared  to  him  of  incomparably  greater 
moment.      He   saw  himself  a  ruined  and  helpless  sinner,  though  he  was 


828  BAPTIST. 

accustomed  to  say  tliat  the  convictions  of  sin  which  he  then  felt,  were  only 
the  deepening  of  impressions  which  he  had  experienced  for  years.  But 
his  views  of  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel  now  became  more  clear  and 
intense,  and  Christ  was  entlironed  in  his  heart,  quickening  all  the  energies 
of  his  being,  and  constraining  him  to  live  for  God  and  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  humanity.  He  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Sangerville, 
where  he  then  resided;  and  the  conviction  was  soon  fastened  on  his  mind 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  devote  himself  to  the  Ministry.  lie,  accordingly, 
commenced  the  preparatory  course  of  studies, — teaching  school  at  inter- 
vals to  obtain  the  requisite  funds, — and  in  September,  1833,  was  admitted 
a  member  of  the  Freshman  class  in  Bowdoin  College.  He  remained  in 
College,  however,  but  a  short  time  before  his  means  failed,  and  he  was 
obliged  again  to  betake  himself  to  the  business  of  teaching;  and  he  finally 
seems  to  have  yielded  somewhat  to  discouragement,  and  given  up  the  idea 
of  prosecuting  a  collegiate  course  altogether.  In  1834,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Theological  Institution  at  Newton,  Mass,;  and,  after  hav- 
ing devoted  a  year  and  a  half  to  classical  studies,  he  passed  through  the 
entire  theological  course,  and  graduated  in  August,  1838. 

The  Second  Baptist  Churcli  in  Springfield,  Mass.  had  invited  liim  to 
become  their  Pastor,  and  he  immediately  repaired  to  this  scene  of  his 
future  labours.  He  was  ordained  hei'e  in  September, — the  sermon  on  the 
occasion  being  preached  by  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Chaplin,  D.  D.  During 
the  first  year  of  his  ministry,  there  was  a  revival  of  religion  wliich  brought 
upwards  of  forty  into  his  churcli,  and  in  1842  there  was  another  revival 
that  resulted  in  the  addition  of  more  than  fifty. 

In  1842  and  1843,  Mr.  Ellis  came  in  conflict  with  the  then  somewhat 
extensively  prevailing  views  concerning  the  Second  Advent, — commonly 
called  Millerism.  A  few  mem])ers  of  his  churcli  and  congregation  embraced 
the  theory;  and  he  found  it  difficult  to  conduct  his  public  services  in  a 
manner  which  some  of  them  did  not  regard  as  designed  to  convict  them 
of  error.  Being  perfectly  convinced  that  the  theory  had  no  support  from 
God's  word,  he  could  not  even  seem,  in  the  most  indirect  manner,  to  give 
it  any  countenance.  It  was  a  sort  of  moral  tornado  tlirough  which  lie  had 
to  pass  ;  but  liis  prevailing  sentiment,  during  the  whole,  was — "  I  will  stay 
on  board  the  ship  till  I  die,  or  am  thrown  overboard,  or  till  the  ship  is 
wrecked,  or  outrides  the  storm.  Forsake  it  I  will  not,  the  grace  of  God 
assisting  me."  The  law  of  kindness,  here  as  always,  was  upon  his  lips ; 
but  he  never  faltered  or  wavered  in  his  advocacy  of  the  true  and  the  good. 

In  1845,  he  accepted  an  appointment  from  the  American  Sunday  School 
Union  to  labour  in  the  State  of  ]\Iissouri ;  though  he  did  it  at  the  expense 
of  separating  himself  from  a  people  to  whom  he  was  most  ardently 
attached.  Here  he  itinerated  two  years  and  a  half,  preaching  the  Gospel, 
establishing  Sabbath  Schools,  and  furnishing  them  with  Libraries,  and 
thus  scattering  the  good  seed  of  the  word,  which  has  already  yielded  plen- 
tifully, while  the  lapse  of  time  is   maturing  a  yet  more  abundant  harvest. 

In  the  summer  of  1847,  Mr.  Ellis  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  Pasto- 
rate of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Alton,  111.,  and  in  October  following 
assumed  the  charge.  Here  he  laboured  with  diligence  and  success  for 
somewhat  more  than  six  years,  enjoying  the  esteem  of  ministers  of  other 


ROBERT  FULTON   ELLIS.  829 

denominatioiif!,  and  co-opcratii.g  with  tlicin  in  promoting  the  general  ohjceta 
of  evangelical  enterprise  and  social  improvement.  Soon  after  his  removal 
to  Alton,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  iu  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Shurtlcff 
College,  and  continued  an  efficient  member  till  his  death. 

Having  become  an  associate  editor  of  the  "Western  Watchman,"  pub- 
lished at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  he  again  took  an  itinerant  agency  in  that  State, 
preaching  on  the  Sabbath,  and  often  on  other  days,  furnishing  frequent 
communications  for  the  Watchman,  and  introducing  this  wceldy  religious 
visiter  into  many  families.  While  engaged  in  this  service,  in  July,  1854, 
on  a  homeward  journey  to  visit  his  family,  he  was  seized  with  brain  fever, 
induced  by  protracted  exposure  to  the  excessive  heat  of  the  season,  and  at 
the  house  of  a  kind  Christian  friend  in  Clark  County,  Mo.,  on  the  24th 
of  that  month,  his  spirit  departed.  His  remains  were  deposited  in  the 
family  burial  place  of  the  friend  at  whose  house  he  expired. 

In  April,  1830,  Mr.  Ellis  was  united  in  marriage  with  IMary  Child, 
daughter  of  Epaphras  Child,  of  West  Woodstock,  Conn.  She  was  every 
way  adapted  to  heighten  the  joys,  and  alleviate  the  burdens  and  trials,  of 
life.     Of  three  children  only  one  daughter, — their  first-born,  survives. 

Leaving  it  to  another  hand  to  portray  the  character  of  my  friend, 
I  remain,  with  Christian  regards. 
Yours  truly, 

WASHINGTON  LEVERETT. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  CROWELL,  D.  D. 

St.  Louis,  July  8,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  I  became  acquainted  with  the  late  Rev.  Robert  F.  Ellis,  as  a 
follow  novitiate  of  the  Newton  Theological  Institution,  in  the  autumn  of  1835. 
An  intimate  friendship  soon  commenced,  which  grew  and  strengthened  during 
the  three  years  of  our  tlieological  study,  and  w'as  prolonged  by  correspond- 
ence, and  by  as  frequent  visits  at  each  other's  residences  as  our  separation 
admitted,  till  his  lamented  death. 

In  his  personal  aj)pcarance  he  was  prepossessing.  Of  medium  heiglit,  erect, 
well  made,  easj'  and  graceful  in  carriage,  with  light  hair  inclined  to  curl, 
eyes  light  grey,  neat  in  person  and  dress,  always  wearing  glasses  on  account 
of  some  natural  defect  of  the  ej^e,  he  appeared  to  a  stranger  to  be  a  modest, 
courteous,  intelligent  gentleman.  His  voice  was  monotonous,  yet  its  tones, — 
the  expression  of  a  benevolent  nature,  w-hich  was  al.so  reflected  from  his  ever 
cheerful  and  smiling  face,  readily  won  confidence.  His  defective  eyesight  was 
the  probable  cause  of  a  seeming  diffidence  in  his  intercourse  with  strangers, 
and  to  the  same  cause  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed  his  habitual  shrniking  from 
rough  exercise.  He  was  of  an  active,  stirring  habit,  yet  remarkably  quiet 
and  gentle. 

In  his  studies  he  manifested  no  special  fondness  for  mathematical  or  scicntitic 
pursuits;  his  taste  inclining  rather  to  history,  biography,  poetry,  and  elegant 
literature,  whether  in  sermons  or  reviews,  essays  or  theological  treatises;  yet 
his  class  exercises  were  alwaj's  respectable, — never  defective.  He  was 
attracted  by  the  beautiful  in  style  or  sentiment,  rather  than  the  profound  or 
original,  and  his  sermons  and  essays,  prepared  for  criticism,  were  marked  by 
lluency,  correctness,  and  elegance  in  diction,  rather  than  tcr.seness  or  ori,i:i- 
nality. 

He  looked  forward  to  the  Christian  ministry  as  the  most  dignified  and  truly 
exalted  oflBce  to  which  any  man  could    possibly  aspire.     He  seemed  desirous, 


830  BAPTIST. 

above  all  things,  to  be  thoroughly  furnished  and  disciplined  for  that  sacred 
work.  This  desire  was  too  evidently  the  animating  principle  and  motive  of 
his  pursuits,  to  be  mistaken  by  those  who  knew  him  best.  To  a  casual 
observer  he  might  appear  to  be  a  man  of  literary  tastes  and  professional 
aspirations,  chiefly;  but  those  who  shared  his  confidence,  to  whom  he  made 
known  his  hopes  and  plans  without  reserve,  knew  well  the  ruling  desire 
of  his  heart.  His  deportment  and  conversation,  even  in  his  hours  of  retire- 
ment and  of  relaxation,  were  controlled  by  the  great  purpose  of  his  life.  He 
was  ever  cheerful,  with  a  strong  vein  of  the  mirthful  in  his  temperament, 
which,  however,  was  never  allowed  to  pass  the  limits  of  a  correct  taste. 

Of  his  personal  religious  exercises  and  feelings  he  was  not  forward  to  speak. 
There  was  in  him  a  native  delicacy,  an  instinctive  shrinking  from  the  exposure 
of  what  was  of  such  sacred  personal  interest  to  himself.  He  was  free  from 
all  appearance  of  asceticism,  his  cheerful  seriousness  being  that  of  a  mind 
habitually  occupied  with  things  of  the  highest  moment  to  himself  and  to  all 
around  him.  While  he  was  ready  to  converse  on  religious  subjects  at  all 
times,  especially  on  the  vital  truths  of  the  Gospel,  yet  the  truths  themselves 
were  the  topics  of  remark,  rather  than  his  own  feelings,  impressions,  or 
hopes  respecting  them.  Whatever  fears  or  anxieties  he  might  have  had,  in 
regard  to  his  personal  acceptance  with  his  God,  Avhatever  struggles  he  had 
with  the  evils  of  his  own  heart,  he  kept  them  to  the  privacy  of  his  closet  and 
of  his  thoughts.  Yet  all  who  knew  him,  were  impressed  with  the  conviction 
that  his  thoughts  were  habitually  occupied  with  the  things  that  are  unseen 
and  eternal. 

His  doctrinal  opinions  were  decidedly  of  the  Calvinistic  school.  The  Holy 
Scriptures  were  to  him  a  perfect  revelation  from  God,  the  Divinity  and 
Atonement  of  Christ  their  great  theme.  He  believed  that  the  ever  present 
Spirit  is  working  the  regeneration  of  men  by  means  of  the  truth,  and  therefore 
he  preached  salvation  by  grace  through  faith.  Yet  he  urged  his  hearers  to 
instant  and  earnest  efforts  to  secure  the  benefits  of  this  great  salvation. 
Towards  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  his  interest  in  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ  became  intense  and  all-absorbing.  The  glory  of  the  Redeemer  in  the 
work  of  salvation  seemed  to  engage  his  whole  thoughts.  His  conversation 
gave  abundant  evidence  of  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  his  convictions.  1  well 
remember  the  unwonted  earnestness  and  deep  feeling  with  which  he  conversed 
on  these  topics  during  the  last  year  of  his  life.  His  manner  was  that  of  one 
who  had  made  a  new  and  most  deeply  interesting  discovery,  of  which  his 
heart  was  so  full  that  he  could  not  refrain  from  speaking. 

In  his  ministerial  labours  he  excelled  as  a  Pastor.  In  the  early  part  of  his 
ministry,  he  wrote  his  sermons  fully,  and  usually  delivered  them  from  the 
manuscript.  From  this  circumstance,  perhaps,  his  manner  in  the  pulpit  was 
that  of  a  correct  reader  more  than  of  an  impassioned  speaker.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life,  he  wrote  less,  or  made  less  use  of  his  manuscript  in  the  pul- 
pit. He  often  preached  from  brief  notes,  or  with  none  at  all,  yet  he  was 
always  methodical,  his  language  select,  easy  and  flowing.  His  writings  for 
the  press  were  chiefly  confined  to  letters  of  correspondence,  notes  of  travel, 
or  brief  articles  on  practical  religious  duties;  yet  they  were  always  read  with 
pleasure  and  profit.  His  weekly  letters  to  the  <<  AYestern  Watchman,"  while 
travelling  through  the  State  of  Missouri,  are  fine  specimens  of  a  familiar, 
dignified  and  expressive  style  of  composition. 

As  a  friend  he  was  true.  All  his  friendships  were  founded  in  truth  and  in 
duty.  Beyond  these  he  formed  no  friendships;  within  these  limits  he  knew 
no  change.  He  betrayed  no  trust,  he  was  not  double  tongued,  he  was  no  fair- 
weather  friend,  he  loved  his  friends  with  an  undying  love,  unless  they  proved 
themselves  unworthy.     He  was   eminentlj^    without   guile,   and   as   naturally 


ROBERT  FULTON  ELLIS.  831 

without  suspicion — he  gave  his  confidence  cautiously,  yet,  when  given,  he  was 
firm  anil  constant.  With  all  the  gentleness  of  his  nature,  ami  liis  natiiral 
and  strong  desire  to  please,  nothing  could  induce  him  to  speak  disparngingly 
of  a  known  and  trusted  friend,  nor  would  he  hear  such  a  friend  maligned 
without  interposing  a  kind,  j'et  firm,  defence. 

Such  was  Rohert  Fulton  Ellis, — a  man  of  genial  and  loving  heart,  of  an 
honest,  trutliful  spirit,  lie  has  served  his  generation  by  the  will  of  (Jod,  and 
gone  to  reap  a  glorious  reward.  He  loved  God,  he  loved  men,  he  loved  the 
ministry  of  reconciliation.  lie  fell  as  a  faithful  soldier  at  his  post,  toiling 
earnestly  for  his  Master.  Not  only  in  Massachusetts  and  Illinois,  where  he 
laboured  as  a  Pastor,  but  in  Missouri,  where  he  travelled  as  a  labourer  in 
the  Sunday  School  cause,  and  in  circulating  religious  literature,  his  memory 
is  cherished  Avith  tender  affection.  The  mention  of  his  name  calls  for  the  tear 
of  sorrow  that  he  is  no  more  on  earth.  lie  was  «'  a  man  greatly  beloved." 
I  am,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  most  truly, 

WILLIAM  CROWELL. 


JOSIAH  GODDARD. 

1838—1854. 

FROM  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  DEAN,  D.  D. 

Wyoming,  N.  T.,  February  17,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir :  In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  very  gladly  furnish 
you  a  sketch  of  my  old  friend  and  former  associate  in  China,  Mr.  Goddard. 
While  among  the  heathen,  we  often  sat  at  the  same  table,  slept  under  the 
same  thatched  roof,  walked  through  the  bazaars  and  busy  streets  of  the  Chi- 
nese tof^ethcr,  and  mingled  in  the  same  services,  sympathized  in  the  same 
sorrows,  prayed  and  preached  in  the  same  chapels,  and  toiled  together  over 
the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  laboured  in  concert  in  teaching  those 
ignorant  idolaters  the  saving  truths  of  Christianity.  Concerning  his 
character  and  labours  I  speak  that  which  I  know,  and  testify  that  which  I 
have  seen. 

Long  after  we  were  thrown  together  in  the  Pagan  world,  and  brought 
into  the  most  intimate  relations,  and  the  most  endeared  personal  sympathy. 
we  stumbled  upon  the  fact  that  there  existed  between  us  a  kindred  connec- 
tion. My  maternal  grandparent  was  a  Goddard,  and  a  cousin  to  his  father. 
This  relationship,  though  remote,  seemed  to  us  very  near,  when  so  far  away 
from  other  kindred  and  the  family  associates  of  former  life. 

JosiAH  GoDD.\Ri)  was  the  son  of  the  late  Rev.  David  and  Mrs.  Han- 
nah B.  Goddard,*  and  was  born  in  Wendell,  Franklin  County,  Mass.,  on 

•David  Goddard  was  born  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  August  20,  1779.  In  early  youth  he 
became  a  member  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  under  the  pnstoral  care  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Baldwin  ;  and,  when  he  was  between  twentv-fivc  and  thirty  years  of  age,  he  removed  to 
Wendell,  Ma.si.,  where  he  pursued  his  business  as  a  mechanic.  Finding  the  Baptist  Church 
small  and  without  preaching,  he  began  to  assist  his  brethren  by  speaking  in  their  meetings, 
and  about  the  year  1814  was  ordained  Pastor  of  the  church,  in  which  office  he  continued 
upwards  of  twenty-six  years.  About  181",  his  health  beginning  to  fail,— ho  resigned  his 
charge,  and  afterwards  resided  at  Leominster,  Fitchburg,  and  finally,  New  Ipswich,  N.  H., 
-^here  he  died  on  the  4th  of  July,  1854,  aged  seventy-five.     He  had  the  reputation  of  being  a 


832 


BAPTIST. 


the  27th  of  October,  1813.  He  indulged  the  Christian's  Lope  in  1826, 
but  was  not  baptized  till  May,  1831,  when  he  became  a  member  of  the 
church  of  which  his  father  was  Pastor. 

He  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1885,  and  at  the  Newton  Theologi- 
cal Institution  in   1838,  and  was  ordained  to  the  work   of  the  ministry  in 
September  following.     A  few  weeks  after,   he  was   married  to  Eliza  Ann 
Abbot,  who,  for  some  time  previous,  had   resided   in  the  family  of  Profes- 
sor llipley,  of  the   Newton  Seminary.     In  December,    he  sailed  for  the 
East,  and  landed  at  Singapore  in  June,  1839,  in  company  with  Mrs.  God- 
dard;  and  the  llev.    Mr.  and  Mrs.   Slafter.     After   a  short  stay  on  that 
beautiful  island   of  spices,   nearly  on  the  equatorial  line,  he  proceeded  to 
Bangkok,  his   destined   station,  where  he  landed,   October  16,  1840.     He 
found  in  that  city  a  Chinese  population  of  more  than  twohundred  thousand, 
to  whose  Christian  welfare  he  gave  his  unwearied  and  successful  endeavours. 
In  the  year  1842,  he  succeeded  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  first  Chinese 
Church,  which   I   had  myself  gathered  there,  previous  to  my  removal  to 
Hong  Kong.     The  church   under   his  ministry  was  edified,   and  converts 
from  the  Pagan  Chinese  were  multiplied  and  added  to  the  Lord.     While  at 
Bangkok,  he  completed  the  translation  and  printing  of  the  Gospel  by  John, 
some    Christian    Tracts,  and   an  English   and   Chinese  Vocabulary.     His* 
name  will  there  long  be  held  in  hallowed  memory  by  the  native  Christians, 
and  his  successors  in  missionary  work.     In  1848,  after  a  severe  attack  of 
l)leeding  at  the  lungs,  which  threatened  his  useful  life,  he  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  to  remove  with  his  family  to  Ningpo,  where,  in  a  cooler  climate, 
he  could  carry  forward   his   work   among   the   Chinese.     There   he   so  far 
regained  his  health  as  to  be  able  to  labour  with  little  interruption  ;  there 
he  learned  a  new  spoken  dialect  of  the  Chinese  language  so  as  to  preach  in 
it  successfully  to  the  heathen  ;  and  there,  on  the  4th  of  September,  1854, 
he  closed  a  life  of  honoured  service  for  his  Master  and  the  cause  of  Mis- 
sions.    He  was  attacked  by  fever  in  the  early  part  of  August,  occasioned, 
as  was  supposed,  by  the  diseased   state   of  his   lungs,   and  though  he  was 
sick  three  or  four  weeks,  he   was  confined   to  his    room   only  eight   or   ten 
da3's.      It  was  not  apprehended,  for  some  time,  that  his  disease  would  ter- 
minate fatally  ;  and  when  he  became  aware  of  his  danger,  he  had  sunk  so 
low  as  to  be  incapable  of  conversation.     He,  however,  signified,  by  a  gen- 
tle pressure  of  the  liand,  that  all  was   peace.      Ilis  death  was  in  beautiful 
keeping  with  his  life.     The   Master   whom  he  had  served  so  well,  did  not 
leave  him  to  make  the  passage  through  the  dark  valley  alone,  but  led  him 
by  his  own  gracious  hand  into  the  light  of  an  eternal  day. 

In  person,  Mr.  Goddard  was  an  exemplification  of  the  adage  that 
"  valuable  commodities  are  put  up  in  small  parcels."  He  was  short  and 
thin,  of  pale  complexion,  with  features  and  movements  marked  by  rectan- 
gles, rather  than  by  curved  lines.  When  seated  in  a  common  chair,  he 
needed  a  footstosd  ;  but  in  intellect  he  was  a  tall  man.  His  native  endow- 
ments were  superior  ;  his  education  had  been  extended  and  thorough  ;  his 
study  of  the  Chinese  language  had  been  patient  and  successful  ;  his  know- 
highly  rospectiible  preacher,  and  an  eminently  wise  counsellor.  His  eldest  son,  Daniel,  was, 
for  nearly  four  years,  a  minister  in  Leominster;  afterwards  preached  a  short  time  at  South 
Orange,  when,  on  account  of  the  failure  of  his  health,  he  removed  to  Athol,  where  he  died, 
April  6,  1811,  aged  thirty-one. 


JOSIAII  GODDARD.  333 

ledgo  of  the  Sacred  Languages  and  Literature  was  accurate  and  familiar, 
and  lie  brought  to  his  work  a  large  share  of  common  sense  and  sound 
judgment,  and  a  warm  heart  and  high-toned  Christian  principle.  lie  saw 
clearly,  formed  his  conclusions  maturely,  and  then  adhered  to  them  tena- 
ciously. As  a  scholar,  he  was  diligent,  thorough  and  accurate.  As  a 
preacher,  he  was  methodical,  simple  and  instructive.  As  a  translator, 
he  was  laborious,  prayerful  and  successful.  He  was  a  faithful  missionary, 
a  lovely  Christian,  a  pleasant  companion,  a  devoted  husband,  and  a  fond 
and  faithful  father.      He  honoured  his  God,  and  his  God  honoured  him. 

Mr.  Goddard  left  four  children,  who,  with  their  mother,  returned  to  the 
United  States,  in  1855.  Mrs.  G.  died  at  Providence,  II.  I.,  on  the  28th 
of  November,  1857. 

I  am,  my  dear  Brother. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  DEAN. 


FROM  THE  REV.  J.  K.  WIGHT. 

Sandlake,  N.  Y.  February  24,  1859. 
Dear  Sir:  You  could  not  have  assigned  to  me  a  more  pleasant  duty  than  to 
give  a  brief  sketch  of  my  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Josiah  Goddard.  I 
have  often  urged  the  preparation  of  a  memoir  upon  some  of  the  more  promi- 
nent ministers  of  his  own  denomination,  and  am  glad  you  fuel  disposed  to  pre- 
serve his  memory  in  your  <Annals." 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Goddard  began  in  June,  1849.  Myself  and  wife 
landed  at  Ningpo,  one  sultry  morning  about  daybreak.  VTe  had  hardly 
breakfasted  before  in  came  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goddard,  with  a  hearty  welcome  to 
China.  I  see  him  now  as  I  saw  him  then, — a  man  '<  little  of  stature,"  and 
much  reduced  by  disease,  but  with  kindly  feelings  beaming  in  his  smile, 
which  was  as  bright  and  cheerful  as  the  shake  of  his  hand  was  hearty. 

Mr.  Goddard  was  obliged  to  leave  Siam  on  account  of  his  health;  but, 
instead  of  going  home,  which  indeed  he  felt  unable  to  do,  he  determined  to  go 
to  China  with  the  hope  of  spending  Avhat  remained  to  him  of  life  in  transla- 
ting the  Scriptures  into  Chinese.  He  was  then  so  much  reduced  by  bleed- 
ing at  the  lungs  that  his  life  was  despaired  of.  And  he  only  kept  him- 
self alive,  that  is  as  far  as  means  are  concerned,  by  a  coolness  and  courage, 
which  many  a  man  has  not,  who  can  rush  into  battle  in  the  thickest  of  the 
tight.  The  physician  told  him,  when  he  went  on  board  ship,  that  he  must 
watch  his  pulse,  and,  when  it  beat  beyond  a  certain  rate,  he  was  to  take  a 
jiarticular  medicine  to  prevent  bleeding.  When  most  would  have  laid  tliem- 
selves  down  to  die,  he  held  on,  resolved  to  do  a  little  more  for  the  Lord.  He  came 
to  Xingpo,  1  believe,  the  year  before  I  arrived.  And,  instead  of  setting  down  to 
what  might  be  done  by  a  feeble  man  in  his  study,  went  to  work  to  acquire 
the  local  dialect,  and  commenced  preaching  in  it,  bearing  his  full  share  of 
labour  in  this  respect  with  tlie  other  members  of  his  mission. 

The  work  to  which  Mr.  Goddard  felt  especially  called,  was  that  of  transla- 
ting the  Scriptures.  To  this  task,  which  has  been  an  object  of  desire  since 
the  days  of  Morrison,  Mr.  G.  brought  many  admirable  qualifications.  He 
was  deliberate  and  cautious  in  his  judgments,  and  generally  accurate  in  his 
conclusions.  There  may  have  been  somewhat  of  stilfiiess  in  his  style,  but 
there  was  an  earnest  and  honest  endeavour  to  give  a  faithful  meaning  of  the 
original.  He  did  not  live  to  complete  the  whole  Bible.  He  linished  the  New 
Testament,  and   part  of  tlic  OUl.     His  Libours  in  this  respect  have  been  of 

Vol..  Vr.  105 


834  BAPTIST. 

great  service  in  guiding  many  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  in  strengthen- 
ing and  assisting  those  who  have  commenced  a  new  life,  and  will  be  of  service 
in  perfecting  what  is  still  an  object  of  desire, — a  good  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  Chinese. 

"We  were  accustomed,  at  Ningpo,  to  have  a  service  in  English,  every  Sabbath 
morning,  at  nine  o'clock,  for  our  own  benefit.  It  was  attended  by  the  mis- 
sionaries of  different  denominations,  and  was  usually  conducted  by  them  in 
turn.  On  these  occasions,  Mr.  Goddard's  sermons  were  remarkably  edifying 
and  appropriate.  They  were  not  only  perfectly  evangelical,  but  I  always  felt 
that  they  met  my  spiritual  wants  in  an  eminent  degree.  If  my  recollections 
and  impressions  are  correct,  few  sermons  would  better  bear  publication  than 
those  which  Mr.  Goddard  gave  us  in  our  little  chapel. 

Though  Mr.  G.  was  tenacious  of  his  own  peculiar  views,  he  was  kind  and 
charitable  towards  others.  His  house  was  a  home  where  we  all  loved  to  be, 
and  where  we  were  always  welcome:  though,  whether  this  was  owing  most 
to  himself  or  his  excellent  wife,  I  never  could  determine.  I  have  reason  to 
remember,  with  lasting  gratitude,  their  self-sacrificing  spirit  for  the  good  of 
others.  When  obliged  to  leave  China  on  account  of  my  health,  in  the  spring 
of  1854,  we  had  the  alternative  of  leaving  our  youngest  child,  a  babe,  behind, 
or  else  submitting  to  the  prospect  of  burying  it  in  the  ocean.  Though  they 
had  a  young  family  of  their  own,  and  were  both  in  feeble  health,  they  cordially 
welcorned  our  little  one,  and  treated  it  in  every  respect  as  if  it  were  their 
own.  This  was  our  last  parting.  We  stood  on  the  deck  of  a  large  American 
ship  in  the  river  Yang-tse-Kiang,  and  he  on  a  small  schooner,  which  came  near 
being  lost  in  a  rough  and  stormy  passage  back  to  Ningpo. 

Such  are,  in  brief,  my  recollections  of  a  brother  missionary,  whose  earnest 
consecration  to  the  work  had  inspired  him  with  a  courage  that  would  have 
led  him  to  endure  martyrdom.  He  kept  at  his  post  in  the  face  of  death, — 
for  he  never  expected  to  recover.  He  loved  his  work — worked  earnestly, 
methodically,  and  cheerfully,  and  therefore  well.  His  work  will  endure. 
Though  but  little  known  even  to  the  churches  of  his  own  denomination  in  this 
country,  those  who  did  know  him,  especially  on  heathen  ground,  knew  him  as 
a  kind  and  faithful  friend,  and  as  one  of  the  best  examples  of  an  able  and 
devoted  missionary. 

Yours  truly, 

J.  K.  WIGHT. 


DAVID  BLACK  CRAWFORD. 

1839—1849. 

FROM   THE   REV.  WILLAM  CAREY  CRANE. 

Semple  Broaddus  College,  March  l8,  1859. 
My  dear  Sir :   T  am  happy  to  furnish  you  with  a  brief  narrative   of  the 
life  of  my   friend,  the  Rev.  D,  B.  Crawford,  the  materials  for  which  arc 
drawn   from   authentic   sources  ;  and   my  own   personal  knowledge  of  him 
enables  me  to  speak  with  confidence  of  his  prominent  characteristics. 

D.  B.  Crawford  was  born  in  South  Carolina  on  the  '27th  of  June, 
1794.  His  parents  were  of  an  honourable  stock,  and  General  Andrew 
Jackson  was   his   cousin  ;  and,  though  it  may  add   nothing   to  his  minis- 


DAVID  BLACK  CRAWFORD.  835 

terial  character,  to  link  his  name  with  one  ciublazoncJ  with  martial  and 
civic  glory,  still,  it  may  enable  us  to  form  a  more  correct  estimate  both 
of  his  intellect  and  his  heart,  to  learn  something  about  his  earthly  rela- 
tionships. 

In  early  life,  he  removed  to  the  State  of  Tennessee,  whore  he  professed 
religion,  and  joined  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Of  this  Church 
ho  became  a  minister,  and  sustained  in  it  a  high  character  for  integrity  and 
usefulness.  After  a  few  years'  connection  with  this  denomination,  he  was 
convinced,  by  careful  examination,  that  believers  are  the  only  subjects,  and 
immersion  the  only  mode,  of  IJaptism  ;  and,  acting  in  accordance  with  this 
belief,  about  the  year  1839,  he  was  baptized,  by  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Lattimore, 
and  bceanio  a  member  of  the  Mound  Bluff  Church,  Madison  County, 
Miss.,  by  whose  call,  immediately  thereafter,  he  was  inducted  into  the 
Baptist  ministry.  Having  had  the  pastoral  charge  of  this  church  for  about 
two  years,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Antioeh  and  3It.  Albon  Churches,  in 
Warren  County.  With  these  churches  he  remained  four  years  ;  after  which 
he  was  again  chosen  Pastor  of  the  Mound  Bluff  Church.  In  the  year  1846, 
his  failing  health  led  him  to  give  up  the  active  duties  of  the  ministry. 
As  soon,  however,  as  his  partially  recovered  health  induced  him  to  believe 
that  he  could  preach,  he  again  became  Pastor  of  the  Mt.  Albon  and 
Antioeh  Churches,  (one  eight  miles, — the  other  twelve,  from  Yicksliurg, 
Miss.,)  and  this  charge  he  continued  to  hold  until  within  a  few  months  of 
his  death.  On  the  occasion  of  his  entering  upon  his  last  Pastorate,  it  fell 
to  my  lot  to  preach  his  Installation  Sermon.  The  several  churches  to 
•which  he  ministered  were  ardently  attached  to  him,  and,  by  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  his  labours,  were  built  up  in  the  faith,  and  increased  in  numbers. 
Each  year  witnessed  some  special  indication  of  the  Spirit's  presence  in  his 
congregation.  For  many  years,  he  practised  Medicine ;  and,  though 
strictly  a  self-made  Physician,  such  was  the  ability  which  he  manifested, 
and  such  the  success  which  attended  his  practice,  that  the  Transylvania 
University  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Metlicine. 

Mr.  Crawford's  mind  was  naturally  acute,  investigating  and  discrimina- 
tive. He  was  fond  of  metaphysics,  and  hence  his  preaching  was  generally 
of  a  didactic  character.  It  is  not  known  that  he  ever  wrote  a  sermon, 
and  yet  his  discourses  exhibited  profound  thought,  and  were  clothed  in 
plain,  forcible  language.  He  rarely  preached  without  making  it  manifest, 
before  he  closed  his  discourse,  V)y  the  fervour  of  his  manner  and  his  tender 
and  tremulous  tones,  that  he  was  most  deeply  interested  for  the  salvation 
of  sinners.  He  was  tenaciously  devoted  to  Baptist  tenets,  and  was  a  party 
to  one  or  two  oral  debates,  with  others  of  opposite  views.  He  was  a  lover 
of  good-humour,  and  sometimes  showed  his  own  power,  in  a  keen  and 
mirth-provoking  witticism.  I  remember  distinctly  a  scene,  illustrative  of 
this  remark,  which  occurred  during  the  session  of  the  Mississippi  State 
Convention,  at  Hernando,  in  November,  1847.  About  twenty-five  minis- 
ters and  delegates  were  strewn  about,  at  night,  at  a  brother's  house,  upon 
banks  of  cotton  seed,  quietly  reposing  their  wearied  limbs  in  sleep.  Among 
the  number  were  Mr.  Crawford,  and  a  venerable  brother  whose  praise  is  in 
all  the  churches.  The  two  had  travcllc<1,  a  portion  of  the  way,  to  the  Con- 
vention, together,  and,  one  night,  had  put  up  at  Grcnaila.     Both  had  fasted 


336  BAPTIST. 

during  the  day,  and,  accordingly,  ate  a  very  hearty  supper.  It  fell  to  tho 
lot  of  the  old  minister  to  preach  that  night.  The  day's  fasting  and  the  hearty 
supper  were  a  poor  preparation  for  the  pulpit  services.  The  worthy  brother 
had  made  but  little  progress  in  the  delivery  of  his  sermon,  when  it  was  evi- 
dent that,  to  use  a  Southwestern  phrase,  he  was  in  the  "brush."  He  went 
on,  however,  until  he  came  to  his  exhortation,  when  he  assumed  the  most 
approved  sing-song  style,  little  to  the  edification  of  his  town  audience,  and 
much  to  the  amusement  of  Mr.  Crawford.  The  service  ended,  and  they 
journeyed  together  to  Hernando,  without  allusion  to  the  sermon.  But,  on 
the  night  when  we  were  all  strewed  upon  the  cotton  banks,  about  midnight, 
Brother  M.  turned  over  and  coughed.  Brother  C.  was  awake  ;  and  he 
instantly  called  out,  in  tones  loud  enough  to  awaken  us  all, — "  I  say, 
Brother  M. — that  sermon  3'ou  preached  at  Grenada !  tell  me,  did  you 
intend  to  preach  a  song,  or  sing  a  sermon  ?"  The  loud  laughter  which  fol- 
lowed this  question  proved  how  keenly  we  all  appreciated  the  joke,  and  no 
one, — although  he  uttered  a  few  '■'tut,  tuts,  Brother  C,"  relished  the 
question  more  than  the  venerable  Brother  M. 

During  the  spring  of  1848,  his  ministerial  labours  were  arrested  by  the 
fatal  disease  which  had  fixed  itself  upon  his  system.  He  lingered,  in 
intense,  pain,  until  August  27,  1849,  when  he  breathed  his  last,  and  left 
this  region  of  toil  for  one  of  eternal  rest.  It  was  my  privilege  to  see  him, 
a  few  days  before  his  decease.  He  was  calm,  resigned,  and  prepared  for 
the  summons.  His  dying  moments  were  cheered  by  the  consolations  of  our 
blessed  religion,  and  his  last  audible  expression  was, — "The  Star  of 
Bethlehem  hath  appeared  to  light  me  through  the  dark  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death." 

He  was  Moderator,  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  of  the  Central  Associa- 
tion, over  which  he  presided  two  years  with  dignity,  urbanity,  and  ability. 
The  Obituary  Committee  of  that  Association,  in  their  Report  of  1849, 
say  : — "  Our  Churches  have  sustained  no  ordinary  loss  in  the  decease  of  this 
able,  devoted,  laborious  and  talented  minister  of  the  New  Testament.  For 
a  number  of  years,  we  have  been  accustomed  to  look  to  him  as  one  of  the 
pillars  of  the  principles  of  the  widely  extended  brotherhood  to  which  we 
belong,  and  we  deeply  lament  that  we  shall  see  his  face  no  more  on  earth ; 
but  we  rejoice  in  the  precious  hope  that  we  shall  meet  him  among  the 
blood-washed  throng  of  sanctified  spirits  which  gather  about  tho  throne  of 
(>od.  We  mourn  his  loss  with  heartfelt  sorrow,  and  tender  to  his  bereaved 
family  our  sincere  condolence.  They  and  we  may  be  consoled  with  the  belief 
that  he  understands  the  reality  of  those  visions  of  eternal  glory,  of  which 
he  was  accustomed  to  sing  while  on  earth." 
I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  as  ever, 

^  Very  sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  CARET  CRANE. 


JOHN  LIGHTFOOT  WALLER.  337 


JOHN  LIGHTFOOT  WALLER,  LL.  D. 

1840—1854. 

FROM  PROFESSOR  .1.  E.  FARNAM. 

Georgetown  College,  Ky.,  July  8,  18.')9. 

My  dear  Sir :  The  Rev.  Dr.  Waller,  of  wlioni  you  ask  me  to  give  you 
some  account,  thou<rh  his  course  was  not  a  protracted  one,  has  left  behind 
him  a  name  that  will  long  be  gratefully  cherished  and  honoured,  at  least 
throughout  the  whole  Southwest.  I  knew  him  well  during  his  last  fifteen 
years,  and  have  since  had  every  needful  facility  for  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  liis  life. 

John  Lioiitfoot  Wallkr  was  born  in  Woodford  County,  Ky.,  Novem- 
ber, 23,  1800.  His  grandfather.  Elder  William  E.  Waller,  a  Baptist  minis- 
ter, emigrated  to  Kentucky,  from  Orange  County,  Va.,  with  his  farailv,  in 
the  fall  of  1784,  and  settled  near  Lexington.  After  a  residence  of  some 
twelve  years  in  this  part  of  the  State,  during  wliich  he  preached  for  the 
Baptist  Church  at  Bryant's  Station,  and  supplied  other  destitute  churches 
in  the  neighbourhood,  he  removed  to  Shelby  County,  where  he  remained 
until  his  return  to  Virginia  in  1801,  in  which  State  he  continued  to  labour 
until  his  death, — which  closed  a  ministry  of  more  than  fifty  years.  He 
left  in  Kentucky  two  sons, — George  and  Edmund,  both  of  whom  became 
Baptist  ministers,  and  were  extensively  known  as  uncompromising  defend- 
ers of  the  ancient  landmarks  of  their   Church. 

Edmund  Waller,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was,  like  most 
Baptist  ministers  in  the  West  at  that  time,  dependant  upon  the  labour  of 
his  own  hands  for  the  support  of  his  family, — receiving,  for  many  years, 
from  the  churches  he  supplied,  but  a  scanty  remuneration  for  preaching  to 
them  two  days  in  seven.  It  was,  therefore,  impossible  for  him,  livinf' 
remote  from  any  public  school,  to  educate  his  children  but  imperfectly,  or 
to  do  even  this  except  by  practising  the  most  rigid  economy  in  his  neces- 
sary expenditures.  Occasionally,  a  school  was  taught  for  a  few  months  in 
the  neighbourhood,  which  his  older  children  attended,  and  these  taught  the 
younger  what  they  themselves  had  learned. 

Until  he  was  twelve  years  old,  John  L.  received  no  instruction,  except 
from  his  elder  brothers.  But  as  soon  as  he  had  learned  to  read,  he  mani- 
fested an  extraordinary  fondness  for  books;  and,  having  now  in  his  posses- 
sion a  key  with  which  he  imagined  he  could  unlock  all  the  storehouses  of 
knowledge,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  "  getting  an  education," — 
schooling  or  no  schooling.  Until  after  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  he  had 
attended  school  only  fifteen  months.  But,  with  occasional  assistance  from 
his  father  and  bis  elder  brothers,  he  had  thoroughly  mastered  all  the 
elementAry  branches  of  an  English  education, — Geography,  Grammar. 
Arithmetic,  Algebra,  and  so  mtich  of  the  Natural  Sciences  as  was  to  be 
found  in  the  text  books  then  used  in  Western  Academies  and  High  Schools. 
He  had,  also,  read  and  re-read  every  volume  of  History  that  he  could  buy 
or  borrow.     He  had  become  especially  interested  in  and  familiar  with  the 


g38  BAPTIST. 

historical  portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  with  whatever  of  Ecclesias- 
tical History  he  chanced  to  find  in  his  father's  library,  or  jn  the  books  he 
could  borrow  in  the  neighbourhood.  Endowed  by  nature  with  a  memory 
of  wonderful  tenacity,  he  thus,  in  boyhood,  without  those  facilities  gene- 
rall}'  deemed  indispensable,  laid  the  foundations  of  his  future  fame  as  a 
defender  of  the  liaptist  faith  and  polity. 

It  was  the  custom  of  his  father  to  permit  his  sons,  on  reaching  the  age 
of  sixteen,  to  select  for  themselves  a  profession  or  business  for  life.  When 
the  question  was  propounded  by  Elder  Waller  to  his  third  son,  John  L., 
what  calling  he  preferred,  he  replied, — "  I  wish  to  get  an  education  first, 
and  then  deciiie."  Elder  Waller  was  more  than  willing,  but  he  possessed 
not  the  ability,  to  send  his  sou  to  College,  when  he  should  be  prepared  to 
enter  one;  but  he  promised  to  render  him  all  the  aid  in  his  power  in  his 
preparatory  studies.  He  sent  him  to  the  Academy  in  Nicholasville,  where, 
in  three  sessions,  of  five  months  each,  he  completed  the  Latin  and  Greek 
course  required  for  admission  into  Transylvania  University.  But  his 
father's  pecuniary  resources  were  altogether  inadequate  to  meet  the  current 
expenses  of  his  son  at  the  University,  and  John  returned,  nowise  dis- 
heartened, to  his  father's  house,  determined  to  educate  himself.  Procur- 
ing the  text-books  used  at  the  University,  he  entered  upon  his  "  college 
course,"  as  he  called  it,  with  his  authors  for  his  Professors.  In  the  mean 
time,  as  a  partial  remuneration  for  what  his  father  had  paid  to  defray  his 
expenses  at  the  Academy,  he  devoted  a  part  of  each  day  to  the  instruction 
of  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters.  He  remained  at  home  thus  employed 
until  the  spring  of  1828,  when  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of 
a  select  school  in  Jessamine  County.  He  had  never  relinquished  the  hope 
of  completing  his  studies  at  the  University,  and  the  prospect  of  being  able 
to  procure,  by  his  own  labour,  the  pecuniary  means  of  accomplishing  his 
purpose,  induced  him  reluctantly  to  discontinue  the  instruction  of  the 
younger  children  at  home.  He  was  now  in  his  twentieth  year, — a  young 
man  much  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him,  unassuming  in  his  deportment, 
social  in  his  disposition,  and  of  a  cheerful  and  hopeful  temperament.  As 
yet  he  had  made  no  profession  of  religion — indeed  he  had  never,  until  the 
spring  of  1828,  made  personal  religion  a  sul>ject  of  very  serious  conside- 
ration, though  he  had  carefully  read  and  stuJicd  the  Bible,  investigated 
its  claims  to  a  Divine  origin,  and  had  become  familiar  with  the  history  of 
Polemic  Theology,  ancient  and  modern.  His  father  regarded  him  and 
spoke  of  him  as  a  sort  of  "  Theological  Encyclopedia,"  and  frequently 
conversed  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  information  relating  to 
Church  History  which  he  himself  did  not  possess. 

The  parting  words  of  his  venerated  parents,  when  he  was  about  leaving 
the  paternal  roof,  made  a  deep  impression  upon  young  Waller's  feelings, 
and  led  him  to  serious  reflection  upon  his  relation  to  God  as  the  moral  Gov- 
ernor of  the  universe.  The  result  was  that,  to  use  his  own  words,  he 
"was  brought  to  feel  himself  a  great  sinner,  to  seek,  by  prayer,  the  inter- 
cession of  Christ,  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  Publican,  '  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner,'  and,  ultimately,  by  faith  in  Christ,  to  indulge  the  hope 
that,  for  his  sake,  God  had  pardoned  his  sins."  He  did  not,  however, 
make  a  public  profession  of  religion  until  July,  1833,  at  which  time  he  was 


JOHN   LIGIITFOOT  WALLKR.  339 

baptized  by  his  fullior,  and  united  with  the  Baptist  Church  at  Glenn's 
Creek,  of  which  his  father  was  the  Pastor.  Not  long  after  the  change  in 
his  relijzious  views  occurred,  he  seems  (0  have  entertained  serious  doubts 
concerning  its  genuineness,  and,  for  the  five  years  folluwing,  ho  made  no  open 
profession  of  personal  piety.  ]iut  he  felt  an  interest  to  which  he  had  hith- 
erto been  a  stranger,  in  the  Ilcdeemer's  Kingdom  on  Earth,  and  engaged 
with  much  zeal  in  the  advocacy  of  what  he  regarded  as  the  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity.  Several  articles  from  his  pen,  over  the  signature 
of  "  Juvenis,"  appeared  in  the  •'  Baptist  Chronicle,"  a  small  monthly 
sheet  published  at  Georgetown  ;  but  what  brought  him  prominently  before 
the  public  was  a  pamphlet  entitled  '•  Letters  to  a  Campbellite,  alias 
Reformer,"  originally  addressed  to  a  young  friend  of  the  writer,  but,  fall- 
ing under  the  eye  of  Judge  S ,  were  solicited  for  publication.     These 

Letters,  reviewing  the  history  of  the  so-called  '•  Current  Reformation," 
inaugurated  by  Alexander  Campbell,  and  defending  the  Baptist  faith  and 
polity  against  what  he  believed  to  be  misrepresentations,  were  extensively 
read,  and  secured  for  their  author,  wherever  they  were  circulated,  the 
reputation  of  a  bold  and  vigorous  writer,  and  an  able  defender  of  the  doc- 
trines for  the  utterance  of  which,  without  "  license  "  from  the  civil  autho- 
rities, his  ancestors  in  Virginia  had  sufl'ered  fine  and  imprisonment 
"  according  to  law." 

Mr.  Waller's  mind  was,  after  his  public  profession  of  religion,  deeply 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  duty  as  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and  especially 
in  reference  to  preaching  the  Gospel.  He  conversed  freely  on  this  subject 
with  his  father,  who  greatly  desired  that  at  least  one  of  his  sons  should 
enter  the  ministry.  John  L.'s  distrust  of  his  own  fitness  for  the  sacred 
office  prevented  him,  for  several  years,  from  receiving  ordination,  though, 
in  the  judgment  of  those  who  best  knew  him,  he  possessed,  in  a  high  degree, 
the  requisite  qualifications.  He  continued,  until  1835,  teaching  a  select 
school,  composed  principally  of  pupils  studying  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages and  the  higher  English  branches. — devoting  a  large  portion  of  the 
time,  however,  to  study,  to  general  reading  and  to  writing ;  and  there  is 
little  doubt  that,  in  his  case,  this  course  of  self-instruction,  carried  out  as 
it  was  with  that  self-reliant  energy  and  untiring  industry  for  which  he  was 
distinguished,  better  qualified  him  for  his  subsequent  career  than  would  a 
four  years'  college  routine  have  done. 

In  August,  1834,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Amanda  M.  Bcatty,  daughter 
of  George  Beatty,  Esq.,  of  Scott  County.  This  pious  and  excellent  lady 
died  in  February,  1851,  leaving  three  children, — all  of  them  daughters.  In 
1835,  he  was  solicited  to  accept  the  editorship  of  the  "  Baptist  Banner," — 
a  small  semi-monthly  sheet  published  at  Shelbyville,  and  the  only  organ  of 
the  Baptist  denomination  in  Kentucky.  He  accepted  the  place,  and,  in 
September  of  this  year,  entered  upon  his  duties  as  a  public  journalist,  with 
Doctors  S.  M.  Noel  and  R.  T.  Dillard  as  assistants.  The  denomination  of 
which  the  Banner,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Waller,  was  to  be  the  expo- 
nent, though  it  was,  in  numbers,  the  strongest  Religious  Body  in  the  State, 
was  in  a  condition  of  great  inefficiency.  Its  churches  had  suffered  greatly 
from  adverse  influences  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left.  Its  College  at 
Georgetown,  established  for  the  purpose  of  educating  young    men   for   the 


840 


BAPTIST. 


ministry,  had  for  years  been  manacled  by  a  board  of  Trustees  composed 
of  discordant  sectarian  elements, — Baptists,  Campbellites,  and  Anti-mis- 
sion Baptists.  There  were  but  two  Baptist  churches  in  the  State  that 
enjoyed  the  entire  services  of  a  Pastor,  and  weekly  preaching.  The  gene- 
ral rule  was  preaching  once  a  month.  For  several  years,  very  little  had 
been  done  by  the  Kentucky  Baptists  for  either  Domestic  or  Foreign 
Missions,  or  for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures — in  fact,  so  much  of 
Antinomianisin  still  lingered  in  many  of  the  largest  and  wealthiest  churches, 
that  it  was  deemed  inexpedient  by  their  Pastors  to  introduce  into  their 
pulpits  the  Agents  of  the  Mission  Boards  of  the  denomination.  To  rectify 
this  state  of  things,  to  awaken  the  denomination  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  to 
action,  or,  in  the  language  of  the  youthful  editor,  "  to  arouse  the  sleeping 
giant  to  a  consciousness  of  its  own  power,  and  to  a  perception  of  its  duty 
to  God,"  was  the  mission  of  the  Baptist  Banner.  Mr.  Waller  had  sur- 
veyed the  whole  field  and  well  understood  the  nature  of  the  work  before 
him.  The  Banner,  under  his  direction,  became  popular  throughout  the 
State,  and  its  subscription  list  soon  justified  its  enlargement  and  its  weekly 
publication.  It  was  shortly  transferred  from  Shelbyville  to  Louisville,  as 
a  more  eligible  point  of  issue, — its  circulation  having  already  extended 
into  other  States,  West  and  South.  Mr.  Waller  continued  principal  edi- 
tor of  the  Banner  until  1841,  during  which  period  the  subscription  lists  of 
the  "Western  Pioneer,"  of  Illinois,  and  the  "Baptist,"  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  were  transferred  to  the  books  of  the  Banner  ;  and  their  respective 
editors,  Kev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck,  and  Rev.  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  became 
assistant  editors  of  the  "Baptist  Banner  and  Western  Pioneer,"  as 
the  paper  was  styled  after  the  union  above  indicated.  The  estimation  in 
which  Mr.  Waller  was  held  by  his  co-labourers,  is  expressed  in  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck.  "In  the 
editorial  corps,  there  was,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  harmonious 
intercourse,  fraternal  feeling,  and  mutual  co-operation.  Not  a  jar,  or  note 
of  discord  can  be  found  in  the  columns,  nor  were  there  any  unkind  sus- 
picions entertained.  Brother  Waller  was  leader, — for  he  was  at  the  office, — 
arranged  the  columns  and  looked  over  the  proof  slips  ;  yet,  in  no  instance, 
did  he  ever  assume  any  superiority  over  his  co-editors."  "Nor  did  we 
permit  any  quarrelling  in  the  Baptist  family, — that  is,  among  Baptists  in 
general  union.  When  factions  broke  away  from  those  general  principles 
that  bound  the  whole  Baptist  fraternity  in  the  United  States  in  common 
bonds,  by  declarations  of  non-intercourse  or  non-fellowship  on  account  of 
Missions  ;  or  when  ministers  and  churches  were  carried  into  the  muddy 
current  of  the  'Reformation,'  and  relinquished  not  only  creeds  in  form, 
but  the  old  scriptural  creed  (belief)  always  held  by  sound  Baptists,  we 
considered  these  factions  as  legitimate  matters  of  controversy  and  exposure. 
'  Union  and  mutual  co-operation,^  were  our  rallying  Avords,  and  they  may 
^De  found  scattered  over  the  columns  of  the  '  Baptist  Banner  and  Western 
Pioneer.'  "  "  Mr.  Waller  was  modest,  unassuming,  did  not  put  himself 
forward,  and  yet  attracted  attention.  In  all  our  personal  intercourse,  we 
found  him  courteous,  kind-hearted,  affable  and  good  tempered.  We  never 
beard  him  give   an    angry  or  an   impudent   word   to   any   one.      Yet   we 


JOHN   LIGIITFOOT  TVALLER.  842 

have  seen  occasional  articles  from  his  pen  that  were  terribly  severe.  This 
was  not  his  customary  style  of  composition." 

The  prudence  and  ability  which,  from  the  first,  characterized  Mr.  Waller's 
editorial  writings,  secured  the  confidence  of  his  brctliren  every  where,  and 
even  the  elder  portion  of  the  liaptist  ministry  in  the  State,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  Icad^  recognised  in  their  young  lay-editor  an  able  champion 
of  their  faith,  and  a  wise  counsellor  in  all  their  plans.  His  unassuming 
demeanour,  his  calm  self-possession  in  the  midst  of  exciting  and  sometimes 
of  angry  discussion,  in  the  Association  or  the  Convention,  and  his  warm- 
hearted conservatism,  secured  for  him  the  confidence  of  all  parties. 
During  the  six  years  of  his  connection  with  the  "Banner  and  Pioneer,'" 
great  and  salutary  changes  were  wrought  in  the  denomination,  especially 
in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  The  College  at  Georgetown  had  been  reorgan- 
ized, in  its  Board  of  Trustees  ami  its  Faculty,  and  a  temporary  endowment 
had  been  secured.  The  "  General  Association  of  Kentucky  Baptists  " 
had  been  organized  for  the  purpose,  mainly,  of  supplying  the  destitute 
portions  of  the  State  with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  The  wide-spread 
prejudice  against  an  educated  ministry  had  nearly  disappeared  from  among 
the  churches  ;  preaching  every  Sabbath  had  come  to  be  regarded  as 
desiralde,  and  had  been  secured  by  many  of  the  churches;  the  Bible,  Sun- 
day School,  and  Missionary  organizations  were  multiplying  without  oppo- 
sition. Not  only  in  the  columns  of  the  Banner,  but  in  the  District 
Associations,  in  the  churches,  by  private  correspondence,  and  in  conversa- 
tion with  his  brethren  from  all  portions  of  the  State,  with  whom  he  had 
become  acijuainted,  did  Mr.  Waller  contribute  his  influence  to  bring  about 
this  great  change. 

Mr.  Waller  was  ordajned  to  the  Christian  ministry  in  1840,  by  the 
Baptist  Church  in  Louisville,  of  which  the  Bev.  Wm.  C.  Buck  was  the 
Pastor.  His  retirement  from  the  "  Banner  and  Pioneer  "  was  prompted 
by  a  conviction  that  a  field  of  more  extensive  usefulness  was  presented  to 
him  in  his  appointment  to  the  office  of  General  Agent  of  the  General 
Association  of  Kentucky  Baptists.  He  discharged  the  duties  of  this 
office  for  two  years,  during  which  time  he  visited  every  portion  of  the 
State,  became  intimately  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  the  churches  of 
his  denomination,  their  past  history  and  present  wants,  furnishing  much 
valuable  infVirmation  to  the  Executive  Board  of  the  Association  for  their 
guidance  in  locating  missionaries  and  in  aiding  fee1)le  churches.  He  was 
every  where  greeted  by  his  brethren  with  a  cordial  welcome,  and  succeeded 
in  enlisting  the  active  co-operation  of  the  ministry  and  the  more  influential 
lay-meml)ership  of  the  churches,  in  support  of  the  objects  of  the  General 
Association.  His  "  appointments,"  as  published  in  the  weekly  issues  of 
the  Banner  and  Pioneer,  represent  him  as  preaching  almost  every  day  in 
the  week. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1843,  the  Glenn's  Creek  Church,  of  which 
his  father  had  been  Pastor  for  many  years,  invited  John  L.  to  become  his 
successor  in  the  pastoral  office.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  entered  upon 
his  labours  with  a  warm  greeting  from  the  companions  of  his  early  years. 
His  pulpit  ministrations  were  alwaj's  of  a  high  order,  and  generally 
attracted  large  congregations  to  Glenn's  Creek.     The  church    was   united 

\o\..  W.  106 


84,2  BAPTIST. 

and  prosperous  under  his  ministry,   and,  though  no   great  revival  occurred, 
accessions  were  frequently  made  to  its  membership. 

In  1845,  Mr.  Waller  commenced  the  publication  of  the  "Western  Bap- 
tist Review,"  a  monthly  periodical  which  he  continued  to  publish  till  his 
death, — its  title,  after  the  fourth  volume,  being  changed  to  "  The  Christian 
Repository."  His  design,  as  set  forth  in  a  Prospectus,  was  "  to  supply 
the  denomination  with  a  sort  of  reading  not  usually  to  be  found  in  weekly 
newspapers,  or,  if  found  there,  seldom  read,  and  never  preserved."  In 
the  prosecution  of  this  design,  he  furnished  the  readers  of  the  Review  witli 
a  vast  amount  of  historical  matter,  relating  to  the  origin  and  progress  of 
errors  in  polity,  and  heresies  in  creed,  as  they  exist  in  Papal  and  in  Pro- 
testant organizations ;  with  articles,  in  a  compact  and  readable  form,  in 
defence  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  and  the  polity  of  Baptist  churches  ;  with 
critical  reviews  of  books  in  the  department  of  Polemic  or  of  Didactic 
Theology  ;  and  with  a  monthly  record  of  the  progress  of  the  Baptist 
denomination,  as  indicated  by  current  statistics.  Intermediate  between 
the  newspaper  and  the  more  elaborate  "  quarterlies,"  it  supplied  a  felt  want 
in  the  West  and  South,  where  but  few  of  the  clergy,  and  fewer  still  of  the 
lay-membership,  of  the  Baptist  Churches,  could  be  induced  to  subscribe 
for  the  more  expensive  and,  perhaps,  the  more  erudite  Reviews,  emanating 
from  Princeton,  Andover,  or  Newton. 

An  episode  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Waller,  unanticipated  by  him  and  disap- 
proved by  some  of  his  friends,  occurred  in  1849.  The  people  of  Ken- 
tucky had  decided  that  a  Convention  should  be  called  "  to  re-adopt,  amend, 
or  abolish  the  Constitution  "  of  the  State.  The  ablest  statesmen  and  poli- 
ticians of  the  Commonwealth  were  divided  in  their  opinions  in  relation  to 
the  expediency  of  attempting  to  improve  the  fundamental  law  of  the  State, 
and  the  canvass  for  delegates  to  the  Convention  promised  to  be  one  of 
unusual  interest.  The  Hon.  Thomas  P.  Marshall  was  already  tlie  candi- 
date of  the  party  opposed  to  changing  the  Constitution,  in  Woodford 
County  ;  and,  as  it  was  deemed  doubtful  how  the  question  would  be  deci- 
ded in  that  county,  if  the  vote  should  be  taken  upon  its  merits,  the  "  New 
Constitution  party  "  felt  the  necessity  of  bringing  out  their  strongest  man. 
By  common  consent,  Mr.  Waller,  who  was  understood  to  disapprove  of 
some  of  the  provisions  of  the  existing  Constitution,  was  the  only  man  in 
the  county  that  could  successfully  cope  with  Mr.  Marshall,  at  that  time 
regarded  the  most  eloquent  and  best  informed  politician  in  the  State. 
When  the  nomination  was  tendered  to  Mr.  Waller,  he  at  once  declined  it ; 
but  his  acceptance  of  it  was  urged  on  the  ground  that,  in  all  probability, 
the  Constitution  would  be  materially  modified,  that  the  religious  rights  of 
the  people  should  be  carefully  guarded  in  that  instrument,  which  might, 
for  the  next  half  century,  underlie  the  State  legislation  ;  that  already  the 
other  denominations  had  their  ablest  clergymen  in  the  field  as  candidates 
for  the  Convention,  and  that  the  Baptist  denomination,  which  was  the 
largest  in  tlic  State,  should  also  have  among  its  representatives  at  least 
one  of  its  ablest  ministers.  With  no  little  hesitation, — in  fact,  against  the 
convictions  of  his  own  judgment,  Mr.  Waller  accepted  the  nomination,  and 
entered  upon  the  canvass,  which  was  conducted  by  the  candidates  with 
great  ability,  and  with  gentlemanly  courtesy.      Mr.  Waller  was  elected  by 


JOHN   LIGIITKOOT  WALLKU.  §43 

a  consiilerablc  majority  ;  ami,  iu  the  Convention,  coniposctl  of  the  ablest 
men  of  the  State,  he  ranked  among  the  very  first.  He  was  always  listened 
to  with  marked  attention,  and  was  treated  with  uniform  courtesy,  even  by 
those  who  ojijiosed  his  views  and  the  measures  he  advocated,  liai  he  often, 
afterwards,  spoke  of  his  brief  political  career,  as  so  much  time  lost ;  and 
no  considerations  could  have  again  tempted  him  into  even  a  temporary 
withdrawal  from  the  great  business  of  his  life. 

In  1850,  he  was  recalled  to  the  editorial  management  of  the  ]?anner  and 
Pioneer,  and  the  united  voice  of  the  denomination  in  Kentucky  urged  his 
return  to  his  former  position.  Among  tlie  circumstances  whicli  led  him  to 
resume  the  responsibilities  of  editorship  was  the  deep  interest  he  felt  in 
the  subject  of  Bible  Translation  and  Revision.  The  formation  of  the 
American  Bible  Union,  for  the  ))urpose  of  furnishing  correct  translations 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  into  all  languages,  was  regarded  by  him  as  a  mea- 
sure of  vital  importance  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  ;  and,  with  that 
earnestness  and  unshaken  confidence  which  characterized  his  advocacy  of 
any  measure  which  he  believed  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church,  did  he  address  himself  to  the  task  of  enlisting  in  its  support  not 
only  the  readers  of  his  paper, — (now  styled  the  "Western  llccorder,") 
but  Christians  of  all  denominations,  who  desired  a  faithful  version  of  the 
inspired  original  Scriptures  into  the  English  language,  made  by  the  best 
scholars  of  the  age,  untrammelled  by  any  restrictions  which  would  prevent 
them  from  furnishing  in  their  translation  "  an  exact  tran.script  of  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit."  The  better  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  the  West  and  the 
South,  he  proposed,  b}*  private  correspondence  with  the  friends  of  Kevi- 
sion  in  Kentucky,  and  adjoining  States,  the  organization  of  a  Society  inde- 
pendent of  the  Bible  Union  located  in  New  York,  in  nowise  subject  to  its 
control,  but  to  be,  in  fact,  auxiliary  to  it,  so  long  as  it  should  adhere  to  the 
catholic  principles  upon  which  it  was  based.  Such  an  organization,  styled 
the  "  Bible  Bevision  Association,"  was  effected  in  April,  1852,  at  Mem- 
phis, Tenn.,  by  a  large  convention  of  delegates  from  ten  different  States. 
Mr.  Waller  was  elected  President  of  the  Association,  and  remained  such 
to  the  time  of  his  death.  Through  the  columns  of  the  Recorder  and  of  the 
Repository,  by  an  extensive  correspondence,  and  by  lectures,  addresses, 
and  oral  discussion,  in  Kentucky,  in  Missouri,  and  in  Mississippi,  lie  greatly 
multiplied  the  friends  of  Revision,  and  obtained  liberal  contributions  to 
the  funds  of  the  Society.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred 
on  Mr.  Waller  by  Madison  University,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  1852. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  say  a  word,  in  reply  to  an  intimation  that 
was  thrown  out  previous  to  Mr.  Waller's  death,  and  which  took  the  form  of 
a  more  open  and  direct  statement  afterwards,  that  he  sympathize  1  with  the 
peculiar  views  of  Alexander  Campbell.  During  his  lifetime,  Mr.  Waller 
treated  all  such  insinuations  with  silent  contempt.  As  a  Bapti.^t,  he  could 
cordially  unite  with  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Reformers,  or  even  with 
Catludics,  in  any  benevolent  enterprise  that  did  not  involve  a  sacrifice  of 
principle.  lUit  that  he  ever  entertained  a  thought  of  compromising  one 
iota  of  Baptist  faith  or  Church  polity,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  a 
union  of  Baptists  and  Reformers,  his  most  intimate  friends  never  had  a 
suspicion.     He  was,  indeed,  hopeful   that    the    evangelical   portion  of  the 


844 


BAPTIST. 


Refonned  Churches  would  adopt  such  a  creed,  or  such  a  basis  of  church 
organization,  as  would  ultimately  effect  a  separation  of  what  he  deemed  the 
anti-evangelical  elements  from  the  heterogeneous  mass,  leaving  a  residuum 
of  orthodox  theology  combined  with  scriptural  ordinances.  But  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  he  persistently  refused  to  recognise  the  Reformed  congre- 
gations as  Christian  churches,  declining,  on  all  occasions,  when  invited,  to 
commune  with  them  at  the  Lord's  table,  though  he  was  on  terms  of  friendly 
intercourse  with,  and  entertained  a  high  regard  for,  many  of  their  preach- 
ers, and  he  even  preached  occasionally  in  their  houses  of  worship.  lu  a 
work  on  Communion,  written  shortly  before  his  death,  and  published  since, 
he  expressly  deprecates  intercommunion  between  Baptists  and  lleformers, 
and  advises  Bnptists,  if  they  cannot  conscientiously  abstain  from  commu- 
ning with  lleformers  at  the  Lord's  table,  to  leave  their  own  denomination 
and  become  Reformers  themselves. 

Mr.  Waller's  death,  which  occurred  on  the  10th  of  October,  1854,  may 
be  said  to  have  been,  at  that  time,  sudden,  though  it  scarcely  took  his  inti- 
mate friends  by  surprise.  His  health  had  been,  during  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life,  in  a  precarious  condition  ;  and,  on  several  occasions,  his  recovery 
from  sudden  and  severe  attacks  of  illness  had  |)een  despaired  of.  Several 
times,  without  any  premonition,  he  had  fallen  senseless,  and  remained  so 
for  hours, — once,  when  travelling  alone  on  horseback.  For  this  reason  he 
never,  during  the  latter  portiou  of  his  life,  journeyed  without  some  friend 
as  a  companion.  After  his  recovery  from  one  of  these  attacks,  as  far  back 
as  1844,  he  thus  writes  to  his  sister: — "  T  have  always  had  a  presentiment 
that  I  should  die  young ;  and  I  know  that  I  am  liable  to  go  without  a 
moment's  warning.  But  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  life — my  death  is  with 
God.  I  never  felt  more  cheerful  in  my  life — I  am  persuaded  you  never 
saw  me  more  so.  Had  I  died  the  other  night,  I  should  have  had  a  most 
pleasant  exit.     I  almost  murmured  because  it  was  not  the  time." 

In  reply  to  a  suggestion  from  a  friend,  that  preaching  was  calculated  to 
increase  the  frequency  of  these  attacks,  and  that  he  had  better,  therefore, 
abstain  for  a  while  from  public  speaking,  he  says  : — "I  believe  we  ought 
to  use  all  laudable  means  to  preserve  our  lives.  God  requires  this  at  our 
hands  ;  but  I  am  slow  to  believe  that  our  health  is  ever  set  against  our 
duty,  or  that  we  are  any  longer  required  to  live  in  this  world,  when  we  can 
do  no  good.  When  a  Christian  can  do  nothing  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord,  his  time  of  departure  has  come.  I  intend,  therefore,  to  do  what  I 
can  while  I  live,  for  I  have  no  other  motive  in  living.  If  preaching  proves 
an  injury  to  me,  it  must  do  so  ;  for  I  shall  certainly  preach  when  I  can." 
A  few  days  before  he  died,  on  leaving  Louisville  for  the  purpose  of  meet- 
ing an  engagement  to  lecture  on  his  favourite  theme, — the  Bible  faith- 
fully translated  into  all  languages^ — he  left  with  his  family  a  paper  con- 
taining suggestions  and  directions  relative  to  his  temporal  affairs,  to  be 
consulted  by  them  in  the  event  of  his  not  returning, — remarking  that,  of 
late,  his  mind  had  been  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  liad  but  a 
short  time  to  remain  with  his  friends  on  earth.  He  had  looked  forward 
with  much  interest  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  General  Association  of 
Kentucky  Baptists,  which  was  to  occur  on  tlie  12th  instant,  two  days  after 
his  decease.     The  announcement  of  his  death  in  the  Association  created  a 


JOHN  LIGIITFOOT  WALLER.  845 

profound  sensation.  All  felt  that  a  great  and  good  man,  a  wise  and  able 
counsellor,  had  been  removed.  Resolutions  expressive  of  their  sympathy 
with  his  surviving  relatives,  and  especially  with  his  orphan  children,  were 
passed,  and  brief  eulogies  upon  his  character  were  pronounced  ;  and,  as  a 
testimony  of  their  respect  for  his  memory,  they  solicited  the  privilege  of 
buperintending  the  interment  of  his  remains,  with  appropriate  ceremonies, 
in  the  cemetery  near  Frankfort,  where,  it  was  understood,  Mr.  Waller  had 
desired  to  be  buried.  On  the  27th  instant,  the  time  fixed  by  the  Associa- 
tion for  the  Funeral  solemnities,  his  ren)ains  were  taken  to  Frankfort, 
where  an  able  discourse  was  pronounced  by  the  venerable  Elder  William 
Vaughan,  at  the  close  of  which  the  corpse  was  accompanied  to  the  ceme- 
tery grounds  by  the  largest  Body  of  Baptist  ministers  ever  convened  in 
Kentucky  on  a  similar  occasion,  and  deposited  in  its  final  resting  place. 

In  person,  Mr.  Waller  was  somewhat  below  medium  stature,  of  a  broad 
and  compact  frame,  and  rather  inclined  to  corpulency  in  the  latter  portion 
of  his  life.  His  features  were  expressive  of  great  kindliness  of  disposi- 
tion, rather  than  of  a  high  order  of  intellect,  except  when  animated  by 
strong  mental  excitement. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  E.  FARNAM. 


JAMES  WHITSITT. 

1789*— 1849. 
FROM  THE  REV.  ROBERT  BOYLE  C.  HOWELL,  D.  D. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  June  16,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir  :  I  am  happy  to  comply  with  your  request  for  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  life  and  character  of  the  Rev.  James  Whitsitt ;  and,  as  I 
knew  him  intimately,  I  am  able  to  rely,  in  respect  to  the  former,  on 
communications  which  he  has  made  to  me,  and,  in  respect  to  the  latter, 
upon  an  extended  course  of  observations  which  I  have  made  upon  him. 

James  Whitsitt,  a  son  of  William  and  Ellen  (Manecse)  Whitsitt,  was 
born  in  Amherst  County,  Va.,  on  the  31st  of  January,  1771.  When  he 
was  ten  years  old,  his  parents  removed  to  Henry  County  in  the  same 
State,  where  they  remained  until  their  removal  to  the  Great  West.  His 
early  advantages  for  education,  though  limited,  were  as  good  as  the  part 
of  the  country  in  which  he  lived,  afforded.  At  his  father's  suggestion,  he 
engaged  very  early  in  business,  and  before  he  had  reached  his  twentieth 
year,  had  accumulated  considerable  property.  He  was  eminently  pros- 
pered in  this  respect  through  life;  and,  though  he  was  as  far  as  possible 
from  the  slightest  tendency  to  parsimony,  and  was  even  very  liberal  in 
the  distribution  of  his  charities,  he  scarcely  ever  engaged  in  any  pecu- 
niary enterprise  from  which  he  did  not  reap  very  considerable  profits.      . 

Mr.  AVhitsitt  was  born  and  educated  in  the   Episcopal  Church,  then  the 
Kstablished  Church  of  Virginia ;  though  his  mind  seems  not  to  have  been 

•See  Preface  for  the  reason  of  this  sketch  being  out  of  place. 


846 


BAPTIST. 


directed,  in  his  early  years,  to  the  suliject  of  religion  as  a  personal  con- 
cern. In  the  course  of  the  year  1789,  an  extensive  revival  of  religion 
took  place  in  the  neighbourhood  in  which  the  family  lived,  under  the  min- 
istrations of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Anthony,*  an  evangelical  and  earnest  Bap- 
tist minister  of  that  day.  Having  learned,  on  his  return  from  Richmond, 
where  he  had  been  on  business,  that  there  was  great  religious  excitement 
among  his  friends  and  associates,  he  was  not  only  disposed  to  regard  it  as 
the  workings  of  enthusiasm,  amounting  well-nigh  to  madness,  but  indulged 
in  not  a  small  measure  of  indignation  towards  those  who  were  specially 
active  in  it.  To  satisfy  himself  more  thoroughly  of  the  gross  impropriety 
of  the  procedure,  he  resolved  to  attend  a  meeting  in  the  neighbourhood,  on 
a  week-day  evening,  at  which  Mr.  Anthony  was  to  preach.  But  the  effect 
of  the  service  was  very  different  from  what  he  had  expected — instead  of 
going  away  to  cavil  and  condemn,  he  went  away  to  weep  over  his  own  sins, 
and  to  think  of  salvation  as  the  one  all-engrossing  concern.  He  betook 
himself  to  the  word  of  God  for  light,  but  no  light  yet  dawned  upon  his 
troubled  spirit.  After  a  few  days,  his  affairs  demanded  his  presence  in 
Richmond  again,  and  he  yielded  to  the  necessity  and  went.  On  his  way, 
he  revealed  his  anxiety  to  the  driver  of  one  of  the  wagons  by  which  he 
was  accompanied,  who  had  liimself  already  become  a  subject  of  the  revival. 
The  effect  of  his  conversation  with  this  man  was,  for  some  time,  only  to 
deepen  his  own  sense  of  guilt,  and  make  his  case  appear  more  desperate  ; 
but  when,  on  a  certain  evening,  the  wagoner  came  to  speak  of  the  Saviour, 
and  the  fulness  of  his  gracious  provision  for  sinners,  the  mind  of  the  lis- 
tening inquirer  seemed  to  take  a  new  direction.  At  the  close  of  the  inter- 
view, Mr.  Whitsitt  retired  into  a  neighbouring  forest,  and  there,  as  he 
believed,  laid  down  the  burden  of  his  guilt  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  and 
made  a  solemn  and  unreserved  dedication  of  himself  to  God,  through  a  gra- 
cious Mediator.  He  returned  to  the  place  where  the  party  had  encamped, 
at  a  late  hour,  with  a  set  of  feelings  which  were  entirely  new  to  him, — 
full  of  grnlitude,  and  peace,  and  joy.  In  due  time,  he  returned  home  in 
substantially  the  same  state  of  mind,  and  was  most  gratefully  welcome  1  by 

•Joseph  Anthonv  was  liopefully  converted  under  the  preacbing  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Har- 
riss,  was  baptizeil  by  the  Rev.  John  Waller,  and  united  with  the  Dover  Church.  Shortly  after 
this,  he  eiigiiged  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  laboured  for  a  time  in  connection  with  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Webber  in  the  County  of  Chcsterficlil,  and  was  instrumental  in  forming  two  or  three 
churches.  Afterwards,  he  became  an  associate  with  the  Rev.  Klijah  Baker,  in  the  counties 
between  Richmond  and  Hampton.  He  finally  removed  to  the  Western  part  of  the  i^tate,  and 
became  the  l^astor  of  Otter  and  Burton  s  Creek  Churches,  in  Strawberry  Association.  When 
the  Mayo  Association  was  foruied,  he  was  chosen  its  Moderator,  and  hehl  the  office  until  his 
death.  lie  was  subjected  to  imprisonment  in  Chesterfield,  in  1770-71,  for  preaching  the 
Gospel. 

Elijah  Baker,  above  mentioned,  was  born  in  Lunenburg  County,  in  1742.  lie  was  of 
bumble  parentage,  and  his  early  )'ears  were  spent  in  obscurity.  After  having  yielded,  for 
some  time,  to  sinful  indulgence,  he  was  brought  to  a  sense  of  bis  guilt  and  danger,  and  then  to 
an  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  offer.  He  was  baptized  liy  the  Rev.  Samuel  IIarri,<s,  in  17(>!l,  and 
united  with  tlie  Meherrin  Church,  in  the  County  of  Lunenburg,  lie  almost  immediately  com- 
menced preaching,  and  soon  .accepted  an  invitation  to  take  charge  of  Malones  Church  in  Meck- 
lenburg County.  After  about  a  year,  he  relinquished  this  field  of  labour,  and  became  an 
itinerant.  For  several  years,  ho  travelled  extensively  throughout  Eastern  Virginia..  He  sub- 
sequently settled  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  and,  after  his  marriage  with  Sarah  Coiieland. — a  lady 
of  respectable  connections,  he  became  a  resident  of  Nnrtliampton  County,  and,  in  177S,  took 
charge  of  the  Lower  Northampton  Church.  His  labours  in  this  region  were  attended,  as  they 
had  previously  been  elsewhere,  with  many  tokens  of  the  Jiivine  blessing,  lie  was  at  ono  time 
confined  in  the  Accomac  jail,  as  a  penalty  for  the  exercise  of  his  ministry.  He  died  on  the 
6th  of  November,  1798,  in  the  fifty-sixth  yearof  his  age.  Without  possessing  more  tlian  ordi- 
nary talents,  he  was  a  faithful  and  earnest  preacher,  and  was  instrumental  in  gathering  large 
numbers  into  the  Church. 


JAMES  WIIITSITT.  g^y 

liis  alroaily  converted  friends  and  relatives,  as  a  fellow-liuir  of  the  grace  of 
life,  a  fellow-helper  unto  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  soon  became  satisfied 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  make  a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  and  to  do  it 
in  connection  with  the  Baptist  Church  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  ordinance  of 
Baptism  was  administered  to  him  by  Mr.  Anthony.  On  the  occasion  both 
of  his  examination  and  of  his  Baptism,  he  made  an  address,  characterized 
by  great  fluency,  appropriateness,  and  fervour ;  and,  on  the  latter  occasion 
particularly,  the  congregation  were  greatly  moved.  Though  he  was  then 
only  beginning  his  nineteenth  year,  he  entered  at  once  with  great  zeal  into 
the  revival,  not  only  praying  and  exhorting,  but  appointing  and  conduct- 
ing meetings  ;  and  so  acceptable  were  his  services  in  this  way  that  within 
a  few  weeks  the  church  with  which  he  was  connected  gave  him  a  formal 
license  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

But  circumstances  now  occurred  to  give  to  the  life  of  this  young  man  a 
new,  and  in  some  respects  a  sad,  direction.  His  maternal  uncle,  James 
Maneese,  Esq.,  who  resided  near  Guilford  Court  House  in  North  Carolina, 
the  theatre  of  the  celebrated  battle  during  the  Revolution,  had  nearly  all 
his  property  swept  away  by  the  belligerent  armies  ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  he  migrated,  in  1780,  with  many  others,  to  the  Valley  of  the  Cum- 
berland, with  a  view  to  find  there  a  permanent  home.  After  he  settled 
there,  he  sent  back  to  his  friends  in  Virginia  such  glowing  accounts  of  the 
healthfulness,  beauty,  and  fertility  of  the  country,  that  they  finally  deter- 
mined to  follow  him  ;  and,  accordingly,  having  made  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments, the  Whitsitt  family  proceeded  on  their  way  to  the  West,  though 
James  remained  behind  to  attend  to  the  settlement  of  his  father's  afi"airs. 
He  now  lived  in  the  family  of  his  brother-in-law,  to  whom  he  was  strongly 
attached, — a  highly  gifted  and  intelligent  man,  all  whose  religious  views, 
however,  were  strongly  adverse  to  his  own.  An  influence  was  here  brought 
to  bear  upon  him,  which  was  designed  to  carry  him  back  to  his  former 
habits  of  thought,  and  feeling,  and  action  ;  and,  though  it  did  not  avail  to 
the  extent  of  undermining  his  faith  in  the  doctrines  which  he  had  received, 
it  did  greatly  impair  the  vigour  of  his  Christian  graces,  and  generated  the 
most  painful  doubts  in  regard  to  his  acceptance  with  God.  He  felt  himself 
constrained  not  only  to  relinquish  preaching,  but  to  withdraw  from  the 
communion  of  the  church  ;  and  he  even  sought  and  obtained  a  formal  exclu- 
sion from  it.  He  now  sunk  into  a  state  of  utter  hopelessness,  which  con- 
tinued, without  intermission,  during  his  stay  in  Virginia,  and  for  several 
years  afterwards.  Yet  he  ceased  not,  through  this  whole  period,  to  love 
Christ  and  his  people,  and  never  fell  into  any  open  outward  transgression. 
Often  have  I  heard  him  refer  to  these  days  of  darkness,  and  never  with- 
out a  choked  voice  and  flowing  tears. 

In  the  autumn  of  ITOO,  Mr.  Whitsitt,  though  he  had  not  yet  entirely 
closed  his  business  in  Virginia,  set  out  for  Tennessee  ;  and,  after  a  journey 
fraught  with  much  hardship  and  peril,  had  the  pleasure  at  length  of  finding 
himself  once  more  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family.  There  very  soon  grew 
up  a  mutual  attachment  between  himself  and  his  cousin,  Jane  Cardwell, 
daughter  of  his  uncle  James  Maneese,  which  led  to  a  matrimonial  engage- 
ment between  them.  After  making  a  visit  to  Virginia  the  next  summer, 
to  close  up  his  business,  he  returned,  and  in  the  winter  of  1792  they  were 


348  BAPTIST. 

married.  Mrs.  Whitsitt  was  a  lady  of  great  fortitude,  vigorous  health,  and 
a  model  of  industry  and  economy  in  the  management  of  her  houseliold  con- 
cerns. A  more  estimable,  affectionate  and  public-spirited  Christian  lady 
than  she  was,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  They  had  eleven  children,  four 
of  whom  died  in  infancy,  three  reached  maturity  and  died  unmarried,  and 
four  became  the  heads  of  families.  Mrs.  Whitsitt  lived  through  the  allot- 
ted period  of  "  threescore  years  and  ten,"  and  died  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1840,  rejoicing  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Mr.  Whitsitt,  by  his  marriage,  became  possessed  of  an  uncommonly  fine 
tract  of  land  upon  Millcreek,  the  cultivation  of  which  he  immediately  com- 
menced. But,  for  two  years  or  more,  he  was  still  the  subject  of  the  most 
distressing  spiritual  conflicts,  which,  however,  remained  hidden  in  his  own 
bosom.  In  the  autumn  of  1794,  two  events  occurred,  which  again  changed 
the  whole  current  of  his  life.  One  was  a  violent  attack  of  disease  from 
which  he  expected  never  to  recover  ;  the  other  was  the  hopeful  conversion 
of  his  wife,  who  was  soon  after  baptized,  with  several  members  of  his 
father's  family  and  other  relatives,  all  of  whom  united  with  the  little 
church  which,  about  that  time,  was  organized  in  the  neighbourhood.  By 
these  occurrences  he  was  deeply  moved,  and  with  weeping  and  supplication 
again  souglit  the  Lord.  After  some  weeks,  the  consolations  of  Christian 
hope  were  restored  to  him,  and  he  was  once  more  rejoicing  in  God's  abound- 
ing grace.  He  was  at  first  not  a  little  embarrassed  in  respect  to  his  former 
relation  to  the  Church  and  the  Ministry ;  but,  after  a  few  weeks,  he  wrote 
to  his  former  Pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Anthony,  narrating  with  great  power 
and  pathos  the  recent  dealings  of  God  towards  him,  and  asking  to  be 
restored  to  fellowship.  The  request  was  most  cheerfully  complied  with, 
and  his  membership  was  immediately  transferred  to  the  little  church  on 
Millcreek,  by  whose  advice  he  resumed  at  once  his  vocation  as  a  Preacher 
of  the  Gospel. 

From  this  time  onward  until  near  the  close  of  his  life,  the  history  of 
Mr.  Wliitsitt's  labours  would  be  substantially  the  history  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  the  Valley  of  the  Cumberland.  He  was  soon  joined  by 
Dillahunty,  McConnico,  and  several  others, — all  men  of  decided  power, 
and  eminently  fitted  to  do  good  service  as  pioneers  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
He  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  four  churches, — namely,  the  Church  at 
Millcreek,  Concord  Church  in  Williamson  County,  llockspring  Church  in 
Rutherford  County,  and  Providence  Church  on  Stones  river,  in  the  same 
County, — giving  to  each  one  Sabbath  in  the  month,  and  as  much  of  the 
preceding  week  as  he  was  able.  A  few  years  later,  the  Church  at  Antioch, 
on  Millcreek,  was  organized  ;  and,  as  that  was  nearer  his  residence  than 
Rock?pring,  he  assisted  the  Rockspring  Church  to  procure  another  Pastor, 
and  took  charge  himself  of  the^  one  at  Antioch.  The  labour  incident  to 
his  conneclion  with  all  these  churches  continued  from  thirty  to  forty 
years,  and  up  to  the  time  that  the  infirmities  of  age  compelled  him  to  cir- 
cumscribe his  efforts  and  remain  mostly  at  home. 

Mr.  Whitsitt  was  present  at  the  organization  of  the  Mero  District,  the 
first  Association  formed  in  the  Cumberland  Valley,  and  in  this  and  all 
others  of  which  he  was  subsequently  a  member,  his  influence  was  para- 
mount.    The  Association  included  originally  all  the  churches  in  Tennessee, 


JAMES   WUITSITT.  g49 

West  of  the  Mountains.  His  connection  with  this  continued  until  the 
formation  of  the  Cumberland  Association,  to  which  liis  churches  were 
transferred,  and  he  of  course  went  with  them.  Afterwards,  on  account  of 
the  too  great  extent  of  territory  of  the  Cumberland,  the  Concord  came 
into  being,  and  among  its  churches  were  included  those  of  Mr.  Whitsitt. 
With  this  Body  he  remained  ever  after.  The  annual  meetings  of  these 
Associations  he  always  attended,  while  his  health  would  permit,  and  their 
proceedings,  and  especially  those  of  the  Concord,  bear  much  of  the  impress 
iif  his  views  and  opinions. 

The  liaptist  denomination  in  Tennessee,  up  to  the  year  1815,  had  gene- 
Tally  been  blessed  with  a  large  degree  of  peace  and  prosperity.  But,  from 
that  year,  a  variety  of  influences  were  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  at  suc- 
cessive periods,  and  under  successive  leaders,  which  served  not  more  to 
disturb  their  harmony  than  to  mar  their  purity.  It  would  not  consist  with 
the  design  of  this  communication  to  go  into  the  details  of  the  history  of 
those  troublous  times — suffice  it  to  say  that  the  venerable  man  of  whom  I 
am  writing,  while  he  always  showed  himself  ready  to  do  his  utmost  either 
to  prevent  or  heal  divisions,  was  still,  in  all  circumstances,  the  unflinching 
friend  of  evangelical  truth  and  order  ;  and,  though  he  was  sorely  tried  by 
the  aberrations  of  his  brethren  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  he  sur- 
vived the  difficulties  in  which  he  had  been  called  to  mingle,  and  went  down 
to  his  grave  rejoicing  in  a  brighter  day. 

After  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Mr.  Whitsitt  married  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Woodrufi",  a  lady  who  had  long  been  a  member  of  his  Church  at  Millcreek. 
She  was  eminently  devoted  to  him,  but  survived  only  about  four  years. 
He  now  divided  all  his  remaining  property  among  his  two  surviving  child- 
ren and  grandchildren,  and  lived  with  his  youngest  son,  to  whom  he  gave 
the  homestead.  The  infirmities  of  age  were  now  pressing  heavily  upon 
his  manly  form  and  naturally  vigorous  constitution.  He  solicited  the 
Church  at  Millcreek, — the  only  one  he  still  retained,  either  to  release  him 
from  his  Pastorship,  or  to  provide  an  Assistant  Pastor ;  and  they  chose 
tbe  latter.  The  individual  who  became  his  associate,  however,  difi"ered 
with  him  so  materially  in  respect  to  both  doctrine  and  discipline,  that  he 
could  not  with  comfort  to  himself  continue  in  that  relation,  and  he  accord- 
ingly resigned  his  charge,  and,  having  obtained  a  letter  of  dismission, 
joined  the  First  Church  in  Nashville,  with  which  he  remained  in  connec- 
tion till  the  close  of  his  life.  Meanwhile,  he  continued  to  preach  in  difi'er- 
ent  churches,  as  much  and  as  long  as  his  health  would  permit.  The  summer 
and  autumn  previous  to  his  decease,  he  supplied  the  Second  Church  in 
Nashville,  in  the  absence  of  the  Pastor,  most  of  the  time  ;  and,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  preached  Funeral  Sermons,  and  performed  other  occasional  ser- 
vices at  tbe  houses  of  his  friends  in  the  neighbourhood.  He  also  wrote 
many  articles  for  the  religious  press,  some  of  which  were  decidedly  among 
his  best  productions. 

On  the  second  Lord's  Day  in  October,  1S48,  he  was  with  his  church  in 
Nashville,  at  their  Communion.  His  addresses  on  that  occasion  were  pecu- 
liarly affecting.  At  the  close  of  the  service,  after  having  exhorted  sinners 
to  repentance,  and  the  members  of  the  church  to  increased  zeal,  spirituality, 
and  fidelity,  he  said, — "  And  now,  brethren  and  sisters,  Farewell.     We 

Vol.  VI.  107 


850  BAPTIST. 

shall  meet  no  more  upon  earth.  This  is  our  last  interview.  I  am  old  and 
rapidly  sinking.  The  winter  is  almost  upon  us,  during  which  I  cannot 
visit  you,  and  before  the  spring  comes,  I  shall  die.  Farewell."  This  was 
indeed  his  last  meeting  with  us.  The  cold  weather  came,  and  he  was 
confined  to  his  chamber.  No  particular  disease  had  fastened  upon  him  ; 
he  did  not  suffer  ;  but  his  bodily  powers  were  worn  out ;  and,  often,  he 
could  not,  without  assistance,  rise  from  his  chair.  He  was,  nevertheless, 
cheerful  and  happy.  He  was  not  desirous  to  remain  on  earth,  nor  impatient 
to  depart.  He  expressed  his  confident  conviction  in  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trines he  had  preached  ;  wept  over  his  many  imperfections  and  failures  in 
duty  ;  expressed  great  solicitude  for  several  of  his  unconverted  friends ; 
and  left  kind  messages  to  be  delivered  to  the  churches  he  had  served.  He 
died  in  perfect  calmness,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1849,  in  the  seventy-ninth 
year  of  his  age,  and  after  having  been,  for  fifty-three  years,  a  faithful, 
laborious  and  successful  minister  of  Christ.  His  remains  were  taken  the 
next  day  to  the  Church  at  Millcreek,  where  a  sermon  was  preached,  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  concourse,  by  his  Pastor,  from  II.  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

Mr.  Whitsitt  was  a  man  of  striking  personal  appearance  and  manners. 
His  frame  was  tall  and  combined  both  elegance  and  strength ;  his  hair  was 
black;  his  eye  dark,  calm,  and  shaded  by  heavy  brows.  His  countenance 
was  regular,  manly,  intellectual — it  united  great  benevolence  with  unyield- 
ing firmness.  Indeed,  his  whole  demeanour  evinced  a  dignity  which 
repelled  every  light  approach,  and  a  self-possession  which  never  forsook  him. 

In  social  intercourse  Mr.  AVhitsitt  was  somewhat  reserved  ;  and  I  may 
safely  say  that  no  one  ever  heard  him,  in  any  circumstances,  utter  a  care- 
less or  silly  remark.  He  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  and  profound  respect, 
not  of  his  brethren  only,  but  of  men  of  all  classes.  His  personal  attach- 
ments were  not  hastily  formed,  but  they  were  sincere  and  enduring  ;  and 
he  would  cheerfully  deny  himself  to  confer  a  favour  upon  any  of  liis  friends. 
His  house  was  the  house  of  ministers,  and  many  a  weary  wanderer  has 
there  spent  weeks  of  grateful  rest.  You  always  felt  in  his  family  entirely 
at  your  ease,  and  could  not  well  avoid  doing  just  as  you  liked. 

As  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  he  held  a  very  high  rank.  His  sermons 
were  always  able,  and  had  the  appearance  of  being  elaborately  prepared. 
His  conceptions  were  quick,  clear  and  accurate.  The  reasoning  faculty  he 
possessed  in  unusual  strength ;  and  no  metaphysical  subtleties  seemed  ever 
to  confuse  him.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  his  sermons  became  less 
argumentative  and  more  practical.  His  manner  in  the  pulpit  was  marked 
by  the  most  perfect  self-possession — it  was  solemn,  dignified,  earnest,  but 
without  much  action.  His  voice  was  heavy,  and  somewhat  loud,  but  not 
unmusical.  His  sentences  were  generally  short,  and  the  Saxon  element 
was  very  prominent  in  his  language.  He  had  a  vein  of  quiet  wit,  of  which 
he  seemed  utterly  unconscious,  that  sometimes  appeared  in  his  sermons, 
and  was  quite  irresistible.  In  his  quotations  from  Scripture  he  was  not 
only  appropriate  but  sometimes  strange  and  startling ;  and  he  often 
announced  the  topics  of  his  discourses  in  bold  and  apparently  paradoxical 
propositions.  He  was  also  occasionally  intensely  pathetic  ;  and  the  effect 
of  his  utterances  at  such  times  was  well-nigh  overwhelming.  He  was  a 
man  whom  uo  one  could  imitate,  and  whose  style  and  manner  could  never 


JAMKS  AvurrsiTT. 


851 


be  forgotten  by  those  wlio  had  oiu-o  lioanl  him.  lie  was  the  unifonn  and 
earnest  friend  of  Missions,  and  had  a  primary  agency  in  originating  and 
sustaining  the  missionary  operations  of  our  State.  He  left  a  broader 
mark  upon  his  generation  than  almost  any  of  his  associates  in  the  minis- 
try. 

Allow  me  very  briefly  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  your  reader.s  two  other 
prominent  Ixiptist  ministers  of  Tennessee,  to  whom  I  have  already  inci- 
dentally alluded, — both  men  of  note  in  their  day, — whose  la.bours  arc  well 
worthy  of  an  enduring  record,  though  many  of  the  important  facts  of  their 
history  are  irrecoverably  lost. 

John  Dillahunty 

was  born  in  Kent  County,  Md.,  about  the  year  1730.  His  family  name 
was  French,  and  was  written  De  la  Hunte.  His  ancestors  were  Hugue- 
nots, who,  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  of  the  Edict  of  Nautz,  found 
their  way  to  Holland.  Thence  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  D.  removed  to 
Ireland,  where  many  of  his  descendants  still  reside.  His  father  migrated 
to  Maryland  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  ;  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem, 
after  what  his  family  had  suffered  for  their  religion,  he  became  a  Catholic, 
and  married  a  Cathulie  lady.  They  were  prosperous  and  became  wealthy. 
Their  son,  who  was  both  ga}'  and  profane,  was  married  to  Miss  Hannah 
Neal,  of  Talbot  County,  jMd.,  a  young  and  beautiful  Quakeress  ;  for  which 
offence  the  husband  and  wife  were  both  duly  excommunicated  from  their 
respective  Churches. 

After  spending  four  years  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  parents,  with- 
out restoring  themselves  to  their  favour  or  awakening  their  .sympathy,  they 
gathered  up  their  little  earnings  and  left  the  State,  with  a  view  to  find  a 
home  farther  South.  They  continued  their  journey  till  they  reached  the 
Neuse,  in  North  Carolina,  where  they  settled.  Their  residence  was  in 
the  vicinity  of  Newbern. 

Soon  after  his  settlement  here,  i^Ir.  Dillahunty  was  appointed  Sheriff  of 
Craven  County,  which  office  he  held  up  to  the  time  that  he  became  a 
Minister  of  Christ.  His  profession  of  religion  was  on  this  wise.  He 
heard  the  celebrated  George  Whitefield  preach,  and  this  was  actually  the 
first  sermon  of  any  kind  he  ever  heard.  It  impressed  him  greatly,  and 
directed  his  thoughts  into  an  entirely  ncv,'  channel.  Shortly  after,  Shubael 
Stearns  and  Daniel  Marshall  appeared  in  that  neighbourhood  ;  and,  though 
his  previous  impressions  concerning  them  were  must  unfavourable,  he  was 
finally  induced  by  his  wife,  who  thought  she  had  been  savingly  benefitted 
by  their  ministrations,  to  attend  one  of  their  meetings  ;  and  it  was  the 
occasion,  as  he  believed,  on  which  his  own  heart  was  first  opened  to  receive 
the  word.  Shortly  after  this,  both  himself  and  his  wife  were  baptized  by 
the  Rev.  Philip  Mulky,  and  in  due  time  a  church  was  organized  in  that 
neighbourhood,  of  which  Mr.  D.  became  a  Deacon.  He  evinced  so  much 
ability,  especially  in  conducting  religious  meetings,  that  it  was  not  long 
before  the  church  gave  him  a  regular  license  to  preach. 

Though  Mr.  Dillahunty  was  actively  engaged  in  the  scenes  of  the 
Revolution,  he  still  continued,  as  he  had  opportunity,  to  perform  the  duties 


552  BAPTIST. 

of  a  nuulster.  The  cliurcli  of  which  he  was  a  member  had  become  vacant, 
and  withal  hud  suffered  a  sad  dispersion.  In  1781,  Mr.  D.  set  about 
collecting  the  scattered  flock,  and  they  were  re-organized  at  Chinquepin 
Chapel,  in  Jones  County,  a  few  miles  from  their  former  place  of  worship. 
At  this  meeting  he  was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  received  a  unanimous  call 
to  the  Pastorship,  which  he  accepted,  and  was  formally  recognised  in  tliis 
oifice.  Though  the  church  had  become  greatly  reduced,  it  increased  rapidly 
under  the  labours  of  the  new  Pastor,  both  in  numbers  and  in  efiiciencj-. 

Mr.  Dillahunty  remained  in  connection  with  this  church  fifteen  years. 
In  his  iuHucdiate  neighbourhood  was  one  of  those  splendid  old  parish 
churches,  erected  by  the  Government,  in  Colonial  times,  for  the  ministers 
of  the  Established  Church.  The  incumbent  of  this  church,  on  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  as  his  sympathies  were  altogether 
witli  the  mother  country,  fled  to  England,  leaving  his  numerous  and 
wealthy  flock  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Whigs.  They  commenced  to 
attend  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Dillahunty  ;  and  the  consequence  was  not  only 
that  some  of  them  joined  his  church,  but  that  the  Vestry  met,  and,  having 
determined  that  the  right  of  property  was  in  them,  unanimously  gave  the 
whole  to  him  and  his  church,  "  to  be  owned  and  used  by  them  and  their 
successors,  and  by  them  and  their  successors  onl}',  forever. "  Mr.  D,, 
accordingly,  took  possession,  and  preached  regularly,  and  so  rich  was  the 
blessing  that  attended  his  labours  that  nearly  the  whole  congregation  pro- 
fessed religion  and  united  with  his  church.  The  Methodists  subsequently 
disputed  their  right  to  the  property,  on  the  ground  that,  as  part  and  par- 
cel of  the  Episcopal  Church,  they  were  themselves  its  legal  representatives 
and  successors  ;  but  their  claim  was  summarily  and  successfully  opposed 
by  the  old  Vestry,  and  Mr.  Dillahunty  was  allowed  to  proceed  unmolested 
in  his  labours. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  this  excellent  man,  in  common  with 
many  others  in  Virginia  and  Carolina,  was  overtaken  with  a  sudden  and 
powerful  impulse  to  settle  in  the  West.  Accordingly,  he  resigned  his  Pas- 
torship, sold  his  property,  and,  being  joined  by  about  half  a  dozen  fami- 
lies belonging  to  his  congregation,  they  directed  their  course  toward 
"  Cumberland,"  where  they  arrived  in  March,  1796.  During  the  next 
year,  assisted  by  the  llev.  Mr,  Phipps,  he  organized  the  Church  at  Rich- 
land Creek,  of  which  he  was  elected  Pastor,  and  in  connection  with  which 
he  continued  to  labour,  with  great  diligence  and  fidelity,  during  the  rest  of 
his  life.  He  died  suddenly,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1816,  in  the  eighty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  His  wife,  with  whom  he  had  lived  sixty-eight 
years,  died  immediately  after,  as  if  thej'  hnl  both  fallen  under  the  same 
blow.  The  Rev.  James  Whitsitt  paid  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  both  in 
the  same  Funeral  Discourse,  the  text  of  which  was  "And  they  were  both 
righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of 
the  Lord  blameless." 


Garner  McConnico, 

another  minister   incidentally    referred    to   in    this  sketch,    was    a    native 
of    Lunenburg    County,    Va.,    where    his   family   occupied    a   high    social 


JAMKS    WJIITSITT. 


853 


position.  Ho  became  hopefully  pious,  under  the  instructions  of  an 
excellent  n^.otlier,  at  a  very  early  age,  and  united  with  the  church  ;  ;uul 
such  were  the  spirit  Jind  the  ability  which  he  manifested  in  the  j)art  he 
occasionall)-  took  in  the  social  religious  exercises,  that  the  church  in  due 
time  licensed  him  to  preach,  and  ordained  him  as  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel. 
In  regard  to  the  date  of  these  events,  nothing  more  definite  can  be  ascer- 
tained than  that  they  all  occurred  before  he  had  reached  his  twenty-eighth 
year.  Jloanwhile,  he  was  married  to  a  young  lady  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  found  the  wants  of  a  rapidly  increasing  family  pressing  heavily  on  his 
attention.  As  the  beautiful  Valley  of  the  Cumberland,  just  at  this  time, 
presented  extraordinary  attractions  as  a  place  for  settlement,  Mr.  McCon- 
uico,  having  sold  out  his  property  in  Lunenburg,  fell  into  the  current  of 
emigration  that  was  setting  Westward,  and  reached  his  destined  distant 
home,  near  the  close  of  the  last  century. 

Mr.  M.  selected,  as  the  place  of  his  abode,  a  spot  in  Williamson  County, 
than  which  it  wouM  be  difficult  to  find  another  more  beautiful.  The  region 
is  interspersed  with  enchanting  little  streams,  formed  by  the  springs  which 
gush  out  of  every  valley,  and  which,  after  a  short  meandering  course 
between  rocky  and  romantic  banks,  empty  their  waters  into  the  Great 
Harpeth.  It  was  then  covered  w'ith  a  magnificent  forest,  presenting  a  sort 
of  park-like  appearance,  vastly  more  elegant  than  art  ever  did  or  ever  can 
produce.  Here  he  became  possessed  of  a  large  tract  of  land,  put  a  suffi- 
cient portion  of  it  to  subserve  his  purposes  under  successful  cultivation, 
lived  for  thirty-five  years,  and  reared  a  large  and  most  estimable  family, 
some  of  whom  have  since  reached  high  positions  of  usefulness  and  honour. 
His  mansion  was  ever,  after  the  oM  Virginia  fashion,  the  scene  of  a  profuse 
and  generous  hospitality.  In  it  was  found  the  best  society  then  in  the 
West ;  and  especially  was  it  the  delightful  resting-place  of  way-worn  niin- 
isters  of  the  Gospel  of  Clirist. 

Mr.  McConnico  immediately  commenced  among  the  settlers  his  appropri- 
ate work,  for  which  he  was  as  well  prepared  as  most  men  not  classically 
educated.  Not  only  was  he  a  most  diligent  student  of  the  Bible,  but  his 
reading  of  standard  theological  works,  with  which  his  library  was  richly 
furnished,  (considering  the  place  and  the  period,)  was  quite  extensive.  He 
clung  with  unyielding  tenacity  to  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Cross,  and  had 
an  intelligent  and  definite  view  of  the  whole  evangelical  system.  He  pre- 
pared his  discourses  with  much  care,  and  they  were  characterized  by 
remarkable  perspicuity,  directness,  and  appropriateness  of  thought  and 
style,  anil  delivered  in  a  manner  which  combined  a  graceful  elocution  with 
an  impressive  fervour  of  spirit.  Nothing  could  exceed  his  industry.  For 
many  years  he  preached  often  in  all  parts  of  the  IMiddle  District,  and  some- 
times beyond  it.  ;>rany  professed  religion,  and  a  large  number  of  churches 
were  raised  up  mainly  through  his  instrumentality.  Of  the  Harpeth 
Church,  which  was  in  his  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  which  was  numer- 
ous, intelligent  and  wealthy,  he  became  the  regular  Pastor,  and  so  contin- 
ued till  the  end  of  his  life.  Of  seven  other  churches  around  him  he  was 
the  stated  supply,  according  to  the  practice  of  the  times.  His  popularity 
was  almost  unbounded.  He  died  suddenly,  full  of  faith  and  hope,  in  the 
year  1833,  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age. 


854  BAPTIST. 

Mr,  McConnico  was  altogether  an  extraordinary  man.  His  figure  was 
tall  and  commanding;  and  in  every  movement  there  was  a  natural  finish 
and  grace,  of  which,  however,  lie  seemed  himself  to  be  utterly  unconscious. 
His  complexion  was  fair  and  ruddy  ;  his  hair  black  ;  his  eye  large  and 
dark,  overshadowed  by  brows  not  particularly  heavy,  but  distinctly  marked  ; 
his  forehead  was  broad,  high  and  smooth  ;  an  indescribably  benevolent 
smile  was  ever  playing  about  his  mouth;  his  voice  was  remarkable  for  its 
manly  tone  and  musical  sweetness,  and  his  whole  finely  chiselled  face  was, 
in  conversation  or  in  the  pulpit,  lighted  up  by  an  unmistakable  expression 
of  intelligence.  His  piety  was  nevertheless  most  uncompromising,  and  his 
presence  would  neutralize  every  tendency  to  levity.  His  manner  was  at 
once  inimitably  bland  and  yet  perfectly  dignified.  Had  you  entered  into 
conversation  with  him,  or  been  one  of  his  numerous  auditors  beneath  the 
deep  shade  of  the  gigantic  primeval  forest,  where  he  so  often  preached,  you 
would  soon  have  found  coming  over  you  a  strange  feeling  of  reverence  for 
his  mighty  mind.  Like  an  atmosphere,  his  intellect  seemed  to  inclose 
you  on  all  sides,  and  his  very  modesty  and  deference  to  your  judgment 
made  his  conclusions  so  much  the  more  resistless.  His  discourses  seemed 
alike  efi"ective  with  persons  of  every  variety  of  culture  and  of  character. 
Though  the  more  minute  details  of  his  life  and  ministry  have  already  passed 
into  oblivion,  his  memory  can  never  die. 

With  hearty  good  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  enterprise, 
I  am  very  fraternally  yours, 

R.  B.  C.  HOWELL. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 

OF    THE 

NAMES  OF  THE  SUBJECTS. 


-♦♦- 


A.  P^VGE. 

Alden.  Noah 67 

Allison,  Biirgrss,   D.  D 121 

Aiulrows,  Elisha -'>8 

Angell ,  George! 599 

Armstrong,  .John 75:1 

Asliton.  \Villiam  Easterly 631 

B. 

Backus,  Isaac 54 

Baldwin,  Thomas,  D   D 208 

Barni's,  Danitl  lU-nrv ''21 

Batchuhler,  William." 319 

Bennett ,  Alfred 535 

Biddlo,  William  Phillips 550 

Blood.  Caleb 103 

Boardman,  George  Dana 733 

Bulles.  Lucius,  D.  D 474 

Botsford,  Eilmund 138 

Bradlev,  Josliua 400 

Brantiv,  William  Tlieophilus,  D.  D. .  407 

Broaddns.  Andr.-w 200 

Brown.  ( )hadiah  B 53S 

Brown ,  Thomas 4*10 

The  Burrowses lOti 

Butler,  Ezra 411 

C. 

Tlie  Callenders 34 

Gary,  Lott 578 

Case,  Isaac 205 

Chapin,  Stephen,  D.  D G73 

Chaplin,  Jercmiali,  D.  D 4i52 

Clark,  .lohn 400 

Clarke,  John 21 

Clay.  Joseph 487 

Clo|)ton.  .\bner  Wentworth 057 

Collier,  William 370 

Comer.  John 39 

Cone,  Spencer  Houghton,  D.  D 042 

Cook,  Joseph ].S(', 

Crawford,  David  Black 834 

Cushman,  Elisha 562 

D. 

Davis,  Gustavus  Fcllowes,  D.  D 035 

Davis,  John 00 

Davis,  John 117 

Davis.  Noah 701 

Dodge.  Daniel 874 

Dudley,  Ambrose 202 

E. 

Edwards,  Morgan 82 


PAQK. 

Elliot,  William 235 

Ellis,  Robert  Fulton 827 

F. 

Foster,  Benjamin,  D.  D 191 

Frey,  Joseph  Samuel  Christian  Fre- 
derick     757 

Furman,  Kichard.  D.  D 161 

G. 

Gano,  John 02 

Gano,  Stephen,  M.  D 229 

Giddini;s.  Uockwood 818 

The  (iillettes 719 

(ioddard.  Josiah 831 

Going,  Jonatiian,  I).  D 591 

Grafion.  Joseph 221 

Graves,  Hiram  Atwell 823 

Grillitlis,  Benjamin 38 

H. 

llarriss,  Samuel 79 

Hart,  Oliver 47 

Hascali,  Daniel 547 

Hastings,  John 171 

llealey,  John 354 

Heard,  (Jeorge  Felix 815 

Hinton,  Isaac  Taylor 804 

Hodges,  Cvrus  Whitman 724 

Holcombe;  Henry,  D.  D 215 

Holcombe,  Ilosea 442 

J. 

Jenks,  Hervey 587 

Jones,  David 85 

Jones,  Daviil  518 

Jones,  Horatio  Gates.  D.  D 452 

Jones,  John  Tavlor,  I),  D 772 

Jones,  Samni'l,  D.  D 104 

Judd.  Willard 750 

Judson,  Adoniram,  D.  D 007 

K. 

Kendrick.  Clark .S79 

Kendrick,  Nathaniel,  D.  I) 482 

Kerr,  John 444 

King,  .\lonzo 747 

Kinnersley,  Ebenezer 45 

Knollys  Hansard 1 

Knowles,  James  Davis 707 

L. 

Law,  Josiah  Spry 791 


856 


ALniABETICAL  INDEX. 


Leland,  Aaron 

Lelaiul,  John 

Leoiuird,  George 

Leonard,  Zenas  Lockwood. 

Linsley,  James  Harvey 

Ludlow,  Peter 

Lutislord,  Lewis 


'AGE. 

240 
174 
7:29 
,  347 
79-') 


M. 

Maginiiis,  Jolin  Sliarp,  D.  D. 

Mai]iiiiig,  James,  D.  D 

Marsliall,  Abraham 

Afarsliall,  Andrew 

Marsliall,  Daniel 

Maxcy,  Jonathan,  D.  D 

McCoy,  Isaac 

Mercer,  Jesse,  D.  D 

iMeredith,  Thomas 

Merrill,  Daniel 

Mcsser,  Asa,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. . . 

Montanye,  Thomas  B 

The  Morgans 

Morse,  Asahel 

Morton .  Salmon 


125 


766 

89 

168 

251 

59 

297 

541 

283 

663 

507 

326 

265 

31 


386 
460 


N. 


Nelson,  Ebinezer. G77 

Nelson,  Stejiheu  Smith 366 

Noel,  Silas  Mercer,  D.  D 627 


Palmer,  'William 511 

Parkinson,  William 362 

Peck,  John 431 

Pitman,  John lOtl 

Prentice,  llalijli  Miner 802 

R. 

Rhees,  Morgan  John 344 

Rhecs,  Morgan  John ,  D.  D 780 

Rice,  Luther 002 

Richards,  Lewis 201 

Rodgers,  Ehenezer 68 1 

Rogers,  William,  D.  D 145 

s. 

Sanders,  Billington  McCarter 740 

Sawyer,  Isaac 369 

Schroebel .  Jacob  II 789 

Screven,  Charles  Odingsell,  D.  D 439 


PAGE 

Scamans.  Job .-. 149 

Semple,  Robert  Bavlor 305 

Sharp,  Daniel,  D.  D 565 

Shepard.  Samuel,  M.  D 135 

Skinner.  Ezckiel.  M.  D 694 

Smallev.  Henry 281 

Smith,"  llezekiah,  D.  D 97 

Stanford,  John,  D.  D 244 

Staughton,  William,  D.  D 334 

Stearns,  Silas 524 

Sterry,  John 407 

Stillnian,  Samuel,  D.  D 71 

Straughan  Samuel  Lamkin 514 

T. 

Taylor,  John 152 

Thompson,  Ciiarles 133 

'I'hurston,  Gardiner 50 

Titcomb,  Benjamin 394 

Train.  Charles 530 

Trip}.,  Jujin 277 

Trvon,  William  Milton 812 

Tucker,  Klisha.  I).  D 667 

Tucker,  Levi,  D.  D 786 

u. 

Upham,  Edward 43 

Ustick,  Thomas 165 

V. 

Yardeman,  Jeremiah  417 

w. 

Walker.  Jacob 428 

A\' aller,  John 113 

Waller,  John  Lightfoot,  LL.  D 837 

Weston.  John  Equality 713 

Whilsitt.  James *. 845 

The  Wightmans 26 

Wildman .  Daniel 316 

Aniliams,  Eiisha  Scott 392 

Arilliams,  John 129 

\Villiams.  John 358 

Williams,  Ko-er 8 

Williams,  William 159 

Willson.  John  S 717 

Winchell.  James  Manning 595 

Woods,  Abel 311 

Worden,  Jesse  Babcock 688 


ALPllABirnCAL  INDEX 

OF    TIIK 

NAMES  OF  THOSE  AVUO  UAVE  FURNISHED  ORIGINAL  LETTERS. 


A.  I'AGK.  [ 

Adnms,  Rev.  George  F CO,  201,  354 

Anderson,  M.  B.,D.D 78:5 

Andrews,  Rev.  Erastus 2Ci8 

B. 

Babcock,  Rufiis.D.D...389,  40)  450,  478 

545,  597,  603.  714.  7:U.  738 

Baylor.  Rev.,  aiul  Hon.  R.  E.  15 81:5 

Benedict,  David,  D.  D oO 

Berrien,  Hon.  Jolm  Macplierson 489 

Bond,  Alvan,  D.  D 350 

Bradlev,  Rev.  Jo.slma 51 

Brautl'v,  W.  T.,  D.  D 428 

Briggs'llon.  G.  N.,  LL.  D 177 

Brooks.  Hon.  James 4')4 

Brown.  J.  Newton,  D.  D 1,  588 

Biirges,  Hon.  Tristam 299 

c. 

Callender,  Rev.  Nathan G91 

Chambers,  Joseph,  Esq 544 

Chandler,  Hon.  Joseph  R 219 

Chase,  Irah,  D.  D ;;25  394 

Clark,  Laban.  D.  D 102 

Colver,  Rev.  Natliauicl 384 

CJonant,  Thomas  J.,  D.  1) 402 

Cox,  Samuel  II.,  D.  D t;.>3 

Crane,  William.  Esq 583 

Crane.  Rev.  William  Carey  ... .  443.  tltjo 
753.  802,  817,  834 

Crowell ,  William. ,  D.  D 829 

Cummin^s.  E-  E.,  D.  D 151 

C  ashman,  Rev.  R.  W.,  D.J) 398 

Cutting,  Scwall  S.,  D.  D 372,  720 


D. 


473.  051, 


Dagg,  J.L.,D.  D 

Davis,  Hon.  Isaac 

Dean,  William.  D.  D 770. 

Denison,  Rev.  Frederic 2i),  407, 

Dowling,  J    D   D 

Duncan,  General  William 105. 

E. 

E.aton.  George  W.,  D.  D 551 

Eddv.  Hon.  Zechariah 57 


704 
594 
831 
511 
778 
107 


F. 


(jr.  VAGK. 

Gammell.  Profi-ssor  William 224 

(iillette,  A.  D.,  D.  D 719 

Gillpatrick,  Rev.  James  510 

Graves,  Rev.  J.din  M 270 

Gurl.-y.  Tu'v.  R.  R 090 

H. 

Ilaunu,  William,  D.  D 018 

Hall.  Rev.  .\<hlis()n 510 

Harriss.  Rev  Juriah 170 

Hill.  Stephen  P..  D.  D 571 

llodgj.  Jam.s  L.,  D.  D 

Hooper.  Wiiliam.  iiL.  D 

llolchkiss.  V.  U  ,  D.  D 

Howell.  Robert  IJovle  C.  D.  D. 


Farnam.  Professor  J.  E 818,  837 

Field,  Rev.  Henrv  M 810 

Fish,  Rev.  Henrv  C 374 

Fisher.  Abial.  D.  D...    07.  133,  100,  275 

590 
Fuller.  Richard,  D.  D 503 


072 
448 
071 

Hunter,  Hon.  William,  LL.  D 95 


J. 


.231.  077 


Jackson    Henrv, D.  D 

Jenks,  Williani,   D.  D m 

Jeter.  Jeiemiah  B.,  D.  D 444,  000 

.iohnson,  William  Bullein,  D.  D.  . .  •_•  103 

Jones,  Horatio  Gates,  Esq 45.  85,  117 

K. 

Kendiiek,  A.  C,  D    D 484 

Kennard.  J.  H.,  D.  D 034 

Krebs.  John  M.,  D.  D 201 


L. 

Laiiis'ii,  WiUiMiu,  1).  n 

Levcrett,  Rev.  Washington,. 

Lincoln  .  Hon.  lli-man 

Loring,  James,  Esq 


M. 

MMchu,  .\rchib:.M,  D.  D  . 

Magoon.  E.  L..  D.  D 

Maleom,  Howard,  D.  D.    • 
.Mailarv.  Charles  D  .  D.  D. 

Maidy!  15.,  D.  D 

Marcv,  Hon.  William  .M 
Maisiiall.  R.'V.  A.  E 
Ma«on.  F..  D.  D 
McD.miel,  Ki'v.  Jam 
Mcintosh,  M'illiam  11 
Mitrhell.  Thomas  D 
Mnrrav  Nicholas,  D 




405 

081, 

827 

195 

74 

704 
787 
121 

.'.'.". 

142 

743 

.5  0 

Neale.  R.  H..  D.  D 


....    I'-.s 

_  _  _    I..',  '. 

11 7'.i] 

.,  M. 
I) 

i>  .... 

....   ■■'.]■: 
.    311 

N. 

...  oor, 

Vol  .  VI 


los 


858 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


0.  PAGE. 

Ogden,  Rev.  David  L 801 

P. 

Palmer,  Ray,  D.  D 528 

Park,  E.  A.,  D.  D 327 

Parkhnrst,  lie  v.  Jolin 237 

Peabodj',  Miss  Elizabeth  P 319 

Pearson,  Rev.  Ira 240 

Peck,  John  M.,  D.  D 417 

Ferry,  Gardiner  B.,  D.  D 302 

Perry,  G.  B..  D.  D.,  LL.  D 635 

Pinney,  Rev.  J.  B 698 

Pitman,  Rev.  Benjamin  H 63,  200 

Potter,  AVilliam  li..  Esq 106 

R. 

Ripley,  Henry  J.,  D.  D 534 

Ripley,  Rev.  Thomas  B 394 

Robins,  Rev.  Giirdon 317,  700 

Russell,  John,  Esq 490,  686 

Ryland,  Robert,  D.  D 293,  309 

S. 

Sabin,  Rev.  Alvah 415 

Samson,  G.  "\V.,  D.  D 540 

Sears,  Barnas,  D.  D 569 

Shailer,  William  II.,  D.  D 547 

Sharp,  Daniel,  D.  D 147,  330 

Sherwood.  Adiel,  D.  D 288,  441 

Smith,  Samuel  F.,  D.  D 97,  226,  777 

Sommers,  Charles  G..  D.  D.....  250,  301 


PAGE. 

Stocks.  Hon.  Thomas 817 

Stow,  Baron,  D.  D 378,  710,  747 

T. 

Tallmadge,  Hon.  James.  LL .  D 234 

Taylor.  James  B.,  D.  D...    125,  129,  809 

Ton  Brook,  Professor  Andrew  437 

Todd,  Hon.  Charles  S 65,  629 

Turnbull,  Robert,  D.  D....    366,  562,  635 

800,  824 
Tustin,  J.  P.,  D.  D 251 

V. 

Van  Vechten,  Jacob,  D.  D 623 

Verplanck,  Hon.  Gulian  C 624 

w. 

Wait,  Samuel.  D.  D 500 

Waldo,  Rov.  Daniel 173.  234 

Wavland,  Francis,  D.  D 213 

Webb,G.  S.D.  D 282 

Welch,  B.  T.,  D.  D...   184.  356    364,  537 
593.  771,  784 

Welch.  Rev.  James  E 152,  202 

Wi^ht,  Rev.  J.  K 833 

AViiliams,  William  R.,  D.  D 766 

Wilson,  Adam.  D.  D.  207,  279,  509,  527 

Winter,  Rev.  Thomas 471,  523 

Woods,  Alvah,  D.  D 673 

Woods.  Leonard   D.  D 313 

Worden,  0.  X.,  Esq 460,  092 


ALPHABFTICAL  INDEX 

OF 

NAMES  INCIDENTALLY  INTRODUCED  INTO  THE  TEXT  OH  NOTES. 


Andrews,  Elisha,  Jr. . 
Andrews,  Thomas  L.. 

Anthony,  Joseph 

Averv,  Tark 

Babcock,  Cyrus  Giles 

Babcock.  Hufus 

Bacon,  James 

Bailor,  John 

Baker,  Elijah 

Barber,  Eilward 

Barnes,  Elisha 

Bedgewood.  Nicholas 

Bentley.  William  ... 

Billinjis,  Oliver.. 

Bled 

Boar 

BoUes.  AuRUstus 


174, 


Fairfield.  John.. 
Farrar,  Stephen 


84ii 
107 
387 
387 
401 
419 
840 
194 
0-il 


PAQK. 

307 

[\\\ 230 

Ferris,  Jonatliaii "^^^ 

Fisk,  Daniel  -? 

Fristoe,  AVilliam •  •  • ;  ^.zf 

,,    ,      ,  '     VI..,.  OO'J,  Ort) 

Galnsha,  hlou _^.    '  ..,.,, 

Gaminell,  William — ■*'  --'f^ 

Geriieaux.  Francis „"- 


Gerii 

Gillette,  Elisha  . . 

Gillette,  William 

Goddard,  Danirl 
13  I  Goddard,  David 
C3G  Gorton,  Stephen 
392  1  Green,  Caleb. 


Belles',  David ^i"* 

i,.,!.-'  i„i,.>  4( 


470, 


41 
477 
478 


Belles,  John 

Bolles,  Lucius  Stillman. . 

Belles,  Matthew 

Bound,  James 

Brown,  Chad 

Brown,  Eleazar 

Brown,  John 

Brown,  Simeon, 

Bryan.  Andrew 

Burrows,  Amos 

Burrows,  Amos  2d 

Butler,  Joel 

Butler,  Ora 

Call,  Mr 

Callender,  Ellis 

Chaulcr,  Isaac 

Collier,  Ephraim  Kobins 

Condy,  Jeremy.-.    

Cook",  Joseph  B 

Cornell,  Joseph 

Courtney    John.. Reeling.  Henry 

Covell,  Alanson  I '   M  ,^^^ 

Cra-g,  Lewis  .. "^l  '      .     ._. 

Darrow,  Francis. . 
Darrow.  Zadoc  . .  . 

Davis,  David 

Davis,  Jonathan.. 
Dillahnnty.  John.. 
Dimock,  Davis...  . 

Drake,  John 

Dungan,  Thomas 
Dunham,  Jacob  II 

Eaton.  Isaac 

Ellis,  Jonathan  . . 
Eyres,  Nicholas  . 


15 

100 

121 

109  I 

259  ! 

107 

107 

411 

411 

413 

34 

,    48 

378 

.     37 

,   190 

,   209 

291 


Hastings,  Joseph 

Havnes,  Sylvanus  . .  . 
Hickman,  William..  • 
Hickman.  "William  2d 

Hinds,  Ebcnczcr 

HoUiman.  Ezekiel 

Holmes,  Obadiah 

llohoyd,  John 

llosnuT,  Ashbel •  • 

Hull,  Justus 

Ireland,  James 

Jacobs,  Bela 

Jones,  Jenkin 

.loiies,  Thomas. 

Keaeli.  Elias 


19 

....  719 
....  832 
831,  832 
....  12 
172,  173 
191 


^  '  ?Vi  lian  .....    ....   418,  419    (ireen,  Thomas l\ 

soe,  A^  i>l'^"  •  •  •  •  733    Green ,  Thomas "^p 

rdman,  S>Ua""s 478    Greenwood,  James 1  .; 


Grifliths,  Abel 
Grilhiths,  Thomas  . 
Griswold,  George. . 
Griswold,  Sylvanus 

Haines,  Cotton 

Hansford,  Thomas •*-i 

Harris,  William  ^' 


43 


39 
12 
43 
44 
130 


22.  23, 


109 
109  '■ 
117  I 
117  ; 
851  I 
090 
7 

12 

792 

89 

827 

50 


171,  172 

314 

154,  155 

15t 

277 

....   14 

24 

230 

401 

194 

80 

715 

38 

104 

12 

559 

399 

Killinsworth.  Thoma* I7 

Kinnersley.  William ••     ''■.' 

Larkiiam.  Thomas... ■*. 

I.attimoro.  Samuel  S 

Law,  Samuel  Spry 

Lcc,  Jason ;•  •  * 

Leonard.  Davjil  A '''t 

Lewis,  Iveson 

Lord.  Nathaniel 

Loveall.  Henry 

Low.  Robert 

Marshall,  Jabez 


09, 


804 
791 
109 
350 
307 
130 
70 
395 
170 


860 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Marshall,  William 153 

McCoimico,  Garner b52 

McCov,  James 544 

McCoy,  Hice 544 

McCoy,  William 544 

Mercer,  Silas 283 

Merrill,  Moses 509 

Morrill,  Nathaniel 230 

Miles,  Jolin G 

Miller,  Benjamin C4 

Miner,  Ashur 109 

Miner,  Jonathan 109 

Morgan,  Enoch 31,32,  33 

Morse,  joshna 380 

Murphy,  Josepli 79 

Murphy,  William 79 

Nelson,  Ebenezer 077,  078 

Nelson ,  Peter 300 

Noel,  Theodoric 027 

Nordin,  Robert 12 

Palmer,  Abol 109 

Palmer,  Christopher 109 

Palmer,  Gershom 109 

Palmer,  Paul 13 

Palmer,  Phineas 109 

Palmer,  Reuben 109 

I'almer,  A\';ait 1 09 

Parsons,  Stephen 4151 

Peak,  John 212 

Peck.  Jeremiah 431,  432 

Peek,  John  Mason,  D.  D 402.  403 

Peck,  Linus  M 430,  437 

Peck,  Philetus  B 436 

Peckham,  William 30,  37 

Pelot   Francis 99 

Hansom.  Elisha 209 

Read,  James 114 

Redding,  Joseph 153 

Reis,  E.  J 201 

lUcliards,  AVilliam 130 

Rogers,  John 474 

Rogers,  John  Jr 474 

Rogers,  Peter 109 

lioots,  Benajah 433 

Roots.  Peter  Pliilanthropos 433 

RuIand,Liike 165 

Runyon  Reune , 281 

Screven ,  William 34 

Selby,  Thomas 32 


PAGE. 

Sharp,  John 5t)o 

Skiliman,  Isaac 453 

Skinner,  Benjamin  Rush,  M.D. 095,690,097 

Slator,  Henry 13 

Smith,  Eliphalet 392 

Snow,  Elisha 200 

Stearns,  Shubael OU 

Stinson,  William 395 

Stirk,  Benjamin 139 

Talbot.  Mr ...  493 

Teague,  Colin 584,  585 

Thomas,  David 38 

Tiiomas,  Elisha 117 

Thomas,  Owen 13 

Tilly,  AVilliara 48 

Titcomb,  Benjamin,  Jr 390 

Toler,  Henry 129 

Tucker.  Anson.. ... . 607 

Tucker,  Charles 607 

Tucker,  Charles,  Jr 007 

Utley.  Josepli 109 

Van  iiorn,  William 470 

Vardeman,  Ambrose  Dudlev 428 

Waller,  Absalom " 116 

Waller',  Edmund 837 

Waller,  George 837 

Waller,  William  E 837 

Warren,  Obed 380 

Waterman ,  Thomas 74 

Webb,  Isaac 194 

Webber.  William 114 

A^'erden',  Peter 088 

West,  Samuel 109 

ADieaton,  Ephraim 41 

Wiieeler.  Charles 404 

Wickendon,  Mr 15 

Wight,  Elnatlian 08 

Wiglitman,  Daniel 50 

Wightnian.  Edward 26 

Wilcox,  Asa 109 

AVindsor,  Samuel 94 

Windsor,  Samuel,  2d 94 

Winn.  Thomas  Sumner 792 

Witter,  William 22 

Wood.  Amos 151 

AVyckotr,  Cornelius 693 

Wyer,  Henry  0 256 

Young.  John 115 


Sst; 


rii 


V  '-  "i 


^. 


V 


i:v, 


'^!i''i-  '"•^"■'■■■;' 


-H 


:l-  A 


I 


^*^i<^^ 


^1 


^v-^ 


:f  :  ■''ill 


'!]^:. 


mm 


I'n 


m 


'    ''^^V 


:^'-X''M 


